Sebastian was waiting outside of school for Chris, seeming as Letitia had to rush home, and was found by none other than Emily. She was wearing a grin that set Sebastian's heart at ease and was waving happily.
"Hey Sebby." Emily greets, punching his shoulder softly.
Sebastian winces. "Hey."
"You doing anything?" She asks.
Sebastian thinks for a moment. His father would be expecting him home soon and he really didn't want anything else to happen to him. "Actually I—
Emily cuts him off. "Awesome! We're hanging out."
Chris walks through the schools open doors then, a smile replacing the frown on his lips at the sight of Sebastian. "Hey guys." Chris says, draping an arm around Sebastian's shoulders.
Emily grins. "Chris, hey. Seb and I are hanging out today." She responds happily.
Chris nods. "That's great, I'm glad you two are getting along." He looks down at Sebastian who drops his gaze to the floor, blushing.
"Yeah." Sebastian whispers.
Emily grabs ahold of Sebastian's hand, pulling him from Chris's embrace. "Well, we should get going, bye!" Sebastian stumbles after her down the stairs, sending Chris a small apologetic look and cupping a hand protectively over his nose.
Chris watches with a grin as the two run off, crossing through the carpark. He was happy Sebastian was growing closer with his friends, but he was hoping he would be able to hang out with Sebastian today.
"Where are we going?" Sebastian asks anxiously, staring at Emily with wide eyes. Emily chuckles and places a reassuring hand on Sebastian's thigh.
"Sebby." She says. "Stop worrying, we're just going to mine."
Sebastian lets out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and nods. "O-okay."
The drive to Emily's home, if you could even call it that, was short, leaving no space for awkward conversation. Sebastian stares in awe at the mansion, taking in the perfect white exterior, the multiple cars littered outside. Emily laughs at Sebastian's expression.
"Welcome to my home, young grasshopper." Emily jokes, parking the car outside of the two large front doors. "Come on."
Sebastian gets out of the car and follows Emily up the stairs, thanking her as she opens the doors for him. The inside was just as beautiful as the outside. A large chandler hung from the ceiling, glittering under the sunlight shining through the windows. There was a long staircase leading to the other stories, a black banister ensuring people's safety. Sebastian could've sworn that the tiles covering the floor were so clean he could see his scruffy reflection.
Emily places a hand on his shoulder. "Here, follow me." She interlocks their hands and leads him up the stairwell, bringing him to a hallway with multiple doors.
She opens one up and allows Sebastian to enter first, closing the door behind him. Emily's bedroom walls were a light shade of blue, bed covered in an ocean blanket. Her dresser, bedside table, desk and doors were old and rustic, almost as though they had been swept through the sea. A mirror, covered in shells, hung from one of the walls, along with many pictures of Chris and their friends with seashell covered frames. Sebastian was in awe.
"You really like the ocean, huh?" He whispers, trying to hide his shock. It was like a dream come true. Sebastian would die to have a room like this, but his would have a darker shade of blue with constellations covering them, illuminating the sky.
He would also have white or cream furniture to make the room pop, all painted with special patterns by himself. His artwork would be hung from the walls, a photo board placed beside his dresser. He had it all planned out. Though that would never happen.
Emily smiles and plops down on her bed. "Yeah." She responds, gazing up at the ceiling. "I want to become a marine biologist."
Sebastian nods and takes a seat beside her. "That's amazing."
Emily giggles. "I'm glad you think so."
"Oh?"
"My parents want me to be a lawyer or something I'm not interested in at all."
Sebastian frowns. "That sucks."
Emily shrugs. "I'm used to it, so I'll just wait so I can prove them wrong." She rolls herself around onto her stomach, Sebastian following her lead, and stairs intently into his eyes. Sebastian gulps and looks away, blushing.
"What?" He asks. "I-is there something on my face?"
Emily shakes her head and reaches her hand out to Sebastian's cheek, pausing when he flinches away. "I just... your bruise.. it looks painful." And it was. Sebastian was having moments of struggle to hold back tears at the immense pain. He needed to go to the hospital. Sebastian shrugs.
"It is. But I'll be okay."
Emily bites her lip. "You sure? I can get you some Panadol?"
