I wasn't sure what time it was when I woke up. The rickety old truck still traveling rapidly down the long open road. Staton and Julia were still asleep in the bed, all curled up in the blankets we all shared. The sun was beating down on us, burning my eyes as they tried to adjust.

"How did you sleep?" Staton asks, his hands wrapped around me. His fingers playing with the red hair falling from my head. I guess he wasn't sleeping.

"Hmm," I muttered.

"That good huh?" He smiles, flashing me one of those grins that warmed my heart.

"It was fine, I'm just ready to get out of this truck." I pulled myself away from him, feeling the cool air take his place. It was depressing, the thought of not being wrapped up in his arms any longer but my bones were screaming, calling to me to stretch them out. Even if it was just for a quick moment. I leaned forward until I could feel the pull in my lower back. The wind flying over the cab of the truck pulling my hair with it. Staton scratches my back, sending chills up my spine.

"I wonder where we are going to end up today," Staton shrugs his shoulders, holding his arms above his head as he too allows his body to stretch out.

"I don't know, Breygan said last night we were going to stop in Oregon, but I'm not so sure that is the case anymore. Hopefully tonight we will get to stay in a hotel instead of sleeping in the bed of this damn truck." The window slides open, startling me slightly.

"Morning sunshines!" Aria shouts through the small crack in the glass. Stirring Julia from her sleep finally. She rolls over, holding the blanket over her face as she lets out an annoyed groan.

"What time is it?" Julia snarls, pulling the blanket from her face. She finally sits up, holding her head in her hands.

"It's about a half hour past six in the mornin' and we are about twenty minutes out from our first stop." Aria obviously must have had a better night's rest than the rest of us. Breygan drove us through the night. Staton and I snuggled up while Julia held up the other side of the truck. The three of us freezing, trying to find any sense of warmth and comfort.

But Aria... well, she had a warm seat, a nice place to place her head, and a blanket to keep her cozy. She had timed her time in the truck perfectly.

"What is our first stop?" Staton questions, shrugging as he adjusts his seating position.

"Astoria!" Her voice was louder than I had expected. Startling me for just a moment. I knew we had left pretty late last night but I honestly expected us to be a little deeper into Oregon by now.

"Astoria? That's only 6 hours away from where we started?" I question, trying to figure out why we weren't further away from home. Six hours would never be enough to keep me away from my horrendous mother.

All of us were in a town about an hour north of Seattle Washington. A town called Sammamish. A name we would all make fun of. But something that was held dear to our heart. We all grew up with fond memories and that's why we rushed there after the fight with my mother.

"We stopped for a food break while you guys were all asleep, can't believe you guys didn't wake up. We were parked there for what felt like forever." I could see Aria shrug through the window of the truck and suddenly I wanted to strangle her.

My stomach growled at the thought of food. I hadn't eaten any since I'd run away from home last night.

"What the hell, you didn't think to get us any!" Julia shouted as if she had read my mind. Finally leaning against the railing of the truck bed. Her hair was a mess, the brown curls that once framed her face were now flat, matted against her head from a nights sleep.

"Sorry, you guys had a chance to wake up and order some, we went through the drive-through." Aria once again shrugged. Breygan took the exit, the truck slightly rolling to the one side, pulling us all in that direction. The exhaust pipe echoing the sounds of him downshifting in the cab.

We must be stopping here soon.

Astoria was a popular town, one that many people from our home town would go to visit, finding time to explore its rich history and waterfront views. But if you asked me my honest opinion about stopping here, I would tell you it was a horrible idea. This was way too close. At least head another two hours down the coast to Seaside. Anywhere but Astoria. It was just barely over the bridge that separates our home state from a new state. We really needed to get to California.

Breygan pulled into the small town and drove down the main road until he found a grocery store. Once in the parking lot, we went to work on folding our blankets up and placing them in the cab of the truck. We would need to keep them dry in case we were spending the night in the truck bed once again.

"Okay, a quick supply run, whose card is the least lightly to get shut off first?" Staton quickly mentions, pulling the group into a huddle as we all search our minds for the answer. I raise my hand as if to answer a question in class.

"My mother hardly pays attention to the purchases I make, only asking me what I've bought once a month or so. I think we can get away with using my card for the longest. Once mine are all shut off we can switch to someone else's." I took a deep breath, realizing what I was saying.

