Chapter 14: The Great escape
The high of the phone call lingered in the air like perfume, but as the clock ticked toward five, a new kind of panic set in. I looked at Alex, my hands trembling slightly. "Well... what's next?"
Alex stood in the center of my room, hands on her hips, her eyes scanning me with the clinical precision of a stylist. "Next? Next, we turn this 'shadow girl' into the Princess Zack is expecting. Show me the wardrobe. Let's see the options."
I walked over to my closet and pulled the doors open. It felt like opening a time capsule. I started pulling hangers out, laying the garments across the bed. A floral sundress from three summers ago. A navy blue shift dress I'd worn to a middle school graduation. A pale pink lace dress that had been a birthday gift before the world turned gray.
Alex picked up the floral dress, holding it against me. She frowned, her eyes narrowing. "Jane, this wouldn't even fit a doll. And this lace one? It's practically a shirt on you now." She moved down the line, her frustration growing. "What is this? Why is every single dress you own undersized and ancient?"
I looked down at the frayed hem of the navy dress, a flush of embarrassment creeping up my neck. "I... I don't have anything new, Alex. These are just what I've always had."
Alex dropped the hangers, her expression shifting from confusion to a sharp, protective concern. "What are you talking about? Mom gives you a clothing allowance every season. She's been handing you money for two years, Jane. Where did it go? What happened to those funds?"
I hesitated, glancing at the small, battered wooden box tucked away on the highest shelf of my bookshelf—the one hidden behind a stack of my father's old journals.
"I saved them," I whispered.
Alex's breath caught. "All of it? Jane, why?"
"I don't know," I said, my voice barely audible. "I guess... I felt like if I bought new clothes, it meant I was moving forward.
It meant I was becoming a version of myself that Dad never got to see. Every time I looked at a new dress, I just thought about how he wasn't there to tell me I looked pretty in it. So I just... kept the money in the box. I didn't want to change."
The silence in the room was heavy, thick with the realization of just how deep my grief had buried me. I hadn't just been wearing old clothes; I had been wearing my sorrow like a shroud, refusing to outgrow the girl I was when he was alive.
Alex walked over and pulled me into a silent, bone-deep hug. "Oh, Jane," she breathed into my hair.
Alex stood up abruptly, a determined light in her eyes that I knew all too well. It was the look she got right before she changed the course of a day—or a life.
"Well then," she said, her voice ringing with authority. "We are going shopping. Right now."
My heart did a nervous skip. "But Alex! If we do that, Mom will definitely notice we're gone, and if she sees us coming back with bags, she'll—"
"Jane," Alex interrupted, placing her hands firmly on my shoulders. "Do not worry. I told you, I will handle Mom. You just have to trust me. Do you trust me?"
I looked into her confident gaze. For two years, I had trusted my grief to keep me safe, and it had only kept me lonely. It was time to trust someone else. I took a shaky breath and nodded. "I trust you."
"Good," Alex smirked. "Now, go down the hall and tell Stephen he's our chauffeur and security detail. We're taking him with us."
I blinked in surprise. Stephen was the serious one, the one with his head always buried in a mountain of medical textbooks. "Stephen? He'll never agree, Alex. He's probably memorizing the human nervous system right now."
"Just go ask," she urged with a wink.
I obeyed, walking down the hall and knocking softly on Stephen's door. It opened almost immediately, revealing my older brother. He looked tired, his glasses perched on the end of his nose, the room behind him smelling of coffee and old paper.
"What is it, Jane?" he asked, his voice deep but not unkind.
The words tumbled out of me before I could second-guess them. "We're going shopping. Right now. And... and you're coming with us."
Stephen sighed, his gaze drifting back to his desk. I followed his look; the table was covered in thick volumes and hand-drawn diagrams of the heart. He was studying for his MBBS—his future depended on the hours he spent in that chair.
I expected a firm no. I expected him to tell me he didn't have time for teenage whims.
But Stephen looked back at me, his eyes softening as he took in my expression—the small spark of life that hadn't been there yesterday.
He remembered the sobbing he'd heard through the walls for months. He knew that yesterday had been a turning point, even if we hadn't spoken about it.
