Why Me? by Sarah Burleton

yawned Billie Jo. “You ready to crash?”
    I looked nervously at Matt. As if he were reading my mind, he said, “Why don’t you two take the spare bedroom? Everyone else is crashing in the living room.”
    I gave Matt a hug and followed Billie Jo into the bedroom. After we had washed up and changed into some T-shirts to sleep in, we lay in bed together and stared at the ceiling.
    “You nervous about your Mom?” Billie asked.
    “Yeah. I don’t know what to expect tomorrow,” I replied.
    “We have your back. We won’t let her get you!” Billie Jo said.
    This declaration from Billie Jo made me feel better, although I found it a bit absurd and unrealistic. No one had ever been able to stop Mom! But I felt better knowing that people understood me and believed the stories I told about my mom. The knot in my stomach loosened a bit, and I was able to close my eyes and go to sleep.
    “Sarah! Sarah!” I blinked and opened my eyes to see Billie Jo in my face. “We have to go to school! Here, just wear this shirt and your jeans.” Billie Jo was talking a mile a minute as I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. As I looked around the room, it occurred to me that I really hadn’t gone home last night. I had run away, successfully! There were no problems, no police, no Mom. Maybe this really was it. I cheerfully bounced out of bed and ran a brush through my hair.
    “Sarah, we have to leave in like five minutes to make it on time!” Billie Jo was running a curling iron through her hair and applying mascara at the same time.
    “Jesus, let me get dressed!” I said. The next five minutes were a blur of clothes, makeup, and hairbrushes as Billie Jo and I frantically tried to make it out the door on time.
    Just as we made it to the front door, it occurred to me that I hadn’t thanked Matt for the place to crash and for being so nice to me. “I have to say good-bye to Matt!” I told Billie Jo.
    “We don’t have time, come on! I’ll bring you back tonight!” Billie Jo said impatiently.
    Billie Jo and I ran out to her truck and hopped in. Just as we were pulling out of the driveway, we heard a loud whistle. Matt had run out of the house and was sprinting toward the truck.
    “No good-bye?” he yelled.
    He got to the truck and walked up to my window. I rolled it down, and Matt leaned in and kissed me on the lips. “Come back tonight,” he said. Without another word, he sprinted back up the driveway into the house.
    Billie Jo looked over at me and grinned. “He really likes you. I’ve never seen him like this with anyone before,” she said.
    “I can’t get over it!” I exclaimed. “What’s he really like? Tell me stories.”
    So for the entire drive to school, Billie Jo chattered on and on about how she had met Matt, what kind of girls he had dated before, and any other information she found pertinent. I spent most of the ride doubled over in laughter as Billie Jo shared stories about Matt. By the time Billie Jo pulled into the school parking lot and shut off her engine, I had forgotten all about my mom or any repercussions I would face that day. I happily hopped out of the truck and then heard Billie Jo say,
    “Whoa, the cops are here.”
    My heart fell and my legs started shaking. Billie Jo turned to me with a look of fear on her face. “Shit, what the hell is going on?”
    I knew that the police were there for me. I knew my mom was going to do whatever she had to in order to control me and squash my new rebellious attitude. The thought of running away crossed my mind, but I knew my mother would expect me to do something like that. “I won’t show her I’m weak!” I resolved.
    “Find me after school,” I said to Billie Jo. I slammed the passenger door on Billie’s truck and marched through the parking lot into the front door of the school.
              Just as I had expected, standing there waiting for me were Mom, a Bureau County sheriff, and the school principal. Mom was standing