Chapter 91
Taylor’s POV
The morning feels wrong, the second i step outside.
There is this tightness under my ribs thin,stretched like a thread pulled too far and ready to snap.even the neighborhood looks different. Too still. Too quiet. as if every house on this street is holding its breath waiting for something to crack open.
i shove my keys into my jacket pocket and force myself up the familiar walkway to my family’s front door.my shoes crunch over the thin layer of leaves scattered across the porch and the sound is louder than it should be sharp in the silence.
inside the air smells like cinnamon oatmeal and laundry detergent its normal comforting but it doesn’t settle anything in me.
“Morning,” i call trying to sound steady.
my little siblings swarm the living room like a small chaotic storm one watching cartoons another building a crooked Lego tower another arguing with the toaster.
I ruffle a few heads give Alex a quick once over my usual routine of scanning for signs hes pushing himself too hard.
But something’s missing.
Or someone.
I look around again, slower this time.
No Ruby.
“Where’s your sister?” I ask.
Alex glances up from sorting through a stack of mail. “Upstairs. Been in her room since last night. Didn’t even come down for breakfast.”
A small alarm bell goes off in my head.
I dont say anything i just nod and head up the stairs every step adding weight to the pressure in my chest.
The hallway is dim and the curtains are still drawn. Ruby’s door is cracked open a thin line of light slanting across the carpet. I push it wider.
And freeze.
her room is a mess but not the normal teenage kind.
not the clothes on the floor forgotten cereal bowl under the bed its a mess.
This is different.
her clothes are piled in strange little stacks like she was sorting them into categories she couldnt decide on.the
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window is half open the curtain swaying slightly with the morning breeze her phone lies on the bed scre glowing facedown with a new notification.
something crawls up my spine.
i cross the room pick up the phone and the brightness blinds me for a second before the messages sharpen into focus.
do you have the bag?
I got us the tickets. Tomorrow night.we can go straight from the airport.my heart drops so fast it almost kicks the breath out of me.
a name flashes across the top of the screen a boy’s name i know in the worst way. A boy who barely turned seventeen himself. A boy who lives like consequences don’t exist.
A flight.
Tomorrow night.
my stomach twists. i sink onto the edge of Ruby’s mattress trying to breathe around the cold rush spreading through my chest.
Ruby is fifteen.
Fifteen, and planning to disappear.
Not run away for a night.
Not rebel for attention.
Disappear.
I scroll, my fingers numb.
She’s planning everything with this boy–hotels, money, who will cover for her.its reckless desperate naïve.….…… and terrifying.
im still staring at her phone when the bedroom door suddenly clicks shut.
Ruby’s footsteps.
She stops in the doorway.
her eyes widen just slightly when she sees me sitting on her bed.but its not the look of someone caught its the look of someone already halfway gone.
her backpack hangs off her shoulder zipper undone a corner of a sweatshirt sticking out.her movements jitter in the air nervous and restless like shes vibrating from the wrong kind of adrenaline.
“Hey,” she says trying to sound casual.I lift her phone. ” you want to tell me what this is?color drains from her face before anger rushes in to replace it. “You went through my stuff?”
“i walked into your room and your phone was lit up.” my voice is steady but only barely. “You’re fifteen, Ruby.
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“So?” she snaps.
((
so you are not running away with a boy.” my words hit the air like stones.
her jaw clenches. “you dont get it.”
R
+25 Bonus
then explain it to me,” i say trying to keep my voice soft even though everything inside me is tightening. because from where im standing this looks like a disaster waiting to happen.”
you dont know him,” she shoots back.
“I know enough.” I stand slowly. “i know hes not someone who can take care of you.i know hes not someone you should trust with your life.”
((
you are just saying that because
))
“because i love you,” i cut in. ” because you are fifteen and scared and trying to convince yourself this is brave.”
“it is brave,” she argues voice wavering.
“its running,” i say. “And its dangerous.”
her face crumples before she quickly rebuilds it stacking stubbornness over fear. “you cant control me.”
((
im not trying to control you.” i take a breath. ” im trying to keep you
alive.”
thats when she snaps.
“You never listen to me! you just decide whats best and expect me to agree!“the words slap the space between us louder than they should be.my chest burns. “im listening now.tell me why you want to do this.”
