Okay, first of all, I am having MAJOR writer's block for my other story, and no filler I seem to write seems suitable enough...so while in my search for a direction to go for my story (You've Got to Hide..) this story line just came up for me, and I decided to work with it while it was still fresh. So here ya go!

Dear Julia,

It sounds like fun back home. How are things going at school? With friends? Remember Jules, don't spend too much time in the books—live life! (Max has definitely rubbed off on me.) New York is just as exciting as the first time I arrived... I still can't believe Mom and Dad won't let you meet our friends here! They're amazing people, Julia, just take my word for it. Maybe you could visit sometime? (Maybe when Mom and Dad lighten up.) Oh, Jude says hi. Anyway, I'm sure your schedule must be FULL (it should be!) so I'll end this, but you better write back, or else...

Love you!

Lucy

I smiled as I set the letter down on my desk. I wished Mom and Dad would let me go visit Lucy and Max and all of their friends, but of course, Dad won't even answer that question without his face turning red, and Mom just says that I'll probably end up like both of them, and when I say that they aren't doing too bad, my dad always replies: “Really? Well, let's see, Max was once a student at Princeton and Lucy had a scholarship to go there... but Max ran off to New York, and Lucy chased after him, and do you know what they are now? Broke hippies.”

I never asked after that day.

But god, I'm almost seventeen... I want to go to New York! I want to visit my brother and sister, without parental supervision! I consider running off, but I know that Mom won't let me go without a fight. Hell, she'd probably go right down to their apartment and take me back. I sighed and leaned back on my pillow.

Why couldn't I just be just as spontaneous as Max? If I were, I would probably be in New York right now (possibly stoned) with my siblings and their “amazing” friends.

“Julia! Phone for you!” Mom called from downstairs.

I stood up from my bed and walked over to the phone extension in my room. I picked it up. “Hello?”

“Hey you!” Max greeted me. “Glad you finally decided to answer my calls.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh wait, that's right... Mom and Dad won't let you talk to me.” Max said. It was true, whenever he called, they either supervised my conversation with him or they just said I wasn't here. I don't see why though. He's my brother, he wouldn't get me into that much trouble. My parents just have huge sticks up their asses.

“Then how did you get away with calling this time?” I asked, smiling.

“I made my voice a bit higher and said I was one of those prepubescent boys at your little school. Mom obviously trusts a random hormonal teenage boy more than me.” Max attempted to sound hurt. “I am offended.”

“Shouldn't be. Apparently to Mom, all of those boys around here come from such nice families, like that fact excludes them from the possibility of being a murderer.”

Max chuckled, then asked, “Hey, when are you gonna come visit us?”

“When I get off of my leash.”

“And when is that?”

I shrugged, though it made no sense since I was doing this over the phone. “Probably my eighteenth birthday.”

“Hell no! I am not waiting that long for you to come here!” Max exclaimed. He got quiet, then finally said, “So, if you're willing to be a bad girl for once, I think I solve this problem.”

“Hmm?”

“Mom and Dad are probably going out to dinner tonight...”

“Of course.” They happen to go out every night during summer vacation, which had started last week.

“I'm picking you up.”

“Are you insane?”

Max laughed. “Of course I am. A sane person wouldn't do this. So you're going to have to be a little insane too, okay?”

“I can't just leave! They'll go out, come back, and then what? I'm gone, they come to New York and get me?”

“They wouldn't.” Max said. “See, if you're already out there, they'll already give up. I know them. They tried getting Lucy to come back after she told them she decided wanted to live here, and only after so many arguments did they finally agree.”

“So I'm going to live with you?” I perked up at the idea.

“Julia, that's a bit much. But you can stay for the summer.” I could hear the smile in Max's voice.

Would I really go through with this? Running off to New York, not coming back for three months, and then just continuing on with my life (most likely grounded)?

As crazy as it was, I actually liked this idea.

Max was right—I needed to be a little bit insane.

“When can you pick me up?”

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

I am actually doing this.

I am actually packing my bags, lying to my parents, and in a matter of hours, I'm going to run off to New York with my brother.

I'm going crazy. I can't do this.

No, no. I keep telling myself that I want freedom, adventure, memories... if my parents won't let me have it, then I'll just take matters into my own hands. That's what Max did. That's what Lucy did. And as much as my parents say that they've given up on their lives and they're just a bunch of stoners now, I know that my brother and sister have had adventures. When Lucy told me her whole entire story, I couldn't believe it. My big sister, who used to freak out of she got a B, who used to say that there were no other guys meant for her besides Daniel and James Dean, who used to follow the rules at every chance, had completely changed, and it was for the better. She had fallen in love with somebody who truly loved her back, she had taken on a cause she loved, and now, she was breaking the rules more often than she followed them. And Max? There are no rules in his life.

And I wanted to fall somewhere in between them. I wanted my story to be like Lucy's. I wanted to live like they did.

“Julia? Are you sure you don't want to come to the restaurant with us?” Mom trailed into my room.

“No, I told you, I'm going to Michelle's house tonight.” I looked over at my mother. “I don't want to intrude. You and Dad need your alone time.”

“I don't mind at all.”

“Well, I do. Besides, Michelle wants to work on the summer homework.” I knew this answer would satisfy my mother.

