OLIVIA
Olivia was having a terrible day.
She frequently skipped Ms. Mayhew's period, but today, she couldn't even find it in herself to go to any other class. She wished she'd stayed at home but it was tense and awkward between her and Logan and she couldn't exactly tell him she was feeling so down at his words yesterday that she didn't want to go to school.
She knew Logan had a hard time with everything. She knew that. But she wished he didn't have a hard time with her. She didn't like it when whatever stressful things he was thinking spilled out into the conversations and interactions between them.
Of course, that only made her feel more guilty because she'd never heard Blake and Elijah complain to Logan. They were good brothers to him. They always seemed to understand him and get along with him and even when things were difficult, they got through it, together.
She was just a terrible sister.
She laid on her stomach on the cold white tiles, with her face in her backpack and her arms around the straps. Her heart felt heavy and she wanted more than anything to stop feeling so much for every single thing in her life.
She wanted her mom so badly. She wanted to put her head in her lap like she did when she would have a bad day and cry.
That was how Angel found her second period. His shoes squeaked to the wall opposite to her, and the fabric of his blazer made a slipping noise as he slid down against the wall slowly until he reached the floor.
For a long while, he didn't say anything. He just sat there.
Olivia wanted nothing to do with anyone or anything that day. She had all but resigned herself to a day of complete silence. But the longer the usually talkative Angel sat there quietly, the more she began to feel like something was wrong.
Finally, he took in a shallow breath. And in a shaky voice, he said, "Guess we're both having a shitty day today."
When she shifted her head sideways on her backpack to see him, his eyes were dry but he had an unhappy look on his face. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was a flat, unwashed, and unattractive mess.
"I don't think I can take it here," he said, and he was trying to keep his tone light but underneath, there was enormous tension and sadness. "I'm going to the store to find chips. Do you want to come?"
Olivia knew she wasn't supposed to leave school. She knew it was especially dangerous for her. She knew Logan would be angry and disappointed if he found out.
But she was tired and she was horribly lonely and she knew Angel was too. And even though she knew it was a bad idea, she stood up from the floor, held out her hand for Angel to take, and pulled him to his feet.
*****
"You can drive?" Olivia asked incredulously.
They stood in the parking lot in front of Angel's car, an old, beat up vehicle that she doubted even had working air conditioning.
"Of course I can!"
"I know for a fact that you are fifteen, and the law is you need to be sixteen to have a license."
"So what if I only have my learner's permit," Angel said flippantly. "I don't see the issue."
"This is so not legal."
"I'm a good driver!" Angel said, motioning for her to get in the car. "Come on, Powers. Don't be like that."
Olivia flinched at that. She hated her fake name. And she was on a mean streak hating everything with ten times her normal amount of irritation that day. Without thinking, she grumbled, "Don't call me that."
He didn't seem fazed in the least by her irritation. If anything, he seemed intrigued. "Why?" he asked. "That is your name, isn't it?"
"No," she said, then realized her mistake. "I mean - yes, but - it's...my dad's name and I - he doesn't live with us anymore."
She resisted the urge to bang her head against the wall. How many times had the witness protection marshal told them not to slip up? How many times had she stood in front of the mirror, repeating to herself that her name was not legally Olivia Jones anymore but Olivia Powers? And why couldn't she get a single excuse out of her mouth without flopping like a dead fish?
She must have lost all her brain cells during her argument with Logan the day before.
Angel, on the other hand, seemed perfectly functional. His gaze softened. "I'm sorry," he said.
Olivia wanted to curl up and die. "No, it's fine," she said quickly. "He wasn't a very nice person." Why was she running off at the mouth? "Why am I even telling you this?"
The corner of his lips pulled upwards in his heart stopping half-smile. "I've got no idea, but it's kinda nice. Now get in, Miss Olivia whatever-your-name-really-is. I want to get out of here."
They drove to a gas station just a few minutes from the school. Angel braked jerkily, took the turns way faster than even Logan did, and spent forever trying to park in between the lines, but thankfully, they made it in one piece.
Olivia walked the snacks aisle in the gas station store trailing behind Angel, looking at the packages but not really registering the words, her mind on her brothers. Ahead of her, Angel listlessly ran his hand over the shelves, his earlier playfulness all fizzled out, not even looking at the chips he claimed he wanted to get. After the third time they passed the same aisle, Olivia noticed that the cashier was starting to give them the stink eye.
"Come on, Angel, let's go back," she said. "The lady's looking at us weird."
"I'm not going back." His voice was pained.
