Runaway Date

Discomfort settled around my shoulders like a familiar, well-worn jacket. The butterflies hurtling around in my stomach, seemed to be a constant companion recently as well. Sitting there, I think about the fact I never used to feel nerves, not like this. Everything used to be so perfectly planned and orderly. Of course, it had never been my plan, I’d just played my part as a dutiful daughter.

Things had changed so much in the last three weeks.

Staring at my reflection and my half made up face, I try to push away the guilt. Molly insists I’ve nothing to feel guilty about, but her reassurances were still sometimes drowned out by the voice in the back of my head telling me I was bringing so much shame on my family.

Not surprising I suppose when you consider my upbringing was a little special. My biological father is Ismael Stevens, the founder of The Family of the New Dawn. In other words, he is a cult leader. Not that I knew that’s what it was when I was younger. We were just The Family. I hadn’t been born into it, I was four when father started the group, now I’m twenty.

Sixteen long years I lived doing what I’d been told, when I was told. I used to read books about other places, and dream of worlds found in wardrobes, and space ships that were bigger on the inside, because the boundaries of my world were so restricted. That was, I did read, until Ishmael found out and had me beaten, and excommunicated my book supplier.

Until three weeks ago I’d never heard of the MCU, or Instagram, I’d never owned my own phone or been on a date. Speaking of the latter, a date was exactly what I was supposed to be getting ready for right now. I have no idea what to expect, all I know is I’m a little bit terrified of having to get dressed up and try and impress complete strangers.

Molly assures me it will be fine, and I trust my new friend, I really do, it’s just…

Molly is so many things I’m not. She seems to know exactly who she was, and walks with a kind of confidence I can only hope one day to grow into. She’s been working to help me with that, but sometimes it is just overpowering. It’s hard on those days not to be intimidated by her long rainbow curls cascading down past her shoulders, and her intense blue eyes. Molly is shorter, but where I’m all lean angles, she is generous curves.

Over the last three weeks, since I got out, Molly has been my constant companion, but that is about to change as Molly is due back at work on Monday, and tonight is supposed to be a test to see how far I’ve come. I'm just not sure I'm ready, double date or not.

Concentrating on the mascara wand in my hand, a sharp knock at the door causes me to flinch. Screwing my nose up I glare at the black smear under my eye. I really don’t have a handle on this. With a soft sigh I can’t seem to repress, I say ‘Come in.’ Bracing myself for Molly’s disappointment because I’m not ready yet.

The door opens quickly, but just a crack. Just enough for my visitor to slide in, before he shuts it very quietly behind himself. I have to admit, I’m more than a little surprised, and trying not to allow my embarrassment to show, as I hurriedly remove the evidence of my make-up incompetency from my face.

‘Sorry to startle you, but we don’t have long.’

My surprise visitor is Brad, Molly’s older brother. He stands at my height and I’d have to have been blind not to notice his wide shoulders and tapered waist. His smile turned to me and I tried not to blush, I'd always found the fact it was a little crooked endearing. His body had a few interesting scars that I’d noticed, I was curious because I had my own I tried to keep hidden, and he wore his like they were nothing to be ashamed of. I’d never managed to find the courage to ask about them though. In fact, I really hadn’t had much to do with him. He was always friendly, but usually studying or working. Right now though, he was standing right in front of me, glinting blue eyes and tousled blond hair, and I had no idea what had compelled him to sneak into my room.

‘Look,’ he said, his voice barely above a whisper, ‘Mol’s just stepped into the bathroom to do her face, do you really want to go on this thing tonight?’ He glanced at the dress Molly had given me to wear and I suddenly felt completely self-conscious and under-dressed.

Two steps forward, with his hand up he hastily said, ‘Hey, no. I didn’t mean to make you think you looked bad. It’s just I heard you try to talk your way out of the dress earlier and I wondered.’

