Lana looked around the small apartment building; it had to be the smallest place she had ever been in.
It consisted of a large room that was split in half with a bathroom in the back with a small kitchenette, it didn't even have a window to Lana's dissapointment.
Lana did know that it was cheap, the landlord was an older woman who rented to at risk people. Early that morning they drove far from the camp site and stopped at a small town on the edge of the state next to Ohio.
Lincoln said it wouldn't be permanent; he wanted to earn some extra money before they moved out of state.
" That boy, is he your husband? You both are so young"...
Lana blushed deeply, and the older woman just chuckled, "ahh, to be young, and newly married."
The older woman proceeded to wink and hand Lana a small key attached to a pink key ring, saying, "Please call if you have any issues."
And with that, the old woman had disappeared, leaving Lana alone with her thoughts and the empty room. The walls were covered in a faded sunflower print, while the floor was made of brown shag carpeting. The kitchen and bathroom tiles were also white.
The thought of taking a shower was tempting, but Lana winced at her lack of clothing. Gone was the filthy tomboy of the past; Lana still liked to get down and dirty with the best of them, but she at least maintained basic hygiene now.
It felt so strange being alone, and the thought of her family was still a painful place for Lana.
Lola was truly evil for revealing such a secret, as twins Lana had never suspected Lola of such treachery.
Even knowing Lola's temperament this betrayal, along with the huge risk Lincoln was taking. Lana was utterly exhausted.
Looking around the empty room, Lana sat down on the shag carpet and fiddled with her phone. Lincoln didn't know that she still had hers, since he had trashed his before they left Royal woods.
It was a terrible risk just having it but Lana hadn't been able to cut off that last peice of contact...
She had hundreds of missed calls and texts; Lana felt particularly bad when she saw a text from Mom begging her to come home.
Without thinking, Lana pushed the call button, and her mother answered, sounding out of breath.
" Lana, Sweetie is that you"!
Lana felt tears gathering at the corners of her eyes, she had a hard lump in her throat. So many things she wanted to say.
Part of her desperately wanted to apologize for leaving the way they did, while another part of her was terrified of what her mom would say next...and then there was Lincoln, she had no idea how he was going to react to her even doing this.
" Hey mom"...
Lana felt her voice trembling a little, her mom sobbed a little before speaking, " where are you Lana? We know about what you and Lincoln were up to...I'm not mad at and neither is your father, we just want you to come home".
Lana couldn't help but blurt out, "What about Lincoln? He didn't mean for any of this to happen; it was all my idea!"
The slight rustling on the other side of the phone along with her father's voice boomed forward, "Lana Loud ! You need to come home now, tell that bastard that he is dead to me after he abducted you"!
The venom behind her dad's words made Lana's heart drop, she had never heard her dad this mad before and it was terrifying.
" Please Dad...don't be so mad at Lincoln, this was as much my fault as his", Lana attempted to plead with her dad.
"Don't you make excuses for him, Lincoln is legally an adult and he should of never seen you in such a light"!
Lana had to pull the phone back from her ear as her dad was almost screaming, salty tears raced down her cheeks. Her parents were almost exclusively blaming Lincoln and it was all her fault, " Please Dad"...
"I'm not kidding Lana, we will contact the police if you do not come home or tell us where you're at"!
Lana flet her blood run cold and she quickly ended the phone call and started pacing the room, her conversation with her dad still echoing in her ears.
Without a doubt Lana knew that she wouldn't voluntarily leave Lincoln, with him she discovered feelings she never thought possible for a girl like herself.
A life without Lincoln or their love sounded like a life that Lana couldn't imagine going back to...this thought immediately made Lana freeze when she looked down at the phone still in hand.
The very traceable phone...and with a child genius at home, tracing her location was not something completely out of her parents grasp, it was clear now why Lincoln had trashed his earlier.
Lana knew one thing for certain…Lincoln would be furious when he got back from his job search.