Just In Time to Start Over

For the seventh time that week, Claire Rivers was packing her bag to run away. She was tired of feeling neglected by her own family. It seemed that all they cared about was her little sister, Jamie. She was one years old, irresistibly cute, and got most of the attention. And, if her parents weren't cooing over the baby, then they were admiring Claire's handsome older brother. Sam was a senior, Valleyville High's greatest football star, and an honor roll student. Compared to Sam and Jamie, it seemed that Claire could do nothing to please her parents. She was often told that she was too quiet. She had few friends and was an average student. That's what she was: average. Average grades, average looks; everything about her was average.

Claire stuck a map of Illinois into her blue duffel bag and zipped it closed. This time when she ran away, she knew exactly what she was going to do. She was to follow the interstate and head for Chicago. Seeing the Windy City had always been a dream, but it had never happened. So now was as good of a time as any to go. Slinging her bag over her sholder, Claire shut her bedroom door and crept down the stairs as quietly as possible. She didn't need Sam waking up to stop her again. Silently, she unlocked the kitchen door and stepped outside. It was a cold, early December morning, barely even dawn. "Why did I have to leave on a day like this? It's the one day there aren't clouds. Sarah and I could have gone bike riding. We wouldn't be able to again until at least March," Claire thought to herself. She turned around and looked longingly at her house. She could still turn back. No one would ever have to know she had even left. "No," she stopped herself; "I can't go back there. I probably won't get another chance." Claire quickly crossed the street and without looking back, began walking towards the highway.

Claire stopped at a rest stop right outside of Newton. She sat on a bench near the vending machines, trying to look like she was waiting for someone. Pulling out the map, Claire tried to calculate how many miles it was to Chicago. She was interrupted when someone cleared their throat. She looked up from her map to see a boy standing in front of her. Claire looked at him. He appeared to be about her age, maybe a bit older. He was tall and skinny with messy brown hair and tan skin from being in the sun often. He looked down at her through wire-framed glasses. "Hi," said the boy nervously. Carefully Claire asked, "What do you want?" "Um," he stuttered, "are you here by yourself?" Claire's eyes narrowed. "Why?" The boy looked back behind him. Following his line of vision, Claire looked beyond to the parking lot and saw a middle-aged couple standing by a dusty blue pick-up truck. The couple waved to the kids. Turning back around the boy said, "My parents wanted to know if you were okay and if you maybe needed a ride somewhere." "Well-" Claire began. But the boy interrupted her, a big mischievous grin forming on his face. "Let me guess. You're going to Chicago to find some relative and thought you could walk there, but then realized it was too far? Don't worry. We pick up people all the time, and my family's headed for Chicago anyway." Claire soon found she was unable to get a word in edgewise. But he kept talking, beginning to walk towards the couple in the parking lot. Not wanting to lose what could be her only chance at a free ride, Claire quickly stuffed the map into her bag and sprinted to catch up with him. Somewhere mid-sentence, the boy stopped and turned to her. "By the way, I'm Kyle. Kyle Johnson." "Claire Rivers," said Claire, shaking the hand he held out to her.

When they reached the truck, Kyle introduced Claire to his parents. Like Kyle, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson both wore glasses and were somewhat tall. The only major difference was Mrs. Johnson's hair was very dark and Mr. Johnson's was mostly gray, with remnants of what had probably been brown hair. Kyle was still talking. "She's going to Chicago. She can ride with us, right?" Kyle's mother smiled down at Claire. "Sure, as long as your parents won't mind." "Oh, they won't mind at all," Claire spoke up quickly. "I mean, they wouldn't want me walking the whole way, I'm sure." "Well, just throw your stuff in the back. Will you mind sitting back there with Kyle?" Mr. Johnson asked. Claire shook her head no and climbed up into the open back with Kyle. She stowed her duffel on a corner and made herself comfortable amongst the quilts and luggage. "You guys travel a lot?" she inquired, noticing that most of the cargo was camping supplies. Kyle nodded as the truck's engine started up. "All the time. Let's just say that my hometown is merely the town I was born in. I've never really lived anywhere but I've been all over America." For the next hour and a half, Claire heard about all the places Kyle had been to. Watching the road pass from underneath her, Claire thought to herself, "I wonder if a life on the road is what make Kyle so eager to talk to someone. He must get lonely." Claire tuned in just in time to hear Kyle say, "Oh, and I almost forgot that one time when we went to Hershey Park. It was so cool! There were rides and." Claire could tell it was going to be a long ride to Chicago.

