"What the hell is he doing here?" Caden huffed as I approached him and Sam. He was a confusing person for me to grasp. On one hand, he seemed to be the happiest person on the planet. By that, I meant that Caden was almost always smiling, and if he wasn't, it was usually for the sake of dramatic effect. His personality was childish, and he was usually quite loud and overbearing. Dennis was overbearing too, but in a different way.

"Great question." Sam put on a fake smile, and I rolled my eyes at both of them. "Why the hell is he here?"

"Does he know about everything?" I immediately asked Sam, looking between the two as I awaited an answer. Despite Caden being there on Friday, I had no idea what Sam told him or if he even knew about my involvement.

Sam just frowned and threw his head back, pissed off that I even dared to come up to him in the courtyard and bring up the demons shading his face. But what else was I meant to do? It was written in every stroke of purple painted onto his skin. Sam was over his head in something that he couldn't control, and the sheer gravity of it managed to drag me down with him. "For fuck's sake, can it please just be ignored when I'm in school?"

"You're fucking with me, right? There's no way in hell I'm going to just pretend like it doesn't exist when my own life is on the line." I snapped at him.

Caden's eyes danced between us as he tried to keep up with the conversation. It was clear that he wasn't succeeding when his lips parted and he spoke up. "What are you guys talking about?"

"The situation." Sam told him.

That only resulted in his expression becoming more confused. "Between you and Sawyer?"

Furrowing his brow, Sam asked, "What are you talking about, Cade?"

"You and Sawyer..." He trailed off, watching Sam closely until his lips suddenly went still.

And just like that, I was incredibly confused as well. We both just stared at Caden for a long moment, who eventually cleared his throat and allowed for his face to light up in the normal wash of warm sunshine. "Never mind. What are you guys talking about?" He asked again.

Sam shook his head to himself and then quietly answered. "The drug related stuff."

"Oh!" Caden's eyes went wide with realization and he quickly nodded. "I understand now."

"Okay then..." Sam shrugged his friend off, regaining his train of thought as he returned his gaze back to me. His hazel eyes bore annoyedly into me. "So why are you even bothering me about it anyway?"

"Because shit just got even worse." A sea of nausea raged in my stomach as I took out my phone and turned the screen towards them.

Caden was the one to read it out loud. "You sleep like a kitten in those black boxers. Don't forget that we're always watching."

It sounded even more humiliating and dehumanizing to hear those words come from Caden's mouth. It was a text message I received from an unknown number earlier that morning. I didn't have to question who it came from, as it was pretty clear. My hands began to shake as I tried to school my nervousness. "What the fuck am I supposed to do?"

Sam was trying to minimize the situation, but I could tell that it wasn't that easy. "You could take it as a compliment. They did say you looked like a kitten."

I bit down the urge to slap him across the face. "I'm being serious, Sam."

"Were your boxers actually black?"

"Why do you think I'm so stressed?"

Sam held up his hands and shrugged. "Just figured I'd ask."

"What am I supposed to do?" As much as the idea of going to Sam for help again was utterly humiliating, I had to put aside my hatred for him to see what his suggestion might be. Somehow those creeps discovered my phone number, and it was entirely confirmed that they were keeping an incredibly close eye on me. It was beyond disturbing.

His face softened as he realized just how shaken I was, and he sighed. "I don't know. They clearly like freaking you out."

"It's working."

The courtyard was warmed by the sun rays peeking through the clouds playfully. I was supposed to be eating lunch with Millie in the cafeteria like I usually did, but I was honestly avoiding her all morning. I knew that she was going to be worried about what happened on Friday, and I couldn't bring myself to completely lie to her. So instead I opted for making certain that our paths would not cross until I decided it was time. It wasn't the smartest move, but I wasn't the smartest person either.

"How come they want to see you in your boxers but not the rest of us, anyway?" Caden pointed out, and I bit down the urge to roll my eyes at such a pointless question.

Sam laughed. "You want them watching you in your boxers?"

"No, but isn't it weird that they want to watch Sawyer in his boxers but not anyone else who is involved?" He did make some semblance of a point, but I wasn't sure how productive it was. Regardless of why, they had chosen me as their favorite target. Caden then tapped his chin in deep thought, reminding me of a child. "Maybe they're just bored."

"I'd imagine that it's probably a bit more complicated than that, Cade." Sam had unending patience when it came to Caden, and that was something that I knew ever since he joined Sam & Co. It became even more apparent whenever I watched them interact like that. Caden was always overflowing with positive energy and useless contributions to the conversation at hand, while Sam would listen to him dutifully and always have a response ready.

