To Be Loved

Her feet were numb. Her flawless features were tear-stained, but she still looked breathtakingly beautiful. She was pretty sure blisters were beginning to form on the soles of her feet from all the walking, but she didn’t care. Anywhere was better than the living hell she had just barely escaped from.

At this point, Adrianna Harris was probably in a town away from her home, and she felt free. Just thinking about it brought a look of relief onto her face as she ran the back of her hand across her red and puffy eyes. She didn’t know how or why some new tears were starting to form in her eyelids, but she couldn’t help it and she didn’t really care at this point. Adrianna just simply crossed her arms over her chest and continued dragging her weary feet on the side of the road. Her scuffed jeans were gathering dirt because of its length and she had been tripping endlessly throughout her whole journey up to this point.

God only knows how long she’s been walking for. The rubber soles of her red Chuck’s had already begun to wear out.

As Adrianna looked straight ahead, a few buildings were in sight. A sudden smile overtook her features, because throughout her journey, all that was in view were a few tiny houses and the rest were just road. She had only stopped by some drugstores and fast food restaurants for food and some supplies in the last few hours.

Adrianna’s dragging feet picked up it’s pace and it soon turned into a power-walk, wanting to get to the town ahead, as soon as possible. The lights given out by the neon sign of the motel a few miles ahead of her, illuminated her features, giving it a sort of glow. She had left her home that morning after having to deal with too much. When the motel was just a few meters ahead, she slowed down a little and her breathing was a little heavy.

Suddenly, Adrianna felt something light fall on the top of her head. She stopped walking for a moment, and tilted her head backwards to stare up at the dark and star-less night sky. The object that fell on her earlier turned out to be a raindrop. After a few moments, the droplets began coming down faster, one after another, and it soon turned into a mild drizzle.

Adrianna shut her eyes and let a small smile overcome her face. She lifted both her palms slightly, allowing the cool shower of raindrops make her feel better. She stayed in that position for awhile, seeming to enjoy the cold rain, but soon enough, thunders started to crash and lightning started to light up the dark, night sky. Adrianna let out a little gasp as she quickly pulled on the hood of her now-soaked sweatshirt. She made a dash for the motel just up ahead. The green ‘Vacancy’ sign kept blinking in her face and it flickered a few more times before it shut off completely.

“No,” Adrianna whispered to herself as she brought herself to a complete halt in front of the motel. All the lights had turned off and the dingy motel just screamed disgusting. Just as she was about to enter the tiny lobby tobeg ask for a room, the man working there had just turned the sign hanging on the opposite side of the door which read ‘OPEN’, to ‘CLOSED’. How could a motel be closed? she thought to herself.

But as Adrianna approached the dirt-covered glass doors of the dingy motel that was her last hope for now, she saw scrawly handwriting in red ink below the ‘CLOSED’ in big, bold writing. Finally, as Adrianna was close enough to read the whole sign, she felt like breaking down on the spot. It read: Closed FOR GOOD. But this was all before Adrianna’s dramatic and traumatizing adventures started.

As the lights of the motel turned off, a curly haired man who looked as though he was in his 20s, had exited through the side door. He had a messenger bag hitched on his shoulder and a few keys in his left hand and his cell-phone in the other. He had been locking up while doing something on his phone and once he had fully stepped outside and lifted his head and was taken back slightly by the fact that there was a 19 year old girl sitting outside the door of his motel, crying her eyes out for reasons he had no idea of.

At first, he was hesitant, but eventually he went to her side and tried to ask her what the problem was. As he rested on one knee, he cleared his throat to gain Adrianna’s attention but her cries just got to an even louder volume. The young man was officially scared out of his mind. He was slowly backing away, but Adrianna stopped her tears from falling and wiped her nose with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. She looked up and her eyes met his.

Adrianna’s eyes suddenly widened and she felt embarrassed. She immediately ducked her head downwards, hoping the man would just walk away but apparently, the man had different ideas. She looked up again and he was still standing there, with a smile plastered onto his face.

Adrianna sighed as she got up to leave, a small hiccup escaping from her throat. She quickly covered her mouth and decided to make a run for it, but the young man caught her arm before she could escape. Adrianna whipped her head backwards to face him.

“Yes?” she said after sighing for about the millionth time that night.

His mesmerizing hazel eyes bore into her dull brown ones. She was gorgeous. His grip began to loosen a little. He smiled.

“Hi.”

Adrianna raised an eyebrow and just stared at him, annoyed. She quickly pulled her arm out of his grasp and started walking away again, as fast as her exhausted legs could take.

The young man’s eyes widened and he chased after her after realizing what he just said.

“Wait!” he shouted.

Adrianna tried her best to ignore him, but his footsteps sounded as though it was coming closer and closer. She sighed and stopped altogether.

“I saw you outside the motel. Do you need a place to crash or something?” he asked, thinking a little more rationally this time before opening his mouth.

Adrianna shook her head no. “Doesn’t matter.”

“It’s pouring out here. I can’t just leave you in the rain, you know? Just-” he paused, thinking. “Follow me,” he motioned at her with his hand.

While the man just stood there waiting for an answer from her, Adrianna was thinking.

Follow a complete stranger who might be slightly mentally challenged, or stay out here in the rain and end up with a raging fever the next morning? I’d go with follow the retarded stranger.

“Let’s go,” she replied almost inaudibly before trailing behind the man.

They walked for about, 5 minutes, before reaching his red pick-up truck. Nice ride.

Being the gentleman, he opened the door for Adrianna and helped her get in. The car smelled slightly of cologne and had a tinge of Red Bull. Like she guessed, there were a few cans of Red Bull and also an empty duffel bag on the floor. Slightly disgusted, Adrianna brought her legs up onto the chair and hugged her knees.

A few seconds after, the man came in through the driver’s side and grabbed two towels from the back seat. He tossed one to Adrianna and began wiping his head. Adrianna wiped her face and set the towel down on her lap, not wanting to know how long it had been in the car for.

After drying his hair and wiping his face, his curls were sticking out from all directions from his head as he threw the towel back into the backseat.

“I still don’t know your name,” he smiled to her.

Adrianna thought of giving him a fake name, considering the fact that she’d be on her way the next morning anyway. But he’d been too nice to her, so she just looked at him.

“Adrianna.”

He smiled.

“I’m Kev-” he paused before sticking his hand out to her and smiled. “I’m Paul.”