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Emma

I had been living in New York alone for several months. I hadn’t had a job around here that I wanted that would be a good fit for me. I have a boyfriend Neal, who wants me to head on a road trip with him. He said he got enough money for us to travel.

I thought I’d go with him. I didn’t know where we were going or staying when we got to our destination.

I turned to Neal. “Where are we going? How did you manage to make enough money for this trip?”

“Don’t worry about the money. I sold a couple watches.”

“Okay, so where are we going?”

“Nevada. I have a place my brother has. He’s never home.”

“We’ll need food and supplies, Neal. I don’t have much money.”

“That’s fine,” He assured me, “We’ll just take what we need. It’s called ‘by now, pay later.’”

I didn’t think he understood what that meant, but I went with it.

We headed out of the apartment we had in New York and headed to Nevada.

Chapter Text

Emma

We didn’t have any food or supplies, and the first place we stopped at was a Dollar Store. He wanted me to pretend I was pregnant. More like ‘about to pop’ pregnant. I had never had kids with him. It wasn’t something on my mind. While Neal was getting the things we needed and a little extra, I had stuffed a pillow up my shirt to make it look like I was about to pop.

The cashier came from behind the desk and wondered if I was alright. I pretended to be struggling. He wanted to call an ambulance or a doctor, but I said, “No, it’s fine.” I grunted in a painful sounding way, “No need to call the doctor. No hospital.”

Neal gave the signal he was done stuffing two garbage bags full of food and other supplies, and we ran, regardless of if the store sirens were going off, signaling I’d just been involved in his shoplifting spree.

We made it to the car. The yellow bug. He was the one driving. I removed the pillow from under my shirt. The rush was exhilarating, but why was he considering this fun? I had no clue.

We left, going maybe, 60 miles an hour to make a beeline out of the Dollar Store parking lot. He was laughing. He sounded so hysterical. I thought he was crazy. I’d just been involved in his crazy scheme.

“Neal, wow. Are you crazy?”

He hugged me around the neck and focused on the road again. “What, no, Emma. We got supplies, didn’t we? It should last us at least 4 months.”

I sighed. I didn’t know what was going through his head, but in all honesty, even if it was insane – I kinda liked this adventure.

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Emma

It had been 2 weeks and I had continued to follow Neal on his adventure until the cops came. It wasn’t as fun with him anymore, when we almost got caught by the cops, and when I mean almost, I made it out of the way like a bullet – and he’d gotten caught by the cops.

I’d never saw his face again. I just saw from the bushes nearby, he’d gotten arrested. I left the scene where no one saw me. I had taken the bags with my yellow bug and made my way out of Nevada or wherever we ended up by now. I wanted to make a new life of myself. I didn’t know where to go, so I closed my eyes and pointed on the road map in front of me. A blind journey, literally.

Ohio. More specifically, Columbus. I could swing that. Definitely. I saw Neal left his wallet. He had over enough money in there from selling watches and whatnot. I counted the money. Was he insane? Over 200,000 dollars! Those watches must have cost him an arm and a leg!

I started the car, rolled down the window and threw his wallet out the window. There was nothing else of importance in there I needed. I grabbed a snack from one of the bags, and started in the direction of Columbus, Ohio. I hoped to find a place to stay there, and actually make something of myself.

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Emma

Columbus, Ohio was bigger than I thought. I wanted to find a place to stay, to live, probably, but I never stayed in one place too long. I was going to find me a job. Not that I needed one with all this money I'd accumulated. Thanks, Neal. I thought. 

I found a gas station and stopped for gas. Gas was cheap here in Ohio. $1.15. I didn't need any snacks but I thought I'd take several drinks, so I went into the gas station and actually bought 3 6 packs of Snapple tea. Best thing I wanted.

"Hey, miss. What's your name? You look familiar." The cashier said.

"No, sorry. Don't think so. I'm new around town. Might be thinkin' of my twin." I said. I was lying to this guy. Not that he'd ever believe a word I said. I didn't have a twin.

"Your twin. Really?" He asked. "What's your twin's name?"

"Ella. She's from Wisconsin." Man, was I a good liar.

"Oh, my bad. Go on then. Would you like anything else?" He asked.

"Oh, no, thank you. Bye." I left and got in the car. I drove off, without thinking about what he said again.

I arrived at this very nice apartment complex. I found a room number. 2B. "To be or not to be." I cracked up at the thought. I walked into the room. The room was only $10 dollars a week for rent. Cheap enough for me. I walked out to the car and got everything. The food, what little clothes I had and other things. I'd have to go shopping in a couple days if I was going to live in this apartment. Definitely clothes.

Regina

"Yes, yes, thank you." I was on the phone with another adoption agency. I'd thought about adopting, but I had never had any luck with it. I was hoping I'd have luck soon. "I'll be around. Yes, bye." I hung up the phone. I looked out to the parking lot and there was a yellow bug parked out front. I had guessed now I'd have some neighbors next door. That was exciting. I'd have to make them a 'Welcome' gift soon. I loved the gift of giving. Just wanted to show some hospitality. I thought about it as I walked into the apartment. It's something I would do, I decided.

Chapter Text

Emma

It was my first night at the new apartment. Wasn’t too late so I decided to drive out to some clothing store down the street. Salvation Army to be exact. Next-door to the Salvation Army was a Bargain Hunt. “Clever.” I thought out loud. I parked in front of the Bargain Hunt. I didn’t know what I would find in here, but I thought I would give it a shot.

I found this bedazzling belt. Not that I was into sparkles, but it was only two dollars so I took it for what the price was. I found this very expensive looking leather jacket. It was red. It was only five bucks. Whoever gave it up was missing out on this jacket. Again, I took it for what it was. Someone else’s loss for my gain. 

I probably got two bag-fulls of clothes out of the Bargain Hunt. One bag full of clothes from the Salvation Army; costing a total of 30 bucks and some change. I got back in the yellow bug and drove back to the apartment for the night. I had to have dinner, so I decided on some Ramen.

About 20 minutes later, there was a knock on the door. I finished eating my dinner and walked over to the door to open it. There was a brunette standing there with a gift basket. “Hi.” I was able to say. “Come on in, please.” I ushered the brunette inside the apartment.

”My name is Regina. I wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood and wanted to let you know that we are neighbors. I put together the gift basket and I thought you might like it.” 

“Oh yes, thank you. I can never go wrong with gift baskets, especially from my new neighbor.” I smile. “Would you like to stay? I know that it’s late now.”

”Oh, thank you,” Regina began, “but it is late, and I am the Mayor of this town. Early morning tomorrow. Thank you for the invite. Maybe tomorrow. Is that all right with you?” She asked.

“Yes, sure. Maybe you can give me a tour of this town. I’m planning on trying to find a job here, and maybe you have some ideas.” I seemed to guess. 

“Of course. Well, I hope you have a great night and I will see you tomorrow.” Regina says as she gets up to leave. 

After Regina left, I closed the door and locked it. She was a really nice woman and I’m glad she wanted to show me around town. No one had ever done that before for me.