The next four days were filled with rest stops, motels, campgrounds and watching the traveled road disappear into the distance. These were probably the most exciting days of Claire's life. The Johnsons were very laid-back; taking their time on the road; stopping to see just about everything. The only thing Claire had to worry about was keeping up with Kyle. She and Kyle did everything from going swimming in the Kaskaskia River, to making faces at monkeys at the Henson-Robinson Zoo in Springfield. At last they reached Elmhurst, a city just outside Chicago. As they pulled into a camping lot for the night, Mr. Johnson said that in the morning, they would all go to the city and get Claire settled. She hadn't told them that there wouldn't be anyone waiting for her. Claire knew no one in the city. But not wanting to make things difficult, she kept quiet. She also decided she would go find a place herself. That night Claire snuck out of her tent, left a thank-you note for the Johnsons on her pillow and grabbed her duffel out of the back of the truck. Slowly she started for the main road to Chicago.

When she reached the city at five in the morning, everyone was already bustling about. Taxicabs were being hailed, adults with briefcases were rushing past with Expressos in their hands, and the lights of signs were already flashing. It seemed everyone had somewhere to be, except her. Claire stood on the corner of West Lawn and Ashton Street. She had no idea what to do. Should she find a hotel or something? Maybe look for a place to eat? Claire wandered around for a little while, until she came upon a small restaurant. But she soon discovered that nothing, not even a bag of chips and a Coke, was cheap in Chicago. For the rest of the day, Claire explored the business district of Chicago. She stood across the street from the Sears tower, admiring the tall skyscraper. She ate lunch at the same restaurant, once again having chips and a coke. She even sat and listened to a guitarist play on Jackson Avenue. Twilight rolled around too quickly. The whole city was transformed. All the business people had gone home and now the streets were filled with homeless people. Everything seemed darker. There were shadows on every corner that made Claire paranoid. She couldn't recognize any of the buildings around her. She was cold, hungry, tired and somewhere between lunch and now, her wallet had escaped from her pocket. Claire started to cry. She couldn't survive in the city alone, with no shelter or money. "I should have never left the Johnsons, or home for that matter." Finding an unoccupied corner of a building and using her bag as a lumpy makeshift pillow, Claire curled up on the cold concrete to keep warm; crying herself into an uneasy sleep.

A sharp pain in her right side woke Claire up. She realized someone was kicking her, lightly, but with shoes on. Prepared to tell off some hobo, she rubbed her sleep-filled eyes and looked up at her visitor. She wasn't expecting to see Kyle standing there. He helped her up and waited in silence while Claire dusted herself off, picking off leaves that were stuck to her jacket. Kyle finally broke the silence. "Why'd you leave?" Claire looked down at her feet. "Because." she said, unsure of what to say. She decided to tell Kyle the truth. "I really have no one here to stay with. You see, I ran away from home. I just didn't want anyone to find out." There was another silence. "Oh," responded Kyle. He began to walk away. Claire followed him. "Are you mad at me?" He kept walking. "Why would I be mad at you?" Claire shrugged. They continued to walk in silence. Claire noticed that they were head for the outskirts of town. Suddenly Kyle stopped. He asked her nervously, "Are you mad at me?" Claire quickly consoled him. "No, of course not. My leaving had nothing to do with you, or your family." Kyle stood there for a moment, then asked, "Do you still want to ride with us for a while?" Claire hadn't been sure if they would want her back after she left. But she accepted the unexpected offer gladly. "Of course!" she answered, causing a big grin to form on Kyle's face. "Great! My parents want to stay in Chicago for a few days. So we can go up the Sears tower, and see the art museum. Then we can-" Kyle rambled on and on about all they could do in Chicago. It wasn't long before Claire could see the Johnsons' pick-up truck, with Mr. and Mrs. Johnson anxiously waiting by it. When she saw Claire, Mrs. Johnson quickly walked towards them and pulled Claire into a motherly embrace. "Thank goodness you're all right. I was so worried when we found the note. We tried to find you yesterday but we couldn't before it got dark. And if Kyle hadn't kept looking, well, who knows what could have happened." Claire let the lady hug her. She hadn't thought they would be so worried, but she found herself glad they were. When Mrs. Johnson finally released Claire, she wiped her eyes and announced, "I think this is cause for celebration. Let's go to breakfast." Claire and Kyle both nodded eagerly in agreement.

