The Runaway

[LittleAndClumsy]

Sarah Rye is the adopted 21-year-old daughter of rich and powerful businessman Christopher Rye and his wife, Elizabeth Rye. Elizabeth is infertile, and Christoper insists on having an heir to his business. That's why Sarah was adopted; because she was a pretty face with good manners and a "model woman" as Elizabeth would often say as she dressed Sarah up for various parties and social events that she was forced to attend with her adopted family. Christoper spends little time with Sarah, and Elizabeth is stern and only spends time with her when getting her dressed. Both have expectations for Sarah that she doesn't want to meet. All Sarah wants is a family that loves her and to find the perfect man for her. Maybe that's the one thing that Sarah and her adopted parents have in common, but Sarah's idea of 'perfect man' apparently differs from that of her new family more than she could have imagined. When Sarah was roped into an arranged marriage with the son of Christopher's most powerful competitor, Eric Henderson, Sarah knows that she's being used to create an alliance between the two powerful businesses, and she wants no part in it. These feelings are intensified when she discovers that her new fiance, Eric, is violent and abusive. That's why, yesterday night, Sarah ran away from home in an attempt to escape the arranged marriage before she's forced to sign a contract. With sparsely more than the clothes on her back and $15 dollars of spare change, she spends all her money on a bus trip to get as far away as she possibly can, and is dropped off in the middle of Herndon, two hours from her original home in Mclean. With no real destination except away from her family, and the sun setting, she walks as far as she can before it gets too dark to see, finding herself in a small park just outside of Herndon and crying herself to sleep at the base of a massive oak tree in the middle of the park.

 

[HowlingWoods]

"You bitch! Get out of my room, you worthless piece of trash!"


The memory of Eric's words from a few hours ago made Sarah's eyes sting with tears. She'd always wanted to run away, but she never had the guts to do it until now. But she would not end up marrying that pyscho. If she was going to get away, it had to be now. Before it was too late. She searched through her closet with trembling fingers for something that she could blend into a crowd with; She didn't have much in the way of casual clothes, as her parents insisted that she wear dresses around the house and act like a lady. What a joke. She didn't have much time; Eric would return to this room any minute now, and she had to be out the window before then. She managed to find the only pair of clothes she had that was somewhat casual, her school uniform from high school. It was slightly small, but she hadn't grown too much, so it still fit. Black jeans with a white dress shirt and a black tie with white and red diagonal stripes running down it. She'd look like a schoolgirl, but at least it wouldn't be as conspicuous as wearing a dress fit for a queen. She quickly put the clothes on, willing herself to hurry so that Eric wouldn't see her undressed. She would need travel money, and she refused to steal, even from her parents, who had vasts amounts of money. She didn't have an allowance, but she occasionally picked up spare change on the floor or in between the cushions of the couch, and she saved them. She had a little less than 15 dollars worth in a jar. She grabbed a small coin purse that she could fit in her pocket off the top of her dresser, pouring the coins from the jar, hidden in the top drawer, into the coin purse. Quickly...


Sarah wasn't an ordinary girl. She was the adopted heir of the rich and powerful Rye family in Mclean, Virginia. Her step-parents paid her little mind, soon finding after adopting her that her lack of business skills made her useless to them as an heir. She was practically thrown away, cast aside until suddenly, she started to have use again. As a bride. It made her sick. Her parents had set up an arranged engagement with Eric Henderson, the heir to one of the Rye family's most powerful competitors. They figured that if she was married to the guy, she'd be able to convince him to stay our of the Rye family's way, as well as creating an alliance that would give the press something to talk about. Well, screw that. As it turns out, Eric is a violent psychopath with extreme emotional problems. She was out of here.


Pretty soon, they'd forget she ever existed. They wouldn't even bother to look for her once. They didn't care that much. Sarah knew this, and it only made her want to vomit more adamantly. They were supposed to be her parents, even if they did adopt her. Shouldn't they care, at least a little? Not that there was any use thinking about it now. Right now, her top priority should be to get as far away as possible, and put as much distance between her and her family, and Eric, as possible. She finally was ready. Opening the window and pushing out the bug screen, it fell to the grass beneath her with a soft thump, imperceptible enough that she was sure no one would hear. It was the third story, but she was locked in a bedroom, for crying out loud! Everyone knows that sheets make efficient ropes when running away from home, said all runaway teen movies ever.


She took the sheets off the bed, wrapping one around her waist and tying it to the next, and then tying that one to the next until she had run out. She grabbed any extra blankets she had in her drawers, and used those, too. In the end, she had enough to make the jump at least close enough to the ground to avoid injury. She tied the end opposite of her to the leg of the bed, before stepping towards the window. She gulped. Hands trembling, she began to lower herself down the makeshift rope, sweating. Heights were not her thing. After a moment, she realized that she was out of sheets. She was still a fair distance from the ground, further up than she thought. She gulped again. No other choice. Her hands untied the knot around her waist, and she fell to the grass below, landing on her back with a small, almost imperceptible yelp. Immediately, she checked herself for injuries, finding none, other than the fact that her back ached like crazy. She likely had formed a bruise, but nothing serious. She picked herself up, determined to get out of here as quickly as possible. She'd have to ask for directions once she got into town to the nearest bus stop, but she had no plans after that. She just wanted to get as far away from here as possible.


Beginning to run into the nearby woods, she was jarred by how bright it was. She would have done this at night, but she had been locked in her bedroom by a violent pyscho path who she was expected to marry! She didn't have time to wait any longer, especially after Eric had told her he'd be right back to 'punish' her for talking back to him....She didn't want to know what that meant.


