On the stereo
Listen as we go
Nothing's gonna stop me now
California, here we come

"You're mom said no, Miles, I mean, what are you going to do?" Camille asked her best friend as she sat on her bed and watched Miley scoop up piles of shirts and jeans from her dresser and throw them into her duffle bag. "I mean, I'd love to go to California with you and work at Elle magazine's headquarters, don't get me wrong, but where would I even live?" Miley rolled her eyes as she lifted herself from the wooden floor and dusted off her ripped jeans. Turning around she grabbed a suitcase out of her closet, set it on the floor and then took a drawer out of its slot in her dresser and dumped all of its contents into it. She then did the same with the remaining three drawers.

Camille continued on her rant, "Apartments are expensive there and I'd have to be juggling an internship at Elle and senior year, how is that possible? I know they said they understood, but do they really? They usually hire college students when they're in the middle of their summer. There's only one month of summer left Miley!" Camille ran her fingers through her long, sleek, blonde hair.

Miley told Camille everyday that she was envious of her beauty and Camille simply turned bright red. Cami was a bit taller than Miley, with skinny legs that went on for miles and her facial features were so gentle and beautiful. Her smooth, white baby skin and long lashes. Her hair ran all the way down her mid-back, and her fashion sense was impeccable. No wonder Elle wanted her.

"Cami … shut up and grab your bags" Miley interrupted her; throwing her satchel and duffle over her two shoulders while grabbing both of her suitcases, one in each hand. Camille bit her lip and turned a soft shade of red. Miley sighed and set the two suitcases down, "Camille… we're doing this. We need to."

The blonde stared at her best friend for a minute and then blinked twice before quickly shooting up from her seat on the twin bed. "Let's go" she spit out quickly, trying not to think about the consequences of their actions. The two girls quickly grabbed all the bags and suitcases they could carry and ran out to Miley's old, beat up, convertible. They threw all the bags they could in the trunk and the rest in the back two seats. Miley then quickly ran back up to kitchen to write her mom a note who was currently at the grocery store. Eli was at lacrosse practice and Miley would call him later that day. She had different plans for him.

Dear Mom,

You can't make this decision for me. I need to do this on my own. I'm going to California and Dad's going to sign the forms. I'm sorry, but you don't get a say in this.

Love, Miley

Camille honked the horn and Miley placed the note on the kitchen table. Without looking back, Miley ran out the door with a smile on her face. Jumping into the passenger seat, Camille took hold of the wheel and then turned to Miley. "Ready?" Camille bit her lip and half-smiled. In response, Miley screamed as loud as she could and threw her arms in the air, letting the wind wrap itself around her body as Camille hit the gas and sped down the road.

Squealing as the tires turned, the car sped away down the never ending dirt road. Sticking her head out the passenger seat window, she screamed as loud as her lungs would let her; her eyes smiling behind her black Ray Bans. "I can't believe we're doing this!" She was leaving, she was finally getting out.

And then her phone rang.

Well, these things weren't meant to last forever.

She was so tempted to throw the phone out the window and have Camille run it over with the car, but instead, she answered like the good girl she was.

"Hello?"

Camille side glanced over at her best friend as they continued down the road, nearing the main roads. "Miles, where are you? I'm at your front door step, Karlie's having some people over and invited us."

It was Austin.

"Austin…" she squeezed her eyes shut and bit her fist. Camille's eyes widened as they passed the town's diner and elementary school.

"What's up?" Austin could sense the pain in Miley's voice. "Do you not wanna go? Cause we could do something else… which brings us back to, where are you?"

Banging her head back against the headrest, Miley took a deep breath; "I'm not home…" she began.

Austin let out a small laugh, "I can see that."

"Austin, listen, I understand if you hate me. Actually, you have full right to hate me. It's just that I can't stay here anymore. It's like being in prison and just like you said I haven't been paying enough attention to you or what you've been saying. I've been out of it and I need to find myself … because it seems like everyone else has and I'm just straggling along…"

"Miley… where are you?" Austin cut her off.

"I'm going away. I'm sorry I couldn't say this in person, it's just I've been so in the moment…"

"Where are you Miley? Where are you going? Don't do this…" he begged.

Miley clenched her jaw, why did these things have to hurt? "I have to Austin", there was pain in her voice, "You know I have to."

There was silence on the other end for a while. A minute passed, then another, it seemed like a decade had passed before she heard a long sigh come from him. "I know you do. I've seen it…"

"Then please let me go" Miley quickly cut in.

Over on Miley's front porch, Austin cradled his head in one hand with his cell phone pressed to his ear. "Why now, Miles?" Austin asked, "Why not in two years? When college rolls around?"

Miley's hair began to whip around her face as Camille pulled onto the highway. They were driving there. That's right, driving. If they were going to do this, they were going to take the long way, the right way.

"Because then it would be too late" Miley attempted to brush the hair out of her face and watched as the other cars sped by. "Right" Austin rolled his eyes and stood up, he walked to his car. "Well Miley, I would say I hope you have a lifetime of happiness, but I think we both know you won't last long away from here … you'll be back in a month and I won't be here waiting for you." And then the line went dead and it felt like Miley's heart did too. Did he really believe she wouldn't make it that long? She was planning on staying in California, for a long, long time. Miley clutched her phone in her hands and breathed deeply. No, she was not going back to that hell hole, no matter what Austin predicted.

They were just bored. Bored with the routine their whole life had settled into. Bored with the thoughts of growing old here and wasting their ever fading youth. So that's why they were doing it, they were letting go of all their inhibitions and deciding to not think, not think about the consequences.