Running Home Read Free

never be good enough for Walker: the town prince. Some messed up Cinderella story my life had turned out to be.
     
     
    “Walker , sweet boy, would you go grab Henry from the barn? I’ve got dinner on the table,” I heard, as Grams handed the plates over to me to set out.
    “Sure th ing, Mrs. Montgomery,” Walker responded while walking out the back door in search of my grandpa.
    “That boy is something special. W hy can’t you two just go steady?”
    “Grams , it’s not like that between us. Besides, no one goes steady anymore when it’s just a matter of heading to Vegas and stopping by the drive-thru chapel of love, then a quick jaunt over to the local court house to void the papers.”
    “Life isn’t as negative as you paint it to be , Carmen.”
    “Really ? Because my parents are junkies, I can barely pass high school, and am dying to get out of here!”
    I refuse d to cry over the shitty deals my life has been given. Yes, my parents are drug addicts, but shit happens. They don’t deserve a single tear to fall from my eyes. The best thing they ever did was leave me here, and that says a lot; considering I’m counting down the seconds until I get on a Greyhound bus out of here. There is nothing but a big ass black sucking hole in this town, just waiting for the new graduates to step out into their future at the local Dairy Queen and Quickie Mart. No one ever leaves this hell hole. It’s like an invisible force field that blocks people from moving on.
    H owever, I’m about to shake up that electrical current. I wasn’t going to die in this one horse town, I wasn’t made to have lots of babies, and teach Sunday school. I was meant to travel the world, bare my soul to anyone willing to listen, and show that there is life after high school. It was about time for someone to kick this town in the ass. I refused to get stuck here.

“You and Me” Boyce Avenue
     
    Walker
    Carmen drove me absolutely insane. She isn’t able to commit to anything in life always flying by the seat of her pants, and it normally ended in disaster. I have held her hand since we were eight; never once doubting her ability to succeed in life when she claimed she was doomed. I have stood up for her when others tried to bring her down, made sure she got home after a night of drinking herself into oblivion, and played her chauffer for the last two years because she was always terrified to drive. So to hear that she is still hell bent on leaving this town basically breaks my heart in two. I have loved that girl since I laid eyes on her walking into Miss Treva’s third grade classroom. I am the only person in this world that has seen the real Carmen; she has an amazing soul when she lets people see it. I’ve tried to keep her here, but I’m afraid that it’s going to be the real end. After ten years of devoted friendship, I was finally going to lose my best friend to the lure of the Hollywood lights.
     
     
    “Thank you , Mrs. Montgomery, for dinner; as usual it was fantastic,” I praised as I stood and collected my dishes. “Oh, Walker, you know I love having you around. Now, if you could only rub off on Carmen some more, I’d die a happy lady,” Grams smiled, glancing directly at Carmen,
    “You know I’m still sitting right here ,” Carmen sneered.
    “Obviously child , if I’m looking at you.”
    I quickly place d my dishes in the sink and walked over to grab Carmen’s. She offered me a slight smile when I removed her plate. I know it bothers her when Mrs. Montgomery rides her, but it’s not like it would ever change. Authority was never something she favored, and I knew she lived with a bar of soap in her mouth when she was younger. I just wished she showed her family a little bit of the Carmen I got to see every now and then; I’m sure they would love the soft interior she kept hidden from the world.
    “Well , if we are done with the pick on Carmen hour, I believe we have something to tend to,” Carmen exclaimed as