Rebels Folly -- General

[A Moment In Subtext]

Eureka
Rebels Folly
By. A Moment In Subtext

When fifteen year old Zoe Carter left her house that day she had no intention of running away from home. Honest. But it was a warm, lonely day and she had nothing better to do than walk around twon. She'd already listened to every cd is she owned (twice), and so what if she had a three foot tall pile of homework and her room hadn't been cleaned in over two months? She'd get around to them eventually.
So, when the new girl in town stuck her head out a window and invited her in for a snack, she shrugged her shoulders and said, "Why not?" And she'd gone into the sparcly furnished apartment and sat for two hours watching MTV and eating every ounce of junkfood Stefani offered her, beofore the girls mother had offered to drive them to the mall on her way to work.
Both girls had been excited about the idea and had clamored into the old car in as much of a hurry as teenage girls could. The ride to the mall was made mainly in silence, and if Zoe was bothered by it (she wasn't, of course) she hid it well. Once they got to the mall, however, neither girl was quiet enough to hear the other speak.
They went into every store they encountered, pausing every once in a while to admire the displays set in the wide plaza's. The aroma's of every kind of food you could name drifted through the building above their heads, and sunlight streamed down from the glass ceiling, making the water in the fountains sparkle. Twice Zoe had to shield her eyes from it.
During one of their few rest stops, Zoe went to the pay phone and called her mother.
"Hi, mom, it's-"
"Zoe. Thanks for telling me you were leaving." Her mother said levelly. "If your new friends mother hadn't gotten ahold of me I don't know what I would have done."
"Mom, I-"
"I don't want to hear it. I want you to get home right this instant. You're grounded."
"But, mom-"
"No buts, Zoe. Yours is in enough trouble as it is. Home. Now."
The line went dead. Zoe looked at it in disgust for a few seconds before slamming it back onto its hook.
"Is everything alright, Zoe?" Stefani asked as she rejoined Zoe, a shopping bag in each hand.
"Everythings fine." Zoe said with an over-bright smile.
"Okay. Come on, moms meeting us out from in a couple of minutes."
"You go ahead." Zoe said smoothly. "My mom is coming to get me in a half an hour."
"Are you sure? My mom could-"
"I have a couple of things I have to do first. Go on." She pushed the Stefani gently in the direction of the exits.
"See you tomorrow?"
"Sure." Zoe lied as the other girl disappeared into the crowd. She snorted. "Yeah, like I'm gonna be anywhere near here by tomorrow."
She had no idea how right she was.
After waiting a suitable amount of time she made her way out of the mall and to the side of the highway.
"Where you headed?" The man in the truck that finally stopped for her asked.
"Anywhere but here."
The man chucked and jerked his thumb at her. "Get in. I'll take you as far as the T.A."
Zoe complied and spent the next several hours, well into the night, chatting with the truckdriver (whose name was Brian) and singing along to whatever happened to be on the radio when the fickle thing decided to pick up a signal.
WHen they finally reached the T.A. she was almost sorry to have the leave the poor man. She spent the night in the shabby Bed and Breakfast beside the T.A. and set out walking by the roadside the next morning.
Which was where she was apprehended by the police as a runaway, and we all know the rest of the story