Running Away from Your Problems

Have you ever just wanted to run away from home? Well I have, and as a matter of fact, I did. I know people tell you not to run away from your problems, but I did run away from my problems. My problems all started when I found out my best friend turned into a back stabber...

Let me start from the beginning. My name is Scarlett and I have a good life. I am sixteen and live at home with my parents and brother. I have a best friend who is my whole world; Alice. I couldn't think of a better friendship than Alice and I. We have literally been friends since pre-school! We're both single which rocks because were sixteen now and that means driver's licenses and parties! Were not really the party girls, but we're going to try when we get our driver's licenses. We were excited, we were over the moon about everything that life was going to being us!

A few months passed and we both got our driver's licenses. I was the happiest I could be with my best friend by my side. After we got our driver's licenses, things changed, Alice started to not talk to me every day like we usually did. I thought it was weird so I went to her house to invite her to the movies, but her mom said she went out and she didn't know where. All I could do at that point was go home and do nothing until I heard back from her. The weekend passed and still no word, but I saw her in school on Monday. I asked her, "Hey, where were you this weekend, I went over your house to invite you to the movies but you weren't there."

She started to freak out. "It's not your job to watch over me, and it's called I have other friends to! Maybe you should look into it!" After she said that I was to hurt to even muster up a response so I just walked away. I didn't know what was going on with her. Ever since we got our drivers license's she's been weird.

One day, I opened my locker and there was a note.

"Hey bestie:) Sorry for the way I've been acting. There's this party this weekend, Saturday at six. It's at Janice's place. Meet me there. We will have fun like we said we would!" I couldn't believe what I was reading! So my best friend was still my best friend! Sure I was happy and happy to finally hang out with her again—maybe she was just going through a phase because of the whole driving thing. Anyway, I was so excited to go to my first high school party!

Saturday came and I put on my best outfit to impress everyone who though I was a loser. Tonight was the night Alice and I really set the bar up for our high school experiences. Little did I know she already did that without me by her side. I went to the party and searched everywhere for Alice for a good hour. All of a sudden water spills down from the balcony and covers me in it. I look up and see Alice and a bunch of other girls and they start throwing paint, feathers, and toilet paper on me. I froze as I saw everyone taking videos and pictures and laughing at me, all I could do was get out of there as fast as I could. As I ran home all I thought was, "how could she do this! We were best friends and she just humiliated me in front of the whole entire school!" I ran home but when I got inside my parents stopped me. They said, "honey what happened? What's all over you?" I couldn't say anything but cried and mustered out a few words about Alice and what she did. The rest of the night was a blur, I just remember my mom tucking me in and going to bed. The rest of the days passed by as I stayed home from school while I let the video of me stop going viral around the school. After a week my mom said I had to face the music sometime and go back to school, even though it didn't blow over yet I had to go back eventually.

The day I went back to school was a nightmare, just like the party. My locker was covered in pictures people took of me at the party, and when I opened my locker it had "loser" painted on the inside. The laughing continued the rest of the day and I couldn't even look at Alice at all that day. A few days passed and Alice came up to me in the bathroom...where nobody could see her talking to me. She apologized and did it because she liked the attention she got from the popular girls, but she missed being my friend. I told her, "We could never be friends again after what you did! I'm sorry, but screw off!" And I left the bathroom with tears in my eyes and ran out of that awful school. I drove home and saw my parents fighting. They were shocked to see me home but still didn't say a word to me with dried tears all over my face. I went up to my room and heard my mom say, "You know what, I'm sick of you! I want a divorce as soon as possible!" After I heard that, I couldn't take my life anymore and packed a bag. That night I wrote a note saying, "I'm sorry, but there's no need for me to stay here anymore. I have no best friend, no loving family, and I'm not happy here. Don't worry about me, I'm going to finish high school online and find a job. I just cant stay here where I don't feel loved anywhere. I'm sorry but I'll find my way out there...and don't come looking for me either. Love, your daughter Scarlett."

With that, I gently folded it and set it on the kitchen table and packed up my car and drove away.

Five years passed and I finished high school online and just finished my first degree online. The first five years were rough. I lived inside my car for three years with a medium wage job and did online college, but I made it through. I saved up my money and five years later I'm staying at an apartment building with my dog, Lucy. I started to see a guy. He doesn't know about my past, but one day I'll tell him...just not any time soon. I'm happy and I hope my family is happy even though I ran away from my problems back home. What I did was worth it and it showed me what I was capable of and what I would have never done back home...be happy and take risks!