Running through the woods quickly brought her to a small area of town, where she quickly walked up to the nearest person after she had calmed her breathing, and tried to appear as normal as possible. "Excuse me, sir, uhm....Where is the nearest bus stop?" She asked an older man walking down the street, who turned to her with a friendly smile. She'd been worried he'd refuse, but that smile was enough to prove he was friendly--hopefully. She'd never been in town before, despite living right next to it. She was always cramped up at home.


"It's not far. Just up this street, in fact." He said, and she nodded her thanks, already starting to head down the sidewalk in a hurry. As he had said, it wasn't far, and she soon found herself in front of the bus stop. There was a bench, and a large sign declaring that it was a bus stop, and the schedule of the bus. There was a bus coming in another five minutes. Good, that was convenient. She sat down on the bench, waiting patiently, and soon a white bus labeled 'Mclean Public Bus' pulled up, opening its doors. She stepped inside, handing the fee to the bus driver. 12 Dollars, almost everything she had.


"How far out do you go?" She asked, and he thought for a moment, before responding, "I can take you as far as the border of Herndon." He said, and she nodded. "It'll be a few hours, though." He added.


"I can wait." He assured him, sitting down behind him.


---------


It was maybe two hours or so before the bus driver dropped her off at a bus stop near a coffee shop in Herndon. She got off with a thank you to the driver, who expressed his concerns for her safety before she insisted she would be okay, even though she didn't quite believe it herself. She had to hope.


It was dark now, but she could still see well enough to walk slowly. And so, she did, heading down the sidewalk as exhaustion began to set in on her. She was plagued with feelings of regret that came out of nowhere, and she almost felt like crying, despite having been so focused on escaping before. She looked around, having been walking for maybe twenty minutes, and realized she could hardly see anymore. From what little she could tell, she was in front of a small park. She felt an intense need to rest and decided to investigate the park for somewhere to rest, her mind hazy as she couldn't think clearly. It had been a long day, and she was exhausted.


She discovered a massive oak tree in what she thought was the center of the park, noticing how the roots seemed to make a perfect headrest for sleeping on, and the moss that grew under the tree was nice and soft. She decided to sleep here, laying down exhaustedly underneath the trunk of the tree. She hadn't realized she was crying until she felt the tears streaming down the side of her face, and at this point, she didn't care. She let herself cry, soon fading into the darkness of her slumber...

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

Today’s shift had been crazy, not that it was much different from any other shift that Cole worked. The only difference was that it was a double and it was on a busy day. Since the beginning of his shift, Cole Evans hadn’t managed to catch a break, in fact he had skipped both of his breaks because he simply hadn’t had the time to take them. It was a relief to the male when he was finally off of work though he’d got stuck at work for another half hour before getting to leave.


By the time he got outside, it was dark and the male groaned as he realized that the bus had already run. Currently his car was in the shop so he was stuck taking the bus everywhere and while normally he didn’t mind walking, tonight he was tired and his feet were sore. Walking was the last thing that he wanted to do. And while a ride was an option, it meant that Cole would have to sit and wait for his coworkers to get off work. Not only did he fear that he would get sucked back into working but he also feared that the wait would be a long one and Cole wasn’t wanting to wait around.


Normally he wasn’t impatient but the boy had spent his entire day working and that had entirely consisted of running around like a chicken with his head cut off. After a few minutes of watching his coworkers for any signs that any of them would be heading home soon, he shrugged and started to walk across the street and into the park. It was the quickest way home and Cole found it to be a shame that he had to walk home in the dark, he certainly would have enjoyed the view. Luckily for Cole, Herndon was a quiet town and so he knew he was safe in the park regardless of the time.


He had chosen to cut straight across the park which meant that he would have to venture off of the trail about halfway. His walk was quiet and peaceful, the male starting to enjoy the walk home even though his feet were sore. The male’s peace was cut short as he saw a figure curled up against a tree. As late as it was, no one should have really been at the park and with this in mind, Cole slowly approached the sleeping girl. Homeless people were rare to see but when he did see them he tried to help.


Slowly approaching Sarah, Cole found himself looking around before focusing on her. “Hey. You okay?” He questioned, calling out to her softly as he didn’t want to risk scaring her or anything. When the girl didn’t answer, Cole came closer and called out again a little louder as he still didn’t want to risk scaring her. “Hey, you. You alright? You lost?” He highly doubted she was lost but Cole figured it was a safe idea to check anyways. If she didn’t answer this time he would give her shoulder a gentle nudge.


While he waited, he found himself looking over the girl, frowning as he realized that she was wearing what looked like a high school uniform. Had he found some kid whom had run away? I can’t just leave her out here. But taking her home would seem too weird and he barely knew her. Cole pulled out his phone and pulled up his bank statement, the male trying to figure out whether or not he could afford a hotel for her or not. That was the best he could do, get her to a hotel. It wasn’t much but at least she would be sleeping in a warm bed instead of against a tree in a park.

 

[HowlingWoods]

"Huff...Huff.."


Short, stocky breaths made audible sounds as they were released from Sarah's lungs, the exhaustion and fatigue of running catching up to her. She didn't have time to rest. She had to get away.


"Oh, don't run away, dear. Let's play, dear. Come out and play with me!" A younger, childish voice spoke from behind Sarah, followed by a twisted laughter. The cackling seemed to echo off the trees of the forest and seemed as if it was coming from every direction at once.