Claire enjoyed their stay in Chicago. She and Kyle did just about everything he had talked about. They even went and saw a show at the theater. After three days they were back on the road. Campsites and small motel rooms once again filled their days. But Claire decided she liked life on the road. Perhaps when she grew up, she would live in a trailer, traveling cross-country, maybe even travel to Europe for a while. But that was far in the future, Claire told herself. Right now she should enjoy what was left of her time with the Johnsons. Her time soon came to an end. Six days after leaving Chicago they pulled into a rest stop. Getting out of the back of the pick-up, Claire looked around. "Wait," she said. "This is the rest stop right outside my town; the one you picked me up at." They had passed through totally different towns than before, so she hadn't noticed they were getting closer and closer to Newton. Mr. Johnson looked down at Claire and smiled sadly. "We wanted to give you a chance to go home, in case you had changed you mind." Claire sat down on a bench to think. Did she want to go home? Did she want to go back and risk the chance that nothing had changed? The idea of going home had barely even crossed her mind over the past few days. Now that she thought about it, she realized that life on the road was fun, but that she really did want to go home, despite all the problems there. Claire looked up. Kyle was standing by the truck, looking uncomfortable. She walked over to him. "I decided to go home," she told him, "but you're welcome to call anytime." She wrote down her phone number on a napkin and handed it to him, but he still wouldn't look her in the eye or say anything. "Okay, well, I guess I'll see you someday. Call me." She looked at him for a moment, sighed, and went to tell his parents she was leaving.

Claire stood at the end of her driveway. The house was dark. Christmas decorations were everywhere. Thinking back to when she left, she realized it was Christmas Eve. "They probably got rid of all my presents by now," Claire thought aloud. "They're probably just getting ready to cook dinner, laughing and telling stories." She began to walk up the driveway. When she reached the porch she hesitated. This could mean going back to how everything was. It was possibly that nothing had changed. Claire put her hand on the doorknob. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

The next five minutes were all a blur to Claire. As soon as she opened the door, someone swept her up into an embrace. It was her mother. People around her were crying and shouting. Finally things began to settle down. Claire held Jamie while her mother fussed over her. Over dinner, she told everyone about what had happened; only leaving out the part about spending the night on the street. After dinner Claire went up to her room to get settled again. As she flopped down on her bed for the first time in two weeks, Claire thought, "It's good to be home."

About a week later, just after school started again, Claire got a phone call. "Hello?" she said. A familiar voice came over the line. "Hi." Claire beamed. "Kyle! How are you? Where are you?" She could hear Kyle laughing on the end of the line. "I'm good. Guess what?" "What?" "We're buying a house." Claire was surprised. "You mean like a trailer?" "No, a real house. No wheels. It's on Kennel Drive." For a moment Claire was quiet. Then it hit her. "That street's in Newton. In fact, it's two blocks from our house!" "Yup. So when can I come over?" Claire laughed. But Kyle continued. "I'm going to be going to a real school, too. I think its called Valleyville High. I'll be in the tenth grade. What grade are you in?" "Ninth," responded Claire. "Ah," said Kyle. "So now I can call you freshman." Claire couldn't help but laugh. They talked for a little longer, then hung up. Claire returned to her room. Sitting at her desk, she thought about how many things had already changed since she came home. She had celebrated her best Christmas ever. Her parents started making more time for her. With encouragement from her brother, she had joined the school Color Guard with Flags. This had also gotten Claire more friends. She had even gone to her first real party the night before. And now her new best friend was coming to live in Newton. But Claire couldn't help but think, what if she had stayed with the Johnsons? Would she still be on the road? Would she have ever gotten the chance to come home again? She was happy with her decision in the long run. In Claire's opinion, she had come home at just the right time, just in time to start over.