Run Away Child

Chicken Tenders

“What?”

“They have chicken nuggets and chicken tenders.”

“Oh lord.”

“Wait they do?”

“Yep. I'm ordering them.”

“The both of you?”

Andrew and I made eye contact and started giggling at the same time. Jordan looked at us like he had seen Satan himself. The waitress came back with our drinks.

“Alrighty, here are your drinks. What would you like to eat?”

Jordan ordered a burger and when she looked at me I smiled.

“I will have the ten piece chicken tenders. And the little one will have the six piece.”

“Alright. I will be right back with those.”

“Thank you.”

Jordan looked at me and couldn’t help but to laugh.

“You are my little five year old.”

“You know it.”

We sat there laughing and having a great time but then I realized that Andrew never said anything about telling mom where he was going.

“Hey Andrew?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you tell mom where you were going?”

“I knew that you and mom were not talking so I asked her if I could go to a friends house after school to hang out and she said yeah. So mom doesn’t do anything while we are together.”

I looked at my brother and realized that this kid is definitely my little brother. Jordan looked at me in utter shock and neither one of us knew what to say.

“I don’t know if I'm mad, impressed, or happy about that.”

“Be all three.”

I laughed and hugged him. Jordan took out his phone and took a picture of us. He chuckled to himself and showed it to us. It was the cutest picture I have ever seen. I asked him to send it to me and he did.

The waitress came over with our food.

“Here you are. Enjoy your meal!”

“Thank you.”

We all started eating and it was really good. I was impressed with it. When we finished she came over and handed us the bill. Jordan reached for it but he saw the way I looked at him.

“What?”

“I'm paying.”

“No you are not.”

“Yes I am.”

“Sophia.”

“Jordan.”

“I am paying.”

“No you are not. Now if you keep saying that then I am revoking your “me” time.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I would and you know that I would.”

He looked at Andrew.

“How did you live with this one for the past eight years?”

“I just backed down. She always wins.”

“I do it too. But this time I want to win.”

“There is no chance of that happening.”

“Your right.”

He put his wallet back in his pocket. I grabbed the bill and paid for it and added a tip. We were going to walk out but I wanted a group picture.

“Wait right here.”

“Okay?”

I ran over to the waitress.

“Excuse me?”

“Yes?”

“Can you take a picture of us? I wanted this memory.”

“Absolutely.”

She walked over with me and I told the boys what to do. She took a few photos for me and handed me my phone back. We left and drove around for a little bit just hanging out. We stopped down the block so I could give him a hug before we dropped him off. We got back in the car and dropped him off. I watched him walk inside and I started to cry a little bit. 

Jordan put his hand on my leg and squeezed it. I looked at him and he nodded his head. I leaned over and cried silently. It was the best day of my life and the saddest. He wrapped his arm around me and held me as he drove off. We went to his house so I could get my things and so I could steal a few more hoodies. 

We got there and Nick was in his car. I got out and I immediately noticed that he looked high. I walked past his car without looking at him or anything and walked inside. I went upstairs and grabbed my things. I walked over to the closet and grabbed two other hoodies and put them in my bag. 

I went to leave but Nick was sitting on the stairs. I started walking down and he looked up at me. He moved over so I could get through and leave. When I got to the door I looked at him and I saw that his eyes weren't just red because he was smoking, they were red cause he was crying. 

I let my head hang and I walked out. I tapped the hood of Jordans car, meaning to pop the trunk so I could put my bag in there. Jordan looked mad so I threw my bag in there and walked to the door. I got in and looked at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nick.”

“What happened?”

“He’s a mess.”

“Jordan. What happened?”

“He’s high, depressed, lovestruck, and most of all bipolar. He is a mess right now and none of us know what to do.”

“Therapy?”

“What?”

“Therapy. It helps a lot of people.”

“He wont talk to his family let alone a stranger that is going to tell him the same thing that all of us have.”

“I think it would be best that he didn’t hear the same thing from his family but from a medical professional who knows what they are doing.”

“I don’t know.”

“What is the worst that could happen?”

“I’ll mention it to my parents. See what they think.”

“Good. now let’s get out of here.”

He chuckled and we left to go to Mirza’s house. When we got there Nila was home and I was so excited to see her.

“You should come inside.”

“Why?”

“Nila wants to meet you.”

“Why?”

“Because you are all I talk about and she wants to meet you. It’s like meeting my mom but this one is cooler and not a psychopath.”

“Alright.”

