Sapphire

Chapter 16

It was her eighteenth birthday.

The movie theater was decorated with blue balloons and streamers, with boxes of  veggie pizza sitting on the table off to the side. Eli was fiddling with the video player to get the movie started as Shay sat in a front row seat, her feet up with a bucket of popcorn in her lap. Summer was there too, sitting in the row behind her and absorbed in her phone.

Noah and Val were nowhere to be found.

Shay had been waiting for the show to start for twenty minutes before growing impatient. Her popcorn was more than halfway gone and she was anxious to watch Mission Impossible, especially since she would now be allowed to be a spy. Val said to wait until she was 18 and she did.

Heaving a sigh, Shay placed her snack on the seat next to her and hopped up. She searched downstairs before realizing they weren't there, then went upstairs. That too was empty.

Frowning, Shay was about to check the secret room when she saw something in the corner of her eye. Noah and Val were standing on the back porch, eyes narrowed and voices loud. She couldn't hear much from kitchen where she stood, just a bunch of incoherent mumbles that didn't make it through the thick glass.

Shay's downfall was always her curiosity. She made it a habit of sneaking around to places she shouldn't, of spying on people, of living in the shadows and observing. Now wasn't an exception.

Walking silently to the kitchen window, she opened it a crack and crouched down so she was out of sight. Just a crack was all she needed to hear their words as clear as if they were two feet away instead of ten.

"Why not?" Noah demanded.

"She's still too young." Val said. Instantly, Shay knew they were talking about her.

"You told her 18, and she waited. She's gonna freak if you back out now."

"This is my decision, Noah, and I'm not changing my mind."

There was a pause, leaving Shay to wonder if she should leave now before she got caught. Before she could decide, Noah spoke again, this time softer. "If you're not gonna let her work with us, you should at least tell her the truth about her parents."

"No. I can't."

"Shay's a smart girl. She'll understand why you killed them, you just-"

"Noah, stop. We're done with this."

Shay's heart stopped for a moment before she got her act back together. They were coming back inside. She could freak out later but for now, she needed to pretend nothing was wrong.

She'd done that enough times to be good at it.

Rushing back to the movie theater, she was back in her chair seconds before Noah and Val walked in. Noah was frowning but smiled as soon as he saw her, one that didn't quite reach his eyes. Val was a better actor and enveloped Shay into a hug as soon as she stepped inside. "Happy Birthday, my beautiful girl."

Shay smiled, not recognizing the woman standing in front of her but pretending she did. Pretending she knew all of them, that they didn't lie to her, that they cared about her. She pretended until that night, when she finally decided to leave without looking back.

After the memory played out in Shay's mind, one that she had taken quite some time to process, she let out a deep breath and focused her attention back on Noah. He had been at a loss for words since she spoke, the silence stretching between them as long and wide as the Atlantic.

"I wanted to tell you, believe me, but-" Noah began finally.

Shay cut him off, not wanting any apologies or explanations. "It wasn't your place to. I know." It was Val's, but she was too much of a coward to come forward.

Another silence enveloped the small room as Noah continued to process. "After all this time, I never even considered- I mean, you left on your birthday. The day you'd been looking forward to for years. I never even thought you'd leave on purpose." He said. "I honestly thought someone killed you."

Shay smiled faintly at him. "Nope. I'm still here."

Noah's expression had become unreadable again, but his eyes spoke volumes. Though his tone had softened, as well as the grip on the gun, he still seemed unsettled. His eyes narrowed in puzzlement as they moved from her to the ground, the gears in his head working so hard that she could almost see the steam coming out of his ears.

"I wish you said goodbye." Noah said finally, his gaze meeting hers once again. "I get why you left but you should have fucking said goodbye. Or at least reached out to me when you cooled off. I mean seriously, Shay. Two years. You of all people should know how it feels to lose someone you're close to." Noah said, the thoughts tumbling out of him like m&ms from a candy machine. "You were like a sister to me."

"You may have lost me, Noah, but I lost everyone." Shay reminded him. "Or maybe I never even had them. It's not like they saw me as anything more than a toddler that they had to babysit."

"You know that's not true."

"It is, though. No one ever took me seriously." Except, Noah, Shay thought bitterly. He taught her to shoot, to fight, everything. He even helped her with languages, showing her things that no one else ever thought to. With that thought came the guilt, and she let out a sigh in frustration.

"I did."

"I know." Shay said. "I should have said goodbye. I'm truly sorry I didn't."

Noah was glaring at her but the hurt was still present. It was an emotional moment for them and she definitely felt fatigued from it, both of them letting out things that had been bottled up for years. It was exhausting and reminded her why she strayed from emotions for so long.

"Why come back? Why not just stay dead?" Noah's words stung, causing Shay to flinch before responding.

"I just want to talk to Val. To find out why she did it."

Noah considered this for a moment before responding. "Fine. Let's go." He stuffed the gun back into his waistband and started moving towards the door, causing Shay to feel a slight panic.

"Right now?"

"Yeah." Noah turned back to her with narrowed eyes. "Why? You got something better to do?"

"No."

Shay followed him wordlessly to his car, her heart beating in her ears as she moved further and further away from her apartment. Her phone was nestled in her jean pocket, easily accessible in case she wanted to record this. Still, she didn't reach for it. This was something she needed to do on her own, without anyone's involvement but her, Val, and Noah.

Hopping into his truck, Shay's finger moved to her upper arm where the tracker was buried. She could feel a slight ridge and rubbed at it for a second, as if to remind herself that it was still there.

If the FBI didn't know where the house was before, they would now. All because of her.