Supernova

Chapter two

This so called 'place' was suspiciously far away. I spent most of the journey looking out at the black tangle of shadows, none of which I could decipher and hyperventilating over the possibly that I was being taken to some dark chamber to be killed.

Then I went slack, realizing I hadn't checked up to see if my friends got out okay. I sent a quick text to Sadie, waiting for a response that came after a while. I breathed in a sigh of relief that she was okay, she had hitched a lift with her cousin back into town, but had been stopped at a checkpoint. However, they were both sober at that point and managed to get through without too much hassle. She informed me that some others hadn't been so lucky.

But I mean, I couldn't go home at the same time. I could demand to get out, but where would I go? It's not like I had parents to pick me up, and I couldn't call my granny to pick me up this late, she'd have a heart attack, I'm sure. So I decided to sit in silence and contemplate how I would react if I were in fact, in danger of death.

Finally we reached the small house, I could see it beneath the dim streetlight and grimaced.

"Problem?" The guy in the drivers seat said icily, who I realized I still didn't know. I matched his gaze with a more mellowed one.

"Nope."

My eyes drifted towards the little building and then to the one next to it, with a smashed window and the faded beige walls covered in graffiti that spelled out things I wouldn't like to repeat.

"Seems homely."

His gaze caught mine through the mirror, glinting dangerously. I caught the brown swirls that ran wild as he narrowed his eyes.

"Where did you find her, Trev?"

He pushed open the door and I took that as my cue to get out. Trev looked over at me, giving me a small wink.

"The madhouse."

I looked down the street. "Something like that."

The guy turned to me, and then I felt really stupid. It dawned on me exactly who he was, as he stood next to his car, wearing nothing but a white shirt. If his signature brown curls weren't a giveaway then I'm pretty sure the bullet wound that leaked blood through his shirt was.

"Oh."

He raised an eyebrow, his lip tipping up on one side and for a moment I was surprised he could find anything funny, until I remembered what it was he found humor in.

"Oh?" He repeated in a mocking tone.

I looked him up and down, realizing he was waiting for me to ask about it. Why, what, who. I knew, because that's what everyone else would do, and exactly what I wanted to.

I coughed, opening my mouth.

"Are you just going to stand there all day? It's kind of cold."

His eyes narrowed slightly, and he hung loosely as if he thought I was going to say something else. Then he swung around and walked towards the door silently.

I don't know what I was expecting. Hobbling? A limp? I mean, he was just shot. But no, he walked infuriatingly perfectly, as if the hole in his abdomen didn't bother him in the slightest. Maybe the wound wasn't that bad? Maybe it just grazed him? Because he was being too bloody casual for it be serious.

I followed quietly, stepping into the silent house. I thought the house was empty, until he hissed into the darkness.

"Dollie?"

I thought I recognized that name and a spike of shock ran through me as a voice called from upstairs.

"What the fuck do you want?"

Blond hair fell over the railing and I found myself looking up into the grey eyes of Dollie Redding I didn't know her well, but she was in the same grade as me. She was the kind of person who blankly ignored any smile sent her way and skipped classes regularly to smoke out the back.

Her eyes caught mine and the same shock filtered through hers.

"Finley?"

I was kind of shocked she even knew my name but I held up my hand and gave a sheepish wave. Her eyes burned a hole through the mysterious guy by my side as she bounded down the stairs.

"I didn't know you knew my brother." She said, stopping at the end of the stairs, her hand slung around the pole.

My eyes fluttered over to him in surprise . "Were best buds, go way back."

He glanced over at me, something of a deadpan look on his face. Dollie flashed me a grin.

"The party house was trashed, someone called the cops. They're are checkpoints on the way back into Hollowgrove so we took her back here."

Dollie held up a finger in accusation. "And where in that story did you get stabbed, Oscar?"

So that was his name. He didn't correct her that he had instead been shot, of course.

"It barely grazed me. It's not serious." He moved past her further into the house, into the kitchen. Dollie threw her head around the stairs to stare at his retreating back.

"You can stay in my room." Dollie declared before saluting and bounding back up the stairs.

I wasn't sure whether to follow Dollie upstairs, or to follow Oscar into the kitchen.  I stood awkwardly for a second, until Trev turned, offering me a surprising soft smile.

"Cmon kid."

"Don't call me that." I said and he grinned.

"That's only going to make me want to call you it more."

I ignored his remark, following him into the kitchen, where Oscar was grabbing a first aid kit beneath the sink. He lifted his shirt and I saw the dried blood sticking to his skin, so I looked away.

"What the hell happened?" Trev asked as he sat down at the wooden table in the middle of the room. My eyes wandered the kitchen, supposing it would seem almost homely if it weren't for the situation at hand.

"Someone tried to shoot me." Osar replied, tearing a packet of antiseptic wipes as he tried to wipe the blood off.

"You seem fine." Trev stated In suspicion, leaning across to grab a cookie for an opened packet. He nudged then towards me and I grinned.

"It barely grazed my side, I was lucky." Oscar retorted, grumbling. "I think I might need stitches though."

Trev tossed me a look. "You should probably head upstairs, sweet pea." I tossed him a look at his new name, but nonetheless followed his advice as I didn't particularly want to see Oscar stitch back up the side of his stomach.

I went up the stairs, following the light in the hallway to what I supposed was Dollie's room. She looked up from where she sat on the bed, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

"Hey stranger."

Again, I offered her a sheepish smile. "Sorry for bothering you like this."

She shook her head. "You're not bothering me. To be honest, it's weird you being here. We're on such different parts of the spectrum."

I looked away, looking around her room. The walls were a pale pink, covered in old retro posters from the 1960's.

"What do you mean?" I asked, although I already knew exactly what she meant.

"You know exactly what I mean. We couldn't be any more different. You're a goody two shoes who smiles at everyone while I isolate myself and skip class all the time."

I gave her a look. "Yeah, you're a lot easier to talk to than I thought."

She shrugged. "Weird times man." She didn't elaborate any further.

"I don't have a sofa or anything so we're going to have to share the bed."

I nodded absentmindedly.

"Do you want to borrow pajamas or anything?" She asked and I looked down at my shirt and jeans, but I didn't want to make it any more awkward or put her out any more than I had already.

"I think I'm alright."

She shrugged "suit yourself."