He opened the trunk and grabbed my bag. I grabbed his hand and we walked inside.

“Nila, I'm home!”

“Oh good!”

“I brought you someone to meet.”

She came around the corner and her eyes got huge.

“Is this the famous Jordan?”

Jordan chuckled and answered for me.

“I wouldn’t say famous but yes I'm Jordan. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Likewise. So what is going on?”

“I was just dropping her off and she said that she would like for me to meet the mother figure in her life so here we are.”

“Well, I have to leave in a hour for work so if you want we can all hang out for a little while before then? I really would like to meet you.”

“Yeah I have a few hours.”

“Perfect. Would you like anything?”

“I'm good. Thank you.”

I took my bag from Jordan and brought it to my room. When I came back they were sitting on the couch laughing about something. I sat next to Jordan and we just sat there talking for a while. A few minutes into the conversation Jordan snaked his arm around me. Everything felt right.

“Well it was nice to meet you Jordan but I have to leave for work. Mirza is out with one of her girlfriends doing whatever so you have the house to yourselves. And if you need condoms they are in the second drawer next to my bed.”

“We aren’t going to be needing those but thank you. But I also brought my own.”

He opened his wallet and showed her that he always keeps one on him just in case and she nodded her head in approval.

“This one keeps getting better and better.”

I couldn’t help but to laugh. She left and he looked at me. He smiled and started to kiss me. It started to get heavy so I leaned back so he was on top of me. I pulled him closer to me and I started breathing heavier. 

He started kissing my neck making me moan. I moved my hands from his face to the bottom of his shirt. I pulled it off as he undid his pants. He pulled his hoodie off of me and threw it. He looked at the shirt and gave me a crooked smirk.

“Your right. That shirt is revealing.”

He chuckled and started to pull my tights off when we heard the door open. Mirza and Brandon’s eyes went wide and Mirza screamed. We hurried and got dressed.

“What in your right minds thought that hooking up on the couch was a good idea?”

“Your mom said you wouldn’t be home for a few more hours!” 

“I decided to surprise you!”

“Well look how that turned out!”

Jordan and I sat there in silence while Mirza and Brandon decided what they were going to do. 

“Why didn’t you just go to the room?”

“Well I was going to, you know, do that but you walked in.”

“Right. And do you have a condom?”

“Always have one in my wallet.”

“Okay, what if you two did do it on the couch. Would you have told anyone?”

“At some point yes.”

Mirza looked like she wanted to kill us. 

“Just be glad we weren’t naked.”

“Yeah, cause then I would have actually killed you two.”

“You can try.”

She death glared Jordan.

“Now that the surprise is ruined and I'm irked, I'm going to go to Brandon’s house and hang out with him.”

“Hang out or hang out.”

“I hate you sometimes Jordan.”

“You could never. There is never a dull moment and your mother seems to disagree. She apparently loves me.”

“You met my mom?”

“Yep.”

“This is absolutely lovely.”

“Don’t be mad.”

“I'm not mad, just scared.”

“Why?”

“Yall could tell her what I do at parties and other stuff.”

“And you could kick me out.”

“True, very true. But then you could live with him.”

“I would prefer my best friend.”

“Hey! I'm right here!”

“I love you. But she is my sister.”

“Alright I'm going to end this now. I'm going to grab something then we are leaving and going to Brandon's house.”

“Okay.”

She walked away and got her bag and left with Brandon. I looked at him and we couldn’t help but to start laughing. He slid his hand up my thigh and squeezed. He used his other hand and brushed my cheek.

“Now, where were we?” He whispered.

He leaned in and we started kissing again. He got up and I jumped on him. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he carried me to the room. He slowly laid me down and stayed on top of me. He started kissing my neck and it felt amazing. We got undressed again and this time he got up and locked the door. I couldn’t help but laugh at him.

He came back and pulled out the condom. He looked at me as if he were asking for permission with his eyes. I pulled him closer and started kissing him. He put it on and guided himself inside me. He started slowly and progressively got faster and faster. I pushed him off and he looked confused.

“Wanna try something new again?”

He bit his lip and I turned around. I arched my back and he put himself inside me again. He teased me by pulling my hair. We went at it for a while then we both came. He lied on the bed panting and I sat up trying to find my bra.

I got up and got dressed. Jordan looked at me like he was sad to see me with my clothes back on. I threw him his clothes but he only put his boxers and pants on. We lied there for a little bit cuddling before either one of us said what was going to happen next. Brandon started calling Jordan.

