It was past three o'clock in the morning when the sound of keys unlocking the front door were heard. The coat was hanged and the briefcase was put down next to it, as a reminder to take it the next day. Before he could put his slippers on, Erica came running down the stairs, in nothing but her nightgown and a aura of extreme anger.

   "You are amazing at running from conversations." Erica glared at her stepfather who was not amused by the disrespect she was showing. He stared down at her and looked up again, to face her, "People are sleeping, young lady." He replied, opening his office door, hinting her to get in before the employees would spy on their conversation.

   "Sit." He demanded, grabbing a cup of coffee from the coffee machine installed behind his work desk. Erica sat down to not cause any trouble but she was not amused, "Can we talk now?" He took a sip of his coffee and sat down in front of her, "It depends." He rested the cup on top a old notebook that had no usage. Erica took a deep breath and rolled her eyes, "Depends on what?"

   His previous neutral expression turned into a scowl and rested his back on the chair, "That stupid dream of yours." Erica, who always seems to be a strong person was on the edge of breaking into tears from the coldness of her stepfather, "It is not stupid. You always dreamt about becoming a doctor." Erica looked down at her hands, pinching her back hand skin to hold on the tears. "No. I had no dreams. I had a goal." She raised her head to face a dull face, bored by the conversation.

   Erica got up from the chair, clenching her fists, hating herself for looking miserable in front of the person who was against all that she was. "I do not need your approval. You aren't my father and you never will." Before she got an answer back, she ran away from the office back into her room and locked herself inside of it.

   ...

   Later on her room, at 6 o'clock in the morning, Erica wiped her eternal tears of her face. She could barely get hold of herself, everything was pushing her back from following her dreams. She looked at her desk and there was still some birthday cards friends gave her on her eighteen birthday. "I am eighteen now." In a rush, she gathered her belongings, most clothes and stashed money she hid under her matress along with pictures of her with her closest friends and one with her mother, when she hadn't had the car accident yet. She stared down at the picture of them two and a little tear fell on top of it. "I will follow my dreams, mom. For us both." She saved the picture on her wallet and closed the bag.

   "This is it." Erica took a last look at her bedroom and she almost forgot her phone. Grabbing it, she felt the vibration of a new message and to her surprise, it belonged to the boy she met a few days ago on the coffee shop. It was the first time he texted her. It said, «Hello. It's been a while. What are you up to?» Erica smiled a bit, despite what she was about to do. She replied, «I ran away.»