“Annie, where do you think you are going?” Annabelle heard a stern voice behind her back just as she opened the front door.
Annabelle turned her head back, seeing her mother standing in the hall behind her.
“Shit,” she cursed under her breath. She thought the woman had already gone to bed and was asleep.
“Out.” she answered, pausing as she tried to come up with a believable excuse. “Just… to the store around the corner to get something. I forgot that I need it tomorrow.”
“Annie, its 10pm. You were supposed to be asleep an HOUR ago.”
“Oh come on. Who in their right mind goes to bed at NINE?” Annabelle complained.
“People who have to stand up early the next day. People like you, who have school the next day.”
“Anyways, I’m just gonna go to the store real quick and be right back. Okay? You can just go back to sleep, I know you have to get up early tomorrow as well.”
Madeline pause for a moment, looking straight into Annabelle’s eyes who tried her worst not to flinch. “Sigh… You know what. Fine. I will believe you. Go to the store and buy what you need. But by the love of god, be careful and don’t take any shortcuts through dark alleys. It isn’t safe for a young girl at this hour.”
“Mom, I’m not a young girl. I’m eighteen.”
“Since this morning, and you don’t look like it.”
She rolled her eyes and said: “Sure, I will be right back.” She felt a little bad as she turned back and walked out the door.
She didn’t like lying to her mother, but that was why she wanted to sneak out in the first place. After all, there was no way her mother would have let her go if she knew where she was really going. However, there was even less way she would miss out on this night-run. After all, this was basically the birthday party she couldn’t have with her family.
Closing the door behind her, she walked down the short path in front of the house. She stopped once she knew she had reached the point where she couldn’t be seen from the house anymore. She took out her scrunchie from her pocket and tied back her dreads into a ponytail. Putting on her earpods, she put on a playlist with the Doom Eternal soundtracks. She had never actually played the game, but there was nothing better to get into the mood for a workout.
Making sure that her earpods, phone were secure and wouldn’t drop, she made extra sure her shoes were tied tightly and wouldn’t open at a bad time. She would die from embarrassment if she tripped over her own shoelaces.
With everything in place, she stood up straight and stretched back. Then, she leaned forward, keeping her knees straight and letting her arms hang down until she could press her hands flat against the ground. With deliberate and practiced motions, she went through her stretching routine, her muscles slowly warming up with a pleasant burn while her music got her puls up to speed.
Annoyingly, she had to cut it short without getting through the entire set to satisfaction. She was already cutting it a little late because of her mother. So instead, she started jogging, soon coming to the shop around the corner (“shop around the corner” was the actual name, and it had basically everything) and passed it, waving at the guy sitting at the counter for night shift.
She still saw how he looked behind himself in confusion before she had passed by the window front, grinning to herself. She always thought that the way someone reacted to a situation like that told a lot about their personality, though she did it mostly because it was funny.
Running a bit further, she looked up and down the street, crossing when there wasn’t a vehicle in sight of the entire street. Even she knew that crossing a street in the dark was dangerous, she wasn’t stupid after all. She ran a bit further down the street, until she came to a property ringed by a hedge and slowed down. She counted the bushes as she walked along them. It wasn’t obviously visible, but at some point she had realized that the gap between the seventh and eight bush didn’t have any thick branches, allowing her to easily squeeze through. Another look up and down the street, she didn’t want anyone to see and misunderstand, she disappeared.
She took a thorough look at the lawn, making sure she didn’t miss any kids' toys lying around in the dark, and when she saw that the way was clear, she fell into a deadsprint right across the property. It only took her seconds before she reached the wall on the other side.but she didn’t slow down, rather, the opposite. With practiced moves, she jumped, stepped with her right foot on the wall to get even more height, grabbed the edge with both hands, and pulled herself up. Within moments, and without anyone noticing, she was already in the next property over, where she squeezed through another hedge, this one without any convenient holes and she stood on the next street over, having saved almost five minutes of jogging.
Still, she quickly fell back into her running rhythm, taking only a few more minutes to reach her goal. Once she reached the narrow, dark path, she slowed down, stopped the music, and took her earpods out. She quickly checked herself in her handy camera in selfie mode. It wasn’t like she was vain, but she didn’t want to show up looking like a mess.
