by Raathi Chota
“Are you okay?” I asked. She gave a short nod as she nervously bit her lip. I was taken back as she slowly wrapped her arms around me. I went stiff but soon relaxed as she tilted her head up and whispered in my ear.
“I’m scared.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat as I absorbed those words. Whoever or whatever was in her room suddenly made her afraid, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I felt useless.
“I’ll make you some tea,” Miranda mumbled as we pulled apart. Lana gave her a nod as Marcus followed her. Melissa placed the dirty shoes on the ground and exited the room. I turned back to see Benny’s jaw clenched as he stared at the floor. Liam’s jaw was still open as he stared at the shoes, while Nick held a blank expression. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Lana’s glare at them, but I was confused by it. The dim light by Lana’s bed didn’t make the situation better as it gave off a depressed mood. I felt everyone’s eyes on me as I glanced around.
“I’ll be going then.” I awkwardly coughed. Even though I didn’t want to leave Lana again, especially with her past tormentors, something told me to go. As soon as I was out of the room, I heard the door shut behind me, followed by whispers. I let out a huff as I walked downstairs. I was about to go into the kitchen until I saw the front door open. Carter sat on the stairs of the porch with his head in his hands. Then I remembered that I sent them to catch the guy who was in Lana’s room. We could’ve called the police, but no one was hurt…besides, I didn’t think the police would’ve been keen to find eight guys and three girls in a house on a Friday night. I heard the kettle boil as I looked over my shoulder and into the kitchen. Miranda leaned against the counter as Marcus kissed her. I scrunched my nose up and shuddered as I looked away. I walked outside onto the porch and saw Aidan in the middle of the road in his nightgown. The frying pan was abandoned on the ground. I raised my eyebrow as I looked down at the blond boy. “What the fuck is going on?” I demanded as Ethan stood next to me. Carter shook his head as he pointed to Aidan. I walked down the stairs and slowly approached Aidan, who had his back toward me. “Aidan, dude? What the hell?” He slowly spun around with a horrified look. “Did you get him?” I asked as Carter and Ethan stood next to me. We stood in a circle, everyone silent. Ethan stared at the ground with a look of guilt, while Aidan had no expression. Carter ran his hand through his blond locks and shook his head. “Well, do we know who it is?” I asked. Aidan picked up the frying pan and studied it. He turned to me with a blank look.
“It was one of James’s men,” he stated. My eyes widened. Why was one of his men here? What did he want with Lana? How does he know that we’re all here? Then again, we’re talking about the most wanted man in the USA.
“What happened? What did he say?” I blurted out as I frantically looked at my friends. Ethan looked at me with his dull brown eyes. They had bags under them as he sighed.
“He’s not done with us.”
***
Lana
“You had one job!” I yelled as soon as I heard Blake’s footsteps descend.
“We kinda sorta lied,” Liam mumbled as he let out a chuckle.
“Well, you know what?” I rhetorically asked as he picked up his black Converse shoes. “We are kinda, sorta fucked!”
Benny paced up and down the room as Nick placed his hands on either side of my shoulders. I stared into his round blue eyes as he told me to remain calm. Once he was sure I was calm, he slowly let go of my shoulders and stopped Benny from pacing. I turned to look at Benny and noticed his eyes were bloodshot from the lack of sleep. His hair was messy, and his clothes were wrinkled.
“We dumped the stuff, but we couldn’t stay,” Benny said as he approached me. “If we stayed, it’d only make things suspicious as to why a bunch of teenagers are lurking around a junkyard!”
“Well, you didn’t have to lie to me!” I cried as I shoved him away from me.
“Lana, you were going through so much already we didn’t want to you stress even more,” Liam whispered as Benny and I glared at each other.
“Well, now I’m going to stress twice as much because the shoes that you wore that day are here!” I pointed to Liam’s high tops.
“How did they get here? Who was that guy?” Nick asked.
“I don’t know,” I lied. I couldn’t tell them that it was one of James’s men. They didn’t even know who he was. It still gave me goosebumps when he entered my room. I wasn’t asleep; I stared at the wall. One minute I was alone, then the next he was there, dressed in black. It didn’t make sense as to how they knew. He didn’t even talk loudly, just whispered as he told me what a murderer I was. I got too paranoid and yelled out that it was self-defense. Then when Blake rushed through the door, he was gone like a speck of dust. His last words still echoed through my mind. We’re watching you. I snapped out of my thoughts as Benny laughed. It was a psychotic laugh that scared me.
“Now someone else knows what we’ve done,” he said after a while.
“Maybe he doesn’t know that I ki—” My optimism cut off when Benny scurried toward me. He pressed me up against the wall as he glared at me.
“That you killed someone,” he finished, then banged his arms against the wall so I couldn’t escape. “Bullshit. Not only does he know about you, but it concerns us too!”
“Benny, dude,” Nick mumbled as my bottom lip trembled. I looked at Benny, his chest pressed against mine. His eyes filled with rage and anger that seemed oddly familiar. The position that we were in felt familiar as the thought of him bullying me came to mind. Benny’s facial features softened as the realization hit him. His shoulders slumped as his arms dropped to his side. He licked his lips as he backed away and spun around. Liam tried to comfort Benny, but he shoved Liam away as he walked toward the door. Only then I noticed Blake, Miranda, Aidan, Ethan, and Carter by the door. Blake glared at Benny as the three walked out and the other five walked in. I was still against the wall as everyone else stood on the other side of the room. Miranda slowly approached me and placed the hot cup of tea on my bedside table. She looked at me with those sad eyes as she brought me in for another embrace. I wrapped my arms around her as I let out a sigh. The worst part of it all was that I couldn’t tell her. I didn’t want to involve her too. Drugs were one thing, but a dead body was a whole lot different. I’m only doing this to protect her; if I went down, I didn’t want her to come with me. She had Melissa and a boyfriend who cared about her.
“He wouldn’t hurt you; he’s just worried,” Miranda whispered. Once she pulled away, I gave her a sad smile. Miranda walked out of the room, which left the five of us. I sat down on my bed and looked at the ground.
“He almost hurt you,” Blake mumbled.
“Almost…and he wasn’t going to,” I said as I looked up at Blake.
“Bullshit, Lana, we all saw that back there,” Blake demanded. “The dude’s got a short temper.”
“He’s scared!” I shouted as I rose to my feet. “I’m scared; we’re all fucking scared!”
My heavy breaths were the only thing to be heard in the stuffy room. Blake stared at me with no emotion as Aidan rubbed his eyes.
“What do we do?” Aidan asked after a while.
“Go to the cops,” Ethan stated, causing Blake and me to grab him.
“No!” we exclaimed as he sent us a questioning look.
“And tell them what?” Carter tilted his head at Ethan. “Hey, we’d like to report a guy who’s working for James Cornelius. He broke into the sheriff’s home and left us a warning, along with a goddam pair of shoes!”
“Cornelius.” Aidan snorted as we glared at him.
“Where do the shoes fit in?” Blake asked with a puzzled look. I searched the floor for the familiar black Converse, but they were nowhere to be found. Liam must’ve taken them.
“Did he tell you anything?” Ethan asked as he placed his hands on my arms.
“You’re right, they’re watching us,” I mumbled up into his dull eyes. He let out a deep sigh a
s he brought me in for a hug. I slowly wrapped my arms around him as he placed his chin on my head. Ethan let go, and I ran my hand through my hair. I sat down on my bed as the four discussed the situation. I drank the tea Miranda made me and thought of what she said earlier. Surely Benny wouldn’t hurt me—he changed, and I knew it. He was just afraid of what would happen to us.
“Okay,” Aidan said. “It’s been a long night; we’ll figure this out in the morning.”
I nodded as Carter, Ethan, and Aidan walked over to me. Each of them said goodnight and kissed my forehead. I felt my cheeks warm up, but thankfully the room was dim. I watched Blake as he strolled toward me. He sat down next to me and looked straight ahead as if it were too daring to look at me.
“We failed,” he mumbled as I raised a brow. “Your dad said, ‘If you care about my daughter, you’ll stay away, that’s the only way that she’ll be safe.’ I failed.”
“Blake, it’s not your fault,” I said as I rested my palm over his. He flinched as he pulled away and shook his head.
“No, Lana, we fucking failed. I failed to protect you, and now you have to go through all this shit,” Blake said as he put his head in his hands.
“Blake, it’s not your fault. James is just a terrible person.” I mentally slapped myself as those words came out.
“We should’ve never met,” he said after a while. “Your life wouldn’t be so fucked up if I didn’t enter it.”
“Blake, please don’t say that.”
“It’s my fault. My life wouldn’t be so exciting if I hadn’t met you,” I said as we let out a chuckle. “I wouldn’t have amazing friends caring for me. I wouldn’t have you,” I whispered as he finally turned to me. His dark brown eyes seemed to glow from the moonlight. His nose piercing shone as he licked his lips. I couldn’t help but stare at it as he moved closer. I felt his breath on my face as he leaned in and placed his forehead on mine. He closed his eyes as our lips touched, and I did the same. I heard a sigh as Blake’s forehead left mine. My eyes shot open as I saw him on the bed while he avoided eye contact. A strange feeling whirled through my stomach as I thought of what we were about to do. Then a stinging pain of rejection swept through me as Blake pulled away. Heck, we didn’t even kiss. The only kiss we ever shared was at the cottage, and that was short. I felt embarrassed as I bit the inside of my cheek.
“Come on.” He snapped me out of my thoughts. I noticed he stood in front of me and rolled his eyes. His back was turned to me as he walked toward the door. “You’re not sleeping here tonight. No way in hell are we letting you out of our sight after that; you can sleep on the sofa.”
And just like that, Blake Gunner could take something special and act as if nothing happened.
***
“What in the world?” My eyes fluttered. I finally opened them to see my mother’s stare at the teenagers sprawled out in her living room. I was on the sofa, while Marcus and Miranda shared another couch, and Blake slumped across the La-Z-Boy. Nick and Melissa took my room while everyone else was on the floor.
“Morning, Mrs. Willson,” Aidan greeted from his position on the floor. His nightgown creased as he stretched.
“Morning?” my mother repeated as she raised a brow. “Kids, it’s already the afternoon.”
My eyes widened as I shot up from the sofa along with everyone else. The clock on the wall stated three o’clock as the winter sky beamed through the window.
“Holy crap, what a night,” Carter muttered as he ran his hand through his blond locks. I turned to see Marcus on the sofa with Miranda on his lap. He tried to wake her up as she groaned and snuggled into his neck. Everyone else got up as my mom walked into the kitchen. My eyes landed on Blake, who scrolled through his phone. I bit my lip as the thought of him pulling away from the kiss entered my mind. With everything that happened, a gut feeling of myself preferred him with Kelly West.
“Earth to Lana.” Liam waved his hand in front of my face. I squinted my eyes at him as I swatted his hand away and got up. For once, I was glad that we had three bathrooms because the guys already argued about who’s going to shower first. I strolled upstairs and opened the door to my room. Melissa sat on my bed, already showered and dressed. Off to the side, I saw a shirtless Nick with a towel wrapped around his waist. He looked like heaven with his six-pack and tanned skin. His blond hair was soaked, which made me nervous.
“Oh crap!” I said, then turned away. “Sorry.”
Melissa let out a laugh as Nick walked back into the bathroom and shut the door. I turned to her with flushed cheeks as she smirked at me.
“Should’ve knocked,” I mumbled as I sat down next to her.
“It’s your room,” she stated. Silence took over as I planned the rest of the afternoon. It seemed like we’d chill since it’s so cold. “So what happened last night with you and Blake?” Melissa asked with a grin. I let out a sigh as I looked down at my hands.
“We almost kissed,” I began as her eyes lit up, “but then he pulled away and acted as if nothing happened.”
Melissa frowned as she placed her hand on my shoulder and rubbed it.
“Do you like him?”
“I-I don’t know…” I trailed off.
“Lana, he likes you a lot.” I scrunched my nose up as she spoke. “Maybe he’s holding back because he doesn’t want to end up hurting you.”
“Can’t he see he’s already hurting me?” I demanded. “You don’t hurt the people that you care about!”
Melissa stayed quiet as I took sharp breaths. I felt like a crazy person as I let out a laugh.
“Who am I kidding? He doesn’t even care.”
“Lana, don’t say th—”
“Well, it’s the truth!” I snapped. I heard my bathroom door open, and Nick walked out entirely clothed. He raised his brows, and Melissa nodded. She stood up and faced me.
“Just remember that you can’t always choose the people who’re there for you.”
I rolled my eyes and watched them walk out. Once they were finally gone, I got up and walked to my closet. I didn’t feel bright today, so I decided on a big black sweater and ripped blue jeans. I gathered my things, then walked into the bathroom.
I entered the kitchen and saw Benny dish up lasagna. He wore a faded tee and a jacket on top of it. His hair was damp from the shower, and it covered his eyes as he glanced up with a remorseful look. I leaned against the island as I took a plate and dished my potato wedges. Mom was behind me. I heard footsteps approach, and I turned to see Blake enter. He wore a gray hoodie and a leather jacket over it, with black jeans and Doc Martens. The dog tag that Blake wore around his neck swayed against his rock-hard chest. I locked eyes with Blake as he gave me a blank look, but soon looked down. We stood in silence as we dished our food. As I was about to reach for the garlic bread, Benny got the same idea and beat me to it. Our hands touched as I looked up at him and sheepishly pulled away.
“Sorry, you were first,” Benny mumbled as he pulled away from the food.
“No, you go,” I said with a smug look.
“I insist, ladies first,” he sang as he pushed the plate toward me. I was about to push it back to him until I heard a groan. Benny and I turned to look at Blake, who stared at us.
“I’ll go,” he said with a fake smile as he took a piece of garlic bread. Benny and I stared at each other as Blake picked up his plate and walked toward the living room. He mumbled something along the way, but I couldn’t hear what he said. I quickly took a piece of garlic bread and added it to my plate. Benny finished and left the kitchen. I soon followed, and eventually, everyone gathered to watch a movie. I noticed the tense atmosphere that surrounded us as we ate in silence. Liam tried to lighten the mood, but nobody was interested; even Aidan was in his own world.
I was back in the kitchen as everyone else collected his or her things. I placed the leftovers in the fridge and shut the door. When I spun around, I saw Benny leaning against the counter.
“How’d you sleep?” he casually asked.<
br />
“Err…good, and you?”
“Good.” Benny let out a deep sigh as I watched him tug on his hair. He pushed himself off the counter as he approached me. I took a step back as my body hit against the sink. “Lana, I’m sorry,” he breathed out. “I don’t want you to fear me. I would never hurt you, I’m jus—”
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “We all had a rough night. I understand.”
Benny stared at me, then nodded. I watched as he bit his lip and took a few steps back. We heard laughter followed by footsteps as Liam and Nick entered the kitchen. I watched as Nick leaned against the doorframe while Liam propped himself up on the counter.
“What are we gonna do?” Nick asked, then looked over his shoulder.
“I don’t know. First we have to find out who was in Lana’s room, the—”
“Or we can visit him,” Liam cut Benny off.
“Visit who?” I asked. Liam held a mischievous grin as he looked both ways. Once he knew that it was sure that nobody heard us, he spoke.
“Jack August.”
My eyes widened as Benny snapped his head to Liam. Nick didn’t seem fazed by it as he looked at his shoes.