Maybe it was just because I didn't have any patience of my own, or because I didn't know Caden like Sam did, but I didn't think that I would be able to put up with him like he did.

"It's always complicated." Caden pouted. "Every five seconds they seem to be focused on something else for no real reason. It'd be a lot easier if they would just pick a formula and stick to it."

"They're drug lords, I don't think they have a rational cell in their bodies." I cut in.

"Fair. Imagine if they were like business men or something, dressed up in suits." He giggled to himself, and I didn't even want to know what he could have possibly been imagining.

"Anyway." I shook my head, trying to get the topic back on track. "I don't know what to do, I don't even feel safe in my own home."

"For starters, you can try wearing something over your boxers." Caden suggested, and I could tell by the way he said it that he didn't even mean for it to sound insensitive. However, it didn't stop his words from annoying me, because I was being serious. I felt violated and unsafe in my own home. It was a horrifying thing to be dealing with, and I already had to swallow my pride when approaching Sam about the message.

As though sensing the fact that Caden wasn't exactly the correct person to be interacting with me at that moment, Sam cleared his throat and spoke to him. "Hey, Cade, I heard Brian snuck out of the exit near the bathroom. I'm pretty sure he's alone."

"All alone?" Caden tilted his head like a puppy. "What's he doing out there?"

"Smoking, probably." Sam shrugged.

"I thought he said he would quit." His voice was dejected and his eyes were sad.

Furrowing his brow, Sam didn't seem to know what he was talking about. "He said he would quit?"

"He promised me he would." With those words Caden began to walk away, lifting his head with determination. "No friend of mine will get lung cancer!"

"He is such a weird person." I thought aloud once he was out of earshot.

Looking at me as though trying to assess if those words were intended to be malicious or not, Sam frowned. "He's got his reasons."

I held up my hands in a mock surrender. "Don't we all?"

"Whatever. Point is that it's pretty disturbing." Sam decided to redirect the conversation back to where it began, pointing at my phone as he spoke.

"Exactly, I don't know what to do. They're clearly adamant about torturing me and watching everything I do. These people have way too much time on their hands."

He kneaded his lips with his teeth thoughtfully, as though contemplating something within himself. Biting his lip as he always did whenever he was thinking or stressed out. I had known him plenty long enough to take note of the habit that consumed him ever since we met. Finally, he spoke. "I don't mind driving you to my place after school if your parents aren't home again. I get why you wouldn't want to be alone with a bunch of psychos watching you."

As much as it disgusted me to spend any extra time with someone I hated so entirely, I knew that he made a point. At least I knew that Sam wasn't going to murder me in my sleep, as shocking as that probably was because I didn't think that I would be so merciful to him in return.

"I don't know. I'm worried about Millie." I admitted.

He raised a brow. "What about Millie?"

"I've been avoiding her since Friday. I don't know what excuse to give."

"Just tell her that she can't get involved. And I mean it, Sawyer. If you try to tell the truth it could make this even worse for both of us."

"I know, but it's not easy to keep something this massive from her. Millie and I tell each other everything." I huffed.

"I tell my friends everything too, which is exactly how they ended up involved in my shit. I regret it. They don't deserve to be beat and psychologically toyed with. But it's too late for that. Don't do the same to her if you care about her."

"Okay, okay." I sighed, trying to muster up some semblance of an excuse to tell her. Just as I was doing that, I happened to notice someone approaching.

It was a face known by most in the school, since she was one of the most popular girls around. Her long black hair laid in thick waves upon her shoulder, her complexion dark and free of any possible blemishes. Jocelyn Abram was drop-dead gorgeous no matter how anyone spun it. And by drop-dead gorgeous, I meant that she would probably drop anyone dead if they dared to go against her.

"Sam." She smiled innocently, casting a brief scowl my way before grabbing onto his arm. As far as I knew, they weren't in a relationship. But they knew each other since they were kids, so she had no problem making herself comfortable. "Do you need me to save you from your situation?"

She was talking about me, and it just caused me to scoff. The last thing I wanted to do was watch her drool over him. "Don't worry, I'm leaving anyway."

"It's such a shame." She feigned sadness, and I just ignored her, turning on my heel back towards the cafeteria.

