Chapter One

Well this is a bunch of crap. Nothing could make tonight worse than it already is. My father, being the strictest man in the whole galaxy, has grounded me from going out, seeing the garden about five minutes from home, and leaving the house.

He is bound to be one of the worst fathers ever.

My life sucks.

But at least I still have my silver ring with an amethyst crystal on it that I had gotten from my mother. It always made me smile, no matter the situation.

I looked at the ring on my right hand, but I was still frowning. The reason why is: if I'm grounded, I can't see my mother's grave that is in the garden.

I lazily rolled myself out of bed after thinking for a good half hour, and walked outside to the balcony, putting my elbows in the edge and resting my head in my hands, staring at the stars.

I saw something out of the corner of my eye.

I turned my head quickly so I wouldn't miss it.

That it happened to be a Solar-Surfer.

With someone riding on it.

It seems like I've been watching the Solar-Surfer for a whole ten minutes, following it with my gaze.

As I was watching, I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be free once more.

I'm never gonna get out of here, I thought, I'm gonna become an old, crazy lady who lives alone in this house, then I'll die, and then I will decay. I want to be free...I want to be free again, forever and always...

I buried my face in my hands for at least twenty minutes, tears streaming down my face, my shoulders heaving up and down violently.

That's when I felt strange.

Like someone was...watching me.

I lifted my head up only to see deep blue eyes staring into my own brown ones.

I jumped, stepping back some steps as I did.

"Hey! I didn't mean to scare you! Are you okay? I was just around on my Solar-Surfer, and, I saw you here, looking really upset, so, I just wanted to see if you were okay..."

His voice was calm and soft...and caring.

He had long chestnut-tone bangs framing his face with a buzz-cut in the back, having the rest of his hair in a clenched ponytail.

He was wearing a faded goldish-brown rolled-up-long-sleeved shirt, pine-tree-green pants, and black boots with red linings on them.

To him, I must've looked ridiculous, just standing there in my faded, plain baby-blue shorts that went to above my knees, and a white tee that went to my thighs.

After a long silence, he finally spoke again.

"So...are you okay?"

I wiped the tears from my eyes, nodding.

He flew over the edge and onto the balcony's platform, then he flipped the sail down on his Solar-Surfer as it powered down to a stop. He stepped off his ride and walked over to me.

"Are you sure you're okay? I mean, you looked really upset..."

"I'm fine..." I whispered, and not knowing why I bothered to answer because I was still running the freedom thoughts through my head. "I just...I just need to get out of this place—"

I burst out into tears, burying my face in my hands again and turning, not wanting him to see me bawl like a kindergarten baby.

"Hey..."

I heard his footsteps come closer.

I felt gentle hands on my shoulders, and I suddenly felt as if the teenage boy cared. As if one person that had entered my life actually cared about me. The feeling was great. But I couldn't help but continue to cry, because no one had cared about me this way ever since my mother had died.

"It's okay, I'm right here if you need me."

I tried to turn to face him to tell him I wanted to leave my home with him, but I turned too fast, making me run into him, my face banging against his chest.

"Whoa! Hey, easy, what's wrong?"

I stuttered between soft, soft sobs, "I...I just...I want..."

"What? What do you want? You can tell me, it's okay," he whispered to me, as if trying not to speak too loud, as if he was thinking I was fragile.

I calmed myself down a bit by thinking I could talk to him, because he was different than the other guys I had met in the past, the jerks and traitors and cheaters that had nearly ripped my heart from my chest by doing whatever they did best: breaking hearts.

I finally got a hold of myself, and looked up at him, straight in the eye.

"I can't stand it anymore, being here. I...I know it's stupid and it's weird, but I want to leave. I want to escape this prison. And I don't have anyone to turn to that can help me. But...you...you came into my life just now. And you're the only one that can think of that can help me escape this death-trap. Please...just...get me out of here..." I begged him, hoping he would understand what I was saying. I couldn't believe I had the guts to drop everything that was wrong and just talk to him about what I wanted to do just now.

I buried my head in his shirt, grasping it tightly in my hands as well, never wanting to let go. Ever.

I heard him sigh.

I felt my heart sink into my stomach.

I knew that his sigh was a sign I couldn't leave with him on his Solar-Surfer and escape this house of death.

He grabbed my shoulders, but he was gentle, and carefully, he pulled me away from himself, but only a little, and looked me in the eye.

"If I help you, I want you to promise me that you will leave a note to your parents, telling them you are with Jim Hawkins, who lives in the Benbow Inn. Can you do that for me?" He gave me a small smile, thinking it would make me melt and do what he had told me too.

His thought was right.

His smile...it just made me get this warm, delighted feeling inside.

I nodded, then turned out of his grip and ran inside to my room, which was what the balcony was hooked up to, and packed up all my best dresses, shoes and gloves; I grabbed my books, my toothpaste and toothbrush out of my bathroom, my pajamas to last me months—and all of my crap was going into my bottomless black-and-gold-embroidered bag, the one that never seems to run out of room.

It was only a tad bit heavy to carry once I was done packing up (which took me eight minutes tops).

I carried the bag out to the boy who was still standing there where I had left him, and plopped it down onto the ground before I turned and headed back to my room to write the note, like I had promised.

"Dear Father,

I am sick and tired of being treated like I'm a worthless nothing. Therefore, I am leaving now. I must go with Jim Hawkins to the Benbow Inn. You can find me there, but I highly recommend that you do NOT look for me at all.

Love,

Noelle

I put the note on my pillow that lied on my neatly-made bed.

I gave my room one last look, then went to the balcony with the boy.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"I'm ready...and...thank you, a million times, for letting me go with you. I...I didn't expect that."

"No problem." He gave me a big smile as he fired up his Solar-Surfer.

As I was about to get on with him, a voice made my heart nearly stop.

"STOP RIGHT THERE, YOUNG LADY!"

I froze.

A/N: Well, that's it for now. I hope you all liked it. I tried to make it as detailed as posible, but yet I failed. This is my first fanfic on this site, so, no flames, & please be nice. ^_^