"Hey sweetie, shouldn't you be at..."

"Mom, something happened," I cut her off in the middle of her greeting.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" The panic rose higher in her voice with each passing word.

"I'm not hurt, but I robbed a bank," I stammered.

"You what?" Shock filled my mom's tone.

"No. I mean, I didn't rob a bank, but," my mind whirled around the face that was haunting me. "I robbed a bank; my face did."

"What? Honey, did you hit your head? You aren't making any sense." My mom was always such a calming force, but her words were quickening. "Take a deep breath and use your words."

I did as I was told. My eyes jammed shut with the familiar pressure as I sucked in a heavy breath and held it to the count of five like I had so many times before. Then, like a balloon with a pinhole, I slowly let the air out. 

"I was running errands on my lunch break, and as I was returning to work..." My voice broke as the face flashed before my eyes again: my face. "There was a crowd in front of the bank, but I was in a hurry, so I just pushed through it and...."

"What is it?" My mom pressed. Her tone was off, though. She was typically so quick to smooth her voice, but there was an edge this time. It was like we were both on a cliff, about to be pushed off into the deep below.

"The bank was being robbed, and the thieves were leaving. One of them took her ski mask off just as she was getting in the car, and..."

"And what, sweetie?" My mom was already falling. She had already been pushed and had resigned herself to the fate below.

"The girl, her face; it was mine. She had my face, Mom," I spat.

"Did she see you?" My mom pressed with more urgency.

"Yes, she stared straight at me and smiled. Then, just before she hopped in the car, she winked at me. I can't stop seeing her... me... looking back at me. She... she looked so... evil. What do I do? Should I go to the police? They'll think I did it!"

"Antonia, listen to me very carefully," my mom's voice was suddenly a low growl. "You have to run. You have to leave right now, and you have to run as far as you can get. Take as much money from any ATM you pass until you are out of the city and then destroy all your credit cards and your phone."

"What?" Disbelief filled me.

"You have to go. Don't call here; don't come here. You have to run now. Go, Antonia. Run!" She yelled the last run before the phone disconnected.

The silence filled me to my core with a chilling ooze. My mother was always a tranquil presence in my life. Had she really told me to run away from the police, from her? I stared at my phone as her words filled my ears. 

'Destroy your phone.' Could I really destroy my phone? It had my life in it. All the ways to reach my friends, my family, my work, all the photos of my life up to now; I was within this small black gadget. 'Destroy your phone' rang in my ears again. Before I could let the doubt fill me again, I threw it to the hard grown and stabbed the spike heel of my shoe through it, shaking off the carcass of my former self.

When panic took over, the gravity of the moment became muted. I was in survival mode. As directed, I stopped at every ATM I passed and took out the max amount of money, but after a few visits, my daily limit had been hit, and I only had three thousand dollars. Survival kicked in again as I spotted a convenience store. I stopped to buy a bottle of water and once again get as much cash as they would let me. By the time I got to the bus station, I had a little over four thousand dollars, four bottles of water, a few candy bars, and a large bottle of acetaminophen tucked into my bag.

I gazed up at the board of departures and weighed my options. Where should I go? What should I do? It was then that reality started to sink into my mind. My colleagues were probably beginning to wonder where I was. Charlie, my sweet, unsuspecting boyfriend Charlie, would realize I was missing in a few hours. And then my thoughts shifted to my mom. 'Don't call here; don't come here,' rattled in my brain. I was orphaned.

"Can I help you?" The annoyed voice came.

My eyes dipped from the board to the tired middle-aged man at the counter.

"Can I help you?" He echoed again.

I was orphaned. I glanced up at the board again and looked for the furthest I could get.

"One ticket to Washington, DC," I requested.

"Round-trip?" The man absently asked. His askew nametag said his name was Dennis.

"No, one-way, please."

"That will be twenty dollars and twenty-four cents," he sighed at the monotony of his job.

I envied him as I pulled out two twenties and waited for my change.

"Thank you," I murmured before shuffling away.

I plunked down in a seat and instinctively rummaged through my things to find my headphones before remembering my phone was lying dead in an alley blocks away. With a heavy sigh, I shoved everything back in my bag and set my gaze out the window as the bus slowly continued to fill.

"You mind?" A man asked from above me.

"No," I murmured without moving my eyes from the window.

He rustled next to me for a few minutes but then was still as the rest of the bus filled. I didn't bother to look at him. Did it matter? I was a fugitive from myself; it's not like I could make any friends. My thought mingled with the city as the bus began its route. A lone tear formed in the corner of my eye and slipped down my cheek, landing with a plunk on my shirt.

"Are you okay?" The man next to me asked.

He was there, but I didn't remember. I had forgotten anyone was there. I turned my face as I wiped the track of the tear away.

"Fine," I murmured as my eyes settled on my seatmate.

He was a handsome man around my age, maybe a little closer to thirty than me. His large, dark brown eyes curtained by thick eyelashes immediately struck me. They were set off even more by his olive complexion and dark hair that was just long enough that natural waves were starting to form. The only thing that could be deemed anything close to an imperfection was the bump in his otherwise straight nose.

"Are you sure? I don't mean to intrude, but..."

"No, I am fine. Thank you," I managed a weak smile.

"Where are you headed?" He asked, as his shoulders relaxed a bit.

"Um, D.C."

"Right, non-stop bus. I guess I could have figured that out," he chuckled to himself. "Business or pleasure?" He added.

"Um," I thought for a moment. "Both, I suppose."

"Ah, both for me as well, but I am in a family business so it's always both." He spoke in a calm tone, one that I envied. "I'm sorry," he added with an apologetic smile. "My headphones are dead, so I'm bored. I'll stop bothering you."

I gazed over at him for another moment, wondering when the next time I would be able to have a boring chit-chat with anyone would be.

"No, it's fine," I smiled, feeling almost like my old self. "My phone is dead, anyway." That was an understatement.

"Yeah?" He smiled, pleased at the turn of events. "Well, in that case, my name is Nick." He held out a hand to me.

"Hello, Nick. I'm Antonia," I smiled.

"Antonia, such a beautiful name." His head slightly cocked as though he saw something he hadn't before. "So, Antonia. We have five hours; ready to tell me all your secrets?"

There was a twinkle in his eyes that wanted to draw a yes from me, but I knew it would be a lie. So, instead, I just gave him a subtle nod and let him continue to lead the conversation.