Caitlin put everything she had into running. Her legs painlessly absorbed the shock of each hard, teeth rattling, impact, as her feet pounded against the pavement. Every time she started to think she could go no faster, she'd get another burst of speed. She pushed herself further and further, until she finally turned into her driveway. She didn't even think of looking back as she continued across her yard and up the porch steps.
Caitlin only stopped when she hit the front door and franticly pushed her key into the lock before throwing the door open. She shoved it closed behind her and quickly locked it, before sliding to the floor, and listening for the slightest noise.
Several tense minutes passed. Finally, after hearing nothing, her breathing began to slow, along with the painfully fast beats of her heart. Only now, did she realise it felt like her chest was going to explode, and her legs ached and shook violently.
After she finally calmed down completely, and her body stopped hurting enough for her to push herself up and off the floor, she went to the kitchen. Caitlin made herself a big glass of ice water before plopping down into a soft chair. Her mind rolled with thoughts about what had just happened and how crazy it was. Then she heard it, the slight crunch of gravel. She jumped up and quickly ran to the nearest widow with a view of the driveway. She carefully peaked through the blinds hoping no one would notice the small movement.
She instantly felt dumb, but extremely thankful. It was just her brother coming home. She quickly returned to the recliner and her refreshing glass of water. She'd barely resettled herself in a comfy position when he came through the door. Not that it really mattered because he went straight to the bathroom for a shower. Now that she wasn't freaking out, she realised she was soaking wet.
Caitlin got up and went to her room to put on fresh clothes. After throwing on something warm and dry, she came back to the living room to find her brother was now out of the shower.
"Why is this chair sopping wet?" He asked cutting his eyes in her direction with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that, she paused, should she tell him about the guy in the truck? She should probably tell someone right? I decided to walk home from school today, but...then it started raining, so it turned into a run. And I was completely exhausted, and didn't really think before I plopped into the recliner," she'd tell him later after she'd had a little more time to think about it.
"Uh huh...., He eyed her suspiciously.
He was a little unsure of her story. She seemed to be holding something back, but, he wanted to give her the chance to come clean on her own first.
"Well, there's also a trail from here," he paused and pointed at the water on the floor, "To the big puddle at the front door. Dads gonna be home in like thirty minutes, and you know he'll freak out if he sees his precious wood floors are wet," her brother finished.
"True, I'll go clean it up," she replied. Caitlin sighed in relief as she walked to the laundry room to grab some towels.
"Any advice for drying the chair?" She yelled in the direction of the den, as she started to mop up the puddles of various sizes that led through the house.
"Ha! Yeah right," he chuckled back.
"That was kinda my thoughts too," she stated as she finished up the water trail.
"The good news is, were the only ones who usually sit in them. So I don't think anyone will notice if you just left it to air dry," he shrugged.
"I hope you're right," Caitlin breathed out before walking away.
She brought the towels back to the laundry room and threw them into the heaping pile of dirty clothes, along with her soaked outfit. She started to walk off, but she then decided to throw them into the washer instead. She learned over and grabbed up an armful of clothes and shoved them in, before turning it on and adding a cap full of washing liquid.
Caitlin headed towards the front door and picked up her bag from where shed left it on the floor. She sat down at the kitchen table and started sifting through the back pack. Luckily everything inside seemed to be relatively unharmed. There was one book that was a little wet so she laid it on the table to dry out. Then she pulled out her books and began her homework.
A couple hours later, she finally got up from the table. She slid her books and completed work into her bag before carrying it to her room. She'd have been done a long time ago, but was extremely distracted. All she could think about was that stupid truck and if she should tell her dad and her brother, or keep it to herself. Telling her mom was completely out of the question because she would definitely freak out, which wouldn't help, at all. Besides usually when she called her mom, she was super busy, and just asked her to call back later. But later, never happened. And she definitely didn't want to start another custody battle. Tired, confused, and still a little soggy she decided it was her turn to take a shower.
Caitlin pulled the curtain open and grabbed her towel. She dried off and put on her pajamas. Well, she called them that, but actually it was just sweats and a baggy t-shirt. Her tummy growled up at her, she obliged it by going to the kitchen and fixed a turkey sandwich. She checked the time on her phone, 8:30pm, her dad must be working late. To hell with it, she didn't know if she even wanted to tell him any way, she decided to call it a night and went to bed.