"Ahh!" A sudden gasp escaped Sarah's mouth the moment she looked behind her, catching a glimpse of the person chasing her. It was her, as a child, holding a large kitchen knife soaked in blood. Suddenly, the ground seemed to collapse beneath her, and she began to fall, plunging into darkness. She let out a scream, but the wind rushing in her ears made it nearly impossible to hear her own pleas for help. Suddenly, she felt her back crash against a hard surface, knocking the air out of her lungs. She shot up, trying to make out something around her, but it was pitch black. She couldn't see a thing.


A spotlight switched on with a loud click, the bright light centered on her and blinding her momentarily. She looked down at herself, realizing she was wearing nothing but her underwear and bra. With a gasp, she attempted to cover herself up with her hands as another spotlight switched on near her, highlighting the form of a male in a tuxedo twenty feet away. He began to walk towards her, the spotlight following him as his formal dress shoes clicked against the floor. His face was flat, uncaring and nonreactive.


"Eric!" She gasped as she recognized the face of the man, quickly beginning to crawl backwards, never letting him leave her sight. He stopped when he was right in front of her, leaning down and grabbing her chin as she trembled in fear. Suddenly, he raised one hand to slap her, and she closed her eyes, waiting for the impact. When nothing came, she opened her eyes once more, and gasped as her gaze was met by the two black, beady eyes of a giant crow perched where Eric had been standing. She was standing in a poppy field now, and the sun was setting.


The giant crow then began to split into thousands of tiny crows, all of them flying towards her and attacking her ruthlessly. They tore at the white robe she was now wearing, shredding it and pecking at her skin. She tried to swipe them away, but they swarmed her, and the shrieking of the crows rung in her ears as her vision was filled with black feathers and beady eyes. She fell backwards and landed on the ground, curling up in a ball in an attempt to protect herself from the crows. Closing her eyes tight, she willed it all to go away, and then, she heard a voice through the cries and shrieks of the birds.


