No one is awake yet and Sawyer goes for the shower. I sit on the table in the kitchen, resting my head for a bit. I hear shuffling somewhere in the living room, but I'm too tired to lift my head and check who it might be.
I hear someone clear their throat and I snap my head up thinking they're trying to get my attention but no one is there. Then I hear Lauren's voice, softly speaking. I slowly get up just close enough to hear her.
She's on the phone and she hasn't spotted me. I check the time that's on the oven, it's five thirty in the morning. She probably thinks we're all asleep.
"Hello?" She softly answers. She uhums a few times. "No sir. When Whit finds out he will be furious." She whispers angrily this time and my eyes widen. "They're here. All safe." She continues. She stays quiet for a long time and I think she's gone but her voice continues. "Onto stage two?" She questions. She sounds hesitant before complying and hanging up.
My heart starts hammering inside my chest and I stay frozen against the wall and pray she doesn't walk into the kitchen.
I hear her footsteps walking toward me and I start to panic. I run to the refrigerator and open it.
"Oh, didn't know anyone was awake." She says as she walks in, an edge to her voice.
I jump startled, and put on a half asleep face.
"Oh, what?" I question with a fake yawn. I'm too afraid to look her in the eye, so I pretend to search for something in the fridge.
"How long have you been awake?" She questions.
More like how long have I been listening in? All of it Lauren, all of it.
"Not long, got thirsty so I came down stairs..." I shrug my shoulders and give her a half smile. I feel her heavy gaze on me and I don't dare look at her.
I slowly take out the milk and get myself a glass. She's watching my every step and I swear for a second she can hear how fast my heart is racing.
"Well, I'm going back to bed." I turn and walk away.
"Stop." She says and I freeze mid step. I slowly turn to her.
"Your glass of milk." She says and I look down at my shaking hands, just realizing they're empty of the milk I poured myself.
"Right, still half asleep." I nervously laugh and she gives me an odd smile. With that I make my exit and breathe out relieved.
When I'm upstairs I take a sip of the milk. Orange juice would have been better but I was too nervous to even notice what I was getting.
I hear a door swing open and I turn and find Jospeh standing by the door. Sleep is still in his eyes but when he notices me standing there we both freeze. His hair is messy and his white t-shirt is all crooked.
I accidentally choke on the milk not expecting him to be up this early.
He gives me a tight smile before heading to the bathroom.
I stand there still dumbfounded. I wish we can move past this and be friends again.
I stand in the hot shower for what seems like hours after hearing the conversation between Lauren and whoever was on the other side of that call. I don't know how I'm supposed to tell the others without making it seem obvious. Would they even believe me? They've known Lauren for years. I get out and lie on my bed, my mind racing.
A knock at the door stirs me out of my thoughts.
"Breakfast is ready? We've been calling out for you and you wouldn't answer." Avery says.
"Sorry, was sleeping." I lie.
"Well everyone is waiting and I'm starving so hurry up."
Once down stairs I try to avoid eye contact with everyone.
Everyone is already sitting at the table and my only two options are to sit between Jospeh and Sawyer or Joseph and Lauren.
I don't want to make things awkward and stand by the kitchen island, so I choose the seat between Joseph and Lauren.
I catch Sawyer watching me as I sit down, and he gives me a 'What the heck are you doing' look, but I ignore it.
Jospeh on the other hand stands up as soon as I sit beside him.
And we look up at him confused.
"I need water." He awkwardly declares out loud.
I can't help but feel he doesn't want me sitting next to him.
It's not long until he comes back and subtly moves his chair slightly away from me.
My stomach churns, and I feel my face tinge red.
No one is talking, which is odd. Jospeh does all the talking and Avery but the only sound is the clanks of our spoons and forks.
Evan usually chimes in but he's reading the newspaper.
Lauren clears her throat, "Are we still on for tonight, Sawyer?" She questions, a smile on her face.
On for tonight? Sawyer can't go out, not when he constantly has fevers that gradually get worse through out the night.
My head snaps to Sawyer so fast and I catch Jospeh looking at me, just waiting to catch some sort of reaction from me that proves I like him. And I keep a straight face. When Sawyer smiles at her with a nod.
I take a bite of my eggs.