Satisfied with how she looked, Annabelle put on a grin and turned down the path, it was dark, and barely wide enough for one person to walk through normally. It was the kind of path most people didn’t even know existed, even if they came past here every single day. but Annie knew it inside out. It wasn’t long before she came out between the two buildings, instead walking in between two low fences, both of which came to a stop soon after at the treelines. But Annie didn’t stop, continuing on the narrow path that disappeared in the forest. It was at that point that she started to make out the silent booming of bass heavy music. It appeared that this time, the night run was in a party kind of mood. It was always a up to chance, depending on the people that showed up any particular month, whether the night run became the parcours showdown it has started out at at some point, or if it turned into a party straight-up party. Once, a few months back when the number of participants was particularly low, they even started an impromptu bonfire, telling horror stories.
As she passed through the woods, the music became ever louder, and it wasn’t long after that she stepped out of the forest and onto the cracked asphalt of an old parking lot. To her left, she could see an old, abandoned warehouse, the large gate of which had long been broken open a long time ago. However, contrary to what one might expect from a place like this, the place was surprisingly clean. Sure, it didn’t look like the place got pressure washed once a week, but there was very little trash, and more importantly, not a single piece of broken glass.
However, there was something much more attention grabbing. The “Fortress”, or at least, that’s what everyone called it, was a gigantic wooden structure. Once upon a time, a group had found this place, cleaned it up, and built a skateboard ramp in this place. And as time passed, and more groups found out about this place, they slowly added to it, turning the entire place into a whole skatepark. Until parkour runners joined in and connected everything with platforms, bridges, balance beams, and ropes, creating an environment people in other places could only dream of.
But right now, few of the installations were in use for their intended purpose. Instead, people were standing and sitting everywhere, dancing to the music and getting drunk. For a while, Annabelle just watched, until finally, she heard loud cheering from one particular corner. And there, the people weren’t dancing, instead standing in a large circle.
It was there that she went, slowly squeezing her way through the people until finally, she ended up inside the circle, making her way to the center. However, she stayed silent, opting to watch as a girl finished her sequence by running at a wall and using it to gain the height and leverage to finish in a double backflip to the cheer of the crowds around them.
“Yo, Sandra!” Annie called out while the crowd around them cheered. “When did you get that move down?”
“Oh! Ann, you are here! Guys! She is here!” The girl, Sandra exclaimed, drawing the attention of the other three people inside the circle.
“Managed to sneak out cleanly?” One of the two me asked. Standing over two meters tall, he looked pretty lanky. But Annabelle knew that that wasn’t true, he was more muscular than the rest of them. Just, he was so tall that he still looked thin.
“You could say that, Jason.” she answered him.
He lifted an eyebrow, clearly having noticed her deceptive wording. Normally, he would definitely have said something about it, being kind of the big brother of their group, but it seemed that today he decided against it, this being Annies big day and all.
“Fucking bitch! Finally decided to show up, eh?” another guy asked, coming in to give her a hug.
“I hate you too, Tony.” she answered him, hugging back. They both knew that neither of them meant it.
“And hello to you,” Annabelle waved at the final member of the group.
“Hey.” Carly, the third girl of the group, wearing her ever present hood, greeted her back.
“Eighteen already, huh? They sure do grow up fast…” Jason said dramatically, swiping away a non-existent tear.
“Oh, shut up.” Annabelle rolled her eyes with a laugh.
“Anyways!” Sandra said before suddenly starting to sing. “Happy birthday too you! Happy birthday toooo you!”
Within moments, Annabelle’s other friends joined in the song, quickly joined by the crowds around them the moment they realized what was going on. However, the song was forgotten only moments after it started, as the crowds around them suddenly rushed in, and before Annabelle could even think of resisting, the crowd had picked her up carrying her away above their heads.
The next hour or two passed by like a dream, as Annie got swept away by the crowds, getting congratulated by people she barely knew and just plain having fun.
“Did you really have to start singing that song? We all know what happens when you do that here!” Annabelle complained to Sandra after she finally managed to extricate herself from the last group, and found her way back to her friends. Mainly because several other people had been outed as having had their birthday this month, shifting the aggro away from Annie.
“Did you really think you could get away without getting the attention you deserve?” Carly answered in the other girls stead.
“And don’t say you didn’t like it,” Tony added, “We all saw you out there.”
“What? You calling me an attention whore, or what?” Annie complained.
“Pretty much, yes.” Tony didn’t hesitate.
“Ewww… I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“You did indeed,” Jason answered.
“Anyway, should we do ‘it’ now?” Carly asked during the gap in their conversation.
“What do you mean?” Annabelle asked curiously as she saw the other three’s reactions.
“I mean, the better question should be ‘why not now?’, right?” Jason said as he turned around to take something out of his backpack.
“Oh my god! You didn’t have to!” Annabelle exclaimed when she saw the small box covered in wrapping paper.
“Yes, we did have to.” Carly said matter of factly while Jason held the present towards her.