"Hey, you. You alright? You lost?"


~~~~~~





Sarah's eyes flashed open as she shot into an upright position, soaked in a sudden cold sweat. Panicked, she tried to back away from the male she spotted in front of her, gasping, but it only resulted in her hitting her head against the trunk of the tree, hard. She let out a sound between a whimper and a gasp as the pain registered, and she reached a hand up to her head to assess the injury, beginning to regain her senses. She took several deep breathes to calm her nerves, before swallowing.


"It...It was just a dream..."


She gasped as she realized she had said that out loud, and as she realized that a man was hunched over her, staring at her. Her face flushed with embarrassment as she remembered last night's events. She had fallen asleep in a park! How stupid could she be?


As her breathing slowly began to calm, she stared up at the man with wide eyes, like a deer in headlights. He seemed to be expecting something. What was he expecting? Did he ask a question? She didn't hear him ask anything! Gah! Why couldn't things just be simple for once?


Seconds later, she wished she hadn't asked that question, because knowing the answer was worse than not knowing anything at all.


It was because nothing is truly simple. Simple is just another word for complex. Simple didn't exist.


With no idea how to react to a situation like this, with barely any conversational skills to begin with, Sarah was screwed.


And worse of all, she did it to herself.


Ugh.

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

Normally Cole wasn’t one to bother people in the park as he knew that homeless often frequented the park but upon examining the sleeping figure that was resting against the tree, he realized whoever they were, they certainly did not seem like a homeless person. And whatever was wrong with them, he was surprised to hear whimpers from the sleeping person, causing him to look around as he realized that if a cop came by and saw this that it would look very bad for him. However, he couldn’t just leave this person by themselves especially since they looked so young. So he would keep trying to wake them.


Finally a reaction though it wasn’t anything that Cole had expected to come from the person. Seeing her shuffle back and collide with the tree, he grimaced and held his hands up with his palms facing outward towards her. “Hey! Hey! I’m not here to hurt you. I was just checking on you, you look a little young to be out here.” The male explained, backing away from the girl and giving her the space that she probably needed. Hearing her mutter that it was just a dream, he rose his brow in confusion but pushed his confusion aside, deciding it was best to keep his distance from the girl. Maybe he should just leave her alone, that would probably be the safest route, the route that was going to keep him out of trouble.


“Can I get you a cab to get you home? Where do you live? Are you hungry?” Despite his fear that somehow this would look bad for him, he couldn’t just leave the startled girl by herself. “Here, if you want, I’ll take you to the diner where I work, we’ll get you fed and get you some place safe.” Cole offered again, trying to find a way to help the girl without seeming to be a creep. Really he didn’t have the money to put her in a hotel for the night but he didn’t want to leave a woman to sleep outside in the park, either.


Cole was still keeping his distance from the stranger, deciding that it was his best bet to be distanced from her if she decided that he was somehow a danger to her. “I just want to help you. I promise that I’ll leave you alone once I’m sure that you’re fed and sleeping in a bed tonight.” Cole told her, the male keeping his hands raised and backing away from her further to make sure that she wouldn’t freak out on him because of all of the stress.

 

[HowlingWoods]

Sarah watched wide-eyed as the man backed up, holding his hands up like he was one of those criminals in the police movies who had just been cornered.


Huh?


...Young? She was 21!


Oh, yeah. She was wearing a high school uniform.


Crap. Now she had to pretend she was still in high school. Her panic began to subside and was replaced with a distrust for the man in front of her. He seemed nice enough, but Sarah knew when she left home that she couldn't allow herself to trust anyone. She was the adopted heir to the Rye family, a name that nearly everyone knew. Her so-called father owned the entire city of Mclean and most of Herndon, along with various other towns. Everyone knew she was filthy rich, and no one could resist trying to rob her if they knew. Once they found out she had no money on her, they'd try to get a ransom. Once they found out her father didn't care what happened to her, they'd kill her. She made a decision in her head, at that very moment.


She was no longer Sarah Rye, the 21-year-old heir to the Rye family.


She was Rylen Rose, an average 17-year-old high school girl who's parents kicked her out of her home.


Sar--no, Rylen rose to her feet, blushing in embarrassment. Dusting the dirt off her black jeans, she froze when the man asked where she lived, and whether or not he should bring her home. He also brought to realization the fact that she was starving.


"You should stay out of my business; I can handle myself." She insisted, and she mentally noted how different her voice sounded from what she had expected. Normally, she was calm, polite, and lady-like. Today, however, she was different. She no longer had to live by her parent's rules. She could act however she wanted, and the only thing holding her back was herself.


He offered to take her to a diner, and she stiffened. It wasn't a bad deal, actually. But she couldn't. She had no idea whether or not she could trust him. He insisted that he just wanted to help, and she scoffed at that. It just seemed ridiculous to her, but she wasn't sure why.


"If you want to help, then leave me alone." She stated. She was tired of acting fragile and weak so she could fit other's expectations. She wasn't Sarah Rye anymore; She was Rylen Rose. And Rylen wasn't like Sarah. Sarah was weak. Rylen was stronger than that.


She began to turn around to walk away when a loud rumbling sounded from her stomach.


Rylen's entire face flushed with embarrassment. 


Oh, no. She is not going to accept his offer. No way. Not a chance.


"Well...." She muttered, turning her head to face the male again.


Nope. Not going to happen. Don't do it, Rylen. Not a good idea. Just don't.


"Maybe just one night....."

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

It seemed like forever until the girl gave him a reaction that was something different than staring at him as if he were a madman. Cole considered his options here, or rather the circumstances; you’re alone with a young girl in a park in the middle of the night, of course she’s not going to trust you! Neither would the cops or anyone else seeing you having her backed to a tree like this. Even if you’re innocent, you sure look guilty! This was enough to make him realize that if the girl decided to scream or anything, no matter what he told the cops, he was screwed and so he needed to get this cleared up rather quickly. The sooner he got her somewhere safe and got himself home for the night, the better.


Hearing her harsh tone as she told him that she would have been okay without him, that he needed to stay out of her business, the male found himself pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Look, I thought you needed help. I wasn’t meaning to infringe on your business or whatever, all I saw was some kid in high-school sleeping against a tree in the park, it didn’t look good. I didn’t want to leave you alone.” Cole explained to her gently, looking her over for any sign that she was going to come after him. Instead, the girl stood close to the tree looking as if she were some wild animal that had just been cornered, she looked like the dangerous one in this situation.


