Flight Risk

My cell phone was still off when Zacky took me to school the next morning with a promise of seeing me later that day. And when I turned on my touch screen there were multiple missed calls from my brother and my mother. I had just erased them and turned it back off so I wouldn't have to put up with their worry and over-protectiveness.

It wasn't until 6th period history that the office pulled me out of class. I rolled my eyes and stormed from the room with my books in my arms. I saw my mother through the glass of the office windows and I growled to myself when I saw my older brother standing next to her talking to our principle.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded as I threw the door open. My mother turned to face me in shock at my angry voice and Gabe glared at me.

"We came to make sure you are actually where you say you are! We can't trust you, Everly!" Gabe stated and took a step towards me.

I took a step back and clenched my jaw. "I'm here, right? You should've just called, the school would've given you my fucking attendance record!"

"Everly, Dear, relax. We just wanted to check up on you. I have seen you in over twenty-four hours," my mother said sweetly, causing me to scoff at her change of tone.

"I said I was fine. I was with friends," I retorted, crossing my arms over my chest.

Gabe rolled his own blue eyes. "With that guy that answered your phone, Ev? He's no good."

"How the fuck would you know, Gabriel?" I demanded and my mother gasped while my principle and the office ladies looked shocked at my tone.

Gabe growled and grabbed my arm. "Because I knew kids like them. Drop outs, low life's. They've got these dreams that are never going to come true. You're just going to end up pregnant and alone."

"Oh, shut up, Gabriel. You don't know anyone." I pushed him off of me.

"Why are you acting like this now, Granger?" My mother questioned, a sad tone in her voice as she stepped towards me, "You've always been a good girl."

"Because I'm sick of this! I'm sick of being Gabe's younger sister. I'm sick of people seeing two sides of me; The softball star and the rebel. I'm tired, okay? I'm just Granger, Mom. I love music, I love parties, I love my friends. But I like softball too. I like beating the other team. I like being looked at like I'm something special. But Mom! You only care about me when I'm that perfect student and softball player like Gabe. You don't like my music, you don't like who I am. I'm not two people. I'm just Everly Granger and now I've finally found some friends that don't give a crap about who Gabe is, and you're telling me that they're 'no good'." I clenched my teeth at the end and shifted my books to my other arm, looking between my brother and mom.

My mother looked surprised at my outburst and Gabe looked almost furious, "What set this off?" he questioned, motioning with his arm to me, "What made you get piercings and tattoos?"

I shrugged and said simply, "I didn't want to be like you."

"Tattoos!" My mother shouted at looked at my bare arms, "When did you get those, Everly?" she demanded grabbed ahold of my forearms and seeing the ink that she'd never noticed until now.

"I got this one a couple of weeks ago. And I got this," I held up my knuckles, "When I was 15 in some guys basement. He was cool."

Gabe over-looked my mothers outburst and kept looking me in the eyes with a suspicious look. He folded his own arms over his chest and shifted slightly, "Why is your attitude getting worse now? I've been your brother your whole life."

I smirked at the upset boy in front of me. "Because I've met some people who don't give a fuck what others think about them. They don't care what people say about them or their music. They don't try to live up to anyone's expectations but their own." I opened the office door and walked out. "Oh, and Gabe," I called as I leaned back into the door way, "You're wrong. They are going some place." I ran to my locker before Gabe could follow me and stuffed every thing into my bag. I turned my cell phone on as I ran out the front doors. I went to the bottom of my contacts list and hit 'call'.

"Hey Granger, why aren't you in class?"

I breathed a sigh of relief as I continued walking away from the school and my family, "Hey Zacky, I, kind of, ran away from school."

"What, why?" he questioned frantically on the other line.

I rolled my eyes but smiled at the fact that he cared, "Because my family showed up, talking shit about how I'm being a different person and they can't trust me now," I groaned out and he murmured 'mhm'.

"Well, where are you? We're all at Jimmy's right now but I can come get you." I heard Jimmy yell 'hi' in the background and I smiled.

"Sure, that'd be cool as hell, Zacky. I'm on Gardner Street about a block from the school."

Zacky shuffled on the other line and I heard keys clinking together, "Be there in a few minutes."