I swiped at the inconvenient tears building at the corners of my eyes, I so did not want to cry over something so silly. I was also desperately hoping my nose wouldn’t start dripping, like it usually did when I cried. I don’t understand how people on television can cry without snot or making their eyes all puffy, not that I had time to think about that. ‘But Molly…’

‘Yeah, but Molly,’ Brad said, plonking himself down on the edge of my bed. ‘She means well, but she can get a little intense at times. She forgets they made you wear dresses, like they made you do so many things. In the grand scheme of it, we weren’t trapped for as long as you, and I think she doesn’t really get how overpowering this can all be at times.’

I knew I was staring at him, I couldn’t help it. He was giving voice to all the thoughts I’d tried to push away, telling myself I had to stop being ungrateful to someone who had helped pull me out of the prison my life had been.

‘I get if you want to go out and drink merlot with her at some fancy wine bar, before meeting a couple of guys you don’t know.’

‘I like merlot, I don’t just drink it because it’s Molly’s favourite,’ I protest. I should be loyal about something, I think.

‘Good, but it’s not her favourite, she’s just trying to appear fancy for you, not that it matters. Blind dates are totally a thing, and something everyone has to experience once in their lives, but whilst they can be great, they can also be shit.’

I stifled a laugh. I was still coming to terms with how some people so casually used profanities in everyday conversation. I’d have totally had to swallow tabasco sauce for using that word. ‘Dating is something I need to get used to though,’ I said, parroting Molly’s words as an answer.

Brad shrugged, ‘Sure, but at your own pace. You don’t need to acclimate to everything at once. Me, I’m going to grab a pizza and hit the beach. You are more than welcome to join me. We can take in a bar after the sun sets if you like, and I’ll even let you order wine if that’s what you want, though I’d recommend a spiced rum.’

Brad looked at his watch. ‘You’ve got a couple of minutes to decide.’

He hadn’t even finished the sentence before I’d pulled out a makeup wipe and started stripping the stuff off my face.

Laughing he said, ‘Okay then, I’ll meet you out the front.’

‘How annoyed will she be?’ I asked, as his hand touched the door.

‘A little,’ he said, and smiled that crooked smile at me, ‘but don’t stress, I’ve got your back and I’ll message her when we’re down the road.’

‘I’ll do it,’ I insisted, I was the one breaking the date after all. ‘What do I wear?’

‘Jeans and a t-shirt are just fine,’ he said, cracking the door open and checking the hallway was clear before he left.

Stripping out of the dress and slipping into my jeans, didn’t take long. I loved my jeans. I think they were one of my favourite discoveries since leaving the compound. I didn’t even bother putting my shoes on, just grabbed them before racing from my room. I could put them on in the car.

It felt fun, easy to be doing this. The idea of the date had been weighing on me, the expectations around it, but now I felt light. The butterflies had seemed to have settled. I’d never had rum before, merlot was nice, I actually hadn’t been lying about that, but Brad was right, there were so many other things out there I had yet to try.

We’d only just turned out of the street when I hit send on my message to Molly.

‘What did you say?’ he asked.

‘Thanks for the push, but I’ve picked my own date,’ I smiled back at him.

He laughed, ‘That is going to bite later on.’

‘What?’ I genuinely wasn’t sure what Brad meant, but I suddenly wondered if I’d broken some rule I didn’t know about.

His smile didn’t waver, ‘You just said you were going on a date with her brother.’

‘Was that wrong?’

‘Nah. Siblings are meant to tease each other about that sort of stuff, but brace yourself for her lecture about your poor taste.’

For a moment I doubted my actions, but then I realised if I didn’t start making my own choices I will have traded one prison for another. Molly might be mad for a bit, but I’m sure it won’t take her long to figure out this is best for me.

‘So, what do you want to do?’ asked Brad.

The question surprised me, ‘I thought you planned on pizza and the beach. I’ve never seen the beach at sunset.’

‘Okay, let’s make that happen.’

Sinking back into the seat, I felt an unexpected ease settle around me. Looking over at the man who had pulled me into this adventure, I swallowed my nervousness and asked, ‘Can you tell me how you got your scars?’