"Okay? Am I missing something?" Avery cuts in, watching every single one of us. She raises an eyebrow at me.
I shrug.
After the excruciatingly long breakfast, I go looking for Sawyer. I walk into the second living room and see Jospeh sprawled on the couch. When he sees me he jumps up.
"Oh, sorry." I mumble and turn to the leave the room.
"Hey, can I talk to you?"
I stop and turn to him, and give him a nod.
"Will you forgive me?"
I look up at him, "Isn't that supposed to be my question?"
He shakes his head, "No, you did the right thing. You quickly realized what you didn't want. You made it known and I was the asshole who stomped off and left you alone. I'm sorry. So sorry." He pauses and takes a step closer to me, "So, are we okay?"
A sense of relief washes over me, "We're okay, but I am sor..."
He holds up a hand and cuts me off. "Look I can't be mad at you for confirming something I already suspected. I beat him to it, gave it a shot. It didn't work out. I'm not going to say I'm fine with it, but..." He shrugs, placing his hands into his pocket. "I like you, Opal. And I'm not going to be those guys who if it doesn't work out we never speak again, I'm not like that. So I'm hoping we can skip the whole we tried dating and it blew stage and dive into being friends." He says and I nod with a smile.
"Please. I would like that." I tell him and hug him.
When we get upstairs, we find Sawyer looking through his clothes drawer.
"Pants? On a date?" Jospeh snorts and Sawyer gives him a look.
Sawyer pulls out a pair of black dressy pants.
"I hope you don't expect me to iron those." I say. Now it's my turn to get the look from Sawyer.
"I need to talk to you." I ignore his look.
"About what?"
"Maybe getting out of here."
"They're waiting for us to do something stupid, like run away." Sawyer says, not listening.
"I need to talk to you." I tell Sawyer again.
"Oh, I'll leave you two alone. I'm going to shower." Joseph says, giving me a wink.
I glare at him. If he thinks I'm about to spill my guts to Sawyer he's wrong. So wrong.
Sawyer stops after hearing the tone in my voice.
"Look, I'll be fine. I haven't had any symptoms." He whispers.
I glare at him.
"No, it's not that, it's.... And what if you do get symptoms?" I question, getting off tangent.
"Make up an excuse and leave." He shrugs and I glare at him again.
"Is that it?" He questions with a raise of his eyebrow.
"No, I don't care about your symptoms, that's on you..." I say, but he cuts me off.
"So then why are you here?" His words are icy.
"Because Lauren...." I'm cut off again, this time not by Sawyer, but my Lauren.
"Hey, Sawyer. Which dress?" She barges into the room, holding up two black dresses that look so much a like it wouldn't matter which one she chooses.
Sawyer pushes me aside and walks toward her. He chooses a random one.
"I'm going to do my make up in here. If that's alright with you, this room has the most lighting." She says and eyes me.
"Sure." Sawyer says with a nod and turns to me, almost forgetting I'm in the room.
"Opal, you wanted to tell me something?" Sawyer says. I stare at the back of Lauren's head, eyes shooting lasers and wishing she'd just drop dead.
The lying snitch of a bitch.
"You okay?" Sawyer asks, shaking my shoulder. I look up at him, angry that he's falling for her charms. And angrier at myself that I got distracted and couldn't tell him.
"No, nothing. Never mind." I look from her and glare back at him. I push him out of my way and try to hurry and look for Evan. He's the next best person he'll know what to do, hopefully.
"Have you seen Evan?" I question, barging into the room Avery is in.
"Yeah, he told me he was going somewhere. Should be back in an hour. Why?" She said and my stomach sinks even further.
Great.
I run downstairs, maybe he's still out front, but it's empty.
I walk around and notice the house phone sitting on the living room table.
Everyone is busy upstairs. I run to it and dial my moms number.
"Hello?" She answers. She sounds like she's been crying. "If this is another prank call pretending to know where my daughter is, then leave us the hell alone." Her voice is tired, but forceful.
"Mom..." I whisper, tears threatening to spill.
It goes quiet for a long time and I clear my voice. "Mom?" I question.
"Opal? Is that you? Where are you?" She questions. "Come home. Why are you running away?" She continues before I can answer her questions.