Sure we had all agreed to run away.

This was all of our ideas together.

Here we were and even if it was only a mere six hours away, we had still taken the first steps to start a new life. One of us would have to finally get a job when we found a town to settle down in. That would probably be the hardest part.

All of us had come from money, never knowing what it was like to be poor. Our parents would give us everything, and at times they would force things on us to up their elitist status. But we weren't going to be those people anymore. We were here to learn who we really were.

"Guys, I need to go to the bathroom, so can we finish this huddle and get inside so we can get our snack and get back on the road?" Julia shrugs her shoulders pulling the attention to herself. Her brown eyes filled her face. Her makeup slightly smudged under her eyes.

"Fine, let's go. We all know the plan. We have ten minutes to grab whatever snacks we need and five for a quick bathroom break. We need to be out of here before anyone can notice we were here. Once we get to the next town we will pull out some cash so we don't have to use the cards more than we have to." Breygan announces as if he was taking the lead of the group. We all nodded turning to walk away from him before he could finish. We knew the plan. We needed to put it into action.

Staton wraps his arm through mine pulling me into the grocery store. The two of us heading straight towards the chip aisle. Anything to crave our cheesy addiction. Staton grabs a few bags of Doritos, piling them in his arms as he travels down the aisle for some more goodies.

"This is so insane," He mutters to himself, enough under his breath that I wasn't sure if I was supposed to answer, but loud enough I heard it.

"It is, isn't it?" I grabbed a couple of bags myself. Making sure to have a few bags of the jalapeno kettle cooked chips.

"Make sure you don't leave anything behind!" Aria shouts as she runs down the middle of the aisle passing the both of us as she sprints towards the next aisle over.

"She really is the only one who got a good night's sleep isn't she?" Staton questions, holding his head high as he grabs one final bag of chips. I wasn't sure how he held all of them in his hands, stretching his arms around them as if it was the last thing he would ever carry.

"Yeah, you are telling me huh!" I rolled my eyes, holding my own stash of chips. "Plus no one can leave the store without me anyway, considering I am the only one that is able to use their credit card right now." I shrugged, walking towards the front of the store. I was sure we didn't have too much longer before we needed to head out.

"Well, I wonder how long it will take our parents to realize we aren't home, and we aren't coming home anytime soon." Staton holds his head high as if he was proud of the choice he had made.

I wouldn't have ever run away with anyone other than him. I knew he would protect me over anything else. He was my hero, my rock, and everything I needed in life.

Staton and I had met about six years ago.

I rolled my eyes, there was that magic number again.

Six hours away from home, six years with my best friend and love of my life.

We hadn't been together that long though, spending the first two years hating each other and annoyed that our parents would force us to hang out. Our fathers both shared a portion of a company, selling stocks and trading shares in companies. They were two peas in a pod, always wanting to hang out together.

That was how we met.

Now here we were, dating, practically married, and so in love, it felt like it was going to kill me. But isn't that the goal, to find the man you want to spend the rest of your life with? Until eventually you guys just pass away. Holding hearts as lovers do.

"Maple!" Breygan shouts from what felt like across the entire store. A case of energy drinks in one hand and a few snacks in his other hand. Aria was wrapped around his arm in a way that looked like it was annoying for him. Her long blonde hair falling over his shoulders as she tried to cuddle up into him. He pulled away but only slightly, in hopes that he didn't hit her with the drinks.

"Are you guys ready to go, we just need Julia and we should all have our supplies to get us to California." I nodded my head glancing down at all the bags. I probably had a few too many, but hell my entire life was me surviving off of empty carbs.

"I'm right here guys!" Julia rushes around the corner screaming. I shook my head, wishing all of my friends would quiet down and stop making such big fools of themselves.

"What happened to trying to get out of here before anyone noticed we were here in the first place?" I whispered to Staton. He chuckles lightly under his breath before leaning down to kiss my forehead.

"They are all children at times, it'll be okay." His words were comforting, but not good enough.

We threw all of our items on the belt, waiting for the person in front of us to finish gathering her groceries as her two children fought each other in the shopping cart. Slowly the belt moved forward, taking what felt like forever to finally reach the end.

The cash register begins grabbing our items before everything goes dark. The only light was the light from outside shining through the windows of the doors.