Chapter 2:
(A.N) sorry it took so long! I've got 3 stories going at once. Plus, my spring break is over Easter so I don't have all that free time right now. Really sorry it took so long to update!
I wake up with sore hands. I managed to get the bars off last night but by then my hands were raw and it was 3 in the morning. So I just called Max and told him I would meet him in the woods. I don't care if I have to skip school!
I get dressed in my clothes and dump my school stuff on my desk so I'm not lugging it around. I put my money in my back pocket and skip down stairs.
Father is cooking breakfast and Mother is sitting at the table looking grouchy. I smile as I walk in, I hold my hands behind my back so they can't see the red inside of my palms. I ask dad for my lunch money; he gives me it without looking at me. I think they're going to give my silent treatment until I say I'm sorry for getting "pregnant"
I skip out the door. I see the school bus at the end of my street so I have to run behind our house so it doesn't catch me. I watch it slip by and sigh. I slip through our yard and through the bushes to the forest.
I could close my eyes and still find my way to Max's and my spot overlooking District 12. Max isn't there yet so I sit in a tree and wait for him to come. He slips into the clearing and looks around and whispers me name.
"Emery? Emery, where are you?" I jump down from the tree and land behind him. He jumps but immediately wraps his arms around me in a bone crushing hug. I wrap my arms around him and hug him back. But soon I run out of air and have to push him away.
"Did you come here just to smother me?" I ask, I'm smiling so it gives me away. Max smiles and takes me by the hand.
"We better get moving then. We don't want to miss your time." He says. He leads me back through the woods and out behind what used to be the Hob. It was rebuilt and made into a real legal shopping center where only teenagers hang out. You can find things like pet snakes and stuff there. And in Max's and my case… birth control pills.
We enter through the back and into the smoky air. I cough and Max shakes his head. We have to get through to the front. I take Max's hand and he squeezes lightly; I hold my breath as he leads me to the front.
I have no idea how Max knew about this place; and I don't really want to find out either. But he knows where he's going and soon I'm pushed through a heavy silk curtain. I gasp at the sudden air. Max comes through next to me. It's very dim so I can't make out anything for a moment. Then my eyes adjust and I see a person sitting behind a desk. He has a hoodie pulled over his face so I can't see who it is. But when he speaks I recognize his voice quickly.
"You two love birds here for something?" he pulls back his hood and I see Elm. Elm goes to school with us and I'm not at all surprised to see he works like this. He always gets in trouble for stuff like smoking in the hallway. He spikes his red hair to razor points and his black eyes look more like bottomless pits, he scares even his mother and father.
"We need birth control." Max says quickly so I don't have to explain. Elm leans forward and looks me right in the eye. I lock my knees so I don't shake. This dude is seriously scary.
"You're kidding right?" he asks. I nod my head. He leans back then starts laughing; like, really hard. He rolls on the ground for a moment while Max looks exasperated and I tap my foot. He finally gets up wiping his eyes.
"'ya know, if this sort of thing makes you laugh so hard you should really go into another business… like building." Max says sarcastically. Elm frowns but opens a drawer in the desk. He pulls out three containers of pills and examines them. He puts them on the desk in front of me.
"Alright." He says. "I'll give you these for 20 bucks. But you're not getting it any lower." Why is he being so cheap? "I don't normally go this low 'ya know. I'm doing this for my friends" he stretches his arms out lazily and his eyes glint maliciously. He makes me think of a hungry cat more than a person.
"Deal." Max says. He drops the money on the desk and grabs the bottle. Elm's long arms snatch up the money greedily. He counts it then sticks it in his pocket. He grunts.
"Use it wisely love birds. Or else." He shakes a finger at us; but his smile is big so I don't think much of it.
I'm very glad for the clean air when we leave Elm's shop. I gasp and Max laughs, he puts his arm around my shoulders and whispers in my ear. "Ready to face our parents?" I giggle as we walk home. When we get to the split in the road that leads to my house and him we say good bye and he kisses my cheek.
I walk home with a spring in my step. I know what to do. I take out about seven pills and put them in my pocket. I walk into the kitchen with a crazy grin on my face. Mom's sitting at the table reading and Dad's cooking (can you guess?) cheese buns.
"Hello!" I say cheerfully. As I walk in, mom looks up and grunts and dad looks at me suspiciously.
"You're home early," he comments. Shit, I didn't see if it was three yet! I glance at the clock on the mantel. It's only 2:00!
"Um… they let us out early," I lie. "We finished all our work quickly." I try to dodge Dad but he grabs my back pack instead of me on my way to the sairs, the pocket rips open and the bottle of pills falls out. YES! It worked.
Dad stares at me in stunned silence, then erupts.
"Emery Rue Mallark! What the hell is this!" he demands. He stuffs the bottle under Mom's nose. She places her reading glasses on her nose and squints at the bottle. (she doesn't mind being short sighted, as long as she can still shoot far.)
"Why are you taking this?" Mom demands. "This is a drug Emery!" she shoves it at me and I look at the label. Morphing. SHIT! Neither Max nor I checked that Elm had given us the right bottle!
"Um…." Is all I can get out. Dad's face is completely red and Mom is scary calm which I think is worse. "Um…"
"Explain!" Dad shouts. I have nothing to do but run. The stairs are right behind me! So I make a dart for them. I run as fast as I can, I can hear dad right on my heals as I slam the door to my room behind me. "Open Up! Open up this door right now Emery Rue Mallark!" Dad has nearly pounded the door in. I back away slowly until my back hits the window sill.
The window!
I pulled off the bars last night! I pull it open and sit on the sill. I haven't done this in a while so it's going to be tricky, the bush that used to be under my window isn't there anymore so I'll be in a direct hit. Dad flings open the window and sees me he screams in a very girly way and lunges. But just then, I tumble from the window.