"I don't know what's going on?" I tell her.
"Tell me baby girl. I'm right here. Are you in danger?" She questions.
I think so...but I don't want to worry her.
"Opal?" I hear Sawyer call out from the top of the stairs.
Oh no, if he finds out I'm on a phone call with my mom, I don't know what he'll do.
When I don't answer her and I'm too focused on any movement from Sawyer, I hear her voice.
"Can I see you?"
My chest clenches at that question. I want to run back to them.
"Who are you talking to?" Sawyers voice startles me and I turn around to face him. Where the heck did he come from?
"Listen, baby. Can I see you?" I hear her voice again, but Sawyer is right in front of me.
Anger crosses his features once he realizes who I dialed and he unhooks the phone. The line cuts off.
"You aren't allowed to speak her." Sawyer murmurs, his features softening.
"I need to." I croak and he shakes his head. I'm a little surprised he's not in my face yelling at me.
"I'll be out back." He says and I know he's trying to keep his anger down.
I cry myself to sleep that afternoon and skip lunch. I thought hearing my moms voice would make me feel better, it's just making me feel worse.
When I wake up I look out the window. Sawyer is still out there. He's lost in thought, as he stands there watching. I don't know why, threat or no threat, it feels good to wake up and see him there.
I groggily walk downstairs, I only took an hour nap. And I see a plate on the counter, two plates. I'm assuming Sawyer didn't eat.
I take the plate with me and head out back. As I watch him, I realize how good it feels. All my denials unbuckling. They're still denials it's just easier to be friends. It's hard though.
I want to walk over there. I want to curl up beside him, lean against him, talk to him. I want to know what he's thinking. I want to tell him everything is going to be okay. And I want him to tell me everything is okay, even if it might now be true. I don't care if it's not true, I just want him to say it, I want to hear it, to feel his arms around me. Hear the rumble of his words, that deep chuckle that makes my heart jump a beat.
He turns my way and I'm so engrossed in my thoughts I don't notice I'm staring at him. I look away fast, cheeks burning. I can feel him looking at me. He frowns slightly as if he were trying to figure something out.
Before he can I push the plate of food into his stomach. "You missed lunch." Obvious thing to say, but the only thing I came up with.
It takes him a moment and he grabs the plate, "right." He says and continues. "Are you okay?"
I nod.
"Want to talk about what happened earlier? And what the hell you were thinking?" He questions. I stand there and for the second time I nod.
"I should get Evan," I start to turn, "He will want to know." I tell him. I run inside to get Evan who is on a phone call. I beckon him to come and he nods.
I grab a glass of cold water and head back out.
This time he nods. I take a sip of the refreshing water and he watches me as I do.
"Opal."
I take my time to look at him. I know he's figured out what I was thinking and he's somehow going to let me down gently. He wouldn't flat out say "Sorry, I'm not interested." It would be a Sawyer move, but he will probably pull an Opal move. Tell me he likes me, just not in that way; it's exactly what I did to Jospeh.
"Opal?" Sawyer says again and I look up, mid sip. And what I see in his eyes, my hands fumble the glass and I drop it. All the water splashing on me, wetting my shirt and jeans.
My arms flail trying to catch the damn glass. It slips out of my hand twice before I finally keep it squeezed in my hand. I'm crouched on the ground when I feel the glass being tugged from my fingers. I look up and see Sawyer crouched in front of me, his face inches from mine. He leans forward and—
"What did you lose?" Evan questions. Evans voice is by the door way of the backyard. And we scramble to our feet so fast, we collide into each other.
"What were you looking for?" Evan questions further and walks toward us, looking at the ground around him.
"Nothing, I just dropped water all over me." I point to my shirt and jeans. I glance at Sawyer who's just standing there, hands in his pocket.
"Something happened this morning..." I start trying to explain, only I don't want to. Not now. I want to rewind the tape, go back to that moment we were crouching, pray Evan doesn't show up for a few minutes, or only long enough to find out what I thought might have happened. It's not going to happen, not now. The moment is gone.
"I should change my pants."
"Go ahead." Evan says.
