Hilary swallowed the lump in her throat determined not to cry. She rested her elbow on the window and stared out at the passing scenery. It was all moving so fast. Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. She looked at the screen and saw that her best friend Abby had text-messaged her. She smiled for the first time in a week.
She flipped open her phone and saw the message.
Hil- Call me when you can! I miss ya girl! <3Abs
Hilary grinned from ear to ear and closed her phone. She wrote herself a mental note to call Abby when they stopped.
About twenty minutes later, they stopped at a gas station to get lunch.
“Get your own. I only have a few dollars.” Her mom yelled. Hilary’s hand grabbed the wad of bills she had in her pocket. She had over 300 dollars, all saved from babysitting cousins and her part-time job last summer. She had never told her mom how much she had, because she knew her mom would want it. Hilary got out of the car and stretched. Her mom had already gone in and was at the check-out.
“Hurry up.” Her mom said as she passed her on her way in.
“Mom, I have to pee. Just hold on.” Hilary said, annoyed. She sighed and walked to the back of the empty gas station. The bathrooms were hot and sticky; the gas station had no air conditioning. Hilary’s nose wrinkled as she inhaled the smell of sweat and mold. She closed her eyes and plunged into a stall.
Not soon after, she came back out and went to check for her mom. The car was gone. Hilary started breathing fast, and her eyes darted around the empty parking lot.