Hey there valued readers. Sorry I haven't updated in, like, forever, but I literally did NOTHING over the summer but chill out. But have no fear! I recently got a blackberry and I found out how to work on all my stories on it! It's like a laptop only even more portable! So expect a lot more work on the way!

Chapter Four

SPOV

"Sam!" my mother called. I walked lazily into the kitchen.

"Yeah?" I said when I rounded the corner. My mom dropped a black bag at my feet.

"Will you take this out to the road to be picked up?"

I picked up the bag and slung it over my shoulder, slipped on my running shoes and prepared for the trek up my driveway. I stepped through the door, jumped on my board, and headed up the road. I felt bad for my parents and friends. I hadn't been myself lately. I was usually a pretty fun person to be around. But since she had left, I'd become someone totally different, and I didn't really like him.

My inner turmoil had helped pass the time, and before I knew it, I was at the road. It always felt weird going from the drive to the road. On my driveway, I was surrounded by trees and forestry. When I reached the road, I was confronted by fields of currently dead crops. I dropped the bag on the ground and turned to go when I saw something in the middle of the road several yards away. I was pretty sure it was alive, or had been, at least. Probably another deer. I headed toward it to move it off the road when I realized it was the wrong shape for a deer. As I got close to it, I realized it was a person. I jumped and broke into a sprint. I rolled the person onto her side and suppressed a scream.

It was Lissa.

I tried to shake her awake, but she didn't budge. I put my fingers on her wrist. I found her pulse, finally, but it was slow. She was very dehydrated. I took her in my arms and thanked God she was so light. I hopped back on my board and took off down the drive.

When I arrived at my house a few minutes later, I jumped off my moving board and threw the screen door open. My mom was in the living room watching daytime TV.

"Mom!" I shouted when I got in the house. I ran down the hall and into the living room. She looked up in surprise and saw Lissa in my arms.

"Oh, my goodness!" she exclaimed. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure. I found her like this out on the road," I explained. "She's dehydrated."

My mom stood up and told me to put her on the couch. I laid her down as carefully as I could. I knew that my mom would know what to do. She was a nurse, but she only worked evenings.

She felt Lissa's neck, checking for a pulse, as I had. She put her ear near Lissa's mouth, listening to her breathing. When she was satisfied, she walked off down the hall and came back with a glass of something.

"Hold her up," my mom told me. I did. Mom held the glass to her lips and gently let the liquid trickle down her throat. Finally, Lissa stirred slightly. She grabbed the glass from my mother's hands and began to drink greedily. Mom jumped, and from the way her eyes bugged with panic, I could tell that this wasn't good. I took the glass out of her hands and she opened her eyes for the first time since I'd seen her last. She realized it was me who was holding her. I met her eyes for a moment, then looked away awkwardly, still holding her up.

"Lissa, dear," my mom said slowly, as if talking to a child, "how are you feeling."

Lissa turned from looking at me to looking at my mom.

"Mrs. Wyse!" she exclaimed, then turned back to me. "Sam! What am I...what are you doing here?"

I resisted the urge to answer sarcastically and said, "This is my house."

Lissa looked dumbstruck. "Oh, okay, the what am I doing here?"

"I found you on the road at the end of my driveway. You were unconscious," I told her. "I brought you back here."

"What happened?" my mom asked. Lissa stared off again.

"I don't really remember..." she muttered. Then her eyes widened, as if everything was coming back to her at once. Then, she turned to me and my mother in turn. "You can't take me back there!" she exclaimed desperately. My mother looked confused.

"Back where?" she asked Lissa turned, her eyes now tearing.

"Back home!" she said "I...I ran away."

"Why on earth would you run away?" my mom asked, bewildered.

