I sat behind Aaron, the warm evening air rushing past me. I didn't know where he was taking me, but I just wanted to get away from that beach, suspecting that Stef had most likely already tracked my phone to being there. We drove away from the beach and up a road that led to the top of a small plateau riddled with trees and benches.
As I got off of Aaron's motorcycle and handed the helmet back to him, I looked around. The dark sky that had been steadily clearing itself of the clouds since this morning was now covered with stars. The land below us seemed as if it had taken the lights of the sky, multiplied them by 100, and thrown them into the city. Only these lights were man-made, and flashes of white, red, yellow, blue. The colors seemed endless compared to those of the stars.
I found myself making my way over to a tree, whose leaves were ruffling slightly in the breeze. I sat down in the green grass below it, and rested against the trunk. Aaron did the same, sitting down next to me. I looked over at him, and saw him staring out upon the horizon.
"It's cool, right?" he asked, still watching the lights.
"Yeah" I answered, turning my head back to the city. "I don't think I've ever seen it like this before."
"I don't think you fully experience it until you have. There's just something about seeing it at night that makes it seem completely different. Like it's a whole other world." He let out a small laugh. "I don't know."
We both sat for a while in silence, appreciating the beauty in front of us before Aaron began talking again. "So, is there a reason that you wanted to leave the beach? I mean, it seemed like you were having a pretty good time."
"Um, it's not that I was having a bad time, I'm just not really a big fan of crowds."
Aaron nodded. "It's just that you seemed pretty worried after you got that text message or whatever. I wanted to make sure everything's okay."
I hesitated for a moment before answering. "I actually just got in a pretty big fight with my birth dad. He texted me and I guess that kind of upset me a bit."
He nodded. "Yeah, I get that. I've been in my fair share of arguments with my parents. It always kind of left me in a state where I didn't want to deal with them. Or anyone, really."
We spent awhile sitting under that tree, talking, before I noticed how late it must be. The sun had gone down hours ago, the moon and stars now being the only lights in the sky aside from the occasional plane that flew above us.
I stood up, stretching.
"Uh, I should probably get going." I knew what I would have to face when I got home. Robert would no doubt be furious with me. Extend my being grounded. Maybe even cancel my birthday party, although I didn't think he would do that. He still wanted me to get to like him. And Stef and Lena would be equally as mad. I hated making them angry. They loved me so much and I was afraid that when I did something like this they would think that I didn't love them the same. That I didn't want them. But I did. With all of my heart. All I wanted was to go back to them. And I knew that deliberately disobeying Robert wasn't the best way for me to get them to want me back, but I just couldn't stand him. I hated how he tried so hard to be my Father and couldn't understand that that's not who he his. He could have a relationship with me - but that doesn't me that to do so he has to tear me away from my family.
"Yeah" Aaron said, getting up and pulling out his phone to check the time. "It is getting pretty late. I should get home too"
We made our way back to his motorcycle. The air had gotten a bit cooler as it had gotten later, so as we began to drive the air caused me to shiver a bit. I sat behind Aaron, pointing out directions back to the Quinn's house, before stopping him down the street.
"Here is good, thanks." I figured it was better to get off before we got to the House, just incase Robert happened to be waiting out front, even though it was unlikely given that it was probably past midnight.
"Alright" Aaron said, reaching out to retrieve the helmet I was handing to him. "I'll see you later"
"Actually, I'm having a birthday party this weekend. It's up 4 houses from here, around 1 on saturday until the evening - we'll have, like dinner and cake and stuff. And they have a pool, so you should probably bring a bathing suit or whatever."
"Uh, yeah, cool. I'll be there"
"Ok. See you then." I said, smiling, before watching him drive away. I turned away and began to make my way toward my impending doom. I tried to figure out what to say to Robert upon the inevitable confrontation I would face. I knew I would have to apologise and try to explain myself. But really, what am I supposed to say to that.
Hey Robert. I know you grounded me and made it SUPER clear that I wasn't supposed to go anywhere other than school and home but I don't think that you should get any control over my life and what I do so I snuck out to a party and stayed until like, one in the morning and didn't tell you or anybody else where I was gonna be. So, I'm sorry I guess, and please don't cancel my birthday party, Thanks.
Before I knew it, I had made it to the Quinn's house, and now stood at the front door. I still had no idea what I was going to do, or what Robert was going to do either. I took a deep breath in and let out a long sigh, before turning the door knob.
Hey all, thanks so much for reading. I feel like it's been a while since I've updated,but now that I'm not too busy I'll be trying to update more often. I would love to hear any suggestions for this story as well as fosters related stories you would like to see. Have a wonderful day :)