Annabelle didn’t need much more prompting, never having been someone who could resist unpacking presents for even a second longer than absolutely necessary.
Ripping of the wrapping paper, she found herself with a small box, which she opened immediately. Before she even had a chance to take completely in what she was holding in her hands, Jason started to explain.
“Well, you are always complaining how your mom overreacts at even the smallest injuries, right? So, we thought long and hard, and came up with this. Come on, try them on!”
She didn’t need a second prompt, immediately pulling the pair of fingerless gloves over her hands. They were almost completely black with only a few dark red accents. They fit perfectly, and she could feel that the material was strong and damage resistant. They were perfect. And best of all, no more scraped palms!
“Thanks guys, these are awesome! Let me take them for a quick spin.” Annabelle said excitedly.
They had been sitting on top of one of the larger halfpipes, so of course, Annie did her best to leave in style, letting herself fall forward and into a front flip, landing in a crouch on the ground five meters below.
“Oi!” Jason called out behind her, only finishing after she had already landed. “Be careful, damnit!”
“Come on, it’s not like its my first time doing a flip from up there!” she called back, rolling her eyes. For all that he was like a big brother to her and the others, that also came with him overly worrying over them.
“I know it’s not the first time. But that’s only from a standing position. Have you ever trained to do something like that from a sitting position?”
“I mean, no. But there is a first for everything, isn’t there?”
“Urgh, stop being so reckless all the time… Ah, well. What about you guys?” he asked, turning to the other three.
“Might as well join in, no?” Sandra said, sliding of the platform herself to join Annie on the ground.
“How about a challenge?” Annabelle asked her just as the others jumped down to them as well.
“Sure, why not? I will even let you go first.” Sandra agreed quickly.
“Oh, cocky. I will make you regret that!” Annabelle accepted the advantage, already looking at her surroundings for a good line.
Suddenly, an idea came to her and she took off running. Just before she ran by the wall she had noticed just earlier, she did a cartwheel, coming to a stand with her face only a few centimeters from the wall. but she didn’t stop there, keeping her momentum to go into a second cartwheel, just that this time, she pressed her hands against the wall instead of the ground.
Keeping it simple for the start, she stopped there and turned to Sandra.
“Now you!” Annie prompted the other girl to take a deep breath and then run at her.
— — — — —
“Meet me over there,” Carly whispered into Annabelle’s ear as she stood up leaving the group towards the forest.
For a while now, the five had just been sitting together and talking, having utterly exhausted themselves as they tried to one-up each other with ever more complicated and complex tricks and stunts, egged on by the cheers of the crowds. This was why Annabelle actually liked it most when the night-run turned into a party instead of a meetup for parkour artists. Sure, the latter was great for improving her technique and to compete with those who could actually tell when you pulled something especially difficult off. But there was nothing quite like wowing a crowd and do what she loved most to the loud cheers of those people.
She talked with the others for a few minutes longer before she finally found an opportunity to take her leave. Going into a different direction than Carly had, she doubled back once she was far enough away. Soon, she reached the edge of the treeline and stepped into the forest. Despite the darkness of night, she made her way through it with familiarity, soon enough reaching the meeting place.
“Hey, cutie,” Carly greeted her in a much more intimate way than before.
Annie took a good look at her, just enough light bleeding from the party through the trees that she could make her out. For the first time this night, Annie could see her with her hood off, revealing her short, fiery red bob cut standing in powerful contrast to her shining green eyes.
“Hey, bunny,” Annabelle answered as she got closer.
“Come on! Come to me,” the other girl urged her impatiently, leaving Annabelle little choice but to do as asked.
The moment she was within range, the older, and slightly taller girl wrapped her arms around Annabelle, drawing her into a deep kiss.
It took a while before their lips separated, though they didn’t stop hugging, luxuriating in the warmth of each other.
For a while, they just offered each other company, content in their mutual silence.
“You know, as fun as it was in the beginning to meet up in secret like this, it’s really getting a little annoying. Can’t you just get over it and make this whole thing official already?” Carly’s voice broke the silence after a while.
“I… I don’t know… I’m…”
“Scared. I know.” Carly finished for her. “I know just as well as you what happened when Kacey got outed for being lesbian. But you aren’t Kacey. Besides, Kacey was an absolute creep.”
“Still, I’m not sure…” Annie waffled on. She loved what they had, she loved Carly and being with her. And she really wanted to tell the world that this absolute bombshell of a girl was her girlfriend. But the bullying Kacey had been subjected to after the reveal… calling it cruel would be too nice a word. She also knew very well the difference between herself and Kacey, who apparently had had a habit of watching the other girls a little too closely in the locker rooms during sports classes.
