Chapter 2

“You mean right now?” I ask her, and she nods.

Selena drags her body from the bed and stands to her feet. “Why are you still laying down, let’s get ready!” She tells me and I take my phone and place it in my pocket.

I then stand to my feet and wait for her to tell me how the hell we are going to escape this prison that I call my house. I have tried multiple times to sneak out, but to be honest, they were all epic fails. I was always caught and didn’t even make it to the front gate.

So I am beyond intrigued by how Selena is going to get us out.

“So what’s the plan?”

“It’s quite simple. You and I are going to go downstairs and I am going to tell your father that I’m going home and I would like you to walk me to the front gate,” Her plan causes me to frown. That is a crappy plan!

“That won’t work, Selena. Your plan is crap.” I tell her. If anything, she does not seem offended but seems more motivated.

“You want to bet that it would work?” She asks and a smile creeps to my face.

To be honest, I have tried many sophisticated plans to sneak out here and they have not worked, so I really don’t have faith in Selena’s plan. She’s my best friend, but I’m just being honest.

I might just entertain it to make her feel better about herself. But the chances of it working are extremely low.

“Look, just follow my lead,” She says, and then walks towards my room door and opens it. I follow her closely and we both walk out of the room. We then walk through the hallway and then down the staircase.

“Where is he?” She asks me, referring to my father.

“In the living room,” I reply to her.

I don’t even want to see him right now, I am still pissed at the fact that he actually said no to me working at the coffee shop. I really thought he would have agreed. But I guess he never changes.

She continues her walk and we both enter the living room. As soon as we do, my father takes his attention from his laptop and turns to us.

“Hey, Selena, you ready to go home?” He asks her with a warm smile.

“Oh, yeah. It has been lovely spending the day with Ellie,” She replies, and then he looks at me.

I fold my arms and I frown as I watch their exchange.

“Um, I would like Ellie to walk me to the front gate if that would be okay?” She asks him, and he keeps his gaze on me.

“Do you want that, Ellie?” Comes his reply, and I scoff.

“Ellie,” Selena elbows me lightly.

“Yes, I would, but you would obviously say no, so what’s the point?” My words seem to affect him. He continues to gaze at me and a sad look crosses his face.

“Okay, sure,” He surprises me by saying and I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out. Did I just hear him right?

“Wait, really?” I finally speak and he nods. Oh my god! He agreed!

“At the front gate,” He informs us, and Selena thanks him.

I give him a smile and he smiles back. He turns his attention back to the laptop and Selena and I both leave the living room and walk towards the front door of the house.

As soon as we get out and enter the compound, I turn to Selena and ask, “So what’s next?”

She wiggles her eyebrows. “See, I told you it would work.” She boasts.

“We are not even out of the compound yet,” I remind her and she shrugs cheerily.

Considering my dad even agreed proves that it is truly a miracle.

“Just be patient,” She tells me.

She knows I am not a patient person; as we walk toward the front gate, my anxiety continues to build up. As soon as we reach the gate, one of the guards stops us.

“Miss Ellie, is your father aware that you are out here?” He asks me and I look to Selena. She gives me a small nod.

“Yes, he is,” I reply confidently.

“Then you won’t mind me calling him up, would you?” He asks as he raises one of his eyebrows.

“I certainly won’t,” I reply to him, and he takes his phone out and starts to call.

My heart is beating so fast and my anxiety is through the roof.

“Hello, sir?” The guard speaks into the phone.

“Put it on speaker, please,” Selena requests and the man obliges. Once the phone is on speaker, I hear my father’s firm voice through the phone.

“Is something wrong, George?” He asks.

“Oh, no, sir. Everything is fine, I just wanted to ask you something concerning your daughter,” The guard explains.

“Oh. Go ahead, she’s alright, right?” He responds.

“Yeah, but she is out of the house, is she permitted?” The guard asks and I ball my fists. I should not have to live like this. This makes me pissed, and sad at the same time. I swear one of these days, I’m just going to run away.

“Yeah, she is walking her friend out,” My dad replies and the guard nods as if he can be seen.

“Is that all? Because if so, then goodbye, George,” He ends the call before George can say anything else.

“Now, can we go?” Selena speaks and George nods.

“Sure, you two just walk up to the gate and it would open up automatically,” He informs us as if we don’t know. Selena and I look at each other and we roll our eyes playfully.

We then walk towards the gate and it opens. As soon we are outside, my eyes go crazy. It worked! Selena’s simple and yet stupid plan worked!

“I can’t believe it worked,” Selena confesses and I laugh. Even she wasn’t too confident about it.

“So now what?” I ask her.

“The coffee shop is across the street. The owner is my aunt and her name is Kendall. We can go there and I would talk to her to let you take your interview for the job right now,” She explains to me, and I bite my lip in nervousness.

“Selena..” I say her name tentatively.

“How much time would it take? My dad would go berserk if I am not back in the house in thirty minutes,” I tell her and she flips her hair.

“Then let’s get going, we have thirty minutes,” She laughs as she grabs my hand and leads me across the street towards the coffee shop. I have never taken any form of risk in my life, for my dad has been my guardian angel, not letting me even if I wanted to.

So going against his wishes and still going to take the interview at the coffee shop is the biggest risk I have taken in my life. If he finds out, I would be toast! 

And the voice in the back of my head tells me that he definitely will.