"Then let's go outside. Or back to your car. She's going to call the police on us if we keep hanging out here." And Olivia was terrified of the police.
Angel sighed. "Fine. Do you want anything?"
"No."
As they turned to walk out, Olivia caught a glimpse of the large, convex mirror placed in the corner of the store for security purposes, the kind that helped people could see around corners and over aisles. Two men were in the store two aisles over. Neither of them were looking through the row of medications lining the aisle. They were creeping along, their heads low, knees bent.
Olivia squinted. She put a hand on Angel's arm to stop him.
"What?" he asked.
At the sound of his voice, Olivia saw one of the men turn sideways.
And she saw the splash of green tattoos on his neck.
Her fingers went numb.
Her hearing went muffled.
Her
heart
stopped.
"-ivia. Olivia? Oliv-"
Olivia pressed her fingers to Angel's mouth to quiet him, pulled him around the corner of the aisle, and shoved him flat against the wall next to a fridge full of soda and water. In this corner, facing the other way, they were slightly secluded. However, if the men moved down this way, they were screwed.
Olivia backed up against Angel, her heels nearly against his toes. She released his mouth and peeked around the fridge at the mirror.
"Um, as much as I like being this close to you-"
Terror shot up her spine and she shoved her hand back against Angel's mouth. "Be quiet, Angel," she whispered.
He fell silent. He grew still.
She knew she was scaring him, but she didn't have time to explain. It was already bad enough that she had dragged him into this. She didn't want him to get caught too.
Unless...
She turned back around at him, anger heating her eyes. She couldn't believe she'd fallen for it a second time. After Milo, she'd promised herself she would never make the same mistake, and yet here she was, doing the exact same thing that had almost gotten her and her family killed one year ago.
"You called them here," she accused.
"Who am I calling-"
"Don't play dumb. I know you did this. The same day that you invite me out to get snacks is the same day they find me? Coincidence? No way."
"Olivia, what are you talking about-"
She grasped him by the collar of his wrinkled uniform shirt, shoving her fist into his chest hard enough to make him wince. "I've had enough of lying pieces of shit for a lifetime," she snapped. "Don't test me."
Angel's eyes were wide. Terrified. He slowly lifted his shaking hands to rest on hers, not daring to try and pull them away. "Who are you scared of?" he whispered in utter confusion.
Angel was the one who had first brought up the Sons of Solomon, all those weeks ago, when he'd said that it was rumored that her brother had been seen with them. Angel was the one who was constantly asking her to go outside with him, to leave the safety of the school. And Angel was the one who had been down and mopey today, as if he had to do something bad.
Like betray his friend.
"I am scared of nobody," Olivia lied. "But right now, you should be scared of me."
"You are scaring me, Olivia." Fear spilled into his voice. Olivia hated the look he was giving her, like she was crazy, like this was all in her head and she was getting worked up over nothing. "What's happening?"
She gripped him tighter by the shirt and pulled him just the slightest bit around the fridge. "There, in the mirror - you're telling me you know nothing about those men?"
She watched his face, waiting for some sort of reaction, but Angel's eyes weren't even focusing on the right people.
Milo had been terrified of the Sons of Solomon. He wouldn't so much as touch them with a ten foot pole. With how Angel was so oblivious, she couldn't imagine that he was a part of the gang or even knew what their tattoos meant.
Olivia looked at him - really looked at him, searching his dark eyes for something, anything. He looked back at her with equal parts confusion and anxiety. His hands were clammy against hers.
If he really had nothing to do with this, and Olivia left him here alone and something happened, she would never forgive herself. But if he did, and she inadvertently helped him hurt her or her brothers - she would never forgive herself either.
Her brain swam. She wanted to scream. She couldn't be spending forever debating Angel while those men prowled the gas station looking for her. She pressed him back into the corner.
"If you're lying to me, I will tell all three of my brothers, and all three of them will kill you, three times each. And then I will tell the police and whoever your older brother and you'll get put into juvie for thirty years and you'll never have a job and you'll be homeless all your life. Got it?"
Angel's heart skittered beneath her fingers. His face was slowly turning a sickly yellow color. He swallowed. "Good thing I'm not lying?" His weak voice came out a question.
For a moment, Olivia felt bad. Maybe he was telling the truth.
Then her guilt vanished as she remembered Elijah, Logan, and Blake chained up in that dark basement, Elijah's face beaten black and blue, bruises in the shape of handprints around Logan's throat, Blake's wrists torn and bloody.
"Give me your keys," she ordered.
