"Callan Burkhardt? Are you paying attention?" a stern woman asked. A boy, about sixteen years old, with dark brown hair, looked at the woman with his startling blue eyes.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, internally rolling his eyes. He'd never liked Geography, and usually spent the lessons drawing pictures of... well, just about anything.

   The woman continued the lesson, and Callan stared at the board, pretending to listen, but really thinking about a dream he'd had last night. About a girl.

He'd never had a girlfriend before, because no-one in the town liked him. They thought he was "uncultured" and "obnoxious." Blah blah. Just because he had a macabre sense of humor, and he told people the plain truth.

"Callan!" the teacher shouted. He snapped back to reality, and saw that everyone was looking at him expectantly.

"Uh... could you repeat the question?" he asked, a little sheepishly.

"Where is Germany, and what countries are its neighbors?" the teacher asked. Callan thought for a moment.

"Oh, I dunno, Mrs Renko, it's somewhere in your atlas?" he replied with a grin. Nobody laughed. Instead, he received about twenty glares.

"What about you, Hilda? Do you know the answer?" Mrs Renko asked a pretty girl with curly brown hair.

"Germany is in Europe, in the Northern Hemisphere, and shares borders with nine European countries: Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France," Hilda replied, giving Callan a smug look. This time he really rolled his eyes. He didn't care if Germany was on Mars. It's not like Geography would benefit him in the future. That's why people invented the GPS.

   At lunch, he sat alone, drawing. He never ate at school, partially because he was never hungry at lunch, but mostly because he had a mild fear that the lunch-lady would try and poison him. So instead of eating, he'd go into his own world, and draw dragons, or cars, or the Earth. All of his drawings had a twist, like the dragon would be eating his little sister Nora, or the car would be running over Mrs. Renko, or half of the Earth would be made of pizza. Just random stuff like that.

   But this sketch had no twist. It was the girl from his dream. The one with the auburn hair. Callan had no color pencils with him, so he just wrote a little note next to the picture. He was just adding a few  fine details when Douglas Pyle, his bully, snatched the book away.

" 'The mysterious maiden with hair of fire. Her skin as pale and flawless as freshly fallen snow, save for the light scattering of freckles over her nose. As beautiful as a delicate rose, yet as strong as a mighty oak. Perfection.' Wow, no way this is your girlfriend, Burkhardt. No-one is stupid enough to like you," Douglas laughed cruelly, reading the note next to the sketch. Callan stared at the table.

"I know, Douglas, you tell me all the time," he sighed. The bully threw the book back.

"You don't belong here, Burkhardt. This town is far to good for you. Maybe you should just leave," he sneered, before walking off.

   Well, at least it wasn't bad today, Callan thought. Yesterday he'd been given a black eye and a bunch of bruises from Pyle and his minions, so yeah, today was obviously a good day.

   After school, Callan trudged home, the bus driver having refused to let him on the bus... again. And just to cap it all, it began to rain. He sighed loudly as he walked up the driveway to his house.

"Mom, dad, I'm home!" he called, taking off his shoes when he stepped through the front door. His little sister came bounding down the stairs.

"Mom and dad aren't here, Bat-boy. They're still at work," she said.

"Cool, thanks Nora," Callan replied, walking up the stairs. His sister followed him, much to his annoyance.

"Gonna go hide in your attic like a good Bat-boy?" she asked with a mean smile.

"Yeah, I got homework to do," he answered, trying to keep his cool. Last time he yelled at Nora, he got no food for a week.

"So, do ya sleep upside down? Is that why mom and dad gave you that little bed, in case you fell from the rafters?" Nora pushed, obviously trying to irritate her brother.

"Nope, I sleep in the bed, like a normal person," Callan said, pulling down the ladder that led to the attic.

"Yeah, but you aren't normal, are you? That's why mom and dad don't love you," his sister replied spitefully. That stung a lot.

"For God's sake, Nora! Leave me the hell alone!" he snapped. His sister grinned triumphantly.

"I'm telling!" she sang, as she skipped away.

"Go ahead," Callan spat, pulling up the attic ladder. Finally, some peace. His dark attic wasn't much, but it was far better than nothing. Besides, the boxes made good shelves, and once you got over the musty smell, it wasn't half-bad. The spiders were a slight problem though. They had a bad habit of nesting in Callan's underwear drawer. But it was the closest thing to a home, so he didn't complain. Besides, if he did, he'd get into trouble, which wasn't worth it.

   He got stuck into his homework, having been given more than everyone else once again. Usually he was up for hours doing his homework, thanks to all the chores his parents gave him, but maybe he'd be able to do most of it before they got back.

   Or not.

"Callan!" a female voice yelled. His mom. He groaned, and made his way downstairs, where both his parents were standing angrily, with Nora next to them.

"Hi mom, hi dad," Callan said casually.

"What is this I hear about you yelling at your sister?" his mom asked, not bothering with greetings.

"Yeah, I did. She was irritating me," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. His father's face twisted with anger.

"I don't care, Callan, you don't raise your voice to family!" his dad shouted. Callan rolled his eyes.

"So what are you doing, then? Whispering tenderly?" he asked cockily.

"Don't give me that cheek, boy. Remember your place, and respect your mother and I," his dad hissed, forcing the boy up against the wall by the collar of his shirt.

"Or what? You going to ruin your perfect image, and become a child beater? Go ahead, father," Callan spat. His dad threw him to the floor in fury.

"Go back to your attic. I don't want to see you, I don't want to hear you, I don't want to smell you. You don't deserve us. You don't belong in this family. Oh, and no food. For a week," his father growled. Callan rolled his eyes again, and stormed back up to his room.

   His family was never satisfied. His parents wanted him to be a perfect soldier like his older brother, Corey; his brother wanted him to be non-existent; and Nora wanted him to be a rainbow, glitter-covered unicorn with fairy wings. (When she told him that, he yelled at her so loud the neighbors complained.)

   He couldn't take it anymore, this school, this town, this "family." But, as he planned his escape, he didn't stop to consider how his decision would change everything.

--------------------------------------------
A/N:

Hi readers! I hope you enjoyed Chapter 1 of "Runaway."
I'll try and update as often as I can, same as the other stories. I know I have no completed stories, but that's partially because I like to give you guys a little variety, and mostly because I just publish a chapter as soon as it's completed.
Enjoy your July!

Your lousy author,
Wolfthorne/Tasha