Groggy as she woke up. The sun was beating in on Selena’s face as she sat up.

The forest outside seemed much brighter than her life was. She did not even stop to think before hopping out onto the trail.

Nicki was still asleep so Selena used the trunk to get out, quietly she slipped on her shoes.

Selena walked slowly taking in the forest and going farther away from her world.

It did not bother her being alone, but then again, she was barely ever alone. Now she wouldn't always have somebody, she had always thought being self-reliant would be the best time of her life, but if she screwed this up she’d be dead.

Selena was too busy thinking at that point. The small dirt crevasse she was stepping over was muddy on the other side, and her foot started to slide out from underneath her. She had a long gash on my leg from landing on the rocks, which twigs and dirt went to town sticking in.

Placing her foot carefully, testing the earth beneath it, she stepped up to climb over the rocks. The path looked longer than she had thought.

In her mind the schedule went that Nicki and her would have breakfast, they'd get Selena’s stuff back together, then she would drop Selena off somewhere. Past that Selena couldn't see herself. She felt an intense fear of being alone, of trying to survive. With no real game plan, she would have to go with the flow until she found a way to cope. Selena knew that no matter what she did she would be different if she ever got home anyway.

Reaching the clearing, Selena saw a strange shadow on top of the van that caught her eye. It became clear as she walked closer that Nicki was sitting in her van.

"Lost your keys again?", Selena called up.

Nicki’s eyes fell on her," No just a stupid person, have you seen her around?", She slid down on the windshield. Looking Selena over a smirked forehead as she assessed her leg," Did a deer knock you off a mini cliff? It is a simple trail Sel!" She tried to hold back a laugh.

"Laughing at your own jokes? You’re losing your touch."

Nicki bit down a smile and then opened the trunk, " For our breakfast, we have some bagels, juice, and potentially warm cream cheese."

Without checking the box, Selena poked the straw through the marked space. It was sour at first tamed by sugars that told her that Nic had brought orange juice. The bagel was cold and stiff but it could have been worse.

Their meal went quickly and quietly. After throwing out her trash Nicki's head fell forward into her hands when she sat back down. Selena was not adventurous or as strong as her and, in her head, she wondered if Nicki couldn't deal with this how was she going to?

Nicki pulled herself together and took some bags out of the van tossing them onto the picnic table. One was the plain backpack Selena had used previously, another was a duffel bag that Selena had put her money into, and a gym bag she had not seen before.

" Ah Nicki what’s with the gym bag?", Sel asked.

"Look closer, it is not a gym bag."

Nicki undid the straps unfolding the bag into a blanket with a pillowcase stuffed inside.

"That will work great." Selena tried to be positive, it just didn’t reach her words.

"I just thought portable would be easier. The backpack might get heavy, but it should have everything you need, for now, it is 11:30 am now, so we should be going. Do you want her to drop you off in the middle of town or by Cenrina? I might even stay for lunch if we get there past twelve.”, She did not even give Selena a chance to answer as she continued, " Oh and once you’re gone I’ll call your mom with some excuse. I will drive straight there and tell her what I can. She will call the cops at some point though to report you missing so stay away from the police if you can. Ugh, I don't want to lie to your mom more than I have to so please don't tell her where you are going."

Selena took it all in as Nicki was barely pausing to breathe in between words," Alright, well that works since I wasn't thinking of being in the public’s eye much. Do I have any extra space in that backpack?"

" Yeah, just try and keep it lite. I even put a small velvet-like bag in there."

Sel raised her eyebrows why?"

"Easy, I had it stuffed full of candy, but my mom thought it was jewelry, so she didn't get on my case about it."

"Nice.", Sel nodded brimming with laughter. She knew she would miss all this weirdness.