When she once again insisted that he leave her alone, Cole gave a nod and decided to let it go, he wasn’t about to be framed for doing something stupid in a park with some teenage girl. “Alright, well, the diner’s that way. Gloria is on duty, she should be able to feed you. Just tell her Cole sent you.” He told her, watching her walk away from him. However, the girl’s stomach spoke up to remind her that she was hungry which seemed to be a good enough argument to get the stranger to change her mind. It seemed to be a good enough bargaining tool for her now, the girl’s hunger making itself known which Cole was sure that it wasn’t something that she could ignore.


His thoughts proved to be correct as she stopped dead in her tracks and turned her head to face him, now deciding that she would take him up on his offer. “I can get your dinner for you and get you a hotel room. The most I can afford right now though is probably the Hyatt Regency Dulles. Would that be okay with you? I can only get you one night there but it’s better than sleeping against a tree.” Cole told her, the male waiting patiently for her to follow his lead. “C’mon, the Diner’s this way. A lot of greasy food but it’s home-cooked recipes. Pretty good, if you ask me. The name’s Cole. What’s yours?” He questioned, starting to walk back towards the diner.


Now that she was taking him up on the offer, Cole almost regretted being so kind as to offer to not only feed her, but to get her to a safe place as well. This was part of his rent money that he was spending but he knew that if he would have left her there, the guilt would have consumed him. His mother had raised him to take care of women and if she were to somehow find out that he allowed a teenage girl sleep in the park, she would have killed him for sure. He was walking slowly so that the girl could keep up, the male not wanting to lose her on the way back to the park. He had told her he was going to get her to the diner safely so he wanted to make sure that he kept his end of the deal. They walked for about fifteen minutes until he saw the lights of the diner, the male turning back to check on his new companion before continuing. 

 

[HowlingWoods]

She'd done it.


Oh, what kind of mess was she getting herself into?


Despite her better judgement, she began to follow the male, making sure to walk a distance behind him. He spoke about some hotel, but she wasn't familiar with anything outside her old mansion, so she knew little about it. She just nodded in agreement and said, "It's fine. I don't care." He then asked her name. She'd prepared herself for this moment by telling herself her name was Rylen, but she still hesitated before she spoke, betraying the fact that she was using an alias. "Sa-" She began, before correcting herself, "Rylen. My name's Rylen." She insisted, more convincing herself than him.


She noticed the way he constantly checked to see if she was following him, and it annoyed her immensely. "I'm not completely helpless, you know." She insisted, increasing her pace until she was walking beside him so he wouldn't need to check back on her anymore. She wasn't sure why it annoyed her, but she didn't want to be seen as weak anymore. She was tired of always being considered helpless and fragile just because she was a woman.


Rylen thought about her situation. Truthfully, her story that she was in high-school would be the end of her. She wasn't enrolled in any schools, and so anyone who checked would find that she was lying. She couldn't think of another way to explain her uniform, though. She would simply have to run on the hope that no one checked until she could get some new clothes.


After a few minutes of walking, Rylen felt herself concerned about the lack of questions he had asked. Didn't he find it strange that some random high school girl was sleeping against a tree in the park? Without thinking, she blurted out, "Don't you want to know? About why I was sleeping there, I mean?"


She immediately regretted it. If he asked now, she may not be able to answer all his questions. She was simply digging a deeper hole for herself than she could climb out of.


Ugh.

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

Asking the girl’s name had been a bad idea, Cole was waiting to be chewed out by the girl for daring to ask her a question, after all, she had made it very clear that she didn’t want him to know anything about her. Instead, she surprised him by speaking up, the female hesitating for quite awhile before telling him her name. He had caught her begin to say something else and he figured that it was nothing, that she just was ready to chew him out for ignoring her demands and asking her a question. “Nice to meet you, Rylen.” Cole greeted though he made no move to shake her hand, after all, this was a weird situation for the both of them.


They continued to walk in silence until she snapped at him for checking on her, the girl insisting that she wasn’t helpless. “Wasn’t saying you were. But, I was on my way home when I found you and now I’m walking you back to the place where I just worked a double shift. I was just checking to make sure that you didn’t run off on me, I don’t want to do all this walking for nothing.” His words sounded careless, harsh and he immediately flinched, the male frowning at his behavior. “I didn’t mean anything bad by that, Ry – can I call you that? I’m just tired, its been a long day. I wanted to make sure that you were still coming with me.” Cole explained, looking over to her as she walked at his side now.


While he wasn’t sure if this was the case, it seemed like the girl thought she had something to prove, her behavior had pretty well been hostile since the beginning. Not that he could blame her. She apparently didn’t want to be bothered and Cole had done the exact opposite of that, he had bothered her and was now making sure that she was taken care of for the night. Hearing her ask why he wasn’t nosing into her business, the male shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked, daring to cast a glance over at her. “You said to stay out of your business so I am. Whatever the reason is, what matters is that you won’t be sleeping there tonight.” Cole replied calmly, hoping that this wouldn’t rub her the wrong way.


A couple more minutes and they were walking into the diner, Cole gesturing for Rylen to sit down at the bar as he went to talk to Gloria. He stood and explained his situation to the girl who looked between him and Rylen before nodding. Soon he walked over to the drink machine, grabbing two cups, one for him and one for Rylen. “What do you want to drink? We serve Pepsi products.” Cole explained, waiting for the girl to answer him while Gloria moved forward to take her order down. The girl looked tired herself but she wasn’t off until 6am so she still had a long night in front of her. “What can I get for you, sweetie? Cole says he found you sleeping in a park. After we get you fed, I’m gonna call a friend to run you to the hotel. If you need anything, here’s the diner’s number. We can set you up with a job if you need one.” Gloria offered, smiling brightly at Rylen.


It took her a minute to realize that she hadn’t given Rylen the menu and so she grabbed it for her, handing it over and patiently waiting for the girl to decide. While she waited she worked on getting the hotel number for Cole so that he could book Rylen’s room for her.

 

[HowlingWoods]

