"Do you, like, need help with that?"
"All good," Alex grunted in response to Haley's question, lifting yet another large brown box up the stairs and through the front door.
"And what's in this one?" she groaned, moving the box's flaps and peering inside. I could hear metal clang around as she rummaged through the contents, eyebrows furrowed.
"What does it look like?" Alex shot back, wiping residual sweat beads off of his forehead.
"Where did you find all of this?" She questioned, pulling a solid iron bar out of the box. I could feel my heart stop in my chest. That was worth hundreds of gold, at least.
"Clint hooked me up, Haley," he laughed, snatching the bar from her and placing it carefully back into the box. "You think I could afford something like that?"
"Of course not!" She shrieked, crossing her arms. "That's why I was asking. And I know your dumb ass wasn't down there mining it yourself."
I chuckled, allowing my thoughts to wander. The lingering bite of Josh's threat had slowly been settling over us for the past week, like a storm cloud looming overhead—and we were ready for downpour at any second.
Alex had already led a few failed attempts at running Josh out of town, most of them targeted towards Joja Mart itself. Between organizing strikes against Joja, bribing Pierre to have a "holiday blowout" sale at the general store, and now hauling large loads of random material to and from the house, Alex undoubtedly had his hands full.
Describing his most recent efforts as a "top secret exchange with Lewis," I knew that the old community center uptown had to be involved. I was no stranger to having favors asked of me, one being restoring and renovating that entire, decrepit building. Yeah, no thanks.
"Alex, come on, just let me help out," I pleaded, watching as Sam unloaded the recent shipments and sorted them into more refined packages.
"Sade," Sam stated bluntly. "Let us do something nice for you, you workaholic. Don't you have, like, a plant to water?"
I watered the plants at 6 in the morning, Sam. And fed the animals. And picked up twigs. And—
"We have to go," Alex interjected, looking at Sam and nodding his head towards the door. "Sam, will you—"
"On it," Sam said with a salute, compiling his organized stacks into one large box.
Picking up the remaining items off of the ground, Haley gingerly stuffed the variety into her bag. "We will see you later, love, okay?"
I sighed as they walked out of the door, the silence of their absence quickly filling the now empty space. If you already know what they're up to, then it would be a sad surprise anyway, Sadie. It would be much more fulfilling to help them finish it, right?
——————————————————
My ultimate decision led me straight to the front doors of the Community Center, my heart racing out of my chest. What will it look like? Will they be mad at me for figuring it out?
I pushed down my thoughts and forced my hand to push open the door, the old hinges squealing as it creaked open. A small gasp escaped my lips as I laid my eyes upon the sight: freshly painted walls that still reeked of leftover chemicals, de-dusted furniture that could be mistaken for brand new pieces; liveliness.
"Oh, for fuck's sake, Sadie!" Alex groaned as he lugged supplies into the common area. "You're serious right now? Did you follow us here?"
"What—no!" I spit back, my tone drenched in caginess. "I figured it out, on my own. There's only one project that Lewis would be willing to dog on Joja Mart for."
"Dog on?" Alex repeated, almost as if he was mimicking me. "It's way more than dog on, Sadie. You don't even know the half of it."
"Then tell me!" I shot back, the walls deflecting the shriek and sending it echoing throughout the space.
"No!" Alex said, dropping his armful of items on the ground as he approached me. "You already know enough."
"You're the one who brought it up..." my voice tapered off as his figure began to tower over mine. It had been awhile since he had been so close to me—his mere presence demanded dominance over my entire being.
His face was only inches from mine now, and the room suddenly felt small—as if the disintegrating foundation of the Community Center was finally crumbling down; Alex made ceilings disappear.
"Where's Sam? And Haley?" I croaked out, his lips gracing my neck. Their touch was gentle, sending chills up and down my spine as they connected and disconnected slowly from my skin. Beneath the mask of tenderness was hunger; beneath the hunger was desire that seeped from his pores and into mine.