"Shopping, huh?" He closed his heavy textbook with a decisive thud. "Fine. Give me five minutes to get my keys and a jacket."
I couldn't help it; a wide, genuine smile broke across my face. "Really?"
"Really," he said, a small, rare smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Go tell Alex to get ready before I change my mind."
I practically floated back to Alex's room. For the first time, the house didn't feel like a museum of what we had lost. It felt like a home where people were actually living.
The grandfather clock in the hallway struck 1:30 p.m. as the three of us tried to make a silent break for the front door. We were halfway across the threshold when the one voice I feared most cut through the air.
"And where do you three think you're going?"
My mother, Ester, stood at the top of the stairs, her eyes sharp and questioning. I froze, my heart dropping into my stomach. We're lost, I thought, the panic rising. She's going to say no, and this whole day will crumble before it even starts.
But Alex didn't even flinch. She stepped forward, her voice light and easy. "We're siblings, Mom! We just realized it's been forever since we did something together. We're heading out to do some shopping—I mean, look at Jane, she's practically outgrown everything she owns. She needs this."
My mother sighed, her gaze softening as she looked at me. The protectiveness was still there, but so was a flicker of guilt.
"Shopping?" she repeated. "I suppose that's true."
"And," Alex added, pushing our luck, "we're going to grab lunch while we're out. Just the three of us."
"Absolutely not," Mom countered immediately, her voice hardening. "It's 1:30. I expect you all back here for family lunch at 2:00 p.m. sharp."
The air left my lungs. Thirty minutes? We couldn't even get to the mall in thirty minutes.
Suddenly, the creak of a floorboard announced my grandmother's arrival. Elizabeth stepped out from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron, a knowing glint in her eyes as she looked at me—and then at Stephen, who was already holding his car keys.
"Oh, let them be, Ester," Grandmother said, her voice a calm command. "They're young, and the sun is finally peeking through the clouds. Let them have their fun. A family lunch can wait for another day, but a sibling's bond shouldn't have to."
Mom opened her mouth to protest, but Grandmother wasn't finished. She walked over to us and pulled a thick envelope from her pocket. With a wink that only I could see, she pressed it into my hand.
"Here," she whispered, though it carried across the room. "One thousand, five hundred dollars. Go buy something that makes you feel like the girl I know you are. Go have a proper lunch. Have fun."
I stared at the money, stunned.
"Mother, that's too much—" Ester started, but Grandmother just waved her off.
"It's just paper, Ester. Their happiness isn't. Now, go! Before I change my mind and decide to come with you!"
We didn't wait for a second invitation. We practically sprinted to Stephen's car, the weight of the house falling away with every step. As Stephen pulled out of the driveway, I looked at the envelope in my lap and then at my siblings.
"1:30 p.m.," Alex checked her watch, a predatory grin on her face. "We have four and a half hours to turn you into a legend, Jane. Stephen, floor it!"
As the car pulled away from the curb, Stephen gripped the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. The silence in the car was heavy for a moment before he spoke, his voice unusually soft.
"Jane... I'm sorry," he said, his knuckles whitening on the wheel. "I'm sorry for the last two years. For not being there, for staying buried in my books while you were drowning. I should have upheld my promise to Dad to look after you."
I felt a lump form in my throat, but for the first time, it didn't feel like grief. I reached over and squeezed his shoulder. "It's okay, Stephen. We're all here now. That's what matters."
He let out a long, shaky breath and laughed—a sound of pure relief. But then his protective brotherly instincts kicked in. "So, why the sudden emergency shopping spree? What changed between breakfast and 1:30 p.m.?"
"Zack asked me to dinner," I blurted out.
The effect was instantaneous. Stephen slammed on the brakes, the car screeching to a halt at the side of the road. He whipped around to face me, his eyes wide with shock. "What? The Zack?"
"Yes!" I said, my heart racing. "And Stephen, please—you have to promise me. You cannot tell Mom. She isn't ready for this, and honestly, I'm barely ready for it myself. Please."
Stephen stared at me, his medical-student brain clearly calculating the risks. Finally, he leaned back into his seat, a devious smirk slowly spreading across his face.
"Okay," he said slowly. "I won't tell her. But... I have one condition."
