E R I N R I V E R S loathed the town of Forks Washington with every fiber of her being. The town was her own personal prison, a cage that drained every ounce of joy and excitement from existence. Everything lost its appeal in the redundancy of the small town life; people, activities, places, all her hobbies and activities - they'd all kept her content once. The monotony of existing in a town as dull as Forks slowly drained all the passion and excitement out of life, leaving in it's wake the soul crushing boredom that had Erin constantly checking the calendar on the wall.
March 17th was underlined in bright red sharpie, a mere twenty days and she'd finally get a taste of freedom. She'd finally step across the boundary that's kept her prisoner for the last eighteen years, breaking away from the cage to take her first breath of freedom. The 17th would be the first day of the rest of her life, and she could hardly wait. She'd finally see the world, a world just waiting for her embrace. Her planned birthday weekend trip to Seattle was only the beginning of her aspirations as her sights were set on Europe. The newly acquired passport secured in a crevice beneath a loose floorboard, along with the cash she'd saved over the years in preparation for the moment she'd depart. The need to travel was like a sirens call, one that she couldn't - wouldn't ignore. She already had a flight booked for the day after graduation, the ticket tucked into her passport booklet.
Her mother would throw a fit, Erin could practically hear the meltdown now, all the begging and pleading hysterics. But unlike Rapunzel, the tower had long since lost its appeal, as had her mother's paranoid overprotection. Her mother's need to control every aspect of her life had only served to decimate any desire she had to maintain a relationship with her after graduating. She refused to be trapped eternally in this town as her mother wanted her to be, she burned for so much more.
A life in Forks would never be enough for the Rivers daughter currently glaring into the forest from her bedroom window. Her eyes a darkened mass of disdain that surely could have killed if looks held such power. A soft breeze rustled the swaying trees that held her gaze, she could delude herself into believing that it was the weight of her glare that made them quiver. Locked in her tower as she was, pretending was all she had until her mother left for work. Once she was gone, Erin would have some freedom to explore her cage, break some of the rules her mother smothered her beneath. So long as she didn't pass the Forks boundary line or miss any of her mother's calls she could do as she pleased so long as her mother was not home. She would call at random times so Erin always had the ringer on her cellphone turned on, except when she was at school or working. She had a job waiting tables at the Carver Café, it was a decent gig as far as high school jobs went, with all her tips paid out in cash. It's how she'd managed to save enough money to fund her two month trip to Europe, that and birthday money over the years had begun piling up. It's not like she had much to spend it on once art and archery lost their appeal. As did books whose worlds could only pull her away for so long until reality came crashing down with enough force to chase away any immersion; reality typically heralded in by her mother who couldn't give her an ounce of space.
Said mother was currently a floor below, preparing for another double at the hospital where she worked as a nurse. She worked odd and sometimes long hours, frequently arriving home completely burnt out after an impromptu double. Most of her friends pinned her mother's experiences in the medical field and exhaustion after long shifts as the cause of her overbearing parenting style, but Erin knew better. Her mother had always been overprotective and controlling, her recent promotion just amplified it. Her mother had always been so invested in every facet of her life, it was as if she needed to be in control because without control she was helplessly lost. How her mother didn't notice the distance that had flourished between them over the years Erin would never know, but she wasn't dumb enough to point it out.
She'd become even more overbearing the past few months; her calls more frequent, the neighbors visits more common, and her punishments stricter. Her mother's work stress piling upon her already controlling behavior made life insufferable for the girl who currently only had the forest below to entertain her for the duration of her most recent grounding following the Face Punch incident as she'd come to refer to it as. It was her fault of course, how dare she ask to see a movie with friends like it was no big deal! It's not like there was an entire group of people going, including the police chief's daughter who was a mutual friend, yet her mother completely lost her mind. The ensuing fight had been explosive, a poor vase caught in the crossfire of the battle that raged between the Rivers women. Things were said as the two woman fanned a wildfire only halting when the police arrived on account of a noise complaint.
Her already irate mother looked murderous by the time it was all said and done. Erin was officially grounded until "further notice" with her cellphone being confiscated unless she was at school or work, her curfew changed from eight to six once she was ungrounded, and none of her friends allowed "anywhere near you until I see improvement". What she wanted improved upon Erin would probably never figure out.
"Good god," she whispered her thoughts aloud as she heard the master-bath's door slam beneath her feet, immediately followed by her mother's slight rasp as she shouted for her. Both her first and middle name falling from her lips as Erin could all but actually see her standing at the bottom of the stairs. She would have her right hand on her hip as she always did, her left bent out in front of her as she checked the time. Tearing her gaze from the chaos of the branches below, she glanced towards the digital clock on her nightstand confirmed Erin's suspicion that she was on her way out.
She wouldn't be leaving her cellphone, a thought that struck Erin like a ton of bricks just as she started towards her bedroom door. Without her cellphone her mother would know if she left the house without permission, which meant she couldn't fucking leave.
A scowl marred her lips. "I hate this fucking town."