Chapter 1

"If These Streets Could Talk"

I pushed the headphones deep into my ears, letting the rhythm drown out the noise of the town around me. I watched the girl on the corner of the street dig through her purse. She dropped the bag to the ground, bent over, and finally pulled the much needed cell phone from the bottom. A dark man walked behind her and, completely obviously to me, checked out her ass. He continued walking as if it was not odd that he was a 40 year old man checking out, what appeared to be, a 15 year old. I smirked to myself when I realized the man was none other than Mayor Dan Scott. I pushed them deeper into my ears and lowered my head. As I ran my hands over my arms, I felt someone behind me. I slowly turned around and pulled the left earbud from my ear.

"What are you doing out, Peyton?" Karen Roe placed her hand on my shoulder and I pulled back a little. "It's okay, Peyton, no one is going to hurt you." She put her hand on top of mine, "You know that right?"

I nodded my head and gave her a half smile. I put the earbud back in, pushed it in hard, and continued on my way. "Let me take you home." I could hear her yell to me, but I just kept walking. I would let her, but I wasn't even sure where home was anymore.

It was almost cold outside that day and that was odd for a March afternoon. The cool air made my body ache. A cold gust of wind swept through the downtown streets and sent chills through my body. I looked up and glanced at the other side of the street.

I watched a young man across the street put a quarter in the parking meter. He looked sad. His eyes looked swollen from tears and his shoulders slumped over in disappointment. He walked passed a children's store and stared at it longingly. I recognized this man. I called out to him.

"Nathan!" I heard my name and quickly whipped my head around. I dug my hands into the pocket of my sweatshirt and clasped my hands together. Something was missing, but I paid no attention to it and looked at the girl across the street.

She walked across the street, dodging the cars slowly passing by. I stared at her. I could see the bruises through her white, long sleeved tee shirt. She pushed her hair behind her ear and pulled her head phones out. I could hear music blasting from the little speakers.

"Strays Don't Sleep?" I asked her. "In one of those moods?" Peyton was the kind of person who was completely affected by music and you could tell what kind of mood she was in by the music she was listening to at that very moment. For example, Strays Don't Sleep equaled a sort of down and out kind of mood. Typical Peyton was pretty mellow, but when music that was even a little mellow for her was playing through her head, this meant for an interesting mood.

She shrugged her shoulders and replied, "I guess so, yeah." She put her hands in her pockets and narrowed her eyes at me, "Are you doing okay? I mean, is everything alright?"

I gave her a half smile and said, "Yeah…Okay, I guess." I smiled at her and shook my head, slowly glancing into the window of the children's clothing store. For a moment I felt something missing. I looked down at my left hand and, just for a second, missed her. As I looked back up, my eyes met with Peyton's.

She wrapped her arm around mine and said, "Wanna walk? I think we both could use someone to talk to."

I felt my foot press harder and longer on the accelerator. I looked at my rear view mirror and watched the town move further and further out of sight. My ring-less left hand clutched the steering wheel as if it was going to be the one thing to save me from myself. I didn't even know what I was doing anymore.

Things were going downhill fast and I didn't know what to do to stop it. I glanced at the empty passenger seat knowing that it was my fault that no one was in it. I watched my cell phone, which lay in the front seat, vibrate. I stared at it for a moment longer and finally decided to answer.

"Hello." I said, mid-cough. I watched the trees pass by me in almost a fluid motion of green. The stop lights swayed back and forth in the gusting wind. Rain began to quickly fall from the dark sky. The drops hit hard on the roof of my car.

"Haley, turn around, you can't do this. You can't run away from this." The voice on the other line said. I was hoping that this voice could soothe me into believing that running away from my problems was the wrong answer, but it didn't have that effect on me.

I took a deep breath, "This is what I have to do. I have to get away. I can't stay there anymore and watch him raise her child."

"He isn't." He voice replied, "They aren't. Just come back and talk to him about it Hales. Come on. You can't leave me."

I closed my eyes for a moment and then opened them quickly, remembering that I was driving. "Listen, Lucas, I am not leaving you. I am finding me. This is what needs to happen. I have to get out of this town."

"Please, come back. I can't be here without you. We can get through this together. Just don't run away again. Don't come back for me, come back for yourself."

I let his words run throughout my body. I removed my foot from the accelerator and put the car in park. I listened to the pounding of the water on the windshield. I closed the phone and tossed it onto the passenger seat. My hand found its way to the door and I slowly opened it. I let the rain hit my left leg as my foot fell to the pavement. I looked up to the dark sky and felt the rain cover me.

A horn sounded behind me but I didn't even budge. I just stood there in the middle of the road engulfed in a torrential downpour. This was the most free I had ever felt, and I was going to soak up every moment of it.