Nora^
I shut my eyes. "Can you get him to leave?" I beg, my voice barely above a whisper.
"I'll try."
"Keep us on the phone. I'll put us on mute," I call. I pull back and mute the phone, as well as out it on speaker.
"Mr. Jeff, a surprise to see you still here," Nora introduces, a small dose of bitterness in her voice.
"Bite your tongue, girl, I can put you and your family with the snap of my fingers," he growls, which, sadly is true, due to the fact that he abuses his lawyer abilities. "Anyway, is my wife and daughter here?" I roll my eyes, but look at Mom, to see her eyes glossing over. "They ran away, and I think it might have to do with my wife cheating--"
"HELL NO!" I ground out, shooting up and flying towards the door. Within a moment, Jada is in front of me, trying to keep me in the room, and I don't hesitate: I knee the boy where the sun doesn't shine. As he groans and falls to the floor, I don't feel an ounce of guilt. When Elijah tried to do the same, he got kneed as well. Sadly, Ashley Purdy suffers the same fate when he tried to hold me back as well. Okay, maybe a twinge of guilt on that one.
Andy is smarter, and scoops me up bridal style, while staying a good distance away from my kicking range. He and CC hold me down, so I'm in a kind of hog tied laying position across their laps. I listen to the rest of the conversation while trying to wriggle free. Eventually Jake and Jinxx both have to help keep me down.
"--is way too good for you!" Nora growls, making me wish I knew what had happened.
"Anyway, I recognized the Inuit twin's car, and my son's, sothought I'd wait them out. I know she's in that dance crew. The masks were smart."
"Well she's not in the crew anymore. She left when Lexi came. I asked the twins where Blade was, and they stared at me like I had two heads. You scared the girl into listening to you. Guess you're going to have to dig a bit harder now. "
"I'll find them. I know I will. Nice to see you again, Nora," he says smugly, before the line went silent.
A few moments later, Nora says into the phone, "you still there?" Dakota takes it off mute.
"We're here, Nora. Blade can't talk right now, she's a bit...she stares at me, pretty much pinned down with my mouth covered, "occupied."
"Okay. Well he left, so you should be good to go. "
"Thanks Nora."
"Any time. Ciao," the French girl calls, ending the call.
"Can I let you go now?" Andy chides, and I nod. Both CC and Andy let me go, and I spring up and race over to Mom, who's staring at the floor crushed. I put a hand in her shoulder. She sniffles.
"He didn't mean it," lie, trying to comfort her.
"Yes, Honey, he did," she argues weakly. "I've just been delusional, thinking we could fix our relationship." She's obviously talking about Dad and her. I sigh and rub her back. Elijah and Jada give us sorrowful looks.
"Hey," I nudge her. "Remember our promise? Today is our day. No Husband, no son, no twin, no father. And absolutely no crying over them. " she sniffles again. "Just for today. We promised," I remind, and she smiles and nods at me.
"Blade, who was that?" Jinxx asks, and I gulp, training my eyes on the floor.
"Blade?" Andy tries, and I let out a shaky sigh.
"My Dad," I sat quietly, and I watch Andy tense, along with Jinxx. Suddenly I hear to groans and I wince. Okay, now I feel bad. I rush over to the boys and help them up. "I am so sorry!" I say honestly.
"It's cool," Jada groans raspily.
"It's okay," Elijah squeaks, while Ashley just holds his thumb up.
I give them weak smiles and turn to Jake, Jinxx, CC, and Andy. "Thanks, you guys, I would've done something extremely fatuous if you hadn't stopped me. You too Dakota," I add, since the girl had to practically sit on me towards the end of my struggle. They all give me tired thumbs up.
"Damn," Andy groans.
"Jesus Christ," a breathless Jake agrees.
"You're freaking strong, Blade," Jinxx complains.
"It's the adrenaline," both Dakota and I say at the same time, earning breathless laughs from the boys.
Before anyone can say anything, both my phone and my mother's go off. We exchange looks of confusion before checking them. I read the text, and freeze in fear. I read the message once, twice, three times, four. I finally take my phone out of it's lifeproof case, and hurl it at the wall. It shatters. Mom, quickly does the same, making everyone jump to their feet.
"Are you insane?!" Dakota yells.
"Not in the slightest," I whisper. I turn to Mom. "Did you know he had the numbers?" I ask.
She shakes her head. "No idea, I didn't think he knew we had them."
"Wait," Jada interrupts. "It isn't..." He trails off, knowing the answer. We nod, frightened.
"Who?" Jake asks, but no one answers. I shudder at the memory of the message, the message that made me shatter my phone, knowing he was tracking it. It had read:
Unknown- I'm coming for you. And when I do, I'll make sure your breathing is no more.
I spin around and face a grim Jada. "I need your phone really quick. I need Zahra or Kristen can drive my Impala back here from the Twins' house before Dad gets there. There's not a doubt in my mind that he isn't going to drive by. Everyone's back at the twins' house now anyway." He nods and hands me his phone.
J- Hey, kris, it's B, I need u 2 drive my bb here. J will bring u back after.
K- kk chika. C u in a few. Send boo my luv.
J- Ew.
