The most popular girl walked down the hallway, smiling at everyone. Everything about her was perfect, her skin, her teeth, her hair, her money… just everything. She wasn’t like the other populars though, she was nice to everyone, treating them like they were her friends.
After school ended, the girl, Leah, walked home like she did every day. On the way there, her friends passed her in their cars and asked if she wanted a ride. She declined and waved to her perfect boyfriend, the quarterback of the football team, as he drove by with his teammates to practice.
Leah walked through the town on the way to the boulevards, the nicest houses in the entire town. She’d walked the same way since she was little and did it without thinking. At the house where she’d been telling people she’d lived for years she didn’t stop, she looked around before heading into the trees at the end of the road.
Leah walked on the old path through the woods. Even though it was dark under the thick treetops Leah didn’t have to watch where she stepped. She walked without hesitation.
A mile on the other side of the woods was her neighborhood, the rundown section of town that no one ever wanted to go to. Sirens cut through the quiet, dogs barked in response.
Leah walked on the cracked and sun bleached sidewalk until she found the house where she’d lived since she was three. It wasn’t the nicest or even the biggest house on the dilapidated street but it was her home. The steps were sagging and had cracks in the wood so she stepped over them and onto the ruined porch. One of the windows on the right side was cracked and covered with duct tape but Leah could see her dad sitting in the living room watching TV.
The door wasn’t locked as always so Leah went straight into the house and down the narrow hallway to the living room. She checked on her dad who didn’t turn before going into the kitchen.
With the frozen macaroni and cheese cooking in the microwave, Leah went back into the living room and sat on the couch. Her dad was watching a show on the history channel so she didn’t complain, considering it was the only channel that he would ever watch.
When the microwave beeped her dad finally turned to look at her. “You ready to eat?” she asked. He nodded. Leah got up and went behind her dad’s wheelchair and pushed him into the kitchen. There they ate their small meal before Leah grabbed her nametag and said she was going to work. It was almost 8 but her shift was just about to start.
On the way out the door she looked back and said to her dad in a quiet voice that he couldn’t hear, “I’m gonna get us out of here.”