Run Away From Here

“I’m home, Mikey.” I sighed, slamming the door behind me as I walked into our living room. Mikey’s head shot up, trying desperately to hide something behind his back.
“What do you got there?” I asked, sitting on the carpeted ground and watch as he shook his head.
“Nothing.” I sighed, shaking my head and chuckling.
“You’re the worst liar ever. It’s one of my comic books, isn’t it?” Mikey looked shocked, before nodding and hanging his head, ashamed.
I snatched the comic book that Mikey was now holding out to me, and sighed once again. “Mikey, if you just asked for it, you know I’d let you borrow it.”
“You weren’t home! Mother went to work and I was done with all my school work! You weren’t coming home for another thirty minutes, Genevieve!”
“I told you, quit calling me that.” I smacked the back of his head with the comic book before heading upstairs. “It’s Gee!”
“Genevieve!” I turned around and glared at him before walking all the way up to my room, slamming the door behind me.
“Fuck you, Mikey.” I whispered to myself before throwing my backpack onto the floor, ignoring the mess that was around my feet of school uniforms. Mother always told me to take better care of my clothes, but I didn’t listen to her. I never did.
I groaned before flopping onto my bed. Mikey had no idea what a terrible day I just went through, and he not even bothering to call me by my nickname rather than my birth name was even worse.
Eight hours of teachers yelling at me to pay attention. Eight hours of being called “Mrs. Way”. Eight hours of rude comments. And worse of all, there was a parent-teacher conference going on that night. Give me a break.
I was only eleven, but everyone already had plans for me of who I was going to be one day. I was going to become part of BL/ind. My mother was the leader of the Scarecrow unit, and I was going to follow in her footsteps. I went to private school and everything, even though I never payed attention and was always drawing on my textbook pages.
Mikey, my nine year old brother, was most likely going to just be a solider. He would receive military training later, but for now he was homeschooled.
I heard a soft knock on my door, and I rolled my eyes.
“What do you want?” Mikey entered into my room, looking sad and guilty.
“I’m sorry, Gee. I won’t call you Genevieve again…” I let out a smile small, and sat up in bed. He knew I accepted his apology without me having to say a word, and he jumped onto my bed.
We remained silent after I grabbed a comic book and began reading it. We both knew our parents wouldn’t allow us to have comic books, so we read whenever they were out on work.
“Gee, will you be a superhero some day? Like the Killjoys?” I looked up at Mikey, wondering if I had heard right.
“I’m sorry?”
“I heard you and Frankie talking about it.” I shook my head wildly, starting to panic.
“No! Killjoys are bad, remember? Mother and Father are the good guys, Killjoys are monsters.” I knew I wasn’t fooling him.
“Gee…”
“You know what? Forget what you heard, I’m going to become like Mother. You’ll become a soldier, and-“
“Why are you always lying?” I groaned, and realized that it was hopeless. He had heard what I said to Frank, and there was no way around it.
“Okay, fine.” I looked around, making sure no windows were open, and no one was nearby. “Mikey, I’m going to be a superhero. I wanna save to world.”
“Isn’t the world okay, though?” Mikey asked, confused. I shook my head no immediately.
“No, it’s not. It’s in terrible danger, and the Killjoys are the only ones who can stop the evil.” He nodded slowly, confusion still written across his face. “But you can’t tell ANYONE. Or I’ll get in trouble.”
“Like when you held Frankie’s hand and Mother saw you.” I shook my head.
“No, in more trouble than that; way more trouble.” Mikey’s eyes went wide in horror. I was forced to stay in my room in a week when I held that boy’s hand, and I was also allowed no dinner. It was bad.
“Okay, I won’t tell anyone! Not even Ray!” I nodded, and I knew Mikey wouldn’t tell. He never told any of my secrets before, and I didn’t think he would when he knew in how much trouble I would be in.
“Good.” I bent over to my drawer, and handed Mikey one of my many precious comic books. “Here you are.”
“Thank you!” With that, Mikey ran out of the room and into his own.
I flopped back onto my bed, and let out a sigh.
Mikey wouldn’t tell a soul, and my secret was safe.
For now.

Notes