"There comes a day when you realise turning the page is the best feeling in the world - because you realise there's so much to the book than the page you were stuck on."
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I don't know if I acknowledged this, but I would like to sincerely thank you all for (almost) 5000 views!!
I appreciate the time taken to read this book. So once again, thank you. With my slow updates, it's amazing how you can still give my book a chance :D
I also would like to thank you for the votes and comments. We are at 180 votes! Yay!!
Plus, I love love LOVE reading the comments. It is how I get feedback from you, the readers, to improve on my writing. Also, some of them do make my day :)
Even though I try to reply to all of them, there are times when I do not reply to others because the notifications didn't show up. Am I the only one with this problem?
However, rest assured that if I see a comment, I will reply to it as soon as possible.
Have a good day!
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~KeepBelieving4774
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~ Chapter Thirteen: Runaway Love (previously known as I'm In Love With A Nerd) ~
I've escaped from several things.
Mrs Briggs' lessons, the house, school, Carly's and Freddie's house, and even that one time in juvenile.
But escaping from a garbage truck was definitely the most difficult escape that I performed.
First of all, the trash kept on piling up by the minute until it reached my shoulders. I had to actually swim my way through.
And as if adding insult to injury, I was carrying Cat all the through one side to the other of the vehicle, hoisted her up on my shoulder and somehow I managed to get us both out from the garbage truck.
The girl may appear to not weigh much but trust me when I say looks are deceiving.
I carried her until we were off the street and she landed on the ground with an oompf. Still, she wouldn't stir.
That's when I caught sight of the leafblower that was seated a few feet away from me, unattended. I went to pick it up before coming back to Cat.
Aiming the leaf blower straight to her face, I turned it on. The gust of wind blew on her face and the hair on her shoulders which fell to the ground.
Cat, after a few seconds, began to giggle and held her hands protectively in front of her face. I moved the leaf blower from side to side until I was certain that she was awake.
After that, I turned it off and placed it down beside me.
"What happened?" She asked, after getting over her giggling fit. "What smells so bad?"
"That happens to be us because we had gone dumpster diving," I answered, lending her a hand.
She took it and stood up. Then the redhead nodded her head. "I remember. We were in a garbage truck...but I can't remember much after that,"
"That's because you fainted,"
"Oh right!" Cat slapped her hand on her forehead. "Then please, Sam Puckell, let me bless you with the gift of bathing,"
I stared at her. "Hold on...Puckell?"
"Isn't that your name?"
"No. My name is Puckett,"
"Then who's Puckell?"
"I don't know!"
"Huh," Cat said. "I could have sworn your name was Puckell,"
"Gah! It's Puckett! Okay? Puckett! P-U-C-K-E-T-T," I spelled out my last name. I took a deep breath. "Geez. So where do you live anyway?"
"I live with my Nona, in Beverly Hills,"
"Great. So do you know how we can get there from here?"
"Where exactly are we?"
"I don't know," I replied and for the first time since I dragged Cat here, I took a good look at our surroundings.
Unfortunately, I couldn't recognize any building around us.
"Neither do I," Cat said. A frown crossed her face. "Oh no. We are lost. Two teenagers in the middle of nowhere,"
My eyes widened when I saw where this conversation was headed.
"Lost? Pfff! No!" I forced out a laugh. "We aren't lost. Do you have your cellphone with you?"
"No," She sounded as though she was going to cry.
My eyes hurriedly scanned the perimeter, until they fixated themselves on a man standing outside of a car.
A light bulb flickered on above my head.
"Look. There's someone else here," I pointed out. "I'll just ask him if he can get us to Beverly Hills, alright? Just follow me and let me do the talking,"
I took the faint nod of her head as a 'go-ahead' sign.
Dusting off imaginary dust on my shoulders, I prepared myself to face the man. As I approached him, I tried to not smell as horrid as did, all while coming up with a plan.
"Hey," I gave a curt nod, once I stood at a calculated distance from him.
He looked up from the phone in his hands, and nodded back. "Can I help you?"
"Sure can," I dug my hands into my pockets. "My-" I gave Cat a side glance. "Sister and I were wondering if you would give us a ride to Beverly Hills,"
He arched an eyebrow, raising his head, looking over both of us. "I'm sorry, but I am not authorised to drive anyone aside from Mr Parker's daughters,"
From behind me, Cat let out a sound which resembled a squeal and a whimper.
I knew that I had to act fast.
"Mr Parker's daughters?" I asked, distractedly.
"Yes. They are coming here from a flight abroad," Glancing at his wristwatch, he muttered, "They should be here any second now,"
"We are here,"
"We?" He raised his head.
I nodded. "Yes. We. You said that you were waiting for Mr Parker's daughters? We are his daughters. He's our father,"
I had never seen a person so distraught. "Good heavens. Clarissa? Stacy?"
Trying my best not to laugh, I put on a strained expression. "Enough questions, please. We've been through a lot ever since we landed here. We got mugged on our way here, you see? And all our things are gone. Our suitcases, our luggage..."
"Oh dear," His face turned pale. "How did this happen?" The look on my face made him reconsider his question. "I am sorry. Please don't fire me. I'll drive you straight home, where you can get freshened up,"
He hastily opened the door.
"Actually, before we left the airport to come here, we spoke to our father. Instead of going home, we are going to see our grandmother first. She's been anticipating our return,"
"Of course. Where might she live?"
I nudged Cat's shoulder. "Tell him Clarissa," I flashed him an apologetic smile. "She's a little shaken up. Please be patient with her,"
He nodded quickly, understanding our 'situation'.
"Oh," Cat said, as soon as she caught on. She gave him Nona's address, and soon, we were inside a limousine, headed to Beverly Hills.
I stretched my back, looking outside of the window, watching the trees pass us by.
From riding a motorcycle all night, to eating gross food, to dumpster diving and now, being driven in a limousine.
Maybe leaving Seattle was a good idea. Look how eventful my day has been, and I've barely been here for a day.
Maybe I can stay here and forget, even for a little while, that I've left my old life behind me.
My eyes flickered to Cat, watching her resting figure.
A new city.
A new life.
New people.
And a new beginning.
One thing was for sure: I had to take one heck of a nap in order to be prepared for what was to come.
