Candice probably stood inside that bathroom for hours. Maybe it was shorter… perhaps it was mere minutes, but as she stood there, disgusted to look at herself in the mirror, it felt like she had been there forever. CC had never done something like that. Lie to the one person in the world that mattered to her the most in the world. She had lied to her mom, the public, hell everyone… even Dom - but Valerie Wood had never been that person. Hell… all of today was a lie.
Happy Birthday Candice Clarke…
The only thing that brought Candice out of her self-deprecating trance was a single text message from the “unknown” number she had been getting all day. She knew what it meant… she knew it was time.
Unknown:
“One Hour”
Making sure to fix her makeup, Candice took a deep breath as she went outside - smiling as if nothing had happened and doing her usual job of saying thanks and hi to those around her. Though after a few minutes, she couldn’t do it anymore. Grabbing her keys, Candice walked out of the front doors, into the storm that was only growing - most people likely imagining she was headed to the after-party. After all… what else would Candice Clarke be doing?
Though, they would all be wrong. Instead - Candice found herself sitting in her car, outside of Valerie Wood’s house. She knew she shouldn’t be here… it wasn’t a part of the plan but she had to do this. Taking a piece of paper out, Candice took her pen out and wrote a simple message.
𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘝𝘢𝘭,
𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦. 𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶… 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘴.
-C.
With that, Candice folded the piece of paper and walked through the rain before placing it in the mailbox. Though when Valerie found it, it likely would be too late. Not caring about herself getting completely soaked, Candice walked to the back of her car, opened the storage compartment and found the suitcase she had packed. It was all there. Her escape route.
Yes, Candice Clarke was now 18. This meant if she left, her mother no longer had any jurisdiction on her. And after everything that had been going on over the past few months, Candice was done. Closing the back, Candice went to the driver’s seat and begin driving into the rain with one place in mind. Yes, Candice was pulling what was now known at Cerulean High as the “Jessica Pierce,” but with Candice, no one would ever know where she went.