I nodded even though he couldn't see. "Okay. See you."

Zacky said goodbye really quick and hung up. I plopped my butt down on the side walk and waited for Zacky to show. It was about ten minutes later that I saw Brian's truck at the end of the street. I stood up and brushed the dirt off of the pants that I wore yesterday and started walking towards them.

Zacky jumped out of the truck and let me in after he kissed my cheek. I greeted Brian as we drove away and I ducked down when we passed my Mother's car where she and my brother sat at a red light.

"That's your brother? I knew him a couple years ago," Zacky murmured and looked away as my mother looked up at the truck.

"You went to school with him." I shrugged as best I could from where I hid behind Zacky. When my mother's car turned off of the same road I sat up straight and grinned at Zacky as he wrapped his arm over my shoulder.

"So what the fuck happened at your school?" Brian asked, turning onto a street I hadn't been on before.

"My brother showed up demanding to know why I'm 'acting out' more now." I rolled my eyes.

"Are you 'acting out' more then usual?" Zacky questioned, thinking the same thing that my family was. That maybe it was because of him and the guys.

"No," I replied slowly, "I've always been like this they just pretended not to see it."

Brian parked in the drive way of a nice house, "That's fucked up."

"Yup," I murmured and followed Zacky out of the car. He grabbed my hand as we entered Jimmy's house and I laughed when I saw Jimmy standing there hitting Matt in the head every time he said something to Valary.

"Granger!" he screamed and raced over to me. He crushed me into a hug and I grunted as the lanky man picked me up.

"Put me down, Jimmy," I demanded and he shook his head.

"No."

I pouted and wrapped my arms around his neck so he wouldn't be able to drop me. Jimmy sat down next to Valary on the couch with me on his lap and I smiled at the blonde woman next to me. "Hi!" I greeted, happy to see her again.

"How's it going?" She questioned and I shrugged.

"Alright. No worse then usual."

Val nodded and Matt kissed her cheek before he stood up and went up the stairs. Jimmy stood up again and placed me back down onto the couch. Val and I had a conversation while the guys messed around, hitting each other and stuff. About an hour later Johnny came walking through the door and grinned when he saw me on the couch with Zacky.

"You school skipper!" he accused, "You should've taken me with you!" Everyone laughed at Jimmy as picked he Johnny up as well and told him to quit his complaining.

We acted like normal teenagers, played video games, ate pizza, and joked around. It was nice to have friends that didn't have to worry about school because they didn't care if you did your homework or not. And Johnny would sit next to me the whole night laughing and joking around with Zacky as he sat on the other side of me as we sat on the floor and attempted to beat Brian at any video game that he said he would win. He usually did.

My phone only rang a couple times and once it was Micki asking where I was during practice. I told her what had happened and she understood. The second time it was my mother, which I didn't answer, but on the message she told me that Gabe wasn't going back to L.A tonight and that she would take more serious matters if I didn't come home. I just brushed her off.

About three hours after I got there four girls walked through Jimmy's front door. One was Michelle, Val's twin, and she greeted me with a hug that I awkwardly returned and the other three were people I had never met before. One girl with chocolate brown hair screeched and ran up to Jimmy. Her short frame smashed against him as she kissed him. I smiled at the duo. Another girl with blonde hair took at seat next to the twins on the couch and glanced at me from where I sat next to Zacky with his hand clasped in mine. He paid her no mind and I smiled at her politely. I last girl sat in Johnny's lap next to me and he introduced her as his girlfriend, Lacy.

"It's nice to meet you," I murmured as she grinned.

"You too! I've seen you around at school!"

I nodded and Zacky smiled at me, squeezing my hand to tell me that no one would bite me. I had always been more comfortable with guys than girls. Guys are flat out, nothing to hide. But girls usually have an ulterior motive. I smiled at Lacy and turned my attention to Val as she called my name from the couch behind us.

"Yeah?" I questioned and Michelle grinned mischievously.

"This is Gena," Val introduced and I gave the woman a small wave She was older than me by two or three years by the looks of her. She just nodded at me in reply and looked back to the twins. I followed her gaze back to them and they smiled at me.

I wasn't until an hour later that my mom called my phone again and this time I answered it, "What?"

