ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴀᴅ | ɪ.ɢ

006

[SIX]

* . °•★𝓢𝓪𝔂𝓵𝓸𝓻☆•° . * 

ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴄᴏᴏʟ ᴀɢᴀɪɴꜱᴛ ᴍʏ ꜱᴋɪɴ. I grinned, paddling out to sea, enjoying the gentle rocking of the waves and the warmth of the sun on 

"Lucy, watch this!" I shouted towards my older sister, as I turned around in preparation for a huge wave. She sat on the beach, grinning, as the wave crashed down upon me and I stood, riding it with the biggest smile on my face.

Suddenly, the wave grew in size, bigger and bigger and bigger, and I lost control of my board. Screaming, I flipped off and was dragged down, down, down.

I fought towards the top of the water and resurfaced, coughing and spluttering. When I finally wiped my eyes, I saw that no one was there.

"Lucy? Mom? Dad?" I called.

The water was empty. I paddled back to shore and left the ocean, but then all of a sudden the sand was pavement and I was looking sideways and saw the lifeless eyes of my sister and everything was red red red red red red red red red red red red red red red redredredredredredredredred—

I gasped as I jolted upright, covering in sweat and shaking. Tears were running down my face as I sobbed silently into my hands.

It's not real, it's not real, it's not real.

Except it was real. It did happen. 

My parents were gone. My sister was dead. And there was nothing I could do to change that. 

Shaking my head in an attempt to clear it, I rolled over and checked my phone, seeing that it was 5:30 in the morning. Deciding that anything was better than going back to that horror land, I stood and changed into a running tank and leggings, tied up my shoes, and quietly descended the stairs.

At this point, I really just needed to run.

When I reached the front door, I saw Nathan sitting on the porch outside, tying up his own pair of shoes. He glanced backwards, saw me, and gave me a little wave. 

"Hey, you run?" He asked as he stood.

"Yeah...I just need to clear my head sometimes." I said by way of explanation. He nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah, it's good to get away sometimes. Do you want to go together? I just gotta finish lacing up." He said, gesturing towards the path ahead. I shrugged.

"Sure." 

Just then, I saw a car pulling out of the driveway. "Who's that?"

"Olivia." 

My brow furrowed, but then I vaguely recognized her as one of the girls sitting at Cole's table at lunch. After a moment,  I said,

"Does Cole often have friends stay over?" 

Nathan looked up. "Friends?" He scoffed, "Sometimes. I guess he doesn't wanna get caught." He finished tying his shoes and we stood. 

"Why?"

 "Because my dad would kill him." 

"No." I shook my head. "I get that. I mean, why is he such a—"

"A guy?" Nathan interrupted me, giving me a knowing look.

"You're a guy. I don't see you doing that." 

Nathan sighed. "Cole's always gotten away with things other people wouldn't. Especially with girls, but it wasn't always this bad. 

Just then, the front door opened, and Danny, Cole, and Alex stepped out. Cole glanced at me.