"What is it?" Alex asked, leaning forward from the backseat, her eyes narrowing.
"Don't tell me you want a new stethoscope."
"No," Stephen said, his confidence growing. "If Jane gets a date, then I'm getting one too. We're picking up another person for this shopping trip."
"And who would that be?" I asked, a sense of dread—and amusement—washing over me.
"Robby," he said firmly.
The car erupted. Alex and I collapsed into fits of laughter so loud the windows practically rattled.
"Robby?" Alex wheezed, clutching her stomach. "Your massive, untouchable crush? Stephen, you have zero chance of winning her over. She's a genius, she's beautiful, and she thinks you're a nerd!"
Stephen's face turned a brilliant shade of red. "Yeah? What's wrong with that? I'm a future doctor! I'm a catch!"
"She's out of your league, little brother," Alex teased. "And no, I am not helping you with that disaster-in-the-making."
Stephen's eyes glinted with mischief. He reached for his phone, his thumb hovering over Mom's contact name. "Well, then. It looks like I have a sudden urge to inform Mother exactly why we're currently driving toward the mall instead of studying."
"No!" I cried, grabbing his arm. "Fine! I'll help you! I'll talk to her, I'll find out what she likes—just put the phone down!"
Stephen grinned, looking like a man who had just won the lottery. "Deal. First stop: Robby's house. Second stop: The most expensive boutique in the city."
He threw the car into gear and floored it. The engine roared, and for the first time in years, the "Chasing You in Rain" feeling felt less like running away and more like racing toward a future I was finally ready to see.
As the car sped toward the upscale neighborhood where Robby lived, the air inside was thick with the kind of sibling banter we hadn't shared in years. Alex leaned forward, propping her chin on the headrest of Stephen's seat.
"Alright, Casanova," Alex teased, "tell us the truth. What's the actual situation with Robby? Give us the status report."
Stephen gripped the wheel a little tighter, his eyes fixed on the road. "I try to give her hints," he muttered, his voice defensive. "I really do. But she just... she isn't getting them. It's like she's immune to my charm."
"Hints?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "What kind of hints, Stephen?"
Stephen cleared his throat, looking proud of himself. "You know, the classic stuff. I give her rides home whenever she needs them. I even finished her entire pathology assignment last week so she could get some extra sleep."
The silence that followed lasted exactly three seconds before Alex absolutely lost it. She doubled over in the backseat, her laughter so loud and jagged it nearly drowned out the sound of the engine.
"Hints?" she wheezed, wiping tears from her eyes. "Stephen, that isn't a hint! That's slavery! You're not her boyfriend; you're her personal assistant!"
"What do you mean?" Stephen shot back, his face turning a deep, embarrassed crimson. "I'm being a gentleman! I'm showing her I'm reliable."
"You are so clueless, Stephen," Alex said, finally catching her breath but still grinning like a shark. "A hint is a look, a compliment, a touch on the arm. Writing a three-thousand-word essay on liver disease is just free labor. No wonder she hasn't fallen for you—she's too busy enjoying her 4.0 GPA!"
"Whatever," Stephen grumbled, though he looked like he was mentally re-evaluating his entire romantic strategy. "Just stay quiet. We're here."
He pulled the car to a smooth stop in front of a modern, elegant house. A moment later, the front door opened, and a girl stepped out. She was stunning in an effortless way—hair pulled back, carrying a stack of books, and wearing a smile that seemed to make the afternoon sun look dim.
"Hey, Stephen!" she called out, walking toward the car with a grace that made my brother forget how to use his blinker.
She opened the passenger door and slid into the front seat, the scent of vanilla and expensive perfume filling the small space.
Stephen sat up straighter, his chest puffing out just a fraction as he tried to look like the "future doctor" he was supposed to be.
"Ready to go?" Robby asked, glancing at us in the back with a friendly wave.
"Ready," Stephen said, his voice dropping an octave into a deep, serious tone that made Alex and me exchange a look of pure, agonizing amusement.
He shifted the car into drive and pulled away from the curb. The squad was complete. We were four people in a car fueled by secrets, hidden crushes, and the desperate hope that by 6:00 p.m., we'd all be ready to face the people we were chasing
AUTHOR NOTE
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