The Cave

I traveled through the forest in the city I lived in, trying to take a shortcut to the bus station. I could hear the thunder in the distance, knowing it was going to start pouring at any moment now. I groaned in annoyance, pulling out my phone and seeing that I had zero bars. Normally in this forest, you would have some kind of reception, so this was a little strange. Maybe it is the storm, I wondered to myself.

As I was walking through the forest, I saw a cave going into the hillside, and as the rain started to fall, I decided that it was just going to have to work. Flicking on the light on my phone, I used it to guide me through the dark cave to make sure I didn't have any unfriendly guests. It seemed to be abandoned, so I found a dry place on the cave floor, sitting down. The floor was hard, but it would just have to do.

The sound of the rain hitting the forest floor could easily be heard, echoing throughout the cave. I pulled out my phone once more, seeing that I still didn't have any bars, but that didn't mean I couldn't go through my phone. I pulled up my photos, my heart aching as I saw all the photos I had with Jamison. It's crazy to think that some of these were taken not even a few weeks ago.

I can't believe he broke up with me.

I furiously wiped the tears away that fell down my cheeks, tired of crying. It pissed me off that I had gotten lost when trying to find the bus stop. Maybe I shouldn't have tried to take a detour, but I wasn't thinking very well at the time. It was really dumb on my part, but a broken heart can do that to you.

As I skimmed through my photos, debating on if I should just delete them, I stumbled across a photo that made me freeze. It was one of the few times that Jamison had been able to come around my family without having to worry about dad causing a ruckus. It was Thanksgiving time, and I was able to get a group photo of us together.

Dad was there, begrudgingly smiling as he had his arm wrapped around my shoulders. Jamison was on the other side of me, looking a little awkward, but his eyes were on me, and there was a light there that I easily recognized as love. Beside us was my mother and brother, the ones I'd miss the most if I were going to leave like I was planning to.

My mother, Chloe, is a woman of class, that much could be said. Growing up in a rich family, she wasn't like the others who used their riches to be rude to everyone else. She met dad in high school, and it was like love at first sight. Although mom was his everything, dad was not so eager to jump into a relationship because he was poor. Only after he went to the University did he grow up in fame and become one of the richest men alive.

Mom is still as beautiful as she was when she was younger. She has long, wavy blonde hair - she has yet to have any grey streaks yet, how lucky - and piercing blue eyes. At five-five, she was more on the pale side with a curvier figure. Why she wanted to stay home to be a housewife, I'm not so sure. She could've done much with her life, but I'm not so sure that she really regretted it.

My only sibling is my younger brother, Derek. Being three years younger than me, he was still in high school, and he had much to learn. I was always close to him, and he never liked Jamison, that much was clear. Derek is like a buffer version of me, and it honestly made me a little jealous. He is six-five, much taller than me, with tan skin and a muscular physique from playing football. His short black hair was a little shaggy, liking to keep it a little longer than most, and our father's piercing grey eyes. It pained me to realize that I was going to hurt Derek by running away like this.

"What should I do?" I whispered aloud, feeling a little conflicted.

As if by some miracle, my phone dinged, indicating that I had a message. My eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion, seeing that now, I had one bar, enough to receive a message. I saw it was from Derek. How coincidental. I opened up the message, reading what he had sent me.

From Derek 6:58 PM

Hey. Dad said that you ran off after what Jamison did. I hope you're okay. I figured we could have a little movie night when you come home, maybe it'll get your mind off of things. Just know, I'm here for you if you need me.

I smiled to myself, knowing I wasn't going to be able to message him back since the bars were gone. I shoved my phone back into my pockets, hearing the rain getting heavier outside. I decided then that I wasn't going to run away anymore. If I was going to deal with my father, I was just going to have to do it head on.

But now, I was just going to have to wait for the storm to pass…