“Finally!” Chloe took a deep breath and walked straight forward without looking down. But in front of her stretched a flight of steep stairs.
“WATCH OUT!” I hissed, trying to alert Chloe about the upcoming stairs, but I also didn’t want to alarm my aunt—she has incredible ears.
But it was too late for warnings.
“What?” Chloe turned her head around and asked, but then she lost her balance and fell.
“THUD!”
“Ouch!” Chloe yelled loudly, too loudly, because I heard talking from inside the house.
“Katina! Why are you outside?” an outraged voice came from the door.
“Run,” I ordered as I tried not to panic, but Chloe already had. In the faint moonlight, we fled across the street and into the murky forest. When we had run about a hundred meters, I risked a look back, my shoulders shaking from running furiously. I saw my aunt’s creamy pajamas on our tail. My breath quickened, and my eyes hurt from the icy droplets falling from the sky. My legs started to feel sore, and my speed was slowing down. Chloe was also panting intensely; even in the darkest of nights, I could feel her terrified breath shooting at my shoulder.
We continued running madly, but Aunt Vanessa was still following us and closing in.
“Quick! To the treehouse!” I shouted wildly as we hurried across the tangled roots and slippery wet leaves. My aunt was a quick runner but definitely not the best climber in the world. I was used to this peaceful woodland. I knew exactly where the treehouse was.
“We need to confuse your aunt,” Chloe panted. “We cannot risk her finding our hideout.”
“Okay,” I found it hard to talk under the rain, “we can lure her to the bridge and then travel to the tree.”
Chloe and I made a sharp turn to put some distance between us and my aunt; that was also the direction to the riverside. We ran even more quickly, despite the fact that my aunt would catch up soon.
I saw the creamy shadow getting closer in the reflection of the quiet river. If we could just hide in that bush over there—
My aunt was just turning her head for some weird reason as we threw ourselves into that bush. Just to be safe, Chloe threw her cap onto the other path. We watched Aunt Vanessa stop at the split and look around, passing our bush twice. Finally, she padded away to the path where Chloe had left her cap.
I took a tiny step toward Riverside Road and inhaled deeply. I wasn’t really breathing in the thorn bush. Chloe came out a few seconds later, looking amazed; though she loved sneaking around, she had never really done anything this dangerous. Now, I was wondering where to go. I knew it should be the treehouse, but what after? I couldn’t live in the treehouse forever, and I didn’t have a single bill. Chloe might bring some food to me, but after the summer break, I needed my aunt to drive me to boarding school.
I sighed. “Chloe, thank you for tricking my aunt. But I think you should go home; your mom will be worried.” I lifted my glasses a bit higher; they were about to fall off my nose.
“But can you manage the night by yourself?”
“Of course I can,” I replied, trying to soothe Chloe’s worries. “We are at a boarding school.”
“That’s true. But I think your aunt will try to track you down with the police,” Chloe said worriedly.
“I don’t know what to do after this night,” I sighed in the dim streetlight. It was kind of cold now; the cool breeze was sending a chill down my spine. “You gotta go home,” I added desperately.
Chloe nodded in agreement and vanished into the dark forest. I padded toward the treehouse, exhausted. As I climbed into the hideout, I fell onto the cushions and, not caring about what tomorrow would bring, sank into a dreamless sleep.
The rest of the night remained peaceful, not as I expected it to be, filled with the red and blue lights of the police car. When the morning sun rose over the emerald leaves and the horizon, my eyes blinked open.
In the first couple of seconds, I thought I was still in my hard, tiny bed in that dusty storage room, then I remembered everything that had happened yesterday: exciting, scary, and terrible. I yawned widely as I carefully climbed down the rope ladder and was greeted by the chatter of birdsong. The air was fresh and smelled of rain. The rocks seemed to be glittering in the dappled light. I stretched and started to collect some branches to camouflage my hideout. It was super easy; you just had to shove some twigs into the space between the logs.
I curled up in my cozy home (at least better than my aunt’s house) and thought about my next steps. I should go to Zoe’s home secretly, or Zoe’s mom might call my aunt. But how would I contact Zoe to keep this meeting private? So I would need a phone. I turned in the cushions and bumped into something hard. It was shining on its smooth surface. Chloe’s phone.
I apologized under my breath to Chloe as I unlocked her phone by hacking; I REALLY needed it. After dialing Zoe’s number, I heard Zoe’s voice.
“Chloe? Did you escape?”
“I’m Kat. Chloe left her phone in the treehouse, and I, umm, know her password,” I replied nervously; the last thing I needed right now was Zoe’s sharp words.
“Okay—so you used her phone without permission,” Zoe pointed out suspiciously.
“Yes, yes. I’m just asking for a meeting in Chloe’s backyard this afternoon,” I said desperately, trying really hard to ignore Zoe’s sharp (yet true) point.
“I’m in,” replied Zoe, who seemed to be doing her giant piles of homework. Then she dropped her phone.
I pressed another number, which was Chloe’s.
“Kat? Did you hack my password? Glad you did.”
“You’re—glad? Okay, whatever, just remember, meeting this afternoon, your backyard,” I muttered.
“‘k, be there at 3. Bye!”
“Goodbye!” I replied quickly. I’ve got loads to do—if I weren’t caught.
