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"Jared Anthony Knowles!" Mrs. Knowles hollered, barging into Jared's room. "You told me that Kelly's mother knew she was here!"

It was the next morning and the sound of Mrs. Knowles voice woke me. It woke Jared, too.

"She did, Mom." Jared lied.

"Then why was she just on the phone in hysterics asking where her daughter was?" Mrs. Knowles questioned.

I sat up. I'd been lying on Jared's stomach. "She called?" I asked.

"Yes she did, Kelly. She wants you home now." Mrs. Knowles told me sternly.

I got off Jared's bed and began to put my shoes that had been discarded next to his bed back on.

"You two are in trou-ble!" Garret, Jared's 6-year-old brother sang. He looked exactly like Jared. Dark brown hair that they both spiked and bright green eyes that you could look into for hours. I remember in the forth grade (When I had a crush on him...) I used to have staring contests with Jared just so I could look at them.

"Shut up." Jared told him.

"Jared, I want to have a little talk with you." Mrs. Knowles said to him.

"I'm taking Kelly home first." Jared said. Aaaw...he was so sweet. Actually, he probably was just using that as an excuse. As soon as he'd drop me off, he'd run off somewhere to get away from his family again.

"You better come straight back." Mrs. Knowles said.

"I will, I will." Jared said. He sat at the edge of his bed and jammed his feet into his shoes.

"He's lying, Mom. Don't trust him." Garret said.

"Garret! Would you shut up!" Caleb, Jared and Garret's 17-year-old brother demanded from his bed. He was still trying to sleep.

"Come on, Kel." Jared said to me.

We stood up. As we were walking out of his bedroom I turned to Mrs. Knowles. "I'm real sorry, Mrs. Knowles." I told her. I like to get on parents good sides so they'll let me come over again. Not that I will. My mom is gonna ground me for weeks for this.

Mrs. Knowles just gave me a tight-lipped smile. Jared pulled my arm and led me into the living room. Sitting on the couch watching the small TV were Jared's three sisters. Abbie, who is 10, Shenoa, who is 16, and Gwen who's 3. Jared got to name her. And this was at the time he was going through his No Doubt/Gwen Stefani obsessed stage.

"I didn't know you were here, Kelly." Gwen said, jumping off the couch and running to me. She has this little obsession with me. It's quite cute, actually.

"I'm taking her home now." Jared told his little sister.

"Can I come with you?" Gwen begged.

"No." Jared said, pulling me to the door.

"But I wanna go!" Gwen whined.

"No, Gwen!" Jared said.

"Mommy!" Gwen yelled, running to her mom.

"Come on." Jared said. He quickly opened the door and we ran out before Mrs. Knowles could force Jared to bring Gwen with him.


Once we were a little ways down the street I said to Jared, "Sorry bout gettin ya in trouble."

"It's okay. Happens all of the time anyway. If it didn't happen then, it would have happened later." He reminded me.

I laughed. Jared was the one who always got in trouble for one thing or another. Whether it was hitting his brother, going through his sister's stuff, or dying his hair green, he was always getting grounded. But that didn't stop him from leaving the house. He snuck out almost every night.

The rest of the walk was in silence. I didn't even want to think of what my mom would do to me when I got home. If she was angry, she'd probably just ground me for a month, but if she was really angry, upset, and was worried about me she'd quite possibly forbid me from ever seeing Jared again. She swears we're dating. And if she swears we're dating, and I spent the night at his house...Oh crap.

"Well, here we are." I said when we got in front of Casey's apartment. "Come inside with me. If you're there, she won't freak out at me."

Boy was I wrong.

When we got inside, Mom freaked out at me despite what I said. In fact, I don't even think she saw Jared at all.

"Kelly Anne Conner! I can't believe you would just leave like that and not tell me!" Mom yelled.

"I did tell you, Mom." I told her.

"You didn't tell me you were going to stay at Jared's house! I was up all night, worried sick about you! Why would you do that?" Mom demanded.

"I was upset. I needed to talk to someone." I told her.

"Why couldn't you just talk to me?" Mom asked.

"Because you were part of the reason that I was upset." I said.

Mom shook her head and closed her eyes. "I don't know what had gotten into you, Kelly. Sneaking out, not listening to me...You're acting like Jared!"

"Mom..." I nodded over to where Jared was standing quietly. "I'm gonna go. See ya, Kel." He said.

I turned to Mom. "Now look at what you did!" I exclaimed after Jared left.

"Oh, you're angry because now your boyfriend is gone? What were you doing at his house last night? Having sex?!" Mom asked.

This woman is crazy. This woman is crazy. This woman is crazy. Do. Not. Freak. Out.

"That's it, Kelly! Pack your bags! You're going to live with your father today!" Mom screamed.

"Mom! No, you can't make me go today!" I said, "You have to give him some notice!"

"I'll make the call now while you pack." Mom said, walking into the kitchen to the phone.

I didn't go to my room. I ran out of the door again. I saw Jared walking down the street, going the opposite way of where his house was. I ran after him. Once I was just a few steps behind him, I said his name. It came out choked.

"What's wrong?" Jared asked me.

I didn't answer. I just hugged him. After I cried on his shoulder for a few minutes, I answered, "My mom is making me leave today."

"Today? Like, now?" Jared asked me.

I nodded. "Right after I pack." I told him.

"Oh, well I'm gonna miss you." Jared said.

I'm gonna miss you? Is that all he had to say. I was leaving and all he could say is "I'm gonna miss you"? Did he not care? Oh shut up! Of course he cares! He just doesn't show a lot of emotion.

"Well, I've got to go before my mom gets even more mad. I'll call you." I said, turning around.

"Wait, Kelly." Jared said.

I turned back around and Jared came towards me, hugging me again. "I'll really miss you. Now I'm gonna be a loaner." He kissed my cheek and hugged me tighter.

"KELLY!!" My mom screamed from down the street.

"I gotta go." I repeated.

"Okay. You're still gonna write and call me?" Jared asked.

"Only if you swear to write back." I said.

"I will. Now that you're leaving I'll have nothing better to do." Jared told me.

We finally pulled away and I turned around and headed back to the apartment. I wasn't going to say goodbye. It was too hard.