Riley bustled around her room, packing an assortment of clothes and other necessities, such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, her Dyson card, and the pulse rifle Doswic gave her for her birthday. She had used it one too many times for comfort. It was hard, there had been growing unrest between local citizens and the political extremists on rings 8 and 7. Even small acts of violence, vandalism, even minor cases of terrorism. Riley angrily stomped about her room after she finished packing. She was done with this place, she had been abused by local customers of her other's cafe, and her mother had been unsuccessful in stopping them. The local authorities were ignorant of her abuse in light of the recent disturbances.
Riley flew down the stairs with her stuffed backpack. The pulse rifle slung in between her back and the heavy bag. She was fuming with anger and sadness. "Please baby, I can add security restrictions. It'll only take a couple of weeks."
"NO MOM! I'M DONE WITH THIS! I'M LEAVING!" she yelled and stomped out. Into the rain. She looked up at the bright star above her, the sun, dimmed by the heavily tinted glass. The atmosphere simulated by weather scans and historical records from 20-28 century earth.
Riley was crying, and by the time she stopped, she was a mile down, and very lost. She sat limply on the sidewalk tears still pouring from the corners of her eyes. She managed to calm down enough to think. She couldn't go back to the Cafe, that would be hell. She thought about who she could trust, immediately Doswic came to mind. He had been her boyfriend for over a year and had helped her stay calm and collected during the pain she experienced. she pulled out her smartphone, VyBorg was written in futuristic letters on the back accompanied by their logo, supposed to represent a person jumping for joy, but to her, it always seemed like an evil eye on a stick. She shielded the screen from the falling water with her hooded head. and began texting Doswic.
"It's done Doswic, I ran." she typed and pressed send with a heavy sigh. *bling!* Riley looked down. "It got worse, didn't it? Where are you gonna go?" she smiled. Doswic had always been there for her, she even tried to end her own life once, but Doswic had convinced her otherwise.
"I don't know, Doswic I don't F***ing know!" she was very upset. She had fled her home and hadn't even thought of where to go.
"Where are you?" he asked. She saw his face grow serious and yet compassionate, without even really seeing it. She knew what he was doing.
"A mile out from the Cafe. It looks like that street going horizontal from the park."
"On my way. Do you want to call? You seem like you could use talking to." Doswic was always looking for an excuse for face-to-face communication. His mane love language was physical, but the next best thing was holo-calls. she began typing again.
"Yes, I could use a talk." her phone lit up, all the grooves glowing with the lights from within. The ringtone she had picked for him, a popular pop song began to play. She smiled again, it was comforting to hear their song again. She answered and A translucent blue outline appeared above her screen and Doswic's face appeared. He had shaggy black hair and bright blue eyes. "Hey, baby what's uh, what's going on?" He asked, his sympathetic face showing how much he cared.
"I, I'm done. I couldn't bear it anymore. it was too much and I had to leave." she said whipping the tears from her face, Riley's bloodshot eyes looked at him gladly.
"Well, that's understandable. but why didn't you tell me before you left? I could've picked you up." he said. He was clearly driving, his focus was beyond the camera and his arms were outstretched, controlling the steering wheel.
"I didn't think, I wasn't thinking. I was too upset," she said continuing to dry her eyes.
"Alright, I get that. Don't worry I'm not upset with you. I just want you to know that if you're ever in trouble you can call me, alright?" he said looking at her. It reminded Riley of a dad reassuring his kid.
"Alright." she chuckled. It was extremely comforting to be in the presence of Doswic's light-hearted humor, even in her wrecked state.
"Ok I think I see you." he hung up and she saw his dark red car come driving toward her. the car steadily slowed to a stop in front of her. Riley stood. her blond-tipped hair dropping from her hood down her shoulders. he opened the door and smiled at her, motioning for her to get in. "Come on babe, are you trying to take a nature shower?" he grinned at himself, and her. Doswic was filled with an unnatural warmth as she climbed in next to him. He was happy. They drove back to Doswic's house where his dad opened the door for them, his arm comfortingly wrapped around Riley's shoulders. Doswic's dad didn't question anything, he simply offered her some leftover chicken noodle soup and some water, both of which she accepted gratefully. Doswic grabbed his laptop and messaged his school he would be out for a couple of days. After that, he took her to the guest bedroom and gently held her in his lap as she curled into a tight ball against his chest.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
