THE NEXT MORNING UNRAVELLED IN THE MOST ATROCIOUS WAY.

Not only was my life endangered by my own family, my own blood—my phone was nowhere to be found, all without a lock. My suspicions were high on Evan, considering how he was the last person I had spoken to, making me sigh in frustration.

I postponed going downstairs, because I knew Liam was as mad as he could possibly get. Last night he had excused me to get the bare minimum sleep I could afford due to my midnight ventures, but I knew today wasn't a day in my favor. I took an overwhelming amount of time to get ready, pulling a beige cardigan over my head and tying my hair in a high ponytail. Exhaustion still sat on my shoulders and made my eyes droopy—signaling how I was bound to fall asleep in AP Biology.

I couldn't panic around my room after a while, since getting late to school wasn't on my agenda. Shoes creaking on the wooden stairs gave my entrance away, and Liam, noticing me, whipped his whole body a three-sixty. He was standing right across the kitchen slab, a knife in his right hand.

A knife which could give Ted Bundy a run for his money.

I smiled bashfully, eyes dwindling down to the floor. "Hey, Li."

"Don't hey Li me," he narrowed his eyes and pointed the knife in my direction, voice brazen. This was scarier than I had thought, and that said a lot—since I had prepared myself for war. Nothing could prepare me for the potent thunderstorms he could bring, however, with his scrutinizing way of nitpicking between the lines.

"You have five minutes to give any clarification you think is necessary before I do the talking."

A nervous laugh flew past my lips. "It's probably not what you're thinking, I swear. I, uh, wasn't sneaking out or anything," I bounced on my toes lightly, tone not convincing in the slightest. "And I'm sorry! So sorry. Won't happen again. I was out of my mind, you know. Never happening again. Promise."

"I want to know what made you jump out of your window at midnight."

No way in hell was I telling him I wasn't alone, because I would simply endanger Evan's life forever—or until when Liam could beat the shit out of him with his baseball bat. "I was just feeling claustrophobic," I gave him my typical beady eyes, praying for it to work in my favour. "You know how the phone call took a toll on me, And I. . .I needed to clear my mind."

It remained the truth, and seemed to do the trick.

His eyes softened miraculously, shoulders slumping down. "You know it's not safe, Laura. I got so worried when I checked your room without you in it."

I was feeling guiltier every passing second. "I'm sorry, Li. I really am. I would never want you to get worried for me." I've done that enough times already.

"If you were out, you could have informed me," he muttered under his breath, attention now focused on the meal he was preparing. "I wouldn't have reacted in such a way then. Just tell me, okay?"

I grinned when he did. He was scary when angry, but it never lasted for long. "Promise. Ciao, now, Bunny Boy."

▂

Evan and I seemed to have a stare contest throughout the fourth period until the bell rang, either for work purposes or for him to justify our fake-nemesis alliance. After that, he just walked to my table and dropped my phone in my hands—the same coy smile stitched to his lips.

"I knew you had this."

"Doesn't require rocket science, Edwards," he rolled his eyes before passing a signature boyish grin, a hand messing his curls. I shook my head and tried to grab the phone, but he had lifted it upwards just in time.

I groaned. "What now, Evan?"

He hummed, swiftly sitting on the bench right next to mine. My eyes shifted in confusion, and our arms brushed for a second—all before he had distanced himself far away again. "I have a couple questions."

He went through my phone. I bit my lip. "What questions exactly?"

"Why don't you have a lock on your phone?"

I tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. "It's new."

"Are you from Tennessee?"

"Well, yea—"

"Because you're the only ten I see."

"...God, no."

"And before you say I went through your phone to find that," he paused, and then met my gaze, "or any other information, in that case, I'll let you know that Mrs. Rylee had mentioned your previous city during introduction."

"I wasn't going to say that," I said, but I almost was. He could probably tell, with the way I ignored his gaze. When he didn't go away, I gave him another narrowed glare. "What do you want now?"

"Question," he jutted his jaw, bringing his face closer to mine. For a second, I was puzzled at his actions—but he retreated back just as quick as quick as he came, akin to an unforeseen bolt of lightening. "Did you have no friends back in that school?"

Even though my eyes had widened, I spoke without missing a beat. "You went through my phone, didn't you?"

He held my gaze, "I told you I didn't, Laura," it took me as a surprise, in the form of heated cheeks—when he called me by my name and not the surname he had grown so used to. "I can't help it if you don't believe it."

"I can't, because you wouldn't know that without checking my contacts—"

"So, you don't have their numbers too," he continued, eyes on the table. "I mean, you said it yourself."

I dropped my gaze. That wasn't my best attempt at covering things up, and with him, things always found a way back to ruination. I had to pick the mask before he destroyed it even more, because Evan Parker had a habit of toying with boundaries in utter deception, unnervingly similar to a mixture of the angels and the devils, glittering gold and colossal darkness. 

"I'm sorry for being intrusive," he shook his head and gave me a polite smile. "I was just wondering."

"I lost their numbers," I lied straight through my teeth, hands intertwined on the desk. The class resumed with the same chatter and hustle, murmurs and knee jerks floating thinly in the air. "My old phone got lost amidst shifting, and I wasn't close to them anyway. Take it this way - I want to start afresh."

I was only partially lying. The need to start afresh broke boundaