14th of February, 11:23 pm
RUEL'S POV
My heart stopped beating. I saw everyone's mouths moving but no sound was happening. I saw the fuzzed image of the police officers walking away and then being brought back into reality by Alannah's arms wrapping around me
A: 'Ruel? Are you ok?' she says into my ear as I manage to wrap my arms around her.
R: 'Um...I...I'll be ok' she pulls away and looks at me
T: 'Um, Ruel, Alannah and I are going to go back to her house...Are you ok with that?' she says as she places her hand on my shoulder
R: 'I'll be ok...' I nod my heavy head as if I was trying to convince my own self.
I watch as they walk out and Elliot and Grayson step in front of me.
G: 'Are you sure you don't want to come and sleepover at mine? Elliot is already is staying over'
R: 'Um, I'll be ok. I'm just gonna help Mia with cleaning up'
They nod and pat me on the back before leaving. I turned around to Mia who was already walking back to her kitchen, picking up beer cans from the ground.
R: 'Mia? You ok? You want me to stay?'
M: 'Uhh, no. I'll be ok, I'll probably call my parents soon anyways'
I nod and start to walk out the door. I open the front door before hearing her collapse in the kitchen. I quickly turned around and rushed to her where she sat on the floor crying. I sat next to her, pulling her into a hug but not saying anything, I didn't want to make her any more upset. I don't know why I wasn't crying too...But I guess everyone experiences shock and grief differently. I pull her up by her hand and help her walk to her bed
R: 'Do you want me to call your parents?'
M: 'Um...I'll...Just do it in..the morning'
R: 'Are you sure?' I say as she slips under her bedsheets and mumbles something. 'OK, I'm going to go now, I'll lock the door on my way out' I smile at her sleeping face as she nods as a final tear slid down her rosy cheeks
I start to walk towards her door when I hear her move around and mumble something so I turn around
M: 'Ruel, stay'
R: 'I'll stay in your brother's room, ok? I'll just go lock the door' I continent to walk down her stairs and text my parents that I was staying overnight after locking the door.
I walk back upstairs past her room to hear her mumble something again
R: 'You ok M?'
M: 'Here'
R: 'What? Here?' I stood in her doorway as she shuffled further away from the bed edge
M: 'Sleep here'
R: 'Mia, I don't think that's a good idea-'
M: 'Please' she cuts me off and looks at me with her red, sad eyes.
I didn't know what made me give in to it, I knew it was a bad idea, but I slipped off my shoes and slid into the bed next to her.
I tried to roll out of bed and walk out of her room as quietly the next morning, picking my shoes up but the creaks underneath my feet made her move.
M: 'What was this? A one night stand and now you're trying to leave?' she chuckles as she leans over to get her phone.
R: 'Sorry Mia, I just have to go...'
M: 'You're seriously not gonna help me clean up?'
R: 'Last night was a mistake, Mia...' I stand in her doorway, slipping my shoes on
M: 'You're saying that as if we hooked up Ruel, I was drunk but I would remember...I'm pretty sure'
R: 'Look, I'll call Tilly and Alannah to help to clean up, I just have to go, ok?' I walk out of her room and start to walk down the status as I hear her footsteps rush out her room, chasing after me.
I turned around to see her in a lace bralette and one of my Free Time trackies. I don't know why but I stood there frozen as she sighed and stepped down the step one above me, connecting her lips with mine. I pull away with a 'Um....'
R: 'Mia...Don't go there...'
M: 'Too late.'
I looked at her as she turned around and went back into her room...What just happened? And why did I regret pulling away?
GRAYSON'S POV
I woke up alone in Elliot's room, hearing plates and bowls clicking together down the hall. I threw on my shirt from last night and walked down the hallway with a yawn.
E: 'Cereal or toast?'
G: 'Uhh, toast' I said as I sat across from him at the kitchen island 'Where are your parents?'
E: 'They took Layla out for breakfast, just thought it was an excuse to give us space after last night'
G: 'I don't know whether I'm in shock or...I don't know'
E: 'Always had a feeling that she was dead? Yeah, I get that...I just kept my mouth shut because of Alannah' he chuckles as the piece of toast pops out of the toaster
G: 'Yeah, I guess so...I honestly hope that Ruel and Mia are ok...Mia didn't look good at all before we left'
E: 'Well, she was clearly fine with it'
G: 'What do you mean?' I said as he passed the butter and vegemite to me and I took the lid off.
E: 'Did Ruel not tell you?' I shook my head as I spread the butter on my toast. 'Mia kissed Ruel this morning'
G: 'Holy shit'
E: 'Yeah, well, I mean, kinda obvious she's had a thing for him for a while hey?'
G: 'Yeah, that's true, I guess she was waiting for y/n to out of the picture'
E: 'Jeez man, that sounds like Mia killed her'
G: 'I mean...'
E: 'Eat your toast' he laughs as I shove the piece into my mouth
TILLY'S POV
I slept over at Alannah's house last night, we both woke up, still pretty much in shock. I mean, we both had a good cry last night, trying to hide it from each other but I know she heard me go to the bathroom to take deep breaths and I hear her sniffing from under her covers. Plus, we both woke up with red eyes. We spent most of the morning signing up for all our classes for our dance studio here, checking back and forth with Mia to see which ones she was doing as well. We started to walk down one of the local cafes where we were so local that the wonder knew us when we walked in.
A: 'I just...I don't know..Didn't expect it I guess' she says as she slides into the booth across from me.
The cafe was a retro theme with records on the wall and pastel colours everywhere. Think Pop's diner in Riverdale but happier... and without the black hood.
T: 'I mean, I just didn't expect it to happen so quickly'
A: 'I mean, it's been about 2 weeks..I'm just surprised that they didn't tell us anything else, where they found the body, how are they gonna determine that it's y/n?'
T: 'Yeah that's true, I didn't think about that' I say as we both grab the menus even though we got the same thing each time we came here.
A: 'I'm just glad they didn't bust us for the drinks, I mean, we would've been ending up with a dead best friend and a fine...Sorry that wasn't funny'
T: 'It's fine...Better to make laughs about it then sit here all depressed about not having her around. At least we have answers' I say, putting the menu down as Maggie, our usual waitress comes to visit us
M: 'The usual girls?'
A: 'Yes please but can I have frozen coke instead of my Fanta?'
M: 'Of course, it will be right out' she smiles and walks away as the door swings open with a ring of the bell
We turn our heads to see two police officers walk in, hands in their pockets and approaching the counter
A: 'What they are doing here?'
T: 'I don't know but just act natural' Alannah nods in response as we both pull out our phones.
I turn my head back around to see them grab an Uber Eats bag and walking out, the door closing the with the ring of the bell.
A: 'We can't live like this....'
T: 'What do you mean?'
A: 'We can't get nervous every time we see a police officer, ok? We just have to normalise it...We shouldn't have to get nervous or act a certain way every time a police officer comes within a 5-meter radius of us. It's not normal and I don't think it should ever be normal.'
She was right. This wasn't normal. We can't live in fear that something terrible is going to happen every time we see a police officer. It wasn't normal. It should never be normal.