“Hello?”

Brandon said something and I couldn’t hear it.

“Wait what? There wasn’t an announcement.”

“What’s going on?”

“Brandon are you joking? Coach didn’t say anything about it.”

And that is when I put the pieces together. They had football practice today.

“Okay we are heading there now.”

He got up and got dressed.

“There was practice today wasn’t there?”

“Starts in thirty minutes. Thank God my equipment is in my trunk.”

“I’ll run out and grab it so you can change here.”

“Thank you.”

I ran outside and grabbed his football gear. I ran it inside and he changed. We got back into his car and went to his practice.

“Wipe the corner of your mouth.”

He looked at me confused.

“What?”

“You have lipgloss on the side of your mouth.”

He looked in the mirror and wiped it off.

“Thank you.”

We got there and he popped the trunk. I grabbed his gear and we walked over to the field. We got there and most of the team was there.

“Coach! I'm sorry I'm late. I didn’t know we had practice today.”

“It’s alright. I didn’t know if we were because it was supposed to rain but since it didn’t we had practice.”

“Okay well I'm going to start warming up.”

“Alright. And your girlfriend?”

“Sophia. She wanted to check it out.”

“Alright. Don’t let her be a distraction.”

“She’s not. She’s my good luck charm.”

He laughed and slapped Jordan on the arm. He took off running and started warming up. Coach looked over at me and called me over to him.

“Sophia was it?”

“Yes sir.”

“Don’t break his heart. He is the best quarterback I have ever had.”

“I have no intention. I want to marry that fool.”

“Good. he’s a good kid.”

“I know. I’ve known him for a long time.”

“What is your last name?”

“Jones. Sophia Jones.”

“Sophia Jones? I knew you looked familiar.”

“What?”

“Jordan’s older brother Nick. he had a thing for you right?”

“Still does apparently. We dated for a week a year and a half ago.”

“Well, after you dumped him he lost his ability to play. He lost his love for the game and lost his scholarship.”

“What?”

“Yeah. so don’t do both of-”

“He lost his scholarship? He told me that he didn’t want to go to college because he decided that he didn’t want to go to the NFL.”

“Sweetheart, he lost his scholarship because he lost his passion for it and got lazy. He came to practice once a week, put barely any effort into the game, and got mad whenever I called him out on it.”

I stared at Coach Scott in utter disbelief. He can't be right. I looked over at Jordan and I started thinking that what if people think that was my intention the whole time. To screw these boys over and ruin their chance of getting into college. 

“I'm sorry, I need to leave.”

“Umm, okay?”

I took off running out of there and I couldn’t stop running. I found myself in an alley, sitting down, balling my eyes out. I don’t know how long I was there but I know it was long enough for Jordan, Brandon, and Mirza to start blowing my phone up. I got up and started walking around. Soon I heard Jordan’s voice and saw him. I looked up and saw him running after me so I took off running in the other direction. 

After I thought I lost him I started walking. I was still crying and suddenly I saw a car that was familiar. Someone got out.

“Wanna talk?”

It was Kyle.

“All I do is bring destruction to people’s lives. It’s best that I just leave here.”

“Now we both know that Jordan, Mirza, Brandon, and I are not going to let that happen.”

“Here’s the thing, you are. I have to leave or else all of you are going to get hurt.”

“Sophia. We all love you. You are not leaving.”

“Yes I am! Did you know Nick lost his scholarship because of me?!”

He went silent.

“You knew?!”

“All I knew was that he was heartbroken-”

“It was a week! How could someone be heartbroken from a week?!”

“I don’t know Sophia!”

“Exactly! All I do is bring destruction!”

“You know that you are lying! Get in the car and I’ll take you to Mirza’s house. Everyone is worr-”

“No.”

“What?”

“I'm not getting in the car.”

He slammed the car door and walked over to me. I started to run but he was a lot faster. He grabbed my hand, spun me around, and threw me over his shoulder. 

“Kyle if you don’t put me down I swear to God-”

“What? What are you going to do?”

“I will never forgive you. I will never talk to you again.”

I felt his shoulders sink and his heart to drop. He signed.

“Then I will just have to risk that.”

He carried me to the car and put me in. He walked over to his side and opened his door. As soon as he opened his door I made a break for it and took off running. 

“Sophia!”

I just kept running. Kyle kept calling after me and I kept ignoring him. I went down an alley and saw a little c***k between some rocks and wood so I went over there and it was big enough for me to fit comfortably without being seen. I lied my head and my arm and started drifting asleep. 

