Kate Andrews

Chapter 13

Chapter 13 

"You guys are boring me. Can I just go on ahead, already?" Kevin asked, sounding a bit whiny. 

Before I could say anything, he said, "Look, it's just," he squinted at the GPS device in his hand, "200 yards straight, one right, two lefts and then another 40 yards, and I'm there."

I was thinking about the list of pros and cons of letting Kevin go on by himself. Who knew what he could encounter on his way? But then we hadn't seen anything besides a couple of couches and cameras on the way. Though anything could happen. Then again, if it did, would Seth and I really be of any use?

Before I could say anything, though, Kevin looked up at me with pleading eyes, and Seth said, "Yeah, sure. Go ahead, kiddo. 200 yards, then a right, and two lefts you said?"

Kevin nodded.

"Okay. Keep the device. We'll catch up."

Kevin studiously avoided looking at me, and said, "Thanks, Seth. See you on the other side, guys!"

I open my mouth to tell him to be careful, not that that would make much difference, but he'd already dashed down the hall. I couldn't help smiling a bit at how free he sounded and looked. I stole a glance at Seth, and he looked amused. I was a little pissed at him for letting Kevin go off on his own, without consulting me at all. Not that I expected him to.  

I swung my backpack to the front, and dug into it, looking for my phone, and letting Seth limp to a few steps ahead of me, knowing that I could catch up easily.

As expected, there was no service. But, strangely enough, there was Wifi, which I would prefer anyway. I opened Facebook, only to find that I could only see other people's post, and not do anything else. But Tumblr was working, and that was the only important thing. Though it wasn't the reason I had taken it out in the first place. I plugged my earphones in, and started humming along to 'Hey Jude'. Seth and I walked along in silence for a couple of minutes, and it took me a while to realize he was saying something to me.

I took one earphone out, "What?"

"Any service?"

"Nope."

I put it back in and we continued. And then took it out again, mildly exasperated, when I noticed Seth was saying something again. Truth be told, I was a little pissed at him because of the authority he had shown over Kevin. Silly, I know, but after that baby-sitting accident when he was seven, Aaron and I had always been a little over-protective. Even more so than our parents, because they still don't know about it. And it was mainly because of me. I've never been one of those big-sisterly and responsible types, and I was a little bit miffed that Seth was.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"If you don't mind me saying, you don't really seem like a huge lover of music to me,", Seth said, "but you're studiously keeping those earphones plugged in, as if there's nothing you'd rather doing."

I sighed, louder than usual, to let him know that he was annoyingly right. I had absolutely no interest in whatever song was currently blaring in my years, at a louder volume than i was accustomed to. The music was just to an attempt to stop my brain from thinking too much and going into overdrive. Not that it was helping much. With a final sigh, I turned off the song, and turned to face Seth, who was facing forward, but was looking at me out of the corner of his bright blue eyes. Although I'd never admit it, another reason I was obsessing over my phone was to stop myself from staring at him. He was extraordinarily good-looking. Almost annoyingly so. Not to mention that it made me extra conscious of how absolutely ugly my hair probably looked in it's limp ponytail. My appearance had never bothered me before. Who was he to come out of nowhere and make me start questioning my looks? I honestly felt like rolling my eyes at myself.