"Trying to catch a fish," he responded, his left pointer finger moving staticy hairs away from my face. "So they'll probably be gone all day."
I would have laughed at the thought of those two trying to reel in the perfect albacore, if it weren't for the fire spreading inside of me that forbidded any wandering thoughts. The flames followed his hands, which were now planted on my waist as he swiped a million items off of the table and hoisted me onto it.
"Tell me a secret," he whispered.
"A secret?" I asked, my question slicing the moment in half.
"A secret," he repeated, his volume even lower. "You know my secret, now I get to know yours."
"Uh...Oh, God, Alex, I don't know. I like you?" I sighed, looking down. It was a statement, hardly a secret, and based on the look on his face...not what he was hoping for.
"Come on," he said, running his thumb in circles over my thigh. "Tell me something I don't know."
"Oh, really?" I questioned, my face beginning to heat up. "That's presumptuous of you."
"Come on, Sade," he purred, his lips once again nearing my ear. "Tell me something good."
"You really want to know?" I smirked, moving his face to once again be level with mine. "My deepest secret?"
His eyes begged me to tell; his mind was scared to know. "I lost my virginity to a woman."
"What?" He asked, stunned by the confession. "You? Miss Goody Two Shoes? I'm impressed," he said smugly, crossing his arms.
"You don't know the first thing about me," I hummed in response, trailing my fingers up his torso and around the nape of his neck. His body didn't resist as I pulled him closer, his waist now nestled between my legs. "And, by the way, that's not a secret. Just information for select audiences."
"Oh, so I'm not part of the in-group?" he plastered fake shock across his features, bringing his hand up to his chest dramatically.
"No, but you want to know who would be?" I smiled, now using one hand to unbutton his jeans. A small moan escaped him as my hand slid beneath his boxers, our lips crashing together.
"Am I interrupting something here?" Haley's voice boomed from the entryway. Ironic.
For a moment, the world was still.
I yanked my face away from Alex's, lines of spit stretching between our lips and snapping almost immediately at the sudden movement.
Haley was silent, as were we. Our hands slowly retracted from the other's body, trembling beneath the weight of our own bad decisions.
"Fuck," Alex groaned quietly, burying his freshly reddened cheeks in the hands that had just shamelessly embraced me.
Haley scoured the scene, watching each move we made with careful eyes—she wanted answers. She looked down and tugged at her tank top, loosening it from hugging her curves—almost as if she, too, felt exposed.
Though merely feet away, we'd never been more far apart. The distance between us grew by the second, each blossoming realization pushing her further. What Alex and I had done. What we were doing. What we were about to do.
She stared at our feet, and I imagined she was wishing she were in my shoes. Maybe he was wishing that she was, too. Maybe he was imagining what she might look like beneath him, or what flavor her lip gloss was; what it would be like to please her.
"Why..." she murmured to herself, her voice shaky. "Why did it have to be you two, of all people?"
"Haley," I started, tears beginning to pool in my eyes. "Haley, I'm so sorry, I should have—"
"Don't worry about it, Sade," she sighed as she walked past; her familiar scent was no longer comforting. "I forgot the extra bait...that's why I'm here. Why are you here?"
"I just wanted to help," I whispered. "I figured it had something to do with the community center, so I came by, and...well..."
"Enough said," Haley interjected, holding up a knowing hand. "Well, I'll leave you two to it."
"Haley, come on," Alex said, annoyance tainting his tone.
"Oh, and...Just try to act surprised when we reveal it," Haley mumbled. "For Sam's sake, if nothing else. He is really excited to do something sweet for you."
"You pretend you never knew about the renovation," she continued. "...and I'll pretend I didn't just see that."
"Haley..." I whimpered, walking towards her.
"Sadie," she cut me off. "I saw this coming. He'd be stupid not to fall for you."
Daylight spilled into the space as she pushed the door open, her absence somehow sparking more uneasiness than when she stood before us.
"You should go," Alex said. "I'll see you back home, okay?"
"Alex—"
"Just go, Sade."