I don’t know when but Jordan was sitting next to the pile with his head resting on a rock. His hair was messed up like he had run his fingers through it at least a hundred times. He looked at me and I could see the pain in his face.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why have you been avoiding us?”

“Because I'm going to ruin your chance of getting into the NFL like I did Nick.”

“No you are not.”

“Yes I am! I ruin everyone's lives!”

“Sophia please tell me you are joking.”

He moved over so he was sitting in front of me so I couldn’t run.

“I'm not. Before Nick and I broke up he was a great football player. He had people all over the country wanting him to play for them. And when I dumped him he lost his passion and got lazy. Even your Coach said that I would ruin you.”

“He said what?”

“He told me that after I dumped Nick he just stopped caring and that if I stayed with you and then we broke up-”

“First of all that is where you are wrong babygirl.”

“What?”

“We aren’t breaking up. I have every intention of getting married to you.”

I started laughing.

“I said the same thing to your Coach.”

“Sophia, I love you so much. You have no idea. I have been worried sick and I even called a bunch of the football players and asked if they could help look for you.”

“Kyle almost got me but I took off running when he tried to get in the car.”

“What?”

“Kyle found me and tried talking to me trying to get me in his car to take me to Mirza’s house. But when he put me in the car, he forgot to turn the child lock on so I couldn’t get out. So when he went to his side and tried to get in, I jumped out and took off running as fast as I could. That’s how I got here.”

“You see, I don’t know if I should be mad at you or proud of you.”

I laughed and said in a baby voice, “Be both.”

He started laughing.

“Did you just mock your brother?”

“Yep.”

“Oh Lord.”

“It’s funny though.”

“It was. But back on the main topic at hand, I called the boys and everyone off when I found you. So no one is looking for us.”

“I have to leave.”

“What?”

“I have to go. I'm just going to hurt-”

“Baby you aren’t going anywhere. You are staying here with me, and we are going to college together, I'm going to study Criminal law and you are going to study Business, I'm going to get drafted for the NFL and you are going to be by my side the whole time. We are going to get married and have a bunch of sticky, weird kids and live the rest of our lives happy.”

I couldn’t help but to cry happy tears. He pulled me onto his lap and he held me as we sat there crying. He rocked back and forth for a while and just hummed our song. “God Gave Me You” by Blake Shelton. We got up and walked to his car. We sat there for a little while in silence. 

“I'm sorry.”

“I know babygirl. And it’s okay. If I were in your situation I would have done the same thing.”

“I'm just so scared.”

“We faced your mother together. We can face anything else.”

“I know.”

“So I talked to my parents earlier today and umm.”

“What?”

“Will you move in with me?”

“Huh?”

“I was planning on moving out and getting my own apartment. And I was wondering-”

“Yes!”

I leaned over and kissed him. I pulled away but he pulled me back. He chuckled.

“I figured as much. But no more running away. If we do this it’s going to be in both of our names. And we are splitting everything.”

“We both have jobs so that is going to work. And I don’t spend a lot of money so there are expenses right there.”

“Well let's start apartment shopping!”

I pulled my phone out and started looking at different apartments. There was one that was really cute, wasn’t expensive, was close to the school, and had great reviews.

“Look at this one.”

He looked at it and his eyes sparkled.

“Let’s check it out tomorrow.”

“So this is official?”

“We are going to be apartment owners!”

I couldn’t believe it. We drove to Mirza’s house and she was sitting on the porch with some of the football players and Brandon. As soon as we pulled up Mirza sprinted to the car. I have never seen that girl so fast in her life.

“Thank god you are okay!”

“I'm fine. Actually we have news.”

“Don’t tell me you are going to have a kid.”

We started laughing. I decided to mess with Jordan a bit.

“Well my period is late.”

His eyes got wide.

“I'm joking!”

“Thank you Lord.”

“Okay but seriously what is the news?”

“I’ll tell everyone inside.”

“You heard her! Everyone inside!”

Jordan pulled me to the side and grabbed my face.

“You have no idea how much I love you. This is going to be amazing.”

“I love you too. And I am super excited as well.”

He grabbed my hand and we went inside. Everyone was sitting on the couch and the floor. Mirza was sitting on Brandon and the boys were relieved to see that I was okay.

“Okay so what is the big news?”

Jordan and I looked at each other.

“Sophia and I had a really long talk and we decided that we were going to make a huge step in commitment and we are going to buy an apartment together.”