* * *
She woke to the smell of eggs and bacon. She pushed herself up onto one elbow, and fell back, groaning. Her muscles were sore and her face felt swollen and stiff.
“Are you awake?” She heard Torsten’s voice across the room. He sounded hoarse.
“Yeah.” Hers didn’t sound much better.
“I’m starving and something smells good. Let’s go eat.” Torsten rolled over, attempting to get up. “Ugh, everything hurts!”
They headed downstairs, entering the bright, sunny kitchen. The sun reflected off of the newly fallen snow. It was absolutely blinding if one looked at it too long.
Jason and his sister Jessica were already in the kitchen, preparing breakfast. Jason was stirring eggs in a pan on the stove, while Jessica loaded bread into the toaster.
“Good morning!” said Jessica brightly. “Have a seat — we’re just about done here.”
Paivi and Torsten took seats at the table, which had already been set for breakfast. Jason brought the pan of eggs to the table and Jessica arrived as well, carrying a plate each of toast and bacon.
“Ma!” Jessica shouted. “Breakfast is ready!”
They began passing the plates and the pan of eggs around, filling up their plates. Mrs. Santos joined them at the table, already dressed for the day.
“So, they told me what happened,” said Jessica, as she spread jelly on her toast. “I hear you’re leaving today?”
“Yeah, at four, I guess.” Paivi picked up a forkful of eggs and took a dainty bite.
“I was thinking about it…since you are trying to travel ‘incognito,’ shall we say, that perhaps we should change your look.”
“That’s a great idea!” Torsten looked excited.
“What do we need to do?” asked Paivi.
“I’m thinking of giving you both a haircut and a different color. I’ll run to the store after breakfast. I need a few supplies.” Jessica took a bite of her toast. “Oh, we should make a list, too. You will probably need some things for your trip. I am going to guess you didn’t have time to pack properly.”
“You’re right,” Paivi said thoughtfully. She looked around the table. She didn’t want to leave. The Santos’ were so friendly — they made her feel almost normal. She just had to keep reminding herself that it wasn’t possible. It wasn’t safe.
After Jessica returned from the store with the necessary supplies, they got right to work. Torsten was up first. He suggested shaving off his dark, curly hair. Jason grabbed some clippers and Paivi and Jessica followed them down to the basement, where the laundry room became a makeshift hair salon. Jason finished clipping off the giant curls rather quickly. Jessica then stepped in, applying bleach to what was left of Torsten’s hair, which wasn’t much. He had to sit and wait for his hair to finish while they started on Paivi’s new look. Jessica spritzed her hair with water and began snipping.
Paivi was glad there wasn’t a mirror in the room. She knew the hair had to go, but she had quite liked her long, blond hair.
Oh well, she thought, it’s not like I can’t have it that way again someday.
Snip. Snip. Snip. Locks of blond hair were flying all over the place. Jason was attempting to keep it under control with a broom and dustpan, but was quickly losing the battle.
Paivi squeezed her eyes shut. She trusted Jessica not to make her ugly.
“Okay, done.” Jessica stepped back from her masterpiece. “Do you want to see?”
“Nope. I want to see the whole package, so show me after it’s all finished,” Paivi answered.
“Suit yourself!” Jessica began applying the hair dye. It was thick and cold. She massaged it through Paivi’s hair like shampoo and piled what was left of her hair on top of her head. Jessica then led Torsten to the sink where she rinsed the dye out of his hair. The stubble on his head was light blond, almost white. He could’ve passed for Christian’s brother.
Torsten ran down to the bathroom to inspect his new look in the mirror.
“Nice! I look tough!” Torsten stood up straight and folded his arms over his chest as he entered the laundry room.
“Sure you do!” laughed Jason. “And so does Beast!”
“Let’s go Paivi, your turn to rinse.” Jessica dragged her by the arm to the sink. “It’s going to look great!”
Paivi leaned back in the chair, hanging her head into the laundry sink as Jessica rinsed the dye out. A quick shampoo and she was done. Jessica roughly dried her head with a towel and then quickly combed her hair. Out came the blow dryer and five minutes later, the masterpiece was complete.
Jason and Torsten admired the finished product while the hairdresser beamed at her handiwork.
“Wow, Jessica, it’s amazing! I didn’t know you were such a talented hairdresser! Maybe you should think about dropping out of college and going to beauty school!” Jason said.
“Very funny. I can’t help that I’m multi-talented. Don’t be jealous!”
“Paivi, you look totally different. It’s pretty cool!” Torsten added.
“That’s it, I’m going to look!” Paivi jumped out of her chair and ran down to the bathroom. They were right — it was amazing. Her hair was cut into a short bob, falling just below her chin. A sweep of bangs fell across her forehead, nearly covering her left eye. The newly-dyed black hair accented her coloring, leaving her face looking like fine porcelain, with the exception of her battle scars from the previous night. Her eyes sparkled such a bright green that they looked unnatural. This was definitely not the old Paivi. No one would recognize her, which was exactly what she needed. For the first time in awhile, she smiled confidently at herself in the mirror.
They spent the remainder of the afternoon preparing to leave. Paivi and Torsten repacked their bags, adding in a few necessities that Jessica had picked up for them at the store. Mrs. Santos added a bag full of sandwiches and chips for the ride, as well as some bottles of water.
