Eleven

"F.EA.R has two meanings-

Forget everything and run

Or

Face everything and rise

The choice is yours.

- Unknown

Tessa is still screaming in fear when I yell to Cameron. "Step on it, Cameron. We need to lose them. If they follow us, our whole plan will be ruined."

Cam nods and goes slightly faster. "Oh!" he says. "There's an exit just ahead that leads to a mountain trail hidden in the woods. We might be able to lose them if we go there." I nod.

"Just do whatever you can."

"They're gaining on us!" Tess says, still watching them.

Then I gasp. "Tess, get down, if they see you, it could mean bad news. Just lie down, we'll keep an eye on them."

"Okay," Tessa says, lying down. I look at her through the rear-view mirror. I see tears slowly welling up in her eyes. I frown.

"It's okay, Tess, we'll lose them."

Tess smiles, but it's small and brief.

Cameron exits at the exit he was talking about before. He speeds down the road as quickly as possible. To our great appreciation, there is a big project on the road, and our truck had just passed through it as the light turned red. That means that Ernie and his gang had to stop.

The exit is far beyond the construction project, so Ernie and Jayce and my father have no idea where we are. I hear Cameron's stomach grumble.

"Let's stop for food at the next exit," I say as we drive off the freeway.

"Yeah," Cameron agrees, and Tessa agrees by gripping tightly to the back of my seat. I smile, but hardly.

This evening, we stop at a fast-food restaurant called 'JoJo's.' We walk inside after forcing Tessa out of the truck and order.

"I'd like a JoJo burger, please," Cameron asks.

"JoJo cheese," I say blankly.

"I would like…" Tessa always takes forever to make decisions. After about five minutes, she continues. "JoJo burger with everything except onions."

The cashier fills out our order and tells us our total.

"$10.97, please.��

Cameron pulls out his wallet and hands the cashier a ten and a one. The cashier gives him three pennies. "Have a nice night," Cameron says as we go to find a table. We sit at a table for four, with one extra seat. In the extra seat, we place my backpack with all our things in it.

"So," I say in a hushed voice. "Where to after this?"

Cameron shakes his head. "I'm still not very sure about that whole thing. Maybe we could go to New York or--"

"No." Tessa's voice is so hushed and her timing is so sudden I jump, and so does Cam.

"Why not?" I ask.

"That's where Jayce was born. It's too much to risk."

I nod at her reasoning.

After a few minutes of discussing, our food arrives. I know some fast food restaurants are actually good, but considering the scent that is coming from our tray, this is not one of them.

I feel my nose wrinkle at the aroma. Then I realize that the employee is staring right at me. I immediately turn my wrinkled nose into a smooth one to signify that I think the food smells good. Even though it doesn't.

"Don't worry," she says dully. "I think the same thing."

I sigh in relief, thankful that she isn't pissed at me for that gesture.

After eating the food, that was actually decent, we throw our trash away and exit JoJo's. We look left and right before getting into the truck, just to make sure we aren't being followed by my dad.

I slam the front door as I buckled up. "Are you sure you don't want me to drive, Cameron?" I ask.

"Yes, Eleanor."

"But Cameron," Tessa protests.

"I'm fine, guys."

I shake my head. "My truck, my rules. Hop out."

Cameron hesitates, but opens the door and opens the back seat door. I move over to the driver's seat, and Tess stays in the back with Cameron.

"I can move, if you want, Cam," Tess suggests.

"Okay, if you want."

Tess moves upwards next to me in the front. She happily buckles herself up and bounces around a bit.

"You know," she says. "This might actually work! We're off to a great start!"

"I thought of a place we can go!" Cam blurts out.

"Where?"

"My Aunt Tilly, she has a cabin up in Maine. We can stay with--"

"Lovely idea, Cameron, really," I interrupt. "But your aunt wouldn't approve of you running away. She'd call all our families and everything would be ruined."

I am afraid that Cameron will be hurt by my explanation, but he takes it quite well. He nods in agreement. "Yeah, that's true," he says.

I start the truck and we pull out of the 'JoJo's' parking lot. I start towards the freeway. When I look back at Cameron after a couple of minutes, he is lying down on all three seats, fast asleep with the blanket draped on top of him. "Told you," I mutter under my breath. Tessa giggles. "Seriously."

I drive for a few hours when we're in Oklahoma, until I feel my eyelids finding it harder to stay over my eyeballs. "Hey, Tess?" I ask.

She nods in response.

"Do you think you can--"

"Drive? Sure, pull over," she answers before I can finish asking.

I turn on an exit and off the freeway. I park in a gas station parking lot and we both hop out of the truck, careful not to wake Cameron. I leave the door open, and so does Tessa. We walk around the truck and hop into the passenger's seat. Tessa gets us gas before we leave. After, she starts driving and gets back on the freeway. I soon fall asleep in the passenger seat. My least favorite spot to sleep, but at least I am not driving.

At one point in my dreams, I am with Tess and Cam, but not now, when we are seventeen, we are only five or six years old. Just playing in the backyard, playing games like 'Spies' or 'Princesses and Kings' or 'Pirates,' your classic childhood games. And then there is a helicopter dropping into the backyard, causing all our hair to flow behind our heads. Out of the helicopter jumps my father. He is coming for me. He pushes down Tessa and Cameron, and grabs my shoulders. "No!" I scream. "No! No! No! No!"