I tapped my fingers on the floor to think. My pride and my ego made me want to lash out at him, but that wouldn’t help me in the long term. And knowing Maverik, this might even be a setup to make me look bad in front of his dad. He was probably trying to prove that Nina and I were a bunch of crazy, money-hungry bitches. I wouldn’t let him win.
But what did I want? My fingers stilled. What did I care about?
Ryan.
That was an easy answer. He told me that he wanted time away from me to think things through, and he had asked me to respect his wishes. But how much shit had I been though with him at my side? He hadn’t walked away from me when I was too depressed to shower or get out of bed. He hadn’t given up when I refused to eat. He was right there with me, giving me a shoulder to cry on, a warm body to snuggle with, and a companion to suffer in silence with. I needed to be there for him when he was going through a crisis. I couldn’t just abandon him.
I stood up abruptly. I could stay here and throw a tantrum about how evil Maverik was, or I could go fix the damage that he’d done. I rushed out of the fitness center and back to the house in a hurry, forgetting to trade my ballet slippers for shoes.
The house was quiet when I ran up the stairs, and I didn’t hear either of the guys. They were probably hiding out in their man cave and chuckling about what an idiot I was. I dug out my backpack and haphazardly threw some random pieces of clothing in there as I thought about how I could get away with this. Purchasing a plane ticket wouldn’t be a problem. I had a credit card linked to the money Babulya had left me. The difficult part was going to be getting out of the house without anyone noticing or sounding the alarm for a missing teenager.
I pulled up Google Flights on my phone and browsed through them quickly. I would have to wait until I got to the airport to purchase a ticket. I wouldn’t put it past Richard to have someone monitoring my card for suspicious activity or evidence of an attempted escape. I found more than a few available seats on flights that were leaving throughout the day. As long as I could make it to the airport, I’d be good to go.
I zipped up my backpack and headed to the bathroom. I’d need to shower and change so that I didn’t have runaway ballerina stamped on my forehead. That would make it a little too easy for anyone following after me. After my shower, I left my damp hair down instead of in my signature bun. I even put on some makeup to look less like myself. I dressed in skinny jeans and a cute top that would let me blend in with a million other teenagers. I slung my backpack over my shoulder, but hesitated.
Now what?
I chewed my lip. I could get Mr. Ferguson to drive me to the school and say I was going to study with Abby. No one directly told me that I couldn’t leave the property. But then what? Try to get someone there to give me a ride to the airport? That wouldn’t seem suspicious at all.
I could help myself to one of the cars in the garage, but how far would I make it before it was evident to everyone else on the road that I didn’t know how to drive? Getting arrested for illegally driving without a license would derail my plans of getting out of here.
I looked down at my phone. How traceable would it be if I used the Uber app? I chewed my lip. Too risky. There was only one other thing I could think of.
Me: Yo, Abs?
I grinned when I only had to wait for a second to see her answer.
Abby: The answer is yes.
Me: ????
Abby: I can tell you’re going to ask something that will probably get us both in trouble, and as your best friend, I have to remind you that you are obligated to involve me in any and all of your shenanigans.
I laughed out loud.
Me: If I get us a car, can you drive?
Abby: Can I drive a car? Yes. Do I have a license? No.
Me: Good thing I wasn’t asking about a license.
Okay, I could do this. Ryan and I had driven go-carts before. How different could a car be? I just had to make it a few miles through the neighborhood to Bedford Academy. There weren’t any highways, and I probably wouldn’t pass more than a few cars on the road.
Once I had talked myself into the most terrible decision of my life, I listened at the door before creeping down the hallway.
I didn’t see anyone else in the house, but I was especially cautious when I neared the garage. The guys had their man cave on the second floor, and I didn’t want to tip them off as to what I was doing. Maverik would turn me in without a second thought.
I crept into the garage and grinned when I saw several spare keys just hanging on the wall in plain sight. They were going to make this way too easy for me. I could hear music thumping from above me and relaxed. The guys were probably distracted and getting wasted at this very moment.
I grabbed a set of keys and hit the unlock on the key fob. A yellow Audi R8 Spyder beeped in response, and I shook my head. Nope. That would be way too conspicuous.