K- lol
I hand the phone back and take two wallets out of my bag, which is sitting on the couch. Stuffing them in my back pocket, I turn to my mom. "Kristen is on her way with the '67, and then she's dropping it off and hitching a ride back with Jada. The twins are going back with their mom." The twins nod in agreement.
"Yeah," Dakota starts.
"We promised Mom," Elijah adds. "We've got to get going. But, find a way to contact us if you need anything. " with that, they're off.
"Hey, I want to go with you, to make sure you're safe," Andy, who's suddenly sober, says.
"Someone's got the hots for Blade," Ashley howls, wiggling his eyebrows. Andy shoves him down.
"Are we going to the store? If we are I'm going! I may or may not need new drumsticks. Again," CC says, mumbling the last part.
"CC!" Jinxx and Jake shout, and CC shrugs.
"That's all the room I have in my car," I say, turning to the three remaining band members.
"Aaaaaand back to the hotel," Ashley grumbles, following the guitarists.
I hold my Moms hand while the four of us walk out to the parking lot, with Jada leading he way. Right now really isn't the time, but a blush blooms across my face at the thought of Andy fudging Biersack walking closely behind me. I don't think I've really realized who I have been. Talking to until now.
I'm snapped out of my thoughts by Kristen pulling up, getting out of the car and tossing the keys to me.
"Here, boo. Hey, Baby!" She greets Jada and me.
"Ready to go?" Jada asks her, and she nods.
I turn to Andy, CC, and Mom. "Ready?" They nod.
"I call shot gun!" CC shouts.
"You can drive if you want," I offer, and his eyes go wide.
"FOR SERIOUS!?" He starts, and doesn't hesitate to grab my keys and run to the driver's seat of my baby once he spots the beginning of my nod.
"Shotgun," Mom states, leaning forward so both Andy and I hear. She passes me a subtle wink and I crack a smile. Ever the wing woman.
Andy and I climb in the back of my Impala while Mom joins CC in the front. "Please don't crash my baby," I plead, and CC nods.
"Where to?" He cheers, and fraught fills me.
"The mall. We need to get new phones." He nods and starts to drive. I try my best to slow my erratic breathing, but only manage to speed it up.
Andy picks up my hand, and traces circle patterns on it with his thumb. I blush fiercely. Damn my cheeks today!
"Hey," he chides gently, using his other hand to turn my face towards his. "It's going to be okay."
I nod, letting out a tired sigh. I lean in and whisper, "All of this is unfair to you. I shouldn't be worrying you with my drama. It doesn't matter."
"No," he stops me quietly, but firmly. "It matters a lot. Why would you think it wouldn't?" I stay silent, debating whether or not to answer.
The truth is, I'm a nobody. Well, actually, I'm a nobody to nobody. Even nobody doesn't know me, and I mean the real me. Sure, people know Lexi Bride, but they don't know me, Bladen, and they don't really care. So, I really don't want to bore anyone.
"Is that how you really feel?" I hear Andy say, and I groan.
"I said all of that out loud, didn't I?" I whisper.
Andy chuckles quietly. "I don't think those two heard." I burry my face in my hands and make a noise that somehow resembles a kitty growl.
Andy had to stop himself from laughing, and brings me into a side hug. "That was so cute," he whispers in my hair, and I bury my face in his chest without thinking. Suddenly, I think of the night in the diner after I threw out the slut.
"Don't be embarrassed, that was hot," I remember Andy saying. I'm taken out of my thoughts by Andy kissing the top of my head. I think I just died. I try my best to compose myself. It was probably just a friendly gesture.
We pull up to the mall. "Why don't you guys stay here while I get the phones?" I provide, grabbing my purse.
"I'll come with," Andy says. "You two should stay in the car. We won't be long. CC, I'll get you some new drum sticks."
"Okay, be careful," Mom calls, and CC gives us a thumbs up. I hand Andy some black Ray Bans and he opens up a draw string I didn't know he had.
"Give me a minute," Andy says, and I nod, remembering I still have some stuff on from the show.
For the next two minutes, Andy takes off all the war paint while I give mom my head dress and pull out my white Black Veil Brides snap back and put it on (Andy laughed). Andy ditches his feather cuffs for a ripped Metallica muscle Tee, a leather jacket, the batman snap back he got from the store the other day, and the Ray Bans I gave him. Then we head out.
As we're making our way in, Andy grabs my hand. "Will you tell me about your life?"
"It's really not that pretty," I quoth warily. Andy looks a little cautious himself.
"Tell me."
And I do. For some reason, I pour my heart out to this man, and tell him about my mom, when she got pregnant, when my dad first hit me, how Mason used to be and who he is, how he changed, how Mom and I fled, all the way to being here, walking in the mall with him.
Throughout the whole story, Andy's grip on my hand tightens, and when a guy around my age walks up to us, he wraps his arms around my waist, sending the dude the other way. I expect him to move after, but when he doesn't budge, I blush.
We continue to walk in silence, before Andy finally sighs, and drops his chin on my shoulder.
"I'm sorry," is all he says. I shrug with my free shoulder in response, and I'm about to walk into the sprint store when I see my twin brother, Mason, standing at the register.