Rylen listened to his explanation of his actions, and then his answer to her question. It was then that she realized how overly hostile she had been being to the male; Cole, he said his name was. With a deep sigh, she took a moment to think over her reply, before speaking, "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for." She didn't look at him, clearly embarrassed that she was showing so much weakness, but she quickly raised her guard again, and the rest of the walk was silent.


Rylen sat down and watched as he talked to the waiter, before moving over to a drink machine. She frowned at his offer, having never really been allowed to have fast food before. She knew the names of a few sodas, but she didn't know what was a Pepsi product and what wasn't. She simply went with her best guess, "Pepsi." She muttered, just loud enough for him to hear. She was playing it safe.


The waiter approached her, smiling brightly. Rylen offered a small, minuscule smile in response, although it disappeared quickly. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the coin purse she had brought from her home. There were three dollars left in it, which didn't give her many options as far as food. She frowned slightly, glancing at the menu and the contents of the purse. The only thing she could really afford were some fries. 


"I'll have some fries." She told the waiter swiftly, not being left with a lot of choices.


She refused to accept charity. The waiter's offer for a job sounded rather tempting, as it gave her a chance to earn money rather than having it all gifted to her. However, it also put her at risk of being discovered. If she stuck around too long, they'd quickly find out that she wasn't going to school when she was supposed to be. Still, as long as it was only for a little while, she should be fine. Just long enough to get her on her feet.


"A job sounds nice, too..." She muttered quietly, her face tinting red.

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

For a little while, the girl was silent, apparently not having too much to say. While this worried him, Cole refused to push it, the male not wanting to set her off as it seemed rather easy to do. Finally she spoke and this was a huge surprise to Cole as he found the girl apologizing to him. “You’re fine, trust me, I understand. It’s got to be hard on you, waking up to find some stranger all up in your face. I meant no harm, just wanted to help. I understand if I was a little over-bearing though.” Cole admitted, hoping that the girl wouldn’t take offense or find him weird. The rest of the walk had been silent, apparently she wasn’t wanting to talk, something that he should have expected.


As they got to the diner, Gloria inserted herself into conversation with Rylen almost immediately. Hearing the girl’s choice of a drink, he grabbed it for her while Gloria was pestering Rylen and set it in front of the girl. “Everything’s on the house tonight, you don’t need to worry about paying for any of it. I’ll get you taken care of.” Cole promised, watching her dig through her change purse, the girl looking almost desperate as she did. That was enough to make him feel bad and he gave her the menu again, the male waiting to see what else she would order. “Go ahead, get you something to eat. Really. You’re not paying for it, I am.” Cole explained to her, the male running a hand through his dark hair tiredly.


“Gloria, let me know what she orders. I’m going to get started on those fries. Looks like we need a fresh batch.” Cole explained, leaving the two females alone while he went back into the kitchen to get the fries started. While Cole was away, Gloria turned her attention to Rylen with a big smile, the girl leaning across the counter casually. “So, what’s going on with you? Why were you sleeping in the park? Are you a run away? Are you even from around here?” Gloria questioned, not seeming to care that many of the questions were personal. “What’s your name anyways? What are you doing with Cole? I didn’t know he had a girlfriend.” The questions continued and luckily as Sarah said she wanted a job application, it was enough to distract the nosey woman for a little while.


Digging around under the counter, Gloria struggled to find a job application for Rylen, the woman frowning. “Hold on, I’ll have to get them from the office.” Gloria spoke, walking out of the main lobby and into the office. She came back with a pen and a stack of applications, soon handing one over to the nervous girl. “You’re going to be getting a lot of hours here. We slow down a lot at night, it’s like a ghost town in here unless it’s the weekend, then we get lots of drunks come in from the bars.” The woman explained, seating herself across from Sarah again. “So, what’ll you have?” She questioned, gesturing to the menu with a smile.

 

[HowlingWoods]

Before Rylen could object to him paying for the food, Cole ran off to work on her fries. She didn't have much time to think on that, though, when the waiter suddenly hit her with a thousand questions. Her last statement made her entire face flush a deep red and her voice could likely be heard from the kitchen as she insisted stubbornly, "He is NOT my boyfriend!" She shouted, and her face only flushed a deeper red as she realized how loud she had said that. She, the waiter, and Cole were the only ones there, which only meant that there were no other voices to drown out their conversation. She resigned herself to quiet for the rest of the night, giving simple answers, her face still flushed even as she calmed. 


When the waiter left and then came back with the job applications, she resigned herself to studying the paperwork and distracting herself from the conversation. If she had learned anything in her step father's business classes, it was to always read the fine print. She started to read over the documents, rather than skimming like most people did, before the waiter asked what she'd have. 


"I already told you. Just fries." She stated, even more insistent now not to take charity from Cole. It could somehow be interpreted as him treating her to dinner for a date, considering how the waiter had already twisted the fact they just met into them being in a relationship. She had to expect everything and anything.


She returned to reading the documents, mulling over every word carefully in search of the attached strings that many legal documents seemed to have. What she hadn't remembered from her business classes was that you didn't have to read every document all the way through; just the ones you're suspicious of. The rest you can skim.

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

Inside the kitchen, Cole was busy grabbing a fresh batch of french fries to throw into the deep fryer, the male pausing as he heard Gloria start bombarding Rylen with questions. While it wasn't clear just what Gloria was asking Rylen, he knew that his coworker was butting into the other girl's business. He didn't hear much coming from Rylen, so apparently she was still avoiding questions. Now would be a good time to see who was more stubborn, Rylen or Gloria.


He was coming out of the kitchen to save Rylen from Gloria's persistent prying as she yelled out that he wasn't her boyfriend. The girl's face was bright red and she was certainly embarassed at this rate. "Gloria, give the girl a break. I found her in the park and I couldn't just leave her there. There's nothing going on between us, just met her." Cole clarified, not even bothering to look at Rylen. Hopefully she wouldn't take offense to him stepping in to help. "Just asking her a few questions, Cole. I don't mean anything bad by it." Gloria whined, the female always eager to look into other's lives. "Leave her alone unless you're taking her order." Cole warned, his eyes falling onto Gloria sternly. The least thing he needed was for Rylen to take off because Gloria was pestering her. "Sorry about her. She gets a little excited when new people come around, doesn't always know when to stop." Cole confessed, earning a snide look from Gloria as the girl retreated into the kitchen. 


