00 | the runaway girl
It was dark and the girl was tired. Scratch that, she was exhausted. Unfortunately for her, no amount of concealer coated eye bags could take away that feeling. So, she pushed past it, letting out a quick yawn before going through her backpack sitting precariously on the edge of her bed. After making sure she had everything she needed, she grabbed it and took one last look at herself in her mirror before she went.
This is it. This is the moment.
After adjusting her bag, she opened her window, wincing at the harsh grating sound it made and sending a quick prayer that her parents wouldn’t wake, she climbed out of it with the ease of a girl who had done it a hundred times before. She paused for a moment as she stood on the tiled roof to make sure everything was silent.
Yes. Valerie Burges was no stranger to sneaking out of the house. Parties, boys, late night walks you name it. Not this time though. This time it was different. Smiling to herself she continued on her journey down the roof.
The streetlights cast a sickly yellow light on her ivory skin and she sighed as a gust of wind blew her blonde waves around her face before deciding on yanking them into a ponytail at the back of her neck.
A flutter of nerves hit her then. She was doing it. For real this time. Everything was coming together perfectly and she took a deep breath, silently reassuring herself.
A dull vibrating from her side sliced through the silence and made her jump. After taking a few moments to recover, she fumbled through her coat pocket and pulled out her phone before anyone heard. Flicking the green button, she held the phone to her ear.
“I’m coming now, calm down,”
“Okay. Hurry up, I’m freezing,” the familiar voice at the other end of the line responded.
Two days later, posters coated the town like wallpaper and the gossip was the worst it had ever been before.
Have you seen Valerie Burges?
