Kirsten's P.O.V
All those people who say it's easy, leaving everything behind, they're all liars. It is so hard to drop everything you know, for the unknown. I knew nobody would miss me, but that only helped a little. I did have one best friend. I told her that it would be easier for her and for me if she knew nothing. She could see it in my eyes, that I wasn't going to last much longer in this, small, country-ass town. She could tell that everyone's words were getting to me. I had held them at bay for so long, they were starting to seep in. Our town had around 500 people in it, maybe more. But either way, you knew everybody. Everybody knew you, and secrets never stayed hidden for long. I kept people out, hoping that might help. You can try to keep people out, but they find a way in. Always.
On my eighteenth birthday I left home. I decided I had enough. Emily knew when I was going. She pressured me enough to tell her the day. But I didn't tell her I would be leaving at the buttcrack of dawn. She obviously knew me too well, because she was waiting by the, 'Now leaving town' sign. I imagine she slept there, just so she wouldn't miss me. I pulled over and hopped out of my car, and walked up to her and said, "What the hell are you doing here?!"
She replied with a calm, "Waiting to say goodbye to my best friend in the whole world, and to tell her not to lose my number!" Then she crashed into me with a hug. She whispered, "Please don't go...
I whispered back, "You know I can't get stuck here... I won't let these people berate me, for being me. Maybe if I had actually done something, it would be okay, but I have done absolutely nothing." She just nodded and I knew she understood. "I propmise to text you when I get where I'm going. She looked at me pleadingly and left. I probably looked like a runaway, I had one suitcase in the back, and my guitar propped up in the backseat. As I drove, I thought about how nobody would notice I was gone until around ten in the morning, when my parents came to wake me up. I also wondered how I had kept this a secret. I shipped everything but the stuff that's obvious when you walk into my room, my amp was first. I didn't know exactly where I was going,, so it got shipped to a storage unit... In my destination. I hit the highway, and got up to speed. I had a flight at ten, and I was way ahead of schedule. I had litterally finished my senior year in Boring, Oregon last week. I also thought about how I hadn't planned out what I was going to do when I got there. I probaby would buy an extension cord, and play my guitar on the side of the road, begging. At least until I figured myself, and my new life, out.
I showed up at my flight, two hours early. Just the reccomended time for international flights. My real parents were divorced and guess what? I'm a military brat. Or at least I was. I have so much travelling under my belt, I could get through Portland airport in my sleep. I've been travelling since I was a toddler, and travelling unaccompanied minor since I was seven. But by the time I was thirteen, I didn't need flight attendant help. I approached the front desk, passport at the ready. Also, my driver's license just in case. She printed my boarding pass, because I already printed my itenerary. Security wasn't bad, considering it was Friday. My gate was F6 and I was there an hour early, when I realized I was starving. I went to a nearby Jamba Juice, and got a Matcha Green Tea Blast, and went to the next store over, and got a donut. I went to go sit at my gate and wait, and anticipate the 13 hour ride. im Economy. Wait! I chacked my ticket, and couldn't believe my eyes. I was sitting in business class! Business class is the international version of First Class. And it is so much better! I boarded with the rich passengers, and as I took my UnderArmour bag off my shoulders, I found that I was sitting in the isle! I liked the isle, so I didn't wake up anybody when I had to pee. I took out my iPhone, and blasted Pandora while they boarded everyone else.
As I was waiting for the person next to me I looked out the window, and kinda freaked. I wasn't used to being a second story up. I had never been on the top of the cool double decker planes! An older looking man took his seat next to me, and we said a cordial, "Hello."
They told me I had to put away and turn off my phone. Right. Act like I don't know. Our wheels turned on to the straight part of the runway, and we got pointed straight. The engines took us faster and faster, until our front wheels were up, and then... There! I was finally free. Getting one last text message from my father saying, 'Where are you?!?!?!' And I thought, Why would I tell you?