Be My Escape

”If I jump, you jump,” she told me.

I wanted to protest, but it was like my mouth was sewn shut.

“Best friends forever, jump together,” she taunted me. She knew I wouldn’t jump and I knew she would. She was the risk taker, and I was the sidekick. If she pushed me long enough, she knew I’d give in. It was how I was, and since we had been best friends since diapers she knew this.

She walked over to the edge, her long brown hair swaying in the coastal breeze. She looked over at me over her shoulder and smiled. “One.” She was counting down. “Two.” When she got to three, it’d be too late.

“Three,” she smiled, jumping over the edge.

“No!” I screamed, but it was too late.

It was always too late.

I woke in a cold sweat, looking around frantically. It was the same dream I had for the past year, and every time it ended the exact same way. I always woke up right after I screamed out. For several months, I was actually screaming out, which terrified my mom and stepdad when I was home and absolutely freaked out my roommates. After awhile though, I would wake up after I screamed and I’d find that I wasn’t screaming out for real anymore, just in the dream, which was a huge relief.

Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I glanced at the clock I had set up on the bedside table. It read 7:55 AM, which was just about the time I had to get up. This would be my life for the next few months.

I shut the alarm off and rolled out of bed, taking a minute to gather my thoughts before padding out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom. Stripping out of my pajamas, I hopped in and turned the water on as hot as I could stand it.

I washed quickly and then got out and towel dried my hair. I still had no idea what I was going to wear to my first day as an intern, but I knew I’d figure it out. I had packed enough “work” clothes for an army, so if I didn’t find something it wouldn’t be for lack of clothing.

I dug through my suitcase while glancing at the clock. Quarter after eight, meaning I had plenty of time still to finish getting ready. Just as I looked back down, my hand was wrapping around my black pencil skirt. “Perfect,” I said to no one in particular, pulling it out and setting it on the bed. I dug around a little more and found a simple cream colored blouse, a pair of nude colored tights, and my underwear and got dressed.

Still deprived from my usual morning tea, I hurried into the kitchen and started a pot, then went and finished getting ready. When I felt satisfied with the way I looked, I grabbed my black ankle booties from my room and went back to the kitchen just as the pot started whistling.

I fixed my tea and took a sip, cringing at the bitter taste. “More sugar,” I mumbled and poured some more in. I finished the cup quickly when I saw that it was quarter to nine, slipped my shoes on, and hurried out the door.

Just as I was stepping outside, I realized I had absolutely, positively no clue where my father’s office was located. “Shit, shit, shit,” I muttered, stumbling back up the stairs to Max’s apartment. I knocked frantically when I got there, praying someone would be up so that they could tell me where to go. I prayed even harder that the person to answer the door was Max and not one of his buddies. I was not in the mood to have to first of all explain to them who I was in the event that Max wasn’t there and secondly, to explain why I needed directions to my father’s office. I wasn’t easily embarrassed, but that would just be too much.

“Peyton? Do you have any idea what time it is?” Max pulled the door open, snapping me out of my thoughts and back to reality. “You’re mental if you thought I’d be awake right now.”

“Remind me that you aren’t a morning person later,” I muttered, glancing down at my watch that I had taken to wearing ever since my phone had gone out of commission. “Right now, I have about twelve minutes to get to my dad’s office and I have no clue how to get there.”

His eyes opened a little wider as he took in my dressy appearance. “That explains the outfit. Just take a left and walk about four or five blocks. You can’t miss it, love.”

I smiled and thanked him before rushing back down the hall. I was not going to be late on my first day, no way.

***

“Peyton!” my father exclaimed when he saw me standing in the door of his office.

So far, this internship had not been what I was expecting.

First of all, there was only about three or four other interns, which surprised me an immense amount. All other internships I had had been full of people, which made things hard because you felt like you were constantly competing with one another. It didn’t leave a lot of room for friendships, which was fine by me because I wasn’t there to make friends.

Secondly, the office, while well known and very popular, was rather tiny. There weren’t a lot of people working there. This could have been the reasoning for the small amount of interns, but regardless I found it odd.

And then of course, there was my father.

“Hi,” I smiled weakly while waving.

“What’s up, lovely?” he asked as he pushed aside some papers and folded his hands on his desk, obviously inviting me in.

“Well, Ellen told us all we could go on lunch now if we wanted, and since I assumed you’d have lunch too I wondered if you wanted to eat with me?” I felt awkward asking him such a thing, even though that was kind of absurd. He was my dad, and he would be happy to eat with me. Or at least I thought he would.

“Sorry love, I have a million and one things to take care of. Rain check?” he smiled apologetically, and I nodded.