That would be good. Sebastian didn't have any at home. "Oh um.. could I have some actually?" Sebastian mumbles.
Emily leans over to her bedside table and hands over a tray of Panadol. "Here. Do you have water in your bottle?"
"Yeah."
Sebastian takes the pills from her and downs two, all the while trying to ignore her intent gaze. "Can I ask you something?" Emily asks, taking the tray back and putting it on her bedside table once more.
"Uh sure." Sebastian says hesitantly. "What is it?"
"I've seen the way you look at Chris, I'm guessing you like him?" She responds bluntly. Sebastian gawks and goes to deny her statement, when Emily cuts him off. "I don't have a problem with it, Seb. You two would be so cute together!"
"R-really?" Sebastian stammers, face fully red.
Emily nods with a smile. "Really. I can help you get with him." She proposes, looking slightly hopeful.
Sebastian bites his lip. "He likes girls more though... right?" He whispers sadly. "He only sees us as friends."
"You never know." Emily smirks. "I've seen the way he looks at you two."
Sebastian looks away, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "I-I don't know." Sebastian mumbles. He didn't have a good feeling about this. Not at all. He could just end up embarrassing himself and losing Chris as a friend.
"Seb, it'll be fine!" Emily presses, nudging him in the side. "Used to date Chris, I know just how to win him over."
Sebastian sighs. There was no way that he could back out now. Emily was the stubborn type, and now seeing her, he knew exactly what Chris meant.
"Phase one of the plan begins tomorrow." Emily cuts through the silence, grinning to herself. Sebastian gawks. She can't be serious.
"Tomorrow?" Sebastian questions. "We haven't come up with a plan!"
Emily laughs. "Oh Sebby, I have a plan. You just gotta trust me, yeah?"
Sebastian sighs. "Fine." He mutters. "But you better not make me regret this." Emily squeals with delight and brings Sebastian in for a tight embrace.
"This is gonna be amazing!"
After an hour or two of talking over the plan, Emily drops Sebastian off at the street near his home. He waves her off, nerves pooling in his stomach, and begins his walk to his hell hole. Sebastian was terrified for tomorrow, he didn't want to do it, but there was no way that he could back out now.
He sneaks inside of his house, glad that his father was nowhere in sight and races up the stairs to his bedroom. Sebastian drops his bag down beside his bed and kicks off his shoes, pulling his buzzing phone from his back pocket.
LETITIA: hey! You wouldn't happen to be looking for a job at all... would you?
Sebastian scrunches his eyebrows together.
SEBASTIAN: hiya. Um not in particular, how come?
Sebastian places his phone down so that he could get dressed into some comfortable clothing. He throws on a random ripped up shirt and a pair of sweatpants, then grabs the device once more.
LETITIA: well, I saw at this diner that they needed some more workers. So I thought that maybe you and I could do it together?
Sebastian shrugs. He could do with the money.
SEBASTIAN: sure! Sounds good. I need the money anyway, when should we go in?
LETITIA: AHHH IM SO EXCITED!!!
LETITIA: tomorrow after school? If you aren't busy?
SEBASTIAN: I'm not busy.
LETITIA: sweet. I'm so happy you said yes! My mums been bugging me about getting a job.
SEBASTIAN: haha
Sebastian smiles and places his phone down on his desk, grabbing out a pen and some paper. It was time for phase one.
The next morning, Sebastian got ready at a fast pace, brushing his teeth and shoving the letter he had written into his bag before speeding down the stairs and out the door without his father spotting him. Sebastian had been able to find ways to avoid his father, just enough to let his nose heal and his mind to clear. Though it was anything but clear.
Sebastian paints a fake smile onto his face and takes those few steps into school. He was petrified. Today was phase one of the plan. Anonymous letter.
What had he gotten himself into? At least it was a distraction.
The two of them skipped out on lunch to place the letter in Chris's locker, Emily being one of the only people to know his combination. Sebastian hesitantly follows after Emily down the hall to Chris's locker. His heart was racing. Was he actually about to do this?
"C'mon," Emily whispers, grabbing his wrist and making him flinch. "We gotta hurry, Chris can't catch us." She had a point, Sebastian new this. He couldn't stop himself from being scared.
