|Sam|

I was certainly in an embarrassing position if I'd ever seen one. People were staring and kids tugged at their mothers' hands, pointing and asking questions. The main inquiry probably being: "Why is that girl bent over a cop car?" It's true, my face was smashed against the hood of the vehicle while my hands were cuffed behind me. This wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for the fact that I was wearing a chicken suit. I wriggled my arms trying to see if the cuffs were loose but they held fast. I lifted my head to peer around, but one of my captors slammed my face back onto the car. My nose burned with pain from hitting the inside of my mask but I couldn't plead police brutality on that one.

"We got an attempted theft at the Chicken Shack," One of the officers said into his radio, "Suspect has been capture and is currently in custody." I was definitely screwed once they got this stupid chicken head off of me and things seemed pretty hopeless. I started to mull over a plan in my head as the cops came closer and closer to finishing with the witnesses.

"Alright you," The fat officer barked, "Let's see who our cannibal chicken really is." Once I felt his meaty hand on my shoulder, I yanked up my head, feeling the impact of my skull smashing into his face. I turned and kicked his partner right in the knee cap, effectively knocking him down. I didn't hesitate as I bolted down the street, my cuffed hands bouncing against my back and the rubber chicken feet smacking against the pavement. I ran and ran, not looking back to see if I was being chased or not, until I found a nice alley way. I hid behind the dumpster and sank against the wall, my heart knocking against my ribcage. I gagged as I breathed in a mouth full of boiling air that had been trapped inside the rubber mask. I used my shoulders and the brick wall to shimmy it off my head. I sighed in relief as a rush of cool air whipped my sweat-soaked face.

They would be looking for me no doubt. How hard would it be to miss a criminal in a chicken suit? My hands were still cuffed behind my back and I didn't have any way to get them off. I looked around and spotted a broken gutter hanging from the side of the building. I rubbed my arm against the sharp edge and tore through a row of cheap stitching. I broke through several rows until I was able to wiggled my way out of the suit. I kicked the stupid thing under the dumpster and looked around the corner of the alley. The road was pretty deserted aside from a few stragglers but I figured the handcuffs would look slightly suspicious.

Carly's building was right across this traffic circle, if I could just sprint there without giving away my attempted arrest... I crouched down like a track runner and took off. I hopped over obstacles and dodged passerby's, slamming my shoulder into the front door of the apartment building. I stumbled into the lobby, flying up the stairs before Lewbert could even look up from his toenails. I didn't stop running until I was in front of Carly's door, kicking at it frantically with my dirty sneaker. It finally opened slowly enough that I had to push past whoever let me in.

"Sam?" Spencer gaped at me, his hands still against the open door. I grinned and jiggled the handcuffs behind my back.

"I got away," I said. Spencer didn't grin back which raised a few red flags in my head. He closed the door and studied my handcuffs for a moment.

"I guess we'll have to get those off." He said, "Carly is upstairs, I'll go find some bobby pins." I gave Spencer a weird look as I bounded past him up the stairs. Normally he would've wanted to hear all about my amazing spectacle of escape but for some reason he just looked disappointed. I figured he was bummed about something and maybe wasn't in the mood. I would just tell him later. I had to open the door backwards because of the cuffs but tripped and fell face first onto the floor. I looked up to see Carly's jaw hanging open and her book on the ground.

"Again?" She said.

"But I got away," I replied with a wink, "Now help me out of these!" I rolled over and flailed my legs until Carly finally got up, pulling a pin from her hair. She jiggled it around in the lock until the cuffs popped open. I sat up and rubbed my sore wrists, thankful that I had managed to get away again.

"Thanks bud, these things are gonna give me a rash some day." I said, my grin fading when Carly frowned at me instead of rolling her eyes like usual.

"Sam we need to chat," She said seriously, patting the bean bag beside her.

"Did somebody die?" I asked, taking a seat next to her, "I hope it wasn't anyone important, like Fredhead."

"No Sam," Carly said, rolling her eyes, "Freddie isn't dead but this crime spree you're on needs to."

"Crime spree," I repeated sarcastically, "I'm just being me kiddo,"

"It's not you, you're better than this,"

I bit my tongue and looked away. Carly has always believed that I'm more than my arrest record but honestly I've never really proved that. Her undying faith in me is definitely undeserved since I'm always getting into trouble and having her get me out of it. I am the embodiment of wasted potential but I've always been pretty okay with that. I've never gotten in too deep that I needed to completely wipe my hard drive and start from scratch. I couldn't help but think that having my face smooshed against a cop car was a major wake up call.

"I'm tired of being a trashcan Carls," I said, looking up at her, "I'm wasting so much potential."

"Then change,"

"I need you to teach me how," I said, "Like a role model or something."

Carly stood up, kicking aside the handcuffs with her shoe.

"Sam, we're going to make you a model citizen!"

Thank you for and critique are welcome.