"What-"
She dug her hand into his pants pocket without another warning, her hands tightening when they brushed the metal teeth of his car keys. She pulled out the key fob and pressed down on the red panic button.
Angel's car alarm began shrieking outside.
In the convex mirror, she saw the two men look at each other. The shorter one motioned for the taller one to head outside to check out the noise while he stayed inside the gas station.
Olivia's heart pounded. She turned and put both hands on Angel's face and made him look at her. "Angel, I want you to look at me and promise me, swear on your brother, that you are not working for the Sons of Solomon."
Immediately, Angel's pale face colored a deep maroon and twisted into a dark scowl. "The Sons of Solomon? I would never work with them," he spat.
Olivia raised an eyebrow. "You have something against them?"
His mouth trembled with anger. "They're the reason my family was torn apart."
She gave him one last look over, trying to decide whether it was all an act or whether he was lying. Then she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him off the wall.
"Great," she said. "Me too."
Pulling Angel behind her, she quickly crossed the gap between the aisles, heading for the back of the store. They passed medications and snacks and cards for all occasions before they came to a set of one person-bathrooms and a back exit door.
Olivia quietly pushed the metal door open. Outside was just a section of dirt and grass that led down into a small pond. The street was farther off to the right, way too far to run to and without any houses or cars or hiding places. They would never make it before someone grabbed them.
"Angel, get in the bathroom," Olivia instructed. Then she carefully stepped outside the store onto the dirt, pressing down her sneakers into the mud just enough to get shoe prints in the dirt.
"Are you really sure-"
Olivia stepped back inside. She slammed her hands down into the metal push bar that opened the back door, trying to be as loud as she could, kicking the door open with her foot so it flew open in the breeze and made as much noise as possible.
Then she yanked open the bathroom door and shoved Angel inside. She shut the door and put her ear against it.
As she hoped, there were footsteps outside running down the hall and slamming the back door open. The sound of shoes on dirt faded away and she heard the back door softly click closed.
She pulled Angel against the door. "Hold it shut, okay?" she said. Her ploy was only going to last them a few minutes. The men looking for her were quickly going to realize she wasn't outside like she'd tried to fool them into thinking.
"This is so not normal-"
Olivia ignored Angel and began quickly pumping soap out of the dispenser into her hand until it began to spill out of her fingers. She dropped the entire glob in front of the door and smeared it around with her shoes, then repeated the whole process over again with another two handfuls of soap.
"What's with the soap?"
"Hopefully it'll slow them down. Don't step in it." Think, think, think. She glanced around the ceiling, eyes halting at what she was looking for. "Do you have your cigarettes?" she asked.
Angel fumbled with the box in his pocket and pulled out the pack and a small lighter.
Olivia took it from him and pulled out a handful of cigarettes. She lit the edges, then shoved them back in the box. The inside edges of the box began to smolder.
Angel grimaced just the slightest bit. "Aw, shit, this is my last pack. Could you leave me just one or two-"
"Angel, do you want to die?" she demanded as she gingerly held the burning box in her hand. She carefully stepped onto the toilet seat.
"My brother is gone and I don't have his ID to buy more-"
"You know what?" Olivia held the smoking box of cigarettes up to the smoke alarm in the ceiling. "Maybe this is a sign."
"A sign of what?"
"A sign saying to quit."
"I can't go cold turkey! I'll have withdrawal!"
"Withdrawal is better than smoking."
"What if I pass out and-"
BAM
Angel jerked forwards as there was a loud crashing noise at his back where he was leaning against the door. His feet scrabbled madly against the tiles and he clutched the edge of the grimy sink for support.
His eyes were wide as he stared at Olivia for some sort of explanation. "What the fuck-"
Another smash against the door and Angel cried out and turned around, locking his arms out straight against the door.
"Hold the door!" Olivia reached out farther towards the detector. She wished she had her pepper spray. She had taken down a corrupt police officer with it, and she felt a lot braver with it in her hand. "Just a few more seconds."
"Hurry!"
"I'm trying!"
The door shook on its hinges. Angel was losing ground. The other man was much stronger than him. Angel swore under his breath.
There was a horrendous crashing noise and Angel was thrown forwards. The door slammed open and Olivia's heart ricocheted with equal ferocity in her rib cage, threatening to break something inside as her eyes landed on a man with the tattoos encircling his neck.
My family and I drove sixteen hours yesterday on our road trip home. Highly do not recommend.
The next update will be WEDNESDAY because I sat down and wrote like three chapters all at once.
For next time: the shenanigans are not over yet!