I’ve had enough.

I slam the door behind me and hold the handle so they can’t get in.

“I’ve tried! I’ve been trying for ten years now!” I scream over their voices. My dad starts slamming on the door. I can hear HER sobs of falsehood. She always acts like SHE’S the victim whenever She confronts me. She always had and always will.

“I HAD MORE KIDS BECAUSE I LOVED TAKING CARE OF YOU” I barely make out between crocodile tears.

“I don’t even like children!”

You see, ever since starting freshman year, it has been incredibly stressful “living” at two houses. It messes with my mood more than I can take. I don’t understand how THEY DON’T NOTICE. They’ve tried to talk to me about it, but it always starts with the same statement, always the same annoying tone, every time:

WHAT'S WITH YOUR ATTITUDE

This time, I was just sitting on the couch, doing literally nothing wrong.

For 10 years I’ve dealt with this.

“It’s too difficult! It distracts me from what’s really important right now!”

Some family members think we need to ‘fix our relationship’. That’s not the end result I’m looking for.

I place a chair under the handle. I can hear their voices grow louder. I don’t think I can talk over them.

I grab some paper and a pen

I scrawl a note on it

Four words, eleven letters

I need a break

I grab my wallet and pull out a chain. I put the chain around my neck. I leave

They’ll never find me here, wherever this is.

A flash of light, and I’m gone

My dad slams the door off its hinges. He sees the note on the ground.

They have no idea where I went.

Window locked, screen intact

KID GONE

“SHE’S PROBABLY JUST HIDING UNDER HER BED OR SOMETHING”

He checks under her bed

NOTHING

“She’s gone” he says

Nothing changes. Everything there goes back to normal, they’re forgotten by the people they trusted.

Forgotten are those who want to be. Only the ones they trust remember them. Only two

Both close friends

Only one of them will find the answer