If that was all, Annabelle would have been more than happy to make the reveal. What she was afraid of was the stigma the other girl had put on everyone that would come after her. It was more than just likely that people would draw the wrong conclusions…
“At least we can tell the others, right? I mean, it’s not like they don’t already know.” Carly rolled her eyes.
“You told them?!” Annabelle exclaimed in surprise.
“Who do you think I am?” Carly asked offended, flicking Annies head in revenge. “I promised you not to tell anyone, and I don’t break my promises.”
“Sorry…” Annabelle apologized sheepishly. “Still, how…”
“What do you think? They figured it out themselves, and I didn’t deny it. I promised not to tell anyone, but I’m not willing to lie about this.”
Hearing what she said, Annabelle had mixed feelings. On one hand, not denying it in that situation was basically the same as straight up telling them. On the other hand, she knew Carly and really should have expected that. It was one of the reasons why she loved her, but also felt like she didn’t deserve her.
Annabelle took a deep breath before she answered. “Okay. Maybe that’s for the better. Still, maybe not today? I have to prepare myself. Mentally.”
“Thanks,” the redhead whispered into her ear. “That means a lot to me.”
Annabelle leaned back, giving the other girl a peck on her smiling lips. “I think I should leave now. I really get in trouble if I can’t wake up on time tomorrow.”
“Sure. I have to get up early tomorrow as well, so I should probably leave as well. Let’s go together?” Carly asked, interlinking her fingers with Annie’s.
Holding hands, they made their way together through the dark forest until they found the path. They followed it in silence until they stepped out on the road. Sadly, this was where they would have to split up, living in exactly opposite directions from this place.
“Get home safe,” Carly requested.
“You too,” Annie answered. “Do you have time tomorrow?”
“After-school date?”
“Sure.”
They had another quick kiss, and then split, each leaving their own way. It was a few minutes later that Annabelle had a realization and quickly sent a message to the rest of the group that she had already left.
It was an interesting experience walking through the streets this late at night. The sounds of cars was missing, covering everything in a blanket of silence. But the sounds weren’t the only thing missing. Usually, she only walked these streets during the day, but it was on nights like this, where she could breath the cool, crisp night air that she realized how polluted it usually was with car exhaust.
And then, there was the feeling of freedom. The cover of darkness, giving her the confidence that she could stand in the middle of the street and do whatever the hell she wanted without anyone noticing.
The fact that she could stand in the middle of the street at all, without any repercussions, her path free for her to choose at her convenience, not even blocked by the traffic lights that were turned off for the night.
That, more than anything else, resonated with her. Parkour had taught her to go wherever she wanted, however she wanted, even if there were walls and obstacles in the way. The reason she loved parkour. The knowledge that, even if they held back everyone else, the walls around her couldn’t stop her from going where she pleased, because she knew how to cross them. But here, in the night, she wasn’t just free from physical constraints. She was also free from the social walls. With nothing and no one around to tell her what to do, she could do whatever the hell she wanted. At least, to a slightly greater degree.
As such, it was maybe ironic that despite being one to challenge those walls all the time, now that they had retreated around her, she was fully happy with nothing but the knowledge that it was her own choice not to come even close to their usual border, but instead stay perfectly in the middle. Mostly at least, she did enjoy walking right in the middle of the empty street.
As such, it was in a good mood that she returned home, unlocking the front door as silently as possible, and closing it behind her just as soundlessly. Without turning on the lights, she took off her shoes with practiced motions, putting them on the shoe rack. She froze for a few seconds when one of her shoes knocked against one of the racks' metal bars, the sound seemingly ringing through the entire house in the silence.
It was then that she could hear the almost silent sound of soft paws on carpet, fliching hard at the sudden bark behind her back.
“Psst! Berny, stop barking!” she whisper hissed at Bernard, as she went on her knees and turned around.
“Who is a good boy? Who is a good boy?!” she hugged the big Labrador’s head as he came at her, giving him all the chin scritches he deserved. “Now, go back to sleep, will you? It won’t do to wake up the entire house.” Annabelle said as she released the dog. She barely managed to dodge a tongue to the face by leaning back, but moments later, the large dog turned back around, lying down in his bed again.
She wiped away the sweat from her brow as she had managed to prevent disaster, though mostly because she had just had a pretty thorough workout.
Quickly, she sneaked through the entrance hall and to the stairs, where she stepped as close to the side of the steps as possible, as they would creak less that way, while skipping the worst offenders entirely with practiced ease.
She breathed a sigh of relief, having managed to reach her room while making minimal noise, when suddenly, a loud SLAP rang through the house.
