We've Learned to Run from Anything Uncomfortable

Saturday, May 21st

I woke up with a start, Lucy had pushed my door open and told me breakfast was ready. I looked down at my bedside clock which read 10 o’clock.

Ridiculous. Absolutely fucking ridiculous.

I pulled myself out of bed and followed her, plus eight other kids downstairs, exchanging tired greetings. We all sat down at the large table where Robert served us a heaping plate of bacon and eggs. Once I was finished eating, I wiped my face and stood up from the table.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Lucy asked.

“I was going to go upstairs for a shower and then ask permission to go to the library to get some work done.” I said, making a mental face at how nice I was being.

“Well, since you ate, you need to help clean up. It is a rule of the house.”

I looked around the kitchen, never seeing such a mess in my life. I quickly made my way over to the kitchen sink and began washing dishes.

About half an hour later, a nicely wet pile of dishes sat themselves on the counter, ready for the younger kids to wipe dry and put away. I quickly retreated upstairs where my clock mentioned it was already eleven. I quickly stripped myself of my clothing and wrapped a towel around my body.

Once I was out of the shower, I scurried back into my room and scanned my closet. I ended up throwing on a pair of jeans and a long sleeve t shirt with a sweatshirt pulled over the top, there was no one to impress today.

Suddenly, Robert came into my room with the phone, “There is someone by the name of Oliver to talk to you?” He questioned.

I nodded slightly, taking the phone from him, “Hello?”

"'Ey Doll. 'M outside yer lovely house."

"Oh, okay." I said, trying to keep the conversation light, as Robert was still there.

"Well, what do yeh wan' me ta do?"

"Yeah, its page 346, let me find my book." I said, hoping Robert would leave.

I could almost hear the confusion in Oli's voice, "Wha'?"

"The prompt is called Sunflower St." I mumbled, trying to get him to understand what exactly I was saying.

"Yer not 'spose to be leavin' yer house, are yeh?" He laughed lightly.

"No." I grinned.

"Well, then where am I ta meet yeh?"

"Sunflower St."

I heard him shuffle around, "Ahh. I see it. I 'ate makin' yeh walk Doll, but tha's where I'll be."

"Okay, yeah. See you Monday." I hung up the phone and handed it to Robert, "Can I go to the library now?"

"It's a bit cold out there, don't you want to dry your hair?" He asked.

I shook my head, "No, I think I'll be fine. I'll just wear a hat." I said, snatching a small beanie from the bedpost next to me.

"Okay. See you in a few." He smiled.

I grabbed my book bag, making it as believable as possible I was going to the library and said, “Alright!”

I grinned softly and pushed past him, running downstairs. I quickly burst through the front door, the cold air almost suffocating me. I coughed roughly and cleared my throat, not looking back at the house as I rounded the corner. I came up to Oli's car and pulled on the handle to the passenger's door.

He looked up at me, two lit cigarettes hanging from his mouth, and grinned, dropping one on his lap.

"Oi! Fuck meh!" He yelled, pushing my door open and pulling the cigarette of his lap, "I burnt meh seat. Ace, just fucking ace."

I sat down in the passenger's seat with a grin on my face and laughs slowly falling out from between my lips.

"What 'chu laughin' at?" He looked up with a smile on his face.

"Nothing. You're just kind of a moron." I smiled.

"Piss off." He laughed, "This one's for yeh." He said, handing me the cigarette still in his mouth.

I took it from him and held it in my hand.

"Wha'?" He asked, putting the other one in his mouth, "It ain't poisoned."

I laughed, "I know that."

"Then why're yeh lookin' at it like it's gonna bite yer 'ead off?"

"I'm not."

"Yes yeh are!" He mumbled, pulling away from the curb.

"Fine!" I smiled, sticking it in my mouth and sucking on it, "There. You happy?"

"I was happeh the second yeh stepped foot in meh car."

I rolled my eyes at him, "You're a twat."

He simply ignored me, darting out into traffic and flying across the street, making the sharpest left turn I've yet to see a car make, screeching to a stop in front of a small blue house.

"Holy shit!" I breathed, "I could have walked to your house if I knew you were going to be driving like that!!"

"Yeh know." He said, turning off the car, "I thought abou' that. But then I'd 'ave to wait around for yeh, and I'm a horribly impatient lil' bugger."

"Well." I said, putting my smoke out with the bottom of my shoe, "What am I doing with this?"

"Yer done smokin' already?"

I laughed slightly, "Yeah. I'm a quick smoker."

"Well." He said, exhaling a mouthful of smoke, "Yeh're gonna 'ave to wait for meh."

"That's fine with me." I said, adjusting the straps to my book bag.

"Why in the bloody 'ell did you bring tha' thing with yeh? We're not doin' school work if tha's wha' yer thinkin'."

"Cause. I'm at the 'library'." I said, using air quotes.

"Aye, yer such a bad bird."

"A bad bird?" I scoffed.

"Yeh don' even know what 'm talkin' 'bout." He said, opening his car door and flicking his ashes on the ground.

He got out of the car and closed his door, motioning for me to do the same. I pulled my door open and fell into stride with him as we walked through the snow covered grass and through the big, heavy door to his house.