I made my way through the school in search of my best friend, wondering where she could have gone. I knew that it was cruel of me to ignore her text messages and walk to school instead of letting her pick me up that morning, but I was terrified of upsetting her by saying the wrong thing. It was an unspoken rule that we trusted each other with almost everything in our lives, especially since we grew up doing everything together.

And her abandonment issues were getting worse every year, since her parents were trying less and less to be there for her. Kiera was off to college. I was the only one left who could directly care for Millie, and it frustrated me to know that I would have to distance myself from her. We never really introduced other friends into our little duo, because we never needed to. I was starting to wish that maybe we did.

Turning the corner to head towards her locker, I stopped abruptly at the shocking sight. There stood Millie, just as I hoped, talking to someone that I never would have expected.

Dennis was standing beside her, leaning against her locker door as he laughed at something she said. Her cheeks were vaguely flushed, and she was smiling at him in return. I was so thrown off that I could only stare.

Then I finally forced my feet to move, slightly annoyed that he would try to flirt with my best friend like that. As soon as I was close enough, I interrupted their conversation. "Hey, Millie."

Almost instantly, she turned around and looked me over. It was clear that she was trying to make sure that I was really there, and that I wasn't hurt. Then she crossed her arms over her chest. "Where the hell have you been?"

"What are you two talking about?" I said instead. I didn't trust Dennis for a second. From the day I first met him, I knew that he definitely had plenty of problems to work through on his own. The last thing I wanted was for him to drag Millie into that storm.

"Nothing really." He smiled slyly, knowing full-well that it would annoy me.

It worked. "Then you can get a move on."

"I was here first." He said.

"Well I am here now."

Millie placed a hand on my shoulder and shook her head. "We can talk some other time, Dennis. I've got something I need to talk to Sawyer about."

He scowled, looking between us for a long moment. Then he conceded with a brief nod, turning on his heel to most likely bother some other pretty girl. As soon as he was far enough away, Millie was crossing her arms over her chest and scowling at me. "What's going on? First we see Sam talking to the most suspicious people I've ever seen, then you disappear with the person you hate most, and you ignore me all weekend. Are you okay? Did something happen?"

"It's really complicated, and I'm sorry for not talking to you sooner." I tried to formulate an easy way to avoid telling her any details. "But Sam is involved in some crazy shit, and I accidentally got myself involved in it too."

"What kind of crazy shit?" She furrowed her brow worriedly.

"Bad shit." I sighed. "Like so bad I can't tell you."

"You can't open this conversation like that and expect me to not want to know more." I empathize with what she was saying, but as much as it hurt me to admit it, Sam was right. It would be worse for everyone if I dragged another person into the destruction that was to come.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, Millie, I really am. But if I tell you it could put you in immediate danger. You have to trust me on this."

"Danger? Exactly what kind of shit are we dealing with?" Her voice was suddenly much more quiet as she realized the severity of it.

"Just trust me, please."

Her lips pursed tightly and her eyes studied me closely. I could tell that she was anxious to see what was going to come next. "I trust you, Sawyer, but I just want to make sure that you're not going to die or something."

"I'm not going to die." It was hard to say those words with a level of believability held in them, because I honestly had no idea if they were true. Who knew what those druggies had in mind for me, or what they were willing to do. But I couldn't tell Millie that. She would end up having a panic attack in my place, and I didn't want to force that stress onto her.

"Okay." She released a long breath, thinking over my words carefully as she tried to process the entire thing. "Are you coming over tonight? You can pick the movie if you want."

"I... I can't." It pained me to say something like that, because even though I downplayed just how scary everything was, I knew that Millie could read me like a book. There was no way that she didn't secretly sense my underlying fears.

"Why not? Is it because of Sam?"

"Yeah. I've got to go to his house, which is as shocking to me as it probably is to you. And disturbing too." I told her.

Millie nodded vaguely to herself, bottling up whatever emotions that wished to escape. "Okay."

"Okay?" I tentatively asked.

"Yeah." I didn't know exactly what was running through her mind, but I didn't ask. She needed to process whatever it was on her own time, because she normally would tell me what was bothering her when she was ready. The bell soon rang, causing the hallway to fill up with students.

We walked silently to our next class, which wasn't incredibly uncommon for us since we were comfortable enough with each other to be used to silence.

But I couldn't help feeling like we were marching towards our demise. All thanks to Sam's stupidity, a butterfly flapped its wings and my own life was soon caught in the wind of a storm that I couldn't control.

What would the storm take in the process?

•O•O•