Prologue

I lay in bed quietly. It was late, around 3 in the morning, and very dark. My room was completely empty for the second time in four months. Ever since Jason got a new friend, he hasn't been around nearly as much, which meant that I was stuck at home with Nate, who was a preteen freak. Well, 12, but nevertheless, annoying. God, I cannot wait until that voice of his cracks.

And then, suddenly, for the second time in my entire life, I heard a tap on the window. I sat up and looked to see my twelve year old neighbor, Lilly. Her face was bright red and she hanging on the pipe by my window. I got out of bed and went over to it. I opened the window and she climbed in quietly. She looked to me and sighed.

"Pack." The small girl ordered.

"What? Lilly, what's wrong?" She shook her head.

"Pack. Don't bring anything you don't need." She said sternly. I didn't feel like fighting with her, because she seemed to be very distressed. I went over to my dresser and opened the drawer.

"What exactly am I packing for?" I asked, looking to her. She sighed.

"Life. We're leaving." She said bluntly. I nodded, confused and I began pulling out shirts and pairs of pants.

"…Why?" I asked, still piling my clothes on the ground.

"I'll explain later." She said franticly. She went to the closet and pulled out a red duffle bag and throwing it to me. I kneeled to the ground and stuffed all of the clothes into it.

"What else do I need?" I asked uneasily.

"Change, first." She ordered. I nodded and grabbed a new t-shirt and jeans. I pulled off my sleeping t-shirt and slipped into the new one. I pulled out of my sweatpants and slipped into the jeans, then grabbing a pair of socks from the top of the open duffle bag, and putting them on. I threw on my black chucks and looked to Lilly for the next step.

She looked around the room and saw the desk. She ran to it and handed me the notebook that was sitting on it with a pen.

"Write a note." She said.

"Saying what exactly?" I asked, sitting down on the edge of my bed.

"You're leaving, and you aren't coming back." She said, looking to the window quietly.

"What?! Lilly, where are we going?" I asked, looking up at her and she sighed.

"I don't know yet." She said sorrowfully. I sighed and stood up, taking her wrists and pulling her to look at me.

"Lilly, stop. What is going on?" She started to struggle, pulling away from me, but I kept her close.

"No, no, we can't stop. You have to pack, we need to go." She mumbled, still struggling harshly. Her arms ripped from mine and she was mere milliseconds from pulling away, but I grabbed her tiny body and held her close to me.

"Lilly, what's going on?" I asked her sternly. She looked up to me, complete devastation in her eyes.

"My…my parents…are getting a divorce…" She whimpered. She burst into tears and fell into my chest, sobbing. I squeezed her tiny, frail body gently as she cried. It took a few minutes before she ceased, and when she did, she gave a deep sigh, and whimpered lightly.

"I'll pack." I said quietly. I grabbed the notebook and pen, and wrote the note.

Dear Mom, Dad, Nate and Jason, and anyone else concerned with my well-being.

I guess the first person to read this will be Jason, getting back from that friend of yours' house. Or possibly Mom when I don't come down for breakfast. Either way, I'm gone. I sincerely don't know where I'm going, but its not going to be around here. Lilly is with me. This is sort of her idea, but I can't let her go off on her own, so I'm going with her. I will honestly miss all of you, I swear.

Love,

Shane Adam Grey

PS. Nate, you can't have my hockey skates. I'll need them when I get back.

'Maybe that was a little too joking for a runaway note…' I thought. I shrugged it off and ripped the note out of the notebook and folded it, setting it on my bed. I walked over to the nightstand and grabbed my wallet, and the picture frame that was sitting there. It was of my immediate family. Mom, Dad, Nate, Jason and I. I pulled the picture out of the frame and folded it, shoving it into my pocket. I looked to Lilly quietly grabbing the duffle bag.

"Anything else I'll need?" I asked. She bit her lip in thought.

"Toothbrush, toothpaste, and some soap." She said quietly.

"What? Lilly, I don't know if I can get to the bathroom without waking anyone…" I whispered. She shrugged uneasily. I sighed, putting my bag on the bed and kicking off my shoes. I slipped out into the hallway and walked almost silently toward the bathroom. I grabbed the knob, only to feel it turn against my will. The door opened to reveal a completely exhausted Nathaniel, his curls a complete whack-job mess. He raised one eyebrow at me.

"What are you doing with clothes on?" He squeaked in that high pitched whistle-like voice of his.

"I fell asleep in them." I lied.

"What are you doing up, anyway?" He asked, folding his arms over his think chest.

"I have to use the bathroom." I said, faking annoyance.

"Whatever dude. Don't do anything illegal." He mumbled, walking past me towards his room.

"How could I possibly do something illegal by going to the bathroom, then changing, and going back to bed?" I asked, faking confusion. He looked at me and let out a laugh.