“One more thing,” I said quickly. “Where should I go for lunch?”

He laughed and a blush creeped up my neck. “Try Wagamama’s. Ellen can give you directions.”

I nodded and smiled, then hurried out of his office. Ellen, who was sitting at her desk eating an apple, smiled when I walked out. “Directions?” she said knowingly and I nodded, the blush returning. I felt so stupid not knowing where anything was, and I hated asking directions. I couldn’t wait until I knew where everything was, although I knew it would be awhile until then.

“Here dear, I printed up directions to places I thought you’d need,” she smiled, handing over a piece of paper.

“Thank you so much!” I gushed, looking at all the places. It included several close restaurants, a grocery store, and a few pubs. “This is so helpful, seriously.”

“You’re welcome, dear. Now go eat before lunch is over.”

I smiled and thanked her again and then left.

Surprisingly, it didn’t take me very long to get to Wagamama’s, which I found out was a noodle bar. I walked inside, only to find it surprisingly busy. I made a mental note to order take out next time and walked through looking for a table to sit at. As I was scanning, I heard someone call my name. “Peyton! Peyton, over here love!”

I spotted Max waving his hand in the air and smiled. I hated the thoughts of having to eat lunch alone, and now I wouldn’t have to. I rushed over to his table and instantly spotted the other boy sitting with him. “Oh,” was all I said as I froze with my hand perched above the seat, ready to pull it out so I could sit down.

“Sit down, sis. How was the first day as an intern?” he asked as I sat down across from him, ignoring the boy to his left.

“It’s good so far. I didn’t realize how small the office was, which is nice. There’s only a few other interns too, which is really good because now I don’t feel like I’m competing for anything.”

“That’s it!” the mystery boy next to Max burst out, grabbing a napkin and a pen out of his pocket, scribbling down something.

“What’s it, Josh?” Max looked at him funny, peering over his shoulder to see what he wrote. “Oh!” Max said just as loudly, bringing his attention back to me. “Peyton, this is Josh,” he told me, smacking Josh on the shoulder lightly.

Josh looked up and nodded at me, then looked back down at the paper and scribbled something else.

Max rolled his eyes at me and I laughed lightly. “Josh, this is Peyton, my stepsister. Although you’re acting too mental to hear anything I’m saying to you right now.”

I laughed again and took a drink of the water in front of me. Josh looked up and glared at the two of us, which surprised me. Most people weren’t so openly mean to strangers, but Josh was having no problem with it. “I had to write this lyric down, you arse. I just couldn’t get the bridge of that new song quite right, but I think I got it figured out.”

He handed the napkin to Max for him to read over, and he cringed. “A little harsh, ain’t it?” Max asked, handing the napkin back over to Josh skeptically. “I mean, I know she crushed you, but yikes mate.”

Josh shrugged, stuffing the napkin into his pocket for later. “She’s gettin’ what she deserves.”

Max shrugged, taking a sip of his drink. He looked at me and leaned in, dropping his voice down several decibels before continuing. “Joshy here had his heart broken by some awful lass and now he’s writin’ a song about it.”

Josh reached over and punched him in the arm, causing Max to yelp. “Shut up, will you? Don’t need you blabbing all my business all over Reading,” he grumbled, slouching in his chair slightly.

I’m not sure what it was about this boy, but he rubbed me the wrong way. “You act like I’m going to go find this girl and tell her myself that you’re writing a song about her, a nasty one at that.” I rolled my eyes, taking another drink of my water. “I don’t even know you.” Which was exactly why I was surprised I was saying anything to him right now. I had a tendency to be really shy around new people, but there was something about Josh that blew that personality trait out of the water.

“Exactly, and that’s why you don’t need to know all my business,” he smirked, sitting back confidently as if he had just won our mini battle.

I rolled my eyes again and chose to ignore him.

I prayed to god that when I met the rest of Max’s friends, they weren’t anything like Josh here. I could already tell Josh and I were not going to be best buds.

Which, in itself, was a shame. Because, glancing at him as I read my order to the waitress, I noticed he was kind of cute. His hair was a mess and his hazel eyes were shining as he stared off into space, singing lyrics to himself. He was nothing special, but he was cute.

Too bad he’s a jerk, I thought to myself sourly as I took a drink of my water again.

I didn’t have time for guys right now anyways, what with my internship and my short lived stay in Reading. I was only here to intern, get to know my family some more, and to try and get over the events that haunted me in my sleep. That alone was going to be time consuming enough that I didn’t know how I was going to do it in such a short amount of time. I just knew I was going to try because I really didn’t have a choice.