Promptly at four, a black SUV pulled up into the Santos’ driveway. Jason went out to meet Christian, and had him pull the SUV into the garage. They had decided that it would be too dangerous to drive to Minnesota with Christian’s original license plates. The Santos’ had an old set of plates in the garage and Mrs. Santos felt it was best if they used them instead. Jason switched them quickly and they joined everyone in the warm kitchen.
Christian stood in the doorway, looking very uncomfortable. His face was more pale than usual, almost blending in with his white-blond hair. There were large dark rings under his eyes — he clearly had a rough night as well. He was fidgety, continually looking out the back door.
“Alright, we should get going. I’ve got maps in the car. I don’t want to use any electronics, because everything can be traced these days. I understand we’re heading north?” Christian nodded towards Paivi. “I got the message in my Cheerios.”
“Yeah, Duluth. Hope you brought a heavy coat.” Paivi began to put on her own coat, pulling up the zipper.
“Christian, you do have a license, don’t you?” asked Mrs. Santos, her brow furrowed.
“Not quite. I was supposed to get it this month, but because of certain EOS policies, I was no longer allowed to get it,” Christian answered. “But if it makes you feel better, I was the best driver in my class.”
“Ma, seriously, his license doesn’t matter anyways, right now he’s not just driving illegally, he’s pretty much living illegally. I’m thinking if he gets caught, the ATC won’t be so concerned with the fact that he’s driving without a license.”
“Did they get your parents too, Christian?” Torsten asked.
“Yep, they came storming in around nine or so, right before my parents went to bed. Dragged them out of the house in their pajamas, wouldn’t even let them get their coat or shoes.” Christian’s eyes narrowed in anger, his hand gripped the chair in front of him, knuckles white.
“Oh, you poor kids! I just can’t handle this. These ATC people are animals! How can they go around treating people like this! It??
?s just not right. Are you sure you don’t want us to go with you? I feel like we’re abandoning you!” Mrs. Santos began to cry, tears sliding down her cheeks, and dropped into the nearest chair.
Paivi tried to fight back tears, but lost the battle. She looked around the room at the people who had showed so much love for her in such a short amount of time. She sniffed, wiping her eyes. It was time to go, before it got any more difficult.
“We should go. Thank you so much for everything. You really don’t know how much this meant to us,” Paivi said, trying to get the words out between tears. “We’ll really miss you guys and we wish it was easier, and that we could just stay.”
Mrs. Santos rose from her chair and walked around the table, holding first Paivi and then Torsten in a tight hug.
“Please call us if you need anything. And let us know you are okay, if you can,” said Mrs. Santos between hugs. Christian even found himself on the receiving end of a hug, which he awkwardly accepted. Jessica made the rounds next, beginning to cry as well. Jason shook Torsten and Christian’s hands, and Paivi and Torsten grabbed their bags as the group moved towards the back door to head to the car.
“Paivi, hold on a second.” Jason pulled her back as everyone exited through the door. He gathered her into a big hug, holding her close. “I just want you to know that I love you, and I will miss you so much. I, uh, I …”
He broke off, pressing his forehead to hers as tears sprang from his eyes. She cried harder and threw her arms around his neck. Seeing him cry made it all the worse. Through the tears, he pressed his lips to hers, a salty, bittersweet kiss.
“It’s so unfair,” he whispered through his tears.
“I have to go.” Paivi pulled back from his embrace, but caught his hand, and led him out the back door. They ran across the yard to the garage, where Christian and Torsten had already claimed their spots in the car.
“Hey, who said you get shotgun?” Paivi punched Torsten in the arm as she climbed in the back seat.
“Ya snooze, ya lose, big sis. I called it, and you weren’t out here,” Torsten answered smugly.
“Goodbye and be safe!” pleaded Mrs. Santos one last time before the doors were shut.
The garage door opened and Christian pulled out, carefully making his way down the driveway. The Santos’ waved a final farewell.
Christian maneuvered the car out onto the street and they made their way through St. Andrew as the early winter evening fell. They occasionally saw an ATC vehicle but they didn’t have much to worry about — the streets were crowded with rush hour traffic. After about twenty minutes, they found themselves safely out of town without any problems and on the open road. They decided it was best to keep to the local roads, and stay off the interstate. Christian was concerned that there would be more ATC agents patrolling on the main roads. This route would take them longer, but they would come across less traffic and smaller towns, where the ATC weren’t so concentrated.
They drove all night, passing through one farm town after the next, stopping at the occasional gas station to fill up or take a break. As they drove further north, the landscape grew in around them. Thick forests of birch trees closed in on the road on each side and it sometimes seemed like they were driving through a tunnel. Sometime after midnight, Paivi dozed off, the warmth of the car and the lull of the drive rocking her gently to sleep. She dreamed of Jason, they were holding hands and sitting close together on a beach. Palm trees swayed in the breeze. The sun shone brightly overhead and the sea lapped gently at their feet. She looked out over the scene in sadness — she knew this must be a dream, because it was near impossible that it was a vision of the future.
She awoke, finding herself in the SUV as it bumped over an uneven road. The sky was still dark, the stars and moon covered with clouds. There was no sun, no sea, no sand, no Jason. She sat back in the seat and sighed, looking out at the dark, snow covered forests that seemed to stretch on to infinity.