"I'm gonna keep watch." Emily says, pushing Sebastian up to the locker and walking to peak around the corners of the hall.
Sebastian whispers a thank you and uses the combination Emily gave him, jumping in fright as the locker pops open. It really was just that easy? Sebastian was surprised to find a photo of the artwork he had done on the sidewalk on the trip taped to the inside of Chris's door, along with many photos Chris and his friends. Sebastian's heart flutters.
The bell suddenly rung and Sebastian cursed. Shit! He quickly placed the letter into Chris's locker on top of some books and slammed it shut. When he turned around, Emily was nowhere in sight. Sebastian's heart leaped into the back of his throat and he ran off down another hall. She ditched?
A hand on his shoulder told him otherwise and he whipped around, terrified. Emily stood there, panting. "I'm so sorry I left you." She says. "I heard people coming and had to go distract them."
Sebastian let out a breath of relief. "It's okay, I thought you ditched."
Emily shook her head. "I would never, I'm sorry. But come on, let's go watch Chris read the note." She grabs his hand and they walk down the hall and peaked around the corner so that Chris wouldn't be able to see them.
Sebastian's heart was pounding. Chris was talking with Anthony and Robert while he entered in his combination, grinning happily. What happened next ripped Sebastian's heart from his chest.
When Chris opened his locker, there was a loud bang and something burst from it, covering Chris head to toe. Both Sebastian and Emily swung back behind the corner, utterly shocked.
"W-Wh-" Sebastian trails, holding his racing chest in pure horror.
"What the hell was that!" Emily hisses, eyes wide. She looked almost as terrified as Sebastian felt. After a moment, the two of them looked around the corner in hopes to find Chris laughing it off. Chris was taking shaky steps back, banging into the lockers on the other side of the hall and was struggling to breathe.
"Oh my god—" Emily whispers.
"What!" Sebastian cries. What was happening? Was he okay?
"Chris has this nut allergy! I'm not sure what it is but someone obviously grounded them into a liquid or something!" She yells, ripping an epipen from her front pocket and racing over.
Emily pulled the cap off and stabbed the epipen into Chris's exposed thigh. Sebastian watches as Chris slowly calms down from his wheezing as it begins to work it's magic and the grounded nuts are wiped from his face.
"Are you okay?" Anthony asks gently, handing Chris a water bottle and telling him to drink.
Chris takes in easy breaths between sips of water. He nods. "I-I think so."
Emily wipes the tears from his cheeks and gives Sebastian a look that meant 'come over and help.' Sebastian does and kneels in front of him, taking Emily's place in cupping his cheeks. "We need to get you to the nurse." He says calmly, though his own hands were shaking.
Someone new what they were doing and decided to sabotage it. Chris could have died if Emily wasn't so quick on her feet. "Has this happened before?" Sebastian asks.
Emily nods. "Yeah, I always carry an epipen for him just in case we can't reach the nurse in time."
"You didn't tell anyone, did you?" She asks once the two had taken Chris to the nurses office and were waiting outside. "Chris could've died just then!"
Sebastian shakes his head rapidly, sending a tinge of pain through his nose. "Heck no!" He exclaims. He didn't think he'd be able to tell anyone. Not even Letitia.
"Good." Emily mutters. "We need to be more careful."
"Are you crazy!" Sebastian responds. "Like you just said, Chris could've died! Why the hell are we still gonna do it if someone sabotages us again!"
Emily stands, deep in thought for a few moments. "Your right. We need to take a few weeks to rethink this. Chris safety comes first."
Sebastian breaths a sigh of relief just as the nurses door opens and a tired, swollen and red Chris emerges. "Hey." He croaks. "Thanks for waiting. I'm heading home."
The two nod. "O-of course." Sebastian stammers. "I'll walk you to the office." He takes Chris's shaking hand in his and begins to lead him away. "A-are you okay? I was so scared when I saw you."
Chris nods slowly. "Yeah. M'fine, my throats just a bit swollen is all." He responds. "You don't have to walk me, you know." Chris mumbles. "You'll miss class."
Sebastian shrugs. "I don't care. Your more important." As soon as the words leave his mouth, Sebastian is a blushing mess. Chris smiles.
"Thanks, Seb."
****