Page 139 of Run Away Home: Tempered

“You don’t have a fake?”

“A fake what?”

“A fake ID?”

“I don’t even have a real ID.”

“What?”

“I have nothing, not even a birth certificate. I told you we’re crazy here.”

“I’ll get you a fake.” She takes a drag of her cigarette.

“You can do that?”

“Uh, yeah. My friend Harris can get them.”

“Will the picture look like me?”

“Close enough.”

“All right, cool! I mean...There’s a tiny distillery in town, and he’ll sell to anyone. I usually just buy my whiskey there. But once you leave our town everyone is much more strict, and there’s sheriffs, and—”

“What do you want your name to be?”

“Huh?”

“On the ID.”

“Can’t I just keep it the same?”

“Uhm, no. Sorry.”

“Oh, okay. Well, then... I don’t know.”

“You look like a Peter to me.” She throws her cigarette onto the cobblestone.

“Peter?”

“Yes. Actually...YES! I think it’s perfect. It just rolls off the tongue.”

“Okay.” I smile. “Peter... I really like that, Teva. It suits me, I think.”

“I think so too. I’ll have Harris order it when I get home.”

I stare at her for a moment. She’s the coolest girl I’ve ever met. Actually, she’s the coolest person I’ve ever met, man or woman.

“What?” she asks.

“When your trip is over, and you’re all done ’glamping,’ will you really come back here to see me?”

“Of course I will, Peter.”

She says my name... Well, it’s not my name, but it feels like it should have been my name all along—and it’ll actually be on an ID! A real ID! Well, not a real, real ID...but a real fake ID! I’ll feel like a person! A person that actually exists in this world! I’ll feel warm and happy...

I’ll feel like somebody for the very first time!

Peter

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