Ch. 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:

~Avery:

The routine is second nature by now. Cash for Beth and a note. Ditch the car, ditch the phone, cash for the motel, hair dye. I picked ‘Rebecca’ this time around so I don’t need to wear contacts. What sucks about Rebecca is she has white-blond hair. Which means bleach. Which means this process takes longer. But it’s still early in the day and I have time.

I drove my new beater car for about three hours and tried to keep going, leaving more distance between me and -. But I’m so tired.

I sigh aloud. There’s a sign for upcoming motels on the freeway so I take the next exit. I look for the cheapest one. I hadn’t been able to pick up a phone at my last two stops so I wasn’t able to look up prices. Or be tempted to message this handsome guy I can’t get out of my head. The image of his bruised face and pained expression keeps popping up everytime I think I’m at peace with my decision.

Singing is something I can’t afford to do with other people around. But alone in