So, this is the first chapter for my interpretation to Alice in Wonderland, it's kind of like a spin-off, only more... weird I guess. So, I hope you enjoy, and please stay tuned for the next chapter!
I sighed as I looked outside the window of the humid, boring classroom that I was cooped up in, thinking about what it would be like if I could have a chance at escaping this hellhole, and going somewhere that I actually felt like I belonged. The sound of people snickering and murmuring snapped me out of my thoughts, and I looked in front of me to see my teacher, Ms. Cacho, standing in front of me with a ruler in hand, and the other crossed over her chest. "Ms. Kingston, are you daydreaming again?" she asked me, glaring at me with those ugly blue eyes.
"No, Ms. Cacho," I replied, my Spanish accent lacing her last name; she didn't like it when I pronounced her last name the Spanish way, she said it was pronounced Cay-Cho, but, who was I to judge? She glared at me for a few more moments before turning around and continuing her lesson, which consisted of simple arithmetic that everyone knew by heart, after the countless times she had repeated the lesson, of course. Right when she was about to assign us a boatload of 'wonderful' homework, the shrill scream of the bell filled our ears. Heaving a sigh, I got up from my chair, and was about to walk out of the classroom when Ms. Cacho called me.
Slowly, I turned around, and looked at her with a confused look, "Ms. Kingston, please take a seat," her raspy, crackly voice called. I walked to the desk in front of her own desk and sat atop of it. She shot me a glare before proceeding on, "if you continue to slack off like you've been doing recently, you will be retained for another year, and I doubt any college would want someone who's been retained," she growled, glaring at me with those murky, ugly blue eyes. I held in incoherencies as I glared right back at her, hoping she would let me leave.
When she finished her speech about me not being accepted into colleges for being held back, I walked out of the classroom and down the hall. I reached into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out my phone, after I dialed my best friend's number, I pulled it up to my ear, and waited patiently for my dear friend Travis to pick it up. "Hello?" called the sweet, deep, melodic voice of Travis Knight, my best friend since second grade, "hey, babe," I called teasingly, smiling as memories of us played in my head. "Oh, Jazzy, hey! How are ya?" he asked.
"Eh, I've been better," I replied, frowning slightly as I thought about what the teacher had just told me, I looked down at my feet as I walked down the stairs of the school building. "What happened?" Travis asked me, hearing the worry in his voice, I sighed and sat down on the steps, once I had gotten down to the last one, "I'm gonna get held back," I whispered, placing my forehead in my hand as I heard him sigh disappointedly. "Babe, what did I tell you?" he asked me, reminding me of the sentence he always repeated.
"I know, I know, 'schoolwork before friend-work, and learning before pretending.' But, it's not that simple anymore, you know I have a problem with staying inside rooms for too long, I get all antsy and I can't concentrate," I explained, closing my eyes and sighing again. "Ellis, what are you going to do?" he asked me, "you can't slack off," he continued, sounding more and more worried with each word that came out through the speaker. "Travie, I'll find a way to get past all of this, all right? If I have too, I'll run away like I had planned," I told him, looking around.
I could almost hear him shake his head through the phone, "and where would you go?" he asked me, "where, Ellis? Where?" he asked me, "you can't just run away, you know, you need to have an idea of where you're going to go! I would let you come back to New York, but that's just too faraway for you to go, you can't travel more than a thousand miles just to be with me," he said, almost sadly. "Well, I could try, I mean, you're already eighteen, we could live our own life on the run, just the two of us, together," I told him.
Again, there was another silence before he started, "I... You can't do that Ellis, what will your parents think-" I cut him off, "what does it matter?! They're never there for me anymore, Travis! They're too damn busy working, and paying the bills to even care about me anymore!" I exclaimed, letting a few tears flow freely down my face, "Travie, baby, I don't want to hurt them, or you, or anyone, but the reality of the situation is, is that I need to get out of here, I need to find my own place and I need to survive on my own, I can't do this anymore," I told him.