I make it to the door when Sawyer calls out my name. I turn to him and it looks like he's trying to find something to say, maybe find an excuse to come with me. And I think if I did offer one he would take it, but nothing comes to mind. God knows how hard I'm trying but I can't come up with anything and he can't come up with anything.
"I won't be here when you get back so tell Evan."
"Okay?" I nod and I walk away.
As soon I take a step something whooshes by me and hits the glass door shattering it.
I stop frozen and turn around, both Sawyer and Evan running toward me.
Sawyer grabs me first and pulls me inside. More shots are heard hitting the wall as we race inside.
"They found us because of your stupid phone call." Sawyer says as we hide in a closet.
"This wasn't my doing." I angrily tell him.
"Shit." Sawyer curses. "They were probably already there the moment they traced your call."
"Wrong." I tell him. "For someone who is so smart you sure are stupid. You're being blinded by Lauren's charms."
"What does Lauren have to do with anything?"
"I overheard her talking to someone this morning while you were in the shower."
Sawyer turns to me.
"You really have it out for her don't you?" Sawyer bites back.
"You're full of yourself if you think Im jealous."
"Jealous?" He whispers back, I see the smirk on his face.
My face tinges red. And I face away from him.
"She was talking about Whit. And a stage two?"
I feel Sawyer stiffen beside me and I turn to look at him.
"Stage two?"
"Now you believe me?" I glare at him.
A few more rounds of gun shots go off and I lean against Sawyer.
"We're going to die." I whisper, already accepting my fate.
"No. We're not."
"Everyone knows we need to make it to the basement. Stick to the plan." Sawyer says and I nod.
"Sawyer." We hear Lauren's voice. She sounds distressed.
"Stay here."
"Where are you going?"
"Lauren needs help." He starts opening the door.
"She's the one who snitched on us and you're going to help her?"
"I need to know the truth." Sawyer says.
"Nice to know you trust me with your biggest secret, but not this." I roll my eyes.
Evan and Jospeh are crouched on the floor against the hallway wall. I see them when Sawyer opens the door.
"Lauren?" Sawyer calls.
I can hear them in the living room.
"Come on. We have to get out of here." I hear Sawyer say.
"No, Sawyer." Lauren protests.
"They're going to reload any second. Do you want to get shot?" Sawyer bites back. Through a crack in the door I watch as Sawyers grip is on her wrist. I watch as she smiles up at Sawyer.
"They won't shoot."
Sawyer looks at her confused before realizing.
"You're controlling them." He states. He lets go of her.
"Sawyer, you need to go with them. They can help you. You're sick."
My eyes widen. Jospeh and Evan are right there, and Sawyer doesn't want them to find out.
"They're the ones who made me sick in the first place so fuck you." Sawyer spits.
Lauren's face contorts into manic anger.
"Sawyer, listen to me." She walks closer to him, her hands on both sides of his face.
"I did the right thing. You're a danger to everyone around you. I'm trying to help you."
Sawyer pulls away from her hold.
"Lets go." He pulls me from the closet and I feel the heat from him already. He gives Jospeh and Evan a look and they both follow after him.
His hold around my arm is burning and tight.
I want to let go from how bad he's hurting me, but I know he needs this.
"They will just continue to find you." Lauren follows us.
"If you don't want to be killed, come with us." Jospeh says, but Lauren's gaze just meets the ground.
"You have five minutes before they come in here and raid the place. I'm supposed to turn you all in."
Sawyer continues to ignore her and opens a latch on the floor in the basement. Avery is already down there waiting for us.
"I thought you guys ran." She says, panic crossing her features.
"Come on, you first." Sawyer points to Avery. She's about to argue but Sawyer gives her a look and she complies. Sawyer helps her down the ladder.
"Sawyer, Stop. You're sick. I can see the fever getting worse." Lauren frantically says.
"I don't want you getting killed." She finally starts to cry.
"For fucks sake, Lauren. You should have thought of that the moment you turned us in." And with that we all jump down the hole and climb down. The last face we see is Lauren's before Sawyer closes the hatch.
"What if she tells them we're down here?" I question.
"She won't." Evan cuts in.
Hiding in the sewers, not a fun time.
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Hey! ✌🏻
It's October ! I can't wait until it starts getting really cold 🥶
How is everyone?!?