8:45PM, Ryder House- Ally's POV
She had never been so scared in her life. Ally lay on her bed in her pajama pants and tank top staring at the white ceiling above her. Part of her mind was occupied listening for her mother's footsteps to enter the house below her, part of her was shivering away from the memories of the afternoon, and part of her was itching to draw. Finally she rolled over and began digging through her messenger bag for her sketchpad. It wasn't there. Ally felt herself begin to hyperventilate. "Oh girl, calm down," she mumbled to herself. "It has to be here somehow." She began to dig through her bag the again when she heard footsteps downstairs.
"Alliane Nicole Ryder," her mother yelled. "Get your butt down her right this instant." Ally stood and walked down the stairs to meet her mother in the small circle of light from the entryway. "What were you thinking today?" her mother snapped. "Getting into a fight on the first day of school? You're no better than you're no good sister." Layne-no good? Ally felt angry tears begin to well in her eyes.
"I didn't mean to," she protested, trying to smooth things over.
"Of course you didn't mean to," her mother snapped. "That makes everything so much better."
"Have you been drinking again?" Ally asked suddenly, catching the smell of alcohol on her mother's breath.
"We're not talking about me, we're talking about you," her mother protested.
"So it's okay to criticize me when all I did was try to break up a fight between one of my friends and another boy," Ally snapped. "And it's okay to criticize my sister who has a good stable job, a boyfriend who adores her, and doesn't drink but it isn't okay to point out your destructive habits?"
"Your sister is a no good hero who thinks she's going to save the world and who is really going to be killed just like her father," Ally's mother yelled.
"YOU LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE," Ally screamed, spinning around and running for the stairs, tears pouring down her cheeks.
"I'm not done talking to you, young lady," her mother yelled after her.
"I'M DONE WITH YOU," Ally screamed back and grabbed her bag and jacket, tossing some clothes in an overnight bag. She shoved her feet in her yellow converse, grabbed her gym shoes, and ran down the stairs, past her mother, and out the door. Outside she stood for a moment, staring into the night, before she stumbled off toward Layla's house.
9:20PM, William's House- Layla's POV
Layla was doing the last of her homework when there came a knock on her bedroom door. Her mother, Kaitlyn, poked her head inside her daughter's room with a smile. "There's a friend here to see you," she said. "And she looks like a train wreck."
"Send her in," Layla said immediately, pushing aside her homework and sitting up on her bed. In a few minutes Ally came stumbling in, her face coated in tear stains.
"Mom and I got into a fight," she said, taking in a shuddering breath.
"Oh honey," Layla said, shooting to her feet and pulling her friend into a hug. Ally sobbed on the red head's shoulder and recounted the whole horrible affair. Layla listened and held her friend tight until she calmed down. "Well you can crash here for as long as you need to. That is if you can stand the health food," Layla informed her friend. Ally managed a watery smile and a weak laugh at that. "Seriously," Layla said in a more firm tone. "Stay as long as you need."
"Thanks Lee-Lee," Ally mumbled, stretching out across Layla's bed next to the red head and yawning widely.
"Any time Ally-cat," Layla replied and before they knew it both girls were sound asleep.