"Ellis, you can't do this to yourself, just hang in there and get your grades up, all right?" he asked me, "can you do that? Or are you too far behind?" he asked me again. I let a few more tears slip from my eyes as I nodded, then I realized that I was on the phone, "y-yeah, I-I'm too far behind," I whispered quietly, rubbing my arm as I tried to contain the sadness I suddenly felt. "I can't believe this, Ellis, I told you to try in school," he growled, almost sounding angry at me for failing school.
"Look, Travis, I tried, I really, really tried in school, but people don't like me here, I keep getting into fights with kids and stuff..." I told him, looking down at the ground as I stood up from the stairs and began walking. "Ellis Jazmine Gonzalez-Kingston, don't fucking tell me that you're failing because you get into fights!" I flinched away from the phone due to volume of his voice. "Travis, I'm failing because I can't take it anymore, I can't take having to be away from you, and having to act like I'm fine..." I trailed off, looking up at the sky.
Tears started to well up in my eyes again, "I can't do this without you anymore, okay? I need to be where you are," I told him, my voice cracking from the emotions that were bubbling up inside. "Ellis, you promised me that you could do this, whether or not I was there, what happened?" he asked me, "who's upsetting you?" he asked me, sounding upset himself. "It's not people that are upsetting me, it's just my whole life, the fact that I have to be away from you, I was fine in Jacksonville, and even better in Schenectady, but, I don't know, I can't take it anymore, I want to go back to you," I whispered.
He sighed. "Look, baby, just hang in there, okay? I'll find an apartment in Miami, and you can move in with me, I'll tell your parents that you're too stressed out, and that you need me, all right?" he asked me. "No, that's not good enough for me anymore, I'm going back to Schenectady, I'm running away and I don't care what you say, or think, I'm going away, and I'm going to you," I told him as I walked into my house. "Ellis, no, you can't do that, I won't let you," he told me, sounding desperate now, since I threatened him that I was going to run away.
A sob escaped my lips and I shook my head, "I'm doing it, okay? I'm doing it and nobody can stop me, not even you," I told him before hanging up, and shutting off the phone. I slipped the sleek Blackberry Style into my pocket, and walked to the closet, where I had my emergency suitcase and messenger bag for when I decided to do what I was going to do today. I grabbed both and placed them on the bed, I zipped open my suitcase and walked back to the closet to look for some clothes that would be suitable for running away.
After a few minutes of debating, I settled on three pairs of skinny jeans, three pairs of skinny cargos, and a pair of flared jeans, all in dark colors; four long-sleeved shirts, four t-shirts, and two v-necks that were all in dark colors as well; a few jackets that were suited for both warm and cold weather, in dark colors as well; and finally, two pairs of combat boots, another pair of Converse that were rather new. Once I finished packing those things in, I grabbed my toiletries and makeup and threw them into the messenger bag, along with my laptop, and my iPod.
Once I had finished packing all of those things, I grabbed my school backpack and walked downstairs to get some food that I could eat without heating up, and would last for a while. I grabbed a few cans of ravioli and spaghetti, as well as a few cans of soup before throwing those into the bag, along with a bottle of water that I could probably refill for free. And with that, I walked back upstairs, grabbed all of my suitcases, and then walked to my parents' room. Slowly, I walked towards my mom's purse and opened it.
I grabbed the wallet out of the purse and counted the money inside of it, 'a thousand dollars... If I take ten, then I'll complete my two thousand... and that's all I really need for a while...' I calculated in my head as I looked at the crisp, green bill in my hand that was screaming for me to take it. I nodded to myself and closed the wallet and took the bill before going back to my room and grabbing my guitar case, I placed the bill in with the rest of the bills that were hidden in the secret compartment of my case, and closed it back up, after inspecting the guitar as well.
'Here goes nothing,' I thought in my head before turning off the light in my room and walking out through the backdoor of my house, which led to the forest that nobody ever went in. I took a deep breath and entered the forest, never once looking back to see if my parents had arrived, or to say goodbye.