"I'm surprised you actually bothered calling- considering you clearly weren't in a rush to tell me jack shit lately," the irritated voice sounds through the phone.

You did that you bitch. You were so rude to her.

I move the device away from my ear in response, cringing at the amplitude of the sound waves she's hurling in my direction, "I'm here now, though, aren't I?"

"Yeah and I was there too, but that didn't seem to matter to you."

I close my eyes, guilt flooding me, "I know."

"Why'd you have to take it all out on me? I'm the one that tried helping you."

"I know."

"Now's the point where you apologise for being an asshole."

"I know."

A beat.

"So?"

"Look, Rita, I was really upset about the whole situation and everything that was happening. And then you were there and I took it out on you."

Another pause.

"And... I'm sorry."

I hear a faint 'humph' on the other end of the line, "Alright, I accept your apology. Now shoot."

I put the call on loudspeaker and place it on the mattress next to my head, and then wiggle further in to the burrito blanket.

I take a deep breath and clear my throat, preparing my lungs and larynx for the amount of work this is going to be. There is a lot to be said.

Accompanied with countless more apologies for being a bitch in the hospital.

And so I start, giving an explicitly detailed account of the past week's occurrences. Starting from the morning collision with both Ethan and Mandy, to lunch (which put the next lunch's scuffle with Mandy in context for Rita, who wasn't there the day before), after school with Mandy's henchmen, to Ethan's house.

I allow myself a breather after explaining all that to Rita, exhausted despite only being roughly halfway through the whirlwind story of this week. She also just sits in silence, digesting all the material I've just given her.

Since when did your life become so eventful?

Hell if I know.

And then I resume, and tell her about the morning, notably the fact that Ethan kissed me, then jumping to after school with Tony. And finally waking up to Ethan having brought me to the hospital.

The silence after I finish with a gasp of air ensues for a solid minute. My head fills with crickets chirping, while I just lie there in my burrito quietly, my phone next to my head quiet too. Rita on the other line is probably getting some pills to stop the goddamn headache my life is.

Or you know... to overdose so she doesn't have to listen to your bullshit.

"This... Ashley this past week has been a wild ride from start to finish. What the hell happened there, it's insane," she finally manages to sputter out.

I nod, despite knowing she won't see it, "Hell if I know, Rita. I'm exhausted."

"I am so glad you told me this over the phone- that would have been some dozen chapters of information to tell me. And, I would have probably thought someone had stolen your phone and was taking the piss out of me."

I snort, "If I had written all of this shit, I would have probably gotten arthritis by now. This is all just excessive."

"I'm really sorry about your parents."

I sigh, and pinch the bridge of my nose, "It's not your fault, don't apologise." I pause, "It's no one's fault."

"I know but-"

"No 'buts,' Rita. You're not responsible for any of this shit, and it's my fault for taking it all out on you in the hospital," I steel myself before confessing once more, "I'm sorry."

Silence ensues once again.

"It's okay, we all need to vent our frustration out sometimes."

"That doesn't necessarily mean it should've been on you, stop trying to justify me."

"Alright, okay, I already told you you're forgiven."

I sigh and grin, "Great. Now let's move on to something less dreary."

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'll be fine, there's only a few months left till I never have to see these people again. I don't want to talk about it any further."

"Well, alright then. If you say so. Do you want to be alone for a while?"

The response is instantaneous, "No."

"Okay, I'll be here then."

"Yeah, alright."

So I lay there, participating in a comfortable silence with Rita, just basking in the warmth of the burrito blanket.

"So..."

"So?" I reply.

I can see Rita's suggestive smirk on her face as she says, "Should I bring up something less dreary... as in Ethan kissing you?"

If I was drinking water right now, I would have a reasonable excuse to defend my choking, "Are you for real?"

"Well I mean, you're not talking to a robot are you?"

"Rita you understood what I meant!"

A laugh sounds through the phone speaker, "I'm wagging my eyebrows at you- just so you get the point."

"Rita, stop. This is embarrassing."

"Did his lips feel as pink and luscious as they look?"

I gasp in horror at the comment, as Rita commences cackling on the other side of the line.

"What is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with you?" She retorts.

"Nothing, you're the one being weird."

She scoffs, "Please, I'm being a normal teenage girl. If anything you're the one with issues if you can't admit that you wanted to rip yours and his clothes off and do the nasty right then and there."