"Like I said. Don't do anything illegal, and be back before Mom and Dad realize you're gone." He slid into his room before I could respond. I rolled my eyes at his far-too-mature mind, and went into the bathroom. I grabbed an extra tube of toothpaste, and my red toothbrush from the sink, and two boxes of soap from the cabinet. I turned off the light and walked quietly back to my room where Lilly was sitting on my bed, clutching a pillow. I stuffed the amenities into the bag and looked to her.

"Lilly, are you sure about this?" She looked up at me, slight terror in her eyes. She nodded.

"Are you ready to go?" She asked quietly. I looked around my room and sighed. I looked to her and nodded. She nodded back, and walked over to the window, opening it. She looked out and sighed. I thought for a second, feeling a gust of wind come through the window. I sighed and moved toward my closet. I grabbed two sweatshirts, stuffing one in the duffle bag, and slipping one over my head. I put my shoes on and slung my bag over one shoulder. I dropped the bag outside, just below my window. Lilly went to climb outside, but I stopped her.

"I'll go first. If you fall, I can catch you this way." She nodded, and I climbed out the window. I slid down the side of the house on the gutter pipe that was continently right next to my window, and fell to the ground in a thump. I sighed and got up, brushing grass clippings from my pants and looking up at Lilly. She had climbed out and was waiting. "Ok." I said quietly. She nodded and began climbing daintily down the pipe. Once she was on the ground, she sighed. "Where's your stuff?" I asked.

"This way." She said quietly. She walked low towards a bush and pulled out two bags. One duffle, a similar size to mine, and a bigger one.

"Two?" I asked. She nodded and opened the bigger one. Inside, was a thick blanket that looked big enough to cover both of us, a bunch of apples, a bag of marshmallows, two small jars of peanut butter, a jaw of white cake icing, a box of Wheat Thins, two spoons, a large glass jar filled with what looked like cash and a thick bundle of green, that I couldn't identify on the spot. Out of curiosity, I picked it up, only to see that it was also money. A huge roll of 20's wrapped in a rubber band. I looked to her in confusion.

"Where did you get this much money?"

"I stole it from my dad's safe. The jar is my own savings."

"How much all together?" I asked.

"Around two thousand."

"Wow…"

"How much do you have?" She asked. I shrugged and pulled my wallet from my pocket. I looked inside to see a twenty and four ones."

"24 bucks." I said, chuckling. She laughed and rolled her eyes lovingly at me.

"Well, the 2000 isn't including the train tickets, so I think we'll be ok." She said, nodding.

"Train tickets? To where?"

"Right now they're from the Wyckoff station to somewhere in Washington."

"We're going to D.C?!" I asked, shocked. "Lilly, that's so far!"

"Not DC, Joey. Like, the state Washington."

"Oh..wow…" I said uneasily. She sighed.

"You don't have to come, Joe." She said quietly. "I'm sorry for making it seem like you had no choice, but if you don't want to go, you don't have to. I can do it on my own if I need to."

"No, Lilly, I mean, I don't think my parents will react too well to this, but I can't let you go alone. Who knows what could happen…" I mumbled the end, slightly scaring myself as to the probability that something would happen if I didn't go with her. "I'm going to protect you. I promise." She nodded quietly. She zipped up the bag and smiled at me uneasily. I leaned over to her, and kissed her cheek.

I realize this must sound stupid to you, but understand, I'm only 14. She's only 12. I've honestly never kissed a girl. (Well, actually, I've kissed Mandy before, but that's a side story I won't go into right now.) Therefore, me kissing her, even just her cheek, its kind of huge. Even though Lilly is only 12, she's honestly one of the prettiest girls I've ever me. She doesn't really have any kind of body yet, but either way, she's really beautiful. And sweet. If I haven't mentioned, the main reason that I'm following her on this insane adventure is a big attribute to the fact that she's been my very best friend since I was around 2. -snickers-. Yeah, I've known her since she was born, which, in theory, makes it so she should be like my sister, but in all truth, I've always felt like we had some kind of freaky connection that I will probably never understand. And ending this long explanation, is a short one. I'm in love with her.

"We should go. The train leaves in an hour." She said quietly, blushing slightly from the kiss. I nodded, and I took her hand in mine, interlacing her fingers in mine, standing up. I threw my bag and the bag of money and food over my shoulder, she took her own, and we ran against the fence into the woods.

When we got to the train station, we were sitting there for a while, waiting. I saw a bunch of road maps for sale, and bought one that was a spiral bound and had detailed road maps of the country. I showed it to Lilly and she smiled.

"We can travel everywhere." She said quietly. "And record it in there." I nodded and pulled out a sharpie that I had stuffed, last minute, in my bag. I flipped to the full country map and found New Jersey. I found a town on it that was very close to Wyckoff, and found about where it was, and put a black dot on it.

"Perfect." I said quietly.

Two hours, We sat on a train, Lilly was fast asleep curled up against me, snuggled into the extra sweatshirt I had stored in my bag. I held her gently, completely terrified as to what I had gotten myself into.

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I'll try to update sometimes soon?

Crossover between Camp Rock and Hannah Montana. (Hence, Lilly)

Thanks,

Review? If...you like it?

Emilie