"Can you come pick me up?" came the whispered voice over the phone. Roger glanced over at his clock (10:25 PM) and raised his eyebrows.
"Now?"
"No, tomorrow," the response was hushed but annoyed. "I'll watch for you. Come quick." There was a click, and then the dial tone. Roger rolled his eyes and hung up, grabbing his jacket as he walked out the door.
Ten minutes later, he pulled up in front of a mostly-dark two story house and honked twice. For a split second, nothing happened, but then lights turned on almost simultaneously upstairs and on the proch.
"April!" a woman's voice screeched from upstairs as the screen door out front banged open and a small redhead shot out, shoes and purse in hand. Roger leaned over and opened the passenger side door just in time for the girl to dive in, breathless and grinning maniacally.
"Go!" She shouted as she yanked the door closed, and Roger slammed his foot on the gas as a man came barreling out of the house at top speed. Roger whooped loudly as the pealed away from the house, and April laughed gleefully.
"You're going to be in so much trouble," Roger laughed after they were out of sight of the house, doubling back down another street so her parents wouldn't find them.
"Fuck them," April said breathlessly, combing her fingers through her hair, tangled in her mad flight to his car. "I turn 18 at midnight. That's an hour and a half from now."
"Good point," Roger replied with a grin. "What should we do until then? The wardens know where I live."
"I'm sure we can think of something," April grinned wickedly, her blue eyes flashing.
"Happy birthday," Roger murmured as the clock clicked over to midnight. April moaned and tangled her fingers tighter into his hair, her back arched. Roger grinned and sucked - skirts were God's gift to horny guys, he was certain.
All of the sudden, though, she stiffened, pushing his head away a bit. "Shh..." she whispered, sounding nervous. "Did you hear that?" Roger frowned slightly.
"It's just the wind," he muttered - they were parked out by the train tracks to avoid trouble. "Don't be such a--" he was cut off by the twin sounds of glass shattering and April screaming. "Fuck!" he yelped, and scrambled to get in the driver's seat as April's father took another swing at his car with a baseball bat.
"Daddy, stop!" April shrieked as Roger fumbled with the keys.
"You are coming home with me, young lady!" her father growled, reaching in the shattered window, trying to catch hold of her as she kicked at him.
"Roger!" April shouted desperately, just as the engine turned over and caught.
"Hold on!" he shouted back, throwing the car into reverse and flooring the gas for the second time that night, sending gravel (and April's father) flying. Once he got on the road, he just drove, trying to get as much distance between them and the baseball bat as possible.
"Jesus Christ!" April exclaimed as she crawled into the front seat, nursing a few shallow cuts on her hands and knees. "What the fuck was his problem?"
"Guess he didn't realize it was midnight," Roger suggested with a shaky grin. April laughed.
"Guess so." They drove in silence for a moment. "So now what?"
"I don't know," Roger admitted. "I guess we... stop by my place and your place if we can, and head out of town."
"Good. Dad won't expect us to go back home," April said, glancing behind them. "And by the time we leave there, he'll probably figure we're not going to go by your place."
"Cool," Roger turned and headed towards April's house. "Then what?"
"Well..." she said, a mischievous grin spreading slowly across her face. "I always wanted to live in New York."