“Oh! Well then, I can't get in the way of your studies.” Mom smiled at me. Then she glanced down at my packed bags. “Wow. That's a lot of stuff for one night.”

“It's sort of a girls night thing, you know? Michelle's sister will be there, Rose is gonna stop by if she can, so I'm just trying to fit all of the proper needs for a girls night in one bag.” I forced a smile at my mother, hoping my lie would suffice. It did.

“I see. Well, don't get too crazy. I don't want Barbara to have a house full of crazy girls.” She smiled at me one last time. “Well, your father is downstairs waiting. What time are you leaving here?”

“Um, in about an hour. That's when Michelle gets back from her dancing lessons.” Lies. I was so good at them.

“Okay, well, just be safe when you leave. Lock the door.” Mom exited my room, shaking her head. I heard my father mutter something to her about the fact that I'm sixteen and I can take care of myself. I had to smile at that.

When I heard Dad's car pull out from our driveway, I sighed and realized that there was nothing I could do but wait. I wondered what New York would be like. Is it hectic? Crazy? Wait, wait, wait—New York could be many things, but I had to really ask myself what Max and Lucy's New York was like. I would be seeing it through their eyes.

Honk, honk!

“Julia! Come on!”

Max was here. Of course he wouldn't have the common decency to come to the door, but I didn't care. I grabbed my two bags, scribbled a random note for my parents, and ran outside. There was Max, in a beaten up taxi cab, a far cry from the old car he used to have that would make girls swoon.

I smiled as I hopped into the front seat and planted a quick kiss on Max's cheek, noticing the new mustache he had. “Hi!”

“You're actually doing this.” Max smiled at me and shook his head. “You're actually being a bad girl.”

“Don't say it like that. Just say it like...” I looked out the window, out at my home, and smiled. “..I'm just leaving for a bit. Now let's go before somebody sees that Carrigan girl getting into some random guy's cab.”

Max chuckled. “You've actually developed a sense of humor.”

“It's necessary in a household like that. Sarcasm seems to go by unnoticed, so I use it as much as possible.”

Max smirked at me, then started the car. “You are so my sister.”

The car drive was long.

But behold, when Max shook me awake from the nap I was taking in the car, I found that we were parked on a street curb. I looked around, eyes wide, and couldn't hold back my sudden laughter.

“I'm here!” I exclaimed, jumping so much I was almost shaking the car. “And Mom and Dad are probably going to kill me, but I'm here!”

Max smiled quietly, then got out of the car. I followed him, then watched as he attempted to grab both of my bags, even though I knew it was impossible for him to carry alone. I might have been incredibly excited to see my brother, but his frail figure did not go by unnoticed. I casually took one of my bags while he tossed me an embarrassed look.

“Wait...I can't just waltz in there and expect them to let me stay there! That's rude.”

“Are you kidding me? Sadie's the best, she'll let you stay. And we have an extra room, you'll just need to bunk with Prudence while you're here.”

Sadie...Prudence.. Lucy had talked about them often in her letters. She had said that Prudence was usually quiet and reclusive, but she could also be insanely outgoing and hilarious. And she had said that Sadie was the coolest woman ever, apparently, and very nice. So yes, I had known so much about them, but meeting them? Living with them? That was something new.

“Don't be nervous. If Sadie, by some longshot of a miracle that froze over in hell, says that you can't, you can always stay with Lucy and Jude in their apartment.” Max said, and then he gestured for me to start climbing the stairs.

All nine floors of them.

Kill me now.

“So you're the other Carrigan?” A woman with long, curly red hair and a friendly smile asked me as Max and I made our way through the doors. She was Sadie, I presumed. I could only nod, since I was too busy wheezing. Sadie smirked, then she looked over at the man next to her that was strumming a guitar. “Why didn't you go down there and help them? Look how tired they are!”

“Please, Sadie, you don't give a shit about me. You just want to make a good impression on my sister.” Max said with a wry smile. Sadie, in response, kissed his cheek and ruffled his hair.

“Slightly true.” She shrugged then turned back towards me. “So, I'm Sadie. That's Jojo over there.” The guy smiled at me, but went back to his guitar. She pointed to a small girl with long black hair that was sitting daintily on the couch. “That's Prudence, but she's in one of her moods right now. And you're Julia, right?”

“Yeah.” I smiled at her and stuck out my hand. She shook it loosely.

“Well, don't get used to that around here. We either hug or kiss.” Sadie smiled. “Now, make yourself comfortable and--”

“Julia?!” My older sister seemed to appear of nowhere, from somewhere in the back of the apartment, and attached herself to me. “You're here! I can't believe it!”

I hugged my sister back, unable to contain my happiness. “I know! It was just spur of the moment. Max called me and said he was going to pick me up and Mom and Dad are probably freaking out by now, but I don't really care.”

Lucy grinned. “You broke free?”

“In a way.”

“Good. Believe me, it'll be worth it.”

I know.

This all seemed a bit rushed.

But I'm still working in a way for my new male character (well of course! You didn't think Julia could come to New York without a possible love interest, did you?) and I just didn't know how to make things work in the Carrigan household.

The writing will progressively get better. 3