You're Not Alone

We'd ended up driving away, Alex and I. You always picture "running away" as hijacking some old pick-up truck and driving across the state; I didn't do that. I hijacked my brother's fucking Prius and drove to Wendy's with a stranger. Alex drove, considering I didn’t have my license, and we parked in front of the restaurant. I glanced inside noticing that it was pretty much empty, aside from a few people.

Alex shut off the ignition and turned to me. “You hungry?” he asked.

“I could eat.” He nodded and got out of the car, me following closely behind. There was a heavy man working the cashier, eyeing me as we approached him. We both ordered burgers and drinks and split large fries. When we got our food, we went back to the Prius and ate in the Wendy’s parking lot.

“Do you think your brother will care about eating in his car?” Alex asked before taking a bite of his burger.

I shrugged. “I could honestly care less. He’ll probably replace the entire car if there’s a tiny ketchup stain on his precious leather.”

“What’s the deal with you and your brother anyways?” He asked. “You seem to really… dislike him.”

“He left me with my dad.” I simply said. I just met this guy not even an hour ago. There was no way in hell I’m telling him my life story.

“There’s obviously more to this story.” He said. “Where are you even from?”

“Downtown New York.” I said. He seemed to notice my lack of excitement about it.

“Tough life?”

I glared at him and shook my head. “It seemed like everything bad always seemed to happen to my family. You’ve probably lived in that rich neighborhood your entire life without a care in the world. You probably didn’t have to worry about whether or not you’re going to eat that day. You probably came home from school and wondered what was for dinner and not whether your dad was going to be home."

We sat in silence for a few seconds before he broke it. “I… I don’t know what to tell you.” He whispered. He looked at the clock. “We should probably get back, it’s almost 2 in the morning.”

“I guess so.” I sighed. Alex turned on the ignition, backed out of the parking space, and we headed back to that dreaded neighborhood. I didn’t want to admit it, but I actually enjoyed his company tonight.