C H A P T E R 2 3
P A R A N O I D
"They called him dangerous, he was my safe."
Song- Ribs; Lorde
Marlee
"I feel like this is a bad idea" Brianna whispers harshly as I pick the lock to the local art museum.
"This is definitely a bad idea" Miles agrees, holding the flashlight with an anxious look on his face.
"Well, The twins thought of it. What did you expect?" Asher mumbles motioning to Theo and I.
"I think this is a great idea!" Addie smirks, leaning against the wall.
"And it's only a bad idea if we get caught." I tell them, maneuvering the bobby-pin into the lock some more.
"Exactly" Cam says, high giving Theo. The door clicks and I turn to my friends.
"Got it!"
"Then let's do this bitch!" Theo basically shouts, we all shush him. "Sorry" he whispers.
"Are you guys in?" I ask Brianna and Miles. They both cross their arms and look at each other warily.
"Fine, but if we get caught it's on you guys." Miles points to us. Bri agrees as I wrap my arm around her.
"We won't get caught if you run fast enough." Addie winks, pulling open the door.
"Yeah, yeah." Brianna waves while being pulled inside by Theo. Asher and Theo rush in along with Miles leaving just Cam and I.
"You ready for this?" He nudges my shoulder with a grin. My smile grows and I nod.
"Hell yeah"
We catch up to everyone else who were already in the museum. The lights were off but our flashlights lit the paintings and statues sparsely.
"Mar! Bri! Look at this!" Addie calls me over to a statue of a angered looking man with a weird snarl and a powdered wig. Brianna and I both walk over to her. She leans into our ears and whispers "you can't tell me this doesn't look like Theo"
"I heard that!" Theo yells, marching over to us. He looks at the statue and scoffs "my hair is much better than that" he runs a hand through his blonde curls.
"Sure it is" I kid and Brianna pats his shoulder. We all walk away from him.
"But it is!" He calls after us in a squeaky voice.
"You guys are gonna make him cry" Miles shakes his head while laughing.
"He's already cried like 3 times today" Cam laughs, pointing at Theo who was studying the statue.
"Once because he dropped his last bagel on the floor" Asher adds leaning against the wall.
"Hey! I would cry too!" Cameron says defensively.
"I know you would bud" I pinch his cheek and he swats my hand away.
"Come on, let's go check out upstairs!" Asher waves us down the hall, grabbing Theo's attention.
We all check out every room in the place. Seeing all the different creations and paintings. We end up back downstairs down a big hall and end the astronomy room.
Brianna and Miles try to figure out how to turn it on while the rest of us sit in the chairs, peering at the celling waiting.
"Do you guys got it yet?" Addie groans, looking over at them in the tech booth.
"Does it look like we got it?" Miles retorts, the outline of him and Bri were the only things that could be spotted in the booth.
Our flashlights were all in the cup holders of the seats that were like movie theatre seats. They lit up all around us so we could see each other. My legs lay over the edge of the seat, propped on Cams lap.
"Well, hurry up!" Theo whines, throwing his head back.
"You don't think we're trying?!" Bri shakes her head at my twin. The room breaks out in arguments between everyone. We all shout at each other for different things when suddenly two beams of light shine through the back entrance of the astronomy room.
We all stop talking and freeze up. No one even breaths as 2 security guards come into view through the door.
"Who's there?!" One security guard shouts in a gruff voice. The other pulls out a pair of keys that jingle and slide them into the lock.
We all slowly get up but my hoodie gets caught on the chair. The door swings open and 2 rather large security guards walk in.
"Got you!" The other one shouts before they start quickly coming towards us.
"Run!" Theo and Asher shout before them and Addie take off running. Miles and Brianna were already out the door when I looked back.
"Mar! Come on!" Cam urges looking back to where the two guards make their way towards us.
"I'm trying!" I tell him, trying wiggle free. "I'm stuck"
"They're going to catch us" he whisper-yells while trying to help me get out. They make it out of the back and start walking down the isles.
"Screw it" I mutter, throwing the hoodie over my head, leaving me in my bra. Cam grabs my hand and starts pulling me.
"Get back here!" One of the men yells and they both start running.
Cameron holds onto my hand and drags me out of the room. Our flashlights swing back and forth in our hands that aren't interlocked. The two men chase after us.
Adrenaline pumps through my veins as we run down the large hall of the museum. I look back at the guards and laugh. Cam looks back at me with the same adrenaline rushed look on his face.
My hair flies behind me, Cam continues to pull me to the front of the museum. We catch up with our friends who were waiting on us. I jump onto Miles back and we all run outside.
"Where did your shirt go?" Addie asks me as we run to the truck.
"Long story" I giggle looking to Cam who was wrapped by Theo and Asher, being drug to the truck. He chuckles at me, shaking his head. I hear the front door of the museums open and the two men rush out.
Cam tosses his keys to Asher who hops into the front. The rest of us dive into the back and Asher starts the truck. The guards stand as we drive out of the parking lot.
"Damn kids" one of them says.
"Bye!" Theo waves goodbye to them and blows a kiss.
"Well that was..." Bri trails off looking to us.
"Awesome!" Theo says for her.
"Great!" Addie also says.
"You can't tell me you didn't have fun" I shake her shoulder and give her a look.
She slowly smiles, shaking her head and saying "fine, it was fun."