As Rylen insisted that she was only having fries, Cole raised a brow and looked down at her as she studied the documents in front of her. "With the way your stomach was growling in that park, I highly doubt that just fries will fill you up. If this is because of what Gloria asked, don't worry about it. I'm not going to make you pay me back and I don't expect anything from you. So, what will it be? If you don't tell me I'll just fix something for you. It sure would be a shame if you didn't like it, we don't like to waste food around here." Cole told Rylen, waiting for her to make up her mind. 


The way the girl was reading everything word for word caused Cole to look at the girl as if she were crazy. "You don't have to read the entire thing you know. Just mainly the disclaimers. You're going to give yourself a headache if you keep that up." Cole spoke up, blinking as he realized that she had done this for pretty much the entire application. Maybe she was just paranoid that she would get sucked into something crazy. Really, the only thing she had to worry about here were the flirty customers, the angry customers who were impatient. And of course she only got a ten percent employee discount on the food. 

 

[HowlingWoods]

Rylen watched as Cole chased the waiter away, apologizing to her on behalf of the waiter's actions. "It's fine.." She muttered, still a bit flustered as she refused to look at the male. When he insisted on her eating more, she began to object, before she thought better of it. He was right; she was starving, and fries wouldn't be enough to satisfy her. With a sigh of annoyance, she gave in, looking over the menu once more. 


She chose the cheapest thing she could find that she thought she would like and would satisfy her hunger, "Alright. I'll have a burger; you can pick which one." She said, noting that all the burgers were the same price. She wasn't really sure what any of these tasted like, since she'd never had a burger before. She'd just have to rely on her luck to see if she ended up liking it. 


When he called her out on reading the entire thing, she blushed and nodded, skipping down to the disclaimers. "Right." She said quietly, trying to pretend as if she had already known that. She read through the disclaimers and then signed where she was supposed to, her handwriting neat and professional, something her father had made sure of. He had her practice cursive non-stop for months to perfect her signature.


She then pushed the stack of papers to the side, deciding to wait until the waiter came back before she'd give her the applications; she wasn't sure if Cole was supposed to take them. She nervously leaned forward on the table as she waited, biting her lower lip in a nervous habit. A few strands of her hair fell into her face, and she lifted her hand to push them back into place, shifting her weight from side to side.

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

There was a sudden change in the girl now, the girl acting totally different from the way that she had acted within the park. Rylen seemed to be flustered and Cole realized that she was probably worried about what Gloria had said to her. It had been a heavy assumption to make and while he knew that he needed to get the girl fed, he knew that he should have monitored Gloria. “Hey, I’m sorry about that. But don’t you worry about it. I’m going to get you taken care of and really you won’t have to worry about anything that she says. She simply stepped out of bounds, really she meant nothing by it.” Cole explained, doing his best to comfort and soothe the girl.


When she finally placed her second order, now deciding that she wanted a burger to go with her fries the male rose a brow at her. There had been no specific order on just what Rylen wanted, the girl insisting that he choose for her. “Well, how about this. I’ll make you two different burgers since you don’t seem to know what you want. We’ll get you a bacon cheese burger and just a regular burger. The bacon cheese burger has a few extra ingredients. Is there anything that you’re allergic to or that you don’t like?” Cole questioned, pulling out his little note book and waiting to take her suggestions down. Hopefully his persistence wouldn’t worry the girl, after all he just wanted to make sure that she was well fed and to him that meant making sure she was well taken care of.


Upon Cole’s statement about her insistence on being extremely thorough with her application the female seemed to become even more flustered. ‘Ah, so she gets embarrassed super easily. I’ll have to keep that in mind.’ Cole noted, looking over the girl as she did her best to cover up what she really had been up to by finishing off the application. “I can take that for you, you know. While I’m off the clock I still do work here. All I’ve got to do is drop it in the managers office.” Cole explained, the male continuing to wait until she gave him something to work with for her burger. He in the very least needed to know just what to do to avoid in making her burgers.

 

[HowlingWoods]

Rylen listened to the male as he apologized once more for the waiter's actions, frowning slightly as she finally looked at him, staring at him in slight confusion for a long moment.


Finally, she spoke. "I don't get you." She stated simply, her gaze still searching him up and down. Finally, she looked away, slightly upset that she couldn't understand the male. He explained the difference between a bacon burger and a regular burger, although she probably could have assumed that a bacon burger had bacon on it while a regular burger did not. He then asked if she's allergic to anything. She frowned slightly, thinking. "As far as I know, I'm not allergic to anything. I'm not really very picky." She admitted, sighing softly as she simply wanted to get this over with. 


The male told her that he could take the forms, and she nodded, sliding the forms over towards him. "Uhm, before you go..." Rylen suddenly said aloud, not thinking about what she was going to say. She paused for a moment, reconsidering what she was about to do. If she told him part of the story now, she could explain her school uniform without putting herself at risk of being questioned too much, and hopefully satisfy the curiosity of the waiter from before so that she would be less inclined to ask questions. Of course, it could also end up making her ask more questions. This was a risk, but if she was going to be working here, she'd have to eventually at least spill some of her secret.


"I think you should know...." She muttered, taking a deep breathe. She shifted her weight from side to side in the seat once more, nervously biting her lip. "I'm not actually a student..." She finally said, "I'm 21. I ran away from home after my parents tried to force me into an arranged marriage. I had to leave in a hurry so I didn't really have a lot of options with clothing." 


There. She said it. 


"Don't take this the wrong way." She added, "I just don't want to have to pretend I'm a student and have to leave for school all the time." She flushed slightly, almost as if she thought she was admitting defeat somehow by saying this.

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