"I just want you to know that I have the cops out looking for you, Everly," she warned and I rolled my blue eyes at her lie.

"Mom, come on, we both know that you wouldn't call the cops on your own daughter," I stated and she tsk'd from the other line.

"I wouldn't, no. But your brother did and now I'm glad that he did because those men are too old for you to be hanging around with."

I growled when I realized that my brother would actually dial 911. "I'm going to kill him Mom. And then you'll have a real reason to call the cops. So call fucking 911 and tell them it was a prank call before I get my hands on your favorite child!" By this time everyone in the rooms' attention was on me as I shouted frantically into my phone.

"Can't do that, Everly. Not until you come home. You are 17 years old!"

I clenched my jaw and counted to 10 out loud, but it did nothing to relax me, "Mother, I am serious. You're right, I'm 17, I'm old enough to make my own decision and if you don't call the police station and tell them it was all a misunderstanding I'm heading to Vegas to marry the first drug dealer I see and get knocked up so I can borrow money from you for the rest of my life. Call them off," I uttered in a gruff voice as Zacky came to stand next to me, looking at me in concern. I ignored the chuckles from everyone behind me as my mother began talking again.

"Everly May Granger! Those men are over 18! It's illegal for you to be friends with them! Come home this instant!" She demanded and I sighed.

"That's a lie Mom! I just can't have sex with any of them," I blurted, "No matter how bad I fucking want too," I murmured under my breath and Zacky smirked from beside me as my mother gasped.

"Fine," she concluded, "I'll let the cops deal with you!" Then dial tone arose on the line and I stuffed my phone back into my pocket angrily muttering curse words under my breath.

"What going on, Granger?" Jimmy asked from behind me and I was almost in a state of shock at his seriousness.

"Nothing, My mom just called the cops on me again," I stated walking past everyone as they shouted 'again?'

"Yeah, this is the second or third time. I lost count," I mumbled as Zacky grabbed my shoulders and stopped my pacing.

"I thought they don't look for runaways?" Val questioned and I nodded.

"They don't. By my mom dated this guy on the force. Apparently he's like her little puppy. Looks for me all the time. He'll find me here, I have to go."

Jimmy smirked at me and pushed me down onto the couch next to Val. "No one is going to find you here, just relax."

I nodded, trying to make him realize, "Yeah, if they look at all these guys' places first, they'll be here!"

"Well then," Brian smirked, "We've got sometime." He grinned, not believing me and I shrugged and listened to them. They could find out for themselves that I was being serious.

Zacky and I sat on the couch for a while, his thumb rubbing circles on the back of my hand, trying to get me to relax as the time passed and no one showed up. As Johnny placed a movie into the DVD player, everyone snuggled back into their blankets with their girls and Zacky pulled me to his lap as that Gena girl looked away with a scowl on her face.

Red and blue lights interrupted when we were half way through the movie. My eyes grew wide and I bolted up from the floor, grabbed my bag and Jimmy pointed to the back door.

"Granger wait up!" Zacky called as he pulled his shoes on and I shook my head.

"Stay here, Zacky," I murmured, "I'll meet you back at your place in two hours!" I kissed his lips chastely and opened the sliding back door as the guys shut the blinds.

Once I took just three steps out of the house I was grabbed. I yelled for the man to let me go but no one listened until my brother came waltzing into the back yard with a smirk on his face with another officer following him, making the total number of cops only at two.

"Told you that we'd find you, Granger. Now come home," he demanded and I glared as a cop grabbed a hold of Zacky as he raced out side.

"God Gabe!" I yelled, "You are so fucking dramatic! The cops? Apprehending me? Get a life," I pulled away from the cop and Zacky did the same. I walked over the the angry man and gave him a giant hug.

"Two hours," I whispered in his hair and he nodded, kissing my cheek.

"I'll be waiting," he replied softly, crossing his arms over his chest and watching me as I walked away with my brother and the officers who had known my mom for a long time.

"Hey Officer Danny," I greeted politely, slinging my backpack onto my back. "How's it going?"

He just ignored me and led me around the house, my smile falling when I realized that he wanted me to ride home in the police car. "Dramatic," I sighed as Gabe pushed me to the backdoor of the squad car.