"What about you Honeybunches?" I ask Miles, kicking his foot to get his attention.
"Well sweetheart, I guess it was kinda, almost fun." He says blandly so I kick him again "okay really fun"
"Hell yeah it was" Addie agrees.
"I only have one question" my twin raises his finger looking at me. "Where's your shirt?"
Cameron and I look at each other and burst out laughing. We laugh so hard our ribs hurt and we can't breath. Everyone stares at us in shock and confusion.
Theo blinks slowly, looking between us "So... Should I have not asked that?"
{~}
"Are you sure you'll be okay alone?" Theo questions, fixing his hair for the tenth time in my mirror.
"Yeah, stop worrying" I roll onto my stomach, laying my head into my hands and watching him fix his shirt again "you look fine, you're gonna be late if you don't hurry."
"I know but I have to look my best" he turns to me.
"Why?" I ask, kicking my feet up.
"Because she's hot and I wanna get laid." He explains, looking back in the mirror and fluffing up his hair one more time.
"Gross" my nose scrunched in disgust and I shake my head. "Just shut up and go" I tell him.
"Okay, I'm going." He kisses my head and runs out the door. Mom was taking Connor and Grayson to a movie tonight a little bit out of town. They invited me to come but I declined.
"Bye!" I call after him before hearing the front door slam and lock. Once he's gone, I roll out of bed and turn on my stereo. My music plays loudly and I sprawl out on my floor with my art supplies.
After 2 hours of drawing and painting, I decide to stop for the night. My legs were cramping and my back hurt from leaning over so long.
I keep my music turned up and go to my kitchen to get a snack. Scanning through my cabinets I decide toast sounds good so I get the bread down and the butter out of the fridge.
I see headlights in the driveway when my toast is done and I'm eating it. Thinking it's Theo or Mom, I go to the window and peek out. Instead of either of them or even Cam, I see Evan.
He's in the black impala that he treated better than me when we were dating. He was staring straight at the door, as if planning something.
I take a deep breath and rush to my room. Locking the door and grabbing my bat, I lean against the door, staring straight at my window. The curtains were closed and it was dark outside.
Evan was the dream guy for the first couple months of the relationship. After a while though, he got possessive and physical. This was right after my dad left and I didn't want to worry anyone so I kept it to myself.
That was until one night at a party with all of my friends. He was actually being nice to me that night. He was caring and affectionate. I realized my sugar was low and told him.
Then, my worst nightmare happened....
"I don't feel good, I think I'm low." I lean again Evans shoulder, barley able to hold myself up. Usually when I'm low he would get mad. He always hated the fact I had diabetes even though I couldn't help it.
"Let's go baby" he grabs my hand and pulls me down a hall. We push past crowds of drunk teens. I try to look out for Theo or Cam but they were no were to be found.
I got a familiar sinking feeling in my stomach. I was drunk and couldn't think straight. Last time I was like this Evan did something I could never forgive him for.
He begged me to stay and promised he changed. When that didn't work he threatened my family and The Taylor's. So I stayed with him.
But now I was in the same situation again.
He locked the door to a dark room. I fell onto the bed in a daze. He climbed on top of me and I tried to push him off. Then I blacked out.
I knew he must've drugged my drink. I would have to be really low for something like this to happen and I just checked my sugar.
Next thing I know he's pushed off of me, fighting someone on the floor. I can't move or even open my eyes but I recognize his voice immediately.
"Don't. Touch. Her. Again." Cameron says between punches. Then another person rushes in.
"What's going on?!" I hear Theo ask before everything goes blank.
I feel Cameron carrying me out of the party and next thing I know I'm at home with all of my family and friends gathered around me.
Mom and Sara both had tears on their face. Dave and all the other guys seemed angry, but the angriest was Cam.
They asked me a million question before calling the police who just brushed it off. The only one who did anything was Jeff but even he couldn't do too much.
It was Evans word against mine. And in this town that meant his money against mine. So my 'word' counted for nothing.
Theo was beating himself up for trusting Evan in the first place. Mom was distraught and Cameron was just angry. He was beaten up but assured me Evan looked worse.
In that moment I knew I couldn't tell anyone about the first time it happened. I don't think they could handle it.
Still to this day no one else knows. They know bits and pieces about him when he was angry. They figured it out from the bruises and scars but nothing else.
And I plan to keep it that way.
I hear the front door open so I stand up quickly, backing against my bed. I stare at the door as footstep slowly get closer. My heart pounds in my ears so loud I can barley hear when my doorknob starts to jiggle.
"Lee?" Cameron knocks on my door, shaking the doorknob.
I allow air to fill my lungs again, yelling "one second" before checking out the window. The impala was gone and replaced with Cam's truck. I let my body relax and try to seem as calm as possible when I open the door to my room.
"What were you doing?" He looks from me to around my room weirdly.
"Drugs" I say casually earning an eye roll from Cam.
"Good for you" he reply's, taking a step back from the doorway. "I'm hungry, wanna go grab some food?"
"Sure!" I shrug "but only if you give me one of your hoodies to wear" I point a finger at him. He huffs and nods so we both start walking down the hall.
"I have one in my truck." He grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest. "You really need to stop stealing my clothes"
I look at him and smirk, opening the door and walking out of it "no thanks!"
Make sure to vote and comment!