I’ll share my umbrella.
R U going to tell me wuz up?
Had a fight with my dad.
So did my mom.
She knew he’d stormed over there, probably to tell Sarah not to let her hang out at the store anymore. How could he?
Sry. CU in 15?
OK.
Ugh. This was so typical. Just when things were going great for her—just when she’d made new friends, met grown-ups who believed the things that interested her were worthwhile, found a supercute boy who wanted to hang out with her—her super-lame dad had to ruin everything.
She made a quick tour of her bedroom, opening and closing drawers, tossing things into her bag. At least he hadn’t made her give the DKNY back to Sarah. Having it now strengthened her resolve. She carefully opened her door. The house was quiet. She slipped down the hall to her dad’s room, slid the credit card out of his wallet—it was hers, after all—and scurried back to her room.
Princess sat on the foot of her bed, all four paws tucked out of sight beneath her. Kate knelt and buried her face in the cat’s soft fur and listened to her purr.
“Sorry, girl. I can’t take you with me but don’t worry. He’ll take care of you.”
Her father had soccer practice after school so he wouldn’t miss her for a couple of hours. By then she’d be...well, that was the thing. She had no idea where she would go, not yet, anyway, but she wasn’t coming back here. And by the time he came home and realized she was gone, it would be too late for him to do anything about it.
AFTER THE LAST BELL, Casey dashed down to the locker room and changed into her uniform. She pulled thick blue socks over her shin pads and was all set to lace up her cleats when her phone whistled. She pulled her locker open and dug it out of her backpack.
Need to talk. Now.
Now what?
I have soccer practice, rmbr?
I only need a minute.
Where RU?
My locker.
OK. BRT.
Casey felt bad about Kate’s fight with her dad, and her mom’s fight with Kate’s dad, but she didn’t want to get dragged into the drama. She knew Kate wouldn’t want to go home alone, so she would arrange to meet her after practice and they would walk together. She set her phone on the shelf in her locker and snagged her blue-and-gold jacket off the hook below it, silently congratulating herself on the arm band that designated her as assistant captain as she sat and stuffed her feet back into her sneakers.
“Where are you going?” Alycia asked.
“Forgot I have to do something. It’ll only take a minute and I’ll be right back.” She banged her locker door shut, then raced out of the change room and down the hallway.
Kate was leaning against her locker, the big black-and-white bag that had caused the whole mess slouched on the floor at her feet. “What’s up?”
“I’m leaving.”
“What are you talking about?” Surely she wasn’t planning to...? “You’re running away?”
Kate didn’t answer. “You can’t tell anyone, okay? Please? I’m going back to Vancouver.”
“That’s crazy. You can’t just leave. How are you going to get there?”
“There’s a bus to Gibsons that goes right to the ferry terminal. When I get off the ferry in Horseshoe Bay, I’ll grab another bus into the city.”
“And then what?”
“One of my friends says I can stay with her for a couple of days.”
“Which friend?”
Kate shrugged.
She’s lying, Casey thought. She doesn’t have the slightest idea where she’ll stay.
“This is crazy,” she repeated. “You need to talk to your dad.”
“No way.”
“My mom, then. She’ll listen and she’ll help you figure out what to do.”
Kate picked up her bag. “I’m grounded, remember?”
Yes, she remembered. Kate had spilled the whole story on the way to school that morning.
“He says I’m not allowed to set foot in your mom’s store, and he says he and I will talk about me being grounded after my schoolwork’s caught up and my grades have improved. Who knows when that’ll be.”
“I can help. I get good grades.”
“That’s all my dad cares about. If he cared about me, my grades wouldn’t matter.”
Casey was starting to feel somewhat panicked. What if she couldn’t get her to change her mind? She could let her go, then call her mom, Kate’s dad, have them go after her. But then Kate would be in even more trouble, and she’d be mad at Casey, too.
“Okay. I’ll go with you.”
“You? The supersmart honor roll girl who’s captain of the soccer team is going to run away?”