Subject #013 | ✓

Chapter 20

Dinner is quiet. I munch on a pretzel, watching as thick tendrils of smoke billow into the dark sky above. Alix seems to be deep in thought about something, because his brows are furrowed and he's frowning intensely at his cracker. I would laugh, but I'm not in the mood. I haven't been in "the mood" a lot lately.

Suddenly feeling the urge to say something, I say, "What do you even do?" This question is aimed at Liz.

"What do I do?" Liz repeats to herself, her tone sharp and on edge. "I'm not one of those suck-up brats if that's what you're thinking. I guess one could say I'm the rebellious one. The one who doesn't care about the rules. In fact, I was on my way to prison when the two of you decided to cause havoc."

"What?" Alix and I blurt out at the exact same time. I'm too surprised to call jinx.

"I would have gone to prison if it wasn't for you two. You've never wondered how I knew you guys were here and how I followed you? Did you think I was some crazy woman who lives on the branches of a tree? No. I committed my first felony. It was a good one." Liz says, the edge of her mouth twitching upwards into a smile that could be worn by the devil.

"What did you do?" Alix questions, and I look at her expectantly, forgetting about my anger towards her for the time being.

"I stole a car." She says simply, with the same tone as someone who might say 'I had a pizza for lunch.'

"You what?" I explode. Why on Earth would someone steal a car?

"I was feeling scandalous, I guess."

"You were feeling scandalous?" I repeat skeptically.

"Yeah. It feels good. You ever tried it?"

"No, and there's a reason I never did."

"And why is that? Were you scared of losing your goody-two shoes reputation?"

Before now, I was a time bomb with multiple fuses tangled together in an unsolvable mystery. But as soon as she speaks those words, the fuse that leads right to the bomb is lit.

I furiously push myself up off the log I'm perched on, and I can feel my face growing hot, but it's not from embarrassment this time. This time it's rage.

"You don't know me, you don't know my life, and you certainly don't know what I've been through. Sure, you've been dumped off at a corner multiple times in your life, but do you ever stop to think about what other people have been through? No! Because you're too involved with thinking about yourself that you're getting so desperate you think you can treat everyone you run into like s**t!" I yell at her, feeling my fists clench together in frustration.

"I can't even believe you!" Liz shouts back. "You ignorant little b--"

"Stop!" Alix's concerned voice rises in between us, cutting off her words. "Yelling at each other is not going to solve any of your problems! Let's just sit down and talk about this."

"You really think talking is going to help?" I ask, incredulous. "You know what, Alix? Talking won't do a damn thing! Talking it out won't bring my mom and dad back, no matter how badly I may want it to! Talking won't bring Liz a good family. Talking won't even bring back Amelia. I'm done talking."

Alix finches at my tone, but I don't stop and think about it. Liz cuts in before I can continue.

"Oh, you're going to play the sensitive card, are you? You're going to try to make everyone feel sorry for you when really you're just experiencing the very beginning of--"

Her words are cut off by a gust of wind strong enough to chill my fairly warm body to the bone. It passes, but Liz doesn't continue shouting. We're all on edge now. All three of us failed to notice that during our argument, the temperature had dropped dramatically and the almost non-existent wind became existent. But now that we've noticed, we can't go back.

Every word, every scolding look, and every hurtful word is sowed when Liz and Alix meet my eyes. I can feel my teeth start to chatter after another large blast of cold, unforgiving wind. The fear is mirrored in both of their eyes.

Everything adds up. Cold wind, dropping temperatures. The word is ringing in all of our heads. This isn't just a snow flurry.

No. This is a blizzard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope I set you all on edge! After all, what really is the point of this if there isn't at least a little stress involved? None. Exactly! I'm glad we all agree.

Along with this, for a first book, it's extremely exciting to have 560+ readers!! Thank you to all of you who are reading and continuing on with the story!

Comment thoughts and feels below!! Feedback is extremely appreciated!

~trebleclef18