It was ridiculous there was still snow on the ground in the beginning of May.

As soon as the door was pushed open, the smell of cinnamon and something peanut buttery smacked me in the face.

"It smells delicious in here." I said, looking up at Oli.

"Yeah, meh aunt must be cookin' somethin'."

"You live with your aunt?"

"Take yer shoes off, Sam. Yer gonna dirty up 'er clean carpet."

"Oh, sorry." I said, removing my shoes and placing them on the door mat where Oli's tore up vans, a pair of black pumps, and a pair of slippers sat.

"Lynn!" Oli yelled.

"Olleh dear. I'm in the kitchen. Knock off yer yellin', 'm gonna box yer ears, kid."

I smiled a bit and followed Oli into the kitchen where a woman around the age of 30 stood, spooning cookie dough onto a cookie sheet.

"This is my friend, Sam." Oli beamed, placing his hand at the small of my back and pushing me forward.

"Hi." I smiled shyly, waving.

"'Ello Sam dear, I'm Oli's Aunt Lynn. How're yeh doin'?"

"I'm doing pretty good." I smiled, "Those cookies smell real nice."

"Oi, I'm likin' this girl already Olleh." She winked.

He leaned down quite a bit to whisper in my ear, "They don' smell tha' great once they're burned."

She threw a wash cloth at him playfully, "Get outta here! Go do somethin'. Entertain your guest, she's gettin' bored."

"I dunno what yer talkin' bout Lynn, yer the one that's buggin' 'er." He laughed, guiding me down the hallway and into a room I presumed to be his.

Once we were in his room, he proceeded to kick clothes underneath his bed and throw crumpled up papers into the garbage. He gathered about two handfuls of dishes and smirked at me lightly before leaving the bedroom with them.

I set my bag on the floor next to his nightstand and took a seat on his unmade bed, taking in the personality of his room. The personality every teenager should have in their room.

There were posters covering the walls. A Linkin Park poster, a couple bands I didn't know of, he had an iPod resting on his dresser with clothes poking out of unclosed drawers, and his closet doors were shut tightly, a pair of pants peeking out from underneath the door.

“Sorry ‘bout tha’. I woke up late an’ I didn’t ‘ave time ta clean up."

"No problem." I smiled, "Your just a pig."

"Thank yeh fer the compliment." He smiled, laying down on the bed with his arms behind his head.

"Ha!" I mocked.

"Oi!" He said, sitting up quickly, "I 'ave a question fer yeh."

I swallowed lightly and closed my eyes, "Okay."

"Can I ask yeh?"

"You just did." I smiled.

"Sammeh." He sighed.

"Yes Oli. You can ask me. Shoot!"

"Why did yeh call meh las' nigh'?"

"Cause I wanted to hang out with you..?"

"Well, I know tha'. But, before tha', you never wanted to 'ang out. Wha' made yeh change yer mind?"

I looked down at Oli's knee, pulling a string from the hole surrounding it and twisted it around my finger, "I don't know."

"Of course yeh do. Now tell meh."

"Cause, I know how it feels to be the new kid and I didn't want you to feel like you didn't matter just cause I was ignoring you.."

I looked up at him, his mouth slightly open. He looked straight into my eyes, and mumbled something.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothin'."

"Oli, tell me." I said, knowing what I said had pissed him off.

"If yeh didn't wanna 'ang out with meh, tha's all yeh 'ad to say. I don' want yeh over 'ere if this is just some pity play date. We aren' four years old anymore, yeh don' have to come over 'ere cause yer mum is tellin' yeh too. Come on, I'll give yeh a ride 'ome."

"Oli!" I protested.

"Come on Sam." He said, standing up.

"I don't want to go.."

"I can take yeh to the library if yeh don' wanna go 'ome. But there's no point in bein' somewhere yeh don' wanna be."

"Oli, I didn't mean-"

"Get up an' get yer bag Sam! I'm takin' yeh home!" He said, raising his voice slightly.

"You know what? Fuck it. I'll walk!" I muttered, standing up and pushing past him out his bedroom door.

I quickly made my way to the front door and pulled on my sneakers. I pulled the big handle to Oli's front door and stalked out.

"Sam!" He yelled, walking out behind me, "At least let meh give yeh a ride."

I ignored him and broke into a small jog, heading towards the intersection. Once I was safely across the street, I maintained the normal speed and walked up to the front door of my house, cold and out of breath. I had left my hat in Oli's car and my hair was still a bit damp.

I pulled open the door to my foster house and threw myself inside, hurtling up the stairs, meeting Robert at the top.

"Oh, your back early." He smiled, "When I said see you in a few, I didn't mean it literally."

"I couldn't find what I was looking for."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's okay." I said, placing my hand on the knob to my door and lightly pressing it.

"Well, we're having family games in a couple hours, so meet us downstairs later, okay?"

"Yeah, I will."

I closed my door behind me and threw my bag at the ground. I tore off my sweatshirt angrily and dropped it in a heap on the floor. I had suddenly gotten extremely hot.

I sat down on the edge of my bed and took two handfuls of my hair, pulling at them harshly.

"Fuck." I muttered.

The one time I actually try making a friend, and it gets fucked up.
Of course.