Out of all of the things that could have possibly happened, Cole wasn’t expecting for the girl to admit that she didn’t understand his behavior. It was enough to throw him for a loop, the male having figured that she would have ripped him a new one for stepping in and helping her or even just because he was being helpful. So far this girl seemed to have something against him and he had no idea why – he was just trying to help. He’d given up a few hours of his sleep and even some of his money to help her and she seemed to believe that he had an ulterior motive.


“What do you mean you don’t get me? Is there something I’m doing that’s wrong or confusing to you? I don’t understand what there is to get about me.” Cole admitted, raising a skeptical brow at the girl as he looked over her. They were both confused, the male not understanding why she had initially been so hostile towards him. Luckily before he could get too wrapped up in trying to figure out the meaning of her words she told him that she’d eat just about anything and that was a bit of a comfort to the male. “That’s good, I’ll get started on your burger.” Cole replied, the male dismissing himself to get started on her burger.


Originally his plan hadn’t been to come and do all of the cooking but it had been clear that Gloria wasn’t looking to do anything. Really he wasn’t supposed to be doing anything behind the counter but Gloria had made herself unavailable by dismissing herself from the area. He didn’t want to fight and argue with the girl to get her to get back to work so he had just sucked it up and began cooking Rylen’s burger. He had gotten to the stove when the girl dropped a surprise on him, the male’s eyes widening as he turned to face her.


“You can’t be serious.” Cole spoke, the male clearly in denial as he shook his head back and forth. No, he wasn’t dealing with a run-away who apparently was trying to hide her true identity. Arranged marriages didn’t exist anymore, did they? Luckily for the two of them Gloria was listening to music as she cleaned the rest of the diner. “So, how’d you even get here? Who is going to come after you? Does anyone know you’re here?” Now he was bombarding her with questions, wanting to know more about the situation.


“So – are you still wanting to work here? Or are you going to just stay for tonight and get going again tomorrow?” Of course money had seemed to be an issue for the girl but he didn’t want to waste the time training her if she wasn’t going to stay.

 

[HowlingWoods]

"I mean that you're stupid." Rylen muttered under her breathe, so quiet that it would be difficult for him to distinguish her words. As he seemed to be fine with changing the subject, she silently agreed to do the same as he went to cook her food.


His reaction to her story was exactly what she was hoping wouldn't happen; he ended up asking questions. Lots of questions. She decided that most of them were harmless, and it was too late to back down now. "I took the bus from my hometown in Mclean to Herndon." She answered his first question, before her expression hardened at his second question. Touchy subject.


"My parents won't even look for me. They don't care. It's not like I'm their real daughter anyways. In their eyes, I'm a failure. And Eric --" She began to tremble in both anger and fear at the mere mention of his name. He terrified her, but he also wanted so badly to simply show him that she wasn't just some bitch to be pushed around. Still, she knew she didn't have the guts. It was useless to pretend she did.


"If that psychopath does come looking for me....." She paused, her lips trembling. What would she do if that happened? What could she do? She was hung up on Cole's second question, forgetting his other questions as she shook in her seat, both terrified and boiling in anger. Her eyes expressed both emotions; a pressing fear controlling her every move, and a burning anger that wanted nothing more than to be released on it's target, that being Eric. Her breathing accelerated slightly as she struggled to keep her emotions in check, as the subject of Eric never failed to evoke deeply negative emotions.


She never finished her sentence, instead staring ahead of her intently as she tried to pull herself together, trying to calm her two battling emotions before she exploded into either tears or screams.

 

[LittleAndClumsy]

There had been a reply to his confusion though it wasn’t one that Cole could easily understand. Of course she had spoken while he had been walking away from her to start on her food though his curiosity brought him back to her. Despite wanting to be right in front of her to ask more about the situation Cole had to angle himself so that he could peek into the kitchen whenever he so needed and he also needed to be able to hear Rylen. She was a quiet girl.


Now there was a dilemma, stay and talk to the girl who was obviously shaken up or go and finish cooking her dinner. As a surge of emotions crossed over the female’s smooth features Cole grimaced, the male understanding that this situation was about to get worse. “Gloria, I need you to stop standing around and actually do something. I’ve been off the clock for four hours now, I shouldn’t even be in there cooking. She’s a guest and that means that you have a customer. Get to work. She ordered two burgers, a regular cheese burger and a BLT. Keep an eye on her fries too.” Cole ordered, the male taking an authoritative tone and gesturing for Gloria to get to work.


Really he wouldn’t have minded doing all the work but it seemed that Rylen needed him more now than ever. Once Gloria had passed by him to go into the kitchen he moved to sit next to the runaway that he had found, the male silently listening as she spoke. The girl explained that she had come from another town and that no one would come looking for her, that her adoptive parents didn’t care. “Let me guess, they wanted you just for the checks or to carry out some sort of job?” Cole questioned, soon realizing that his questions had been out of line. He shouldn’t have asked, he should have just kept his mouth shut. He was about to apologize for his rude questions when he noticed that the girl had fallen silent and that her body language was tense as if she were trying to hold everything together.


“Hey, you’re safe here. We’ll get you set up and no one will mess with you. If anyone comes by and tries to bother you while I’m around I’ll show them the curb. I don’t know you all that well but we take care of our own around here. You’re over 18, right? You’re an adult and now its time you start making your own decisions, no one can control you anymore. We’re here for you.” Cole promised, the male doing his best to reassure her though he was sure nothing he said would matter. After all, he was only a strange man whom had insisted she stop sleeping in the park and come and get a hot meal and a warm bed to sleep in.


While watching the girl Cole was aware that her eyes were filling with tears that were threatening to spill over at any moment, something that he hated to see. “Don’t you worry. You’re safe.” Cole repeated, his eyes on her as he carefully placed a hand on her shoulder to try and soothe her. “We’ll get you fed and then get you to a hotel. If you want we’ll swing by K-Mart tomorrow and I’ll get you some clothes for work. I’ll help you in any way I can.” Hopefully he wouldn’t come to regret this choice of helping her as much as he could. “Now, chin up. You’re about to have the best food in Herndon!” Cole mused, hoping that she didn’t mind greasy meals.  


After about ten minutes Gloria brought out a platter of fries with the two cheeseburgers that Cole had ordered for Rylen. She hardly looked at Cole, the female probably being mad that he had made such a comment to her. He would explain later that he had needed to be there for Rylen as she seemed to be upset and he couldn't talk if he was back in the kitchen working, something that he hadn't supposed to have been doing regardless.