I guffaw, hand moving to my offended chest, "I thought nothing of the sort, get your mind out the gutter. I wake up from a nightmare by being shaken, and then am kissed the second I open my eyes. How his lips could apparently make me feel the colour pink was not relevant at that point in time."

Rita whistles out in defeat, "Alright then, if you say so."

"I do."

There's a beat, before Rita starts again, "You liked it though."

My hands escaped the blanket as I throw them into the air, exasperated beyond belief.

"Goddamnit, Rita. I give up."

There's some more laughter on the other end before I hear a door close shut through the line. Rita's laughter also immediately drops dead. I hear some shuffling and talking in the background, "Sorry Ashley, my mum just got back and wants me to do stuff with her. I'll have to let you go for now, but we've got to talk some more later. Bye for now."

I have just enough time to utter quick 'bye' before I am hung up on. I lie there quietly in the happy aftermath of the conversation, forearms laying on my stomach.

I yawn, exhausted beyond belief. Nows a good time to take a nap.

Sighing, I close my eyes to fall asleep again. I feel myself slow down, my heart beat calming, my breathing becoming slower and deeper. I feel like I'm sinking into the blanket, my head falling into the abyss of the pillow I had placed under me. I hover on the brink of consciousness and sleep, essentially floating to the other side.

However, just as I'm about to drift off, I jolt back to consciousness, and an unexpected surge of anger courses through me.

And suddenly my fingers are working on their own accord, tapping in the memorised number and dialling, while all I see is red. I hardly even register the fact that I'm dialling the very person I absconded from.

Well that's a sudden change of events.

"Well, look what we have here. Has the novelty of being homeless worn off?" The obnoxious voice greets through the phone loudspeaker.

The fire in me starts crackling even louder, "Well, it sure has, considering I'm lying comfortably in a bed right now."

"Whose? You slept with someone to get a roof over your head?"

I bring the phone close to my mouth, and spit venom through the call, "That is none of your fucking concern."

Let him think what he wants.

He guffaws, "Don't talk to me like that, young lady. It's disrespectful to speak to your seniors in such a way."

"Don't preach manners to me, you filthy man."

"Then why the fuck did you call me?"

You have no idea.

"To tell you that I'm never coming back, and you better not try getting me back. I have spent nearly a year dealing with your bullshit, and yesterday was the last straw."

Well that was a decent recovery.

There's a somewhat stunned silence on Tony's side, as I remain there, burning with hatred.

"What if the police brings you back instead?"

And then it's my turn to guffaw, "You're not serious, right? The man who deals marijuana and whatever the fuck else calling the police? I think not."

"It would be to report a missing person."

"I'm not hiding. Get the police to find me, they'll do it within an hour of searching. You're just too stupid to do it yourself, so don't be daft with your empty threats."

"I'm not-"

"Yes you are, so let me promise you this. When the police find me, if you are brainless enough to call them, I  solemnly swear to admit to all your drug dealing, as well as your domestic abuse habits. And now I have the scars on my arms to prove it."

I can sense him faltering.

It's his fault he has the IQ of a mosquito.

"That would end up affecting your life more than mine though, innit?"

I groan, how have I let this man bully me around for nearly a year?

Because you still wanted to be close to your stupid, desperate crackhead mother.

"You stupid fuck, Tony, you'd be the one with a prison sentence and parole and whatnot. Worse comes to worst for me, I'll be placed in a foster home for some six months before I turn eighteen and leave."

"But then everyone will know what you have gone through."

"Because I give a shit about what they think. Goodbye Tony. Just leave me alone."

"Ashley I swear if you don't come home by tomorrow-"

"You'll what? File a missing persons report? I think we already went through that option. Go fuck yourself."

And I hang up.

Well... that was a sudden change of events.

I exhale, all the anger gradually dissipating from me.

Remind me why we did that?

Because that's everything we've wanted to say for nearly a year. We're free. And we're never going back.

I smile, now I can sleep like a baby.

Why do I feel like this is going to come back to bite us in the ass. This man wants to exert authority under any circumstance, and you just went and took that away from him.

I sigh, ah well. I'll be fine.

You better be.

I close my eyes once more, settling in and down back into the realm of sleep and fantasy. Maybe I'd be able to fool myself and pretend I'm not living this life for a few hours.

Good idea, let's live in denial.

I drift off into a light sleep within no time, peacefully lying there falling into an alternate universe of calm.

Well, that is for some five minutes, till I hear a bang and obnoxious laughter proceeding.

Oh god, what now?