𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒. ᵒᵘᵗᵉʳ ᵇᵃⁿᵏˢ ¹

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 36.

"𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆, 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐙𝐈𝐄," 𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐇 𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐃 her head, and grinned.

Wheezie trotted into the kitchen wearing polka-dotted pyjamas, her glasses half-falling off of the side of her face, and her mouth wide open in a yawn. I, was sitting at the kitchen island, my head perched up on the palm of my hand while the sun cascaded through the open windows behind me. Wheezie stopped in her tracks when she fully opened her eyelids, straining them to see me sitting there in front of her.

"Did you sleep over last night?" Wheezie questioned, surprisingly sounding casual about it. She was looking at me.

"Yeah," I softly smiled, trying not to be awkward.

Sarah flipped the omelette onto it's side.

"You see dad last night," Wheezie asked her sister, while she stepped past me and climbed into the next barstool seat.

Sarah didn't glance back, "Yeah, but he was acting really weird," she answered with a confused voice. Her left arm shuffled to cook the omelette.

"I saw him sitting in the office at like one in the morning, talking with mom," Wheezie said with a casual voice, her bottom lip popping out. She folded her arms together and placed them on the kitchen island in front of us, leaning forward.

"What were you doing at one a.m. Sneezie," Sarah giggled harmlessly, using a nickname—which only earned her a dramatic eye roll, as she picked up the pan and slid the eggs onto a clean white plate.

"None of your business," Wheezie squinted her eyes.

Sarah let out a laugh as she turned her body, lunging to slide the plate of food in front of me.

"Thanks," I said with a quiet voice, my lips forcing into a tiny smile.

I couldn't get last night out of my head. The regret and guilt of telling Jj my biggest secret, was keeping a weight on my shoulders, and I had assumed it would be better by the morning, but it was not. He was only one person, one teenager, one boy that knew my secret. But yet, I was feeling like it was the end of the world. If my parents were to ever find out— found out that I told one harmless boy, my life would completely, and absolutely, be over. It sent a chill down my spine just thinking about what they would do. The day didn't just end there.

First, Jj had somehow figured out my lie, and I had accidentally let it go, which undeniably caused a whirl of future events to brew up, and the outcome I was afraid of— was already bound to happen. We were tied up together in an elastic of lies, sealed with a useless promise, that I knew he wasn't going to keep. It was only a matter of time before I was going to have to tell the rest of the Pogues.

Then, I arrive at the Cameron house, take a tour, only to later witness Ward Cameron walk out of the room uneasily, and in the middle of a conversation after the mention of my grandparents. The way he had choked on his words when hearing "Collins", had sent my mind into a whirl of curiosity, immediately making me think of when Daryl had let my mom's name slip, when we had been arguing. "All the shit he did to Cecile" kept playing in my head on the way to Sarah's room. They were hiding something from me, my grandparents, but I just couldn't figure out exactly what it was. It made my stomach turn.

Then after, Sarah had opened up about Topper. Even though it wasn't exactly my issue, Sarah— as she said it— was my new best friend, and whatever took a toll on her, was bound to take a toll on me, as well. I had almost forgotten about Ward when she started to cry, but as I hugged her and held her close, my mind was still wandering. Though, I was about to explode with confusion, I had held my tongue. The only good outcome of the night was when she had asked me to sleep over.