Stolen Love

1*

I hug my blue coat tighter around my body. The wind blows against me, bringing the cool air with it. The sky glows an orangish yellow from the sun rising in the east. I can barely see the top of the peeking above the horizon as I walk towards it.

It's the middle of October on a Sunday. This is probably my favorite time of year. The leaves are a storm of fiery colors that lay practically everywhere. The air has lost the mugginess that summer has, but isn't quite as dry as winter's yet. Even though everything seems to be dying, I never feel more alive than I do during fall. Still, though, no matter how much I love fall, I don't know how my best friend, Ryan, convinced me to come to his house so early. I'm already behind on sleep from school and cross country. Usually I sleep in until nine today since it is my lone day of rest for the week.

It makes sense, I guess. When I'm this tired, you could compare me to a zombie; lumbering around for some unknown reason with only one agenda. The one thing I know for sure is that I have to get to Ryan's house. I think he might have said something about a new project for us to do.

Ryan and I's relationship is different from most people our age. I'd say that our maturity level ranges from that of a 7 year old, to one of a 25 year old depending on the day.

Today would be one of our down days. We get bored sometimes- no, wait, most of the time so Ryan thought it would be fun if we did stupid things together like learn to hot wire cars. Maybe a little advanced for a 7 year old, but who's counting? Anyways, he also said there would be food at his house, which is what sold me in. I can't say no to his famous chocolate chip pancakes. The ones that are coated in chocolate syrup and topped off with ice cream and whipped cream.

It's a weight watcher's worst nightmare. Luckily for me, my metabolism is pretty high from being a runner. Yeah, I'm living the good life.

The thing that stinks is Ryan won't tell me what we'll be doing. He says it is awesome, but I never know with him. It just better be good since I hate walking alone when most people are still sleeping. It's kind of eerie. This small town may as well be a ghost town on a Sunday morning.

I run these streets everyday, but they seem completely different when no one else around. The only noise is the howling of the wind and the occasional bark from a dog. Sometimes there'll be the whistle of a train passing through. Living in a town this size, that's what most people do. They just pass through without a second glance.

My Mom would probably freak if she knew I was out here. She thinks I'll be hit by a car or something. It's kind of sad that she still doesn't trust her 17 year old daughter to walk alone. Mom won't ever know, though, or at least not for awhile. She was still snoring away when I made my escape.

What Mom doesn't know, won't hurt me. I think she is just more protective over me since I'm her only daughter out of five kids.

Mom shouldn't worry because I can handle myself. It's not like I ever rode my bike in to a ditch before... oh right, I did. Oops.

It's not like I'm any more of a klutz that my brothers. They had more misadventures that me. Maybe Mom thinks I'm fragile because I'm a girl. I'm actually pretty tough, and my best friends are guys.

Mom wanted a girl she can dress up, but she got me. Luck wasn't on her side. Instead she got my dysfunctional family.

Devan and Evan are twins and my oldest brothers. They are in their sophomore year in college. They have the same blue eyes as me but their hair is a deep brown, while mine is blonde. They run just like I do.

I don't know if it's because they're twins, but they do everything together. They eat together, sleep together, and even get sick together. It's weird. Dad calls them Double Trouble because they do everything together, but they don't do anything that bad. Well compared to Caleb anyways, but I'll get to him later.