"I couldn't take my parents' constant fear that I would go into shock," she confessed. She sounded very frustrated. "Ever since that incident with the school, I've constantly been forced into therapy just so my parents, who hardly even spend any time with me anyway, can sleep better, allowing themselves to believe that I'm not going to kill myself overnight." She paused a moment and took a few breaths, then looked accusingly at my mother. "You're not going to turn me in, are you?"

"No," my mother answered calmly.

"Okay. I just need some time away from it all," Lissa said. "It's just so stressful sometimes, you know?"

"I understand," my mom agreed, "but I do want you to contact your parents, at least contact your parents and let them know that you're okay."

Lissa looked hesitant, but finally sighed and said, "Okay."

She pulled out her phone, punched in the number, and held it to her ear. After a few rings, someone picked up.

"Hi, Mom," she said. "Yes, I'm fine. No, I'm not coming home! Because I'm sick of the way I'm treated! Look, Mom. I just need a break, okay? I'm with a friend. Yes, I asked if it was okay with their parents! I'm not a little kid, Mom! Goodbye, Mom."

On that note, she flipped the phone shut and shoved it in her pocket. My mom smiled sadly.

"Well, that sounded like it went over well..." She looked Lissa over. You're covered in dirt. Why don't you go take a shower? Sam will show you around."

I looked up when I heard my name and tried to remember what the context had been. I'd caught "show" and "around" and "shower," so I figured I was showing her the bathroom.

"Yeah, sure. Follow me," I said. I stood up and headed up the stairs. Lissa was close behind me. I pushed through the door to the bathroom, but not before I was stopped by my sister.

"Hey, Sammy," Emily said as she strolled out of her room. She noticed Lissa and looked her over.

"Who's the girl...and where are you going with her?"

"This is Lissa. You know Lissa," I reminded her, trying not to embarrass myself in front of her. "I'm showing her around the washroom so she can take a shower."

"Okay..." Emily said, grinning coyly. "Just don't do anything you wouldn't do if your parents were watching!"

She walked off, giggling to herself. I turned to Lissa. "That's my sister, Emily. Pay no attention to her." I continued toward the bathroom and pulled the door open. I gestured her inside. "Towels are here, soap's in the shower, right on the wall." I pulled the curtain across the shower rod. Behind it were three walls, each completely covered in different hair products. "The wall on the right here is all shampoo-and-conditioner, top being moisturizing, middle is volumizing, and then the bottom is shine, with a couple of repairing serums at the end." I gestured to the other walls. "The others follow a similar pattern. Conditioners on the left and shampoos in the middle."

I turned to Lissa. She looked slightly astonished. "Are these your sister's?"

"Um, no," I said, my cheeks burning slightly. "They're mostly...mine."

Lissa grinned, and I tried to think of something else to change the subject. "Do you need more clothes? You could probably borrow some from my sister."

"I'm alright, thanks," she said.

"Are you sure?" I asked again. Lissa seemed to pause and consider it for another moment.

"Actually," she said slowly, "maybe...yeah, if your sister doesn't mind."

"Okay," I said finally. "Um, you can get started. I'll go find something and bring it in for you."

Lissa smiled widely. "Okay, great. Thanks a lot."

I headed out of the bathroom, closing the door behind me. "Hey Emily!" I shouted loudly enough that if she were anywhere within a mile of the house she would have heard me. It was a tactic I'd learned from dinners with the whole family, in which case you needed to be that loud just to be heard at all.

After a minute, I was preparing to yell again when another voice boomed up the stairs, "What'd'ya want?"

"I need to borrow some clothes!"

There was a loud sigh, followed by footsteps bounding up the stairs. Emily turned the corner and looked me over. Then she grinned ear to ear.

"I don't mean to squelch your eagerness, but that'd be quite the fashion statement."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't be stupid. They're not for me," I said. I jerked my head toward the bathroom door. "They're for Lissa."

"Um, yeah, she could borrow my clothes I guess," Emily agreed. "But for her sake, you'd better let me go look."

She didn't give me a chance to make a smart retort before turning toward her bedroom.