A person walked by Annabelle. A door closed. The lock clicked as the key was turned.
Annabelle just stood there, completely silent in shock, the burn on her left cheek registering only after a few seconds had already passed.
Almost like she was in a trance, she opened the door to her room, entered, and closed it behind her. She took her clothes off, and her pajama on completely in autopilot.
Only when she was tucked into her bed, her thoughts started back up again. In horror she realized. Her mother must have woken up from Bernard’s bark. No, she probably hadn’t gone to sleep at all, waiting here in the dark for Annabelle this entire time.
But she hadn’t said a single word. No, Annabelle furiously touched her cheek, feeling the burn. Her mother had hit her, slapped her right across the cheek. Not even dignifying her with a single remark. Her mother had hit her, and for what? Just because she came home a little late? That was absolute, complete and utter bullshit!
It took another hour and a half that night before her anger cooled down enough that she fell asleep. But she didn’t complain. She didn’t go to her mother to bother her. She would take it without letting it bother her. She decided that she wouldn’t give that witch the satisfaction.
— — — — —
The next morning, Annabelle woke up to someone banging on the door of her room.
“Sis, wake the fuck up already! And shut off your goddamn alarm, it’s been going for half an hour already! It’s annoying!”
With a groan, Annabelle rolled over, slapping her hand sloppily on the snooze button before pressing her face back into the pillow. It was with the last thought before she fell asleep again that she grasped the meaning of what her brother had said.
With a jolt, she was… well, not fully awake, she was still half asleep, but she was at least awake enough to roll out of her bed, shut off the alarm completely, and scramble to get ready.
She looked at the clock, and indeed, it was already half an hour later than she usually woke up. Meaning, there was no time for her morning workout routine. Between that, and the entirely insufficient two hours of sleep she had gotten, she knew already that she would be tired and cranky for the rest of the day. Then again, it wasn’t like she hadn’t known this, or like the night before hadn’t more than made up for it.
Still, sucky things sucked, so she dragged her tired ass into the shower. Letting the hot water run down her back, she quickly fell into a fugue state, almost falling asleep while standing, only dragged out of it when her brother banged on the bathroom door.
Despite having skipped her workout and saving time that way, she sat down at the breakfast table ten minutes later than usual. She opted to drink her coffee darker than usual for more caffeine while eating breakfast in silence. Not a single word was said between Annabelle and her mother who had already been sitting at the table.
Annabelle ate as quickly as she could, trying to get ready for school and escape the uncomfortable atmosphere. She stood up from the table, but a single look from her mother made her roll her eyes and turn back around. Picking up her dishes, she put them in the kitchen sink before making her way to the front door.
Annabelle put on her jacket and schoolbag before grabbing her shoes. Or at least, she tried. Thinking that she maybe had put her shoes somewhere else on accident, she took another look at the shoe rack, but alas, her sneakers were missing.
“Wear the red ones!” her mother called out from the livingroom at that moment.
Confused, Annabelle looked again. There was only a single pair of red shoes. A pair that she had worn exactly once, too a wedding, and then never again. A pair of red stiletto high-heels. There was absolutely no way she would go through the hell of wearing these.
“Where the hell are my sneakers, mom?!” she couldn’t help but complain.
“Oh, those?” she asked nonchalantly, “They are together with my trust in you. Locked up in my room for the rest of the month.”
Annabelle blinked in confusion. She looked at her phone. It was the third day of the month. Upset, she stormed back into the livingroom. “What the fuck, mom! How the hell am I supposed to…”
“You are not. That’s the point. And do NOT swear at me young lady!”
“But… But I have sports classes! How am I supposed to take part like that?” Annabelle thought she had come up with a good argument.
“You don’t. I sent your teacher an email to not let you participate.” Annabelle’s mother said, sipping her coffee.
Annabelles jaw dropped open. Sports classes and breaks were the only two things in school she actually enjoyed, and her mother knew that. Her grades rather prominently reflected that, and if she couldn’t take part in sports classes, her one good grade would absolutely tank. Not that her grades mattered much at the moment.
“You can’t do this!” she exclaimed in outrage. “You can’t FUCKING do this!” she repeated again, louder.
“Annabelle Cartwright.” her mothers voice was clipped and sharp. “Do NOT curse at me. And DO NOT scream at me either.”
“No! Fuck this. Fuck you! This is BULLSH…” Annabelle screamed.
“Do NOT say another word, young lady!” Madelin interrupted her. “Take this as a lesson. Think about what you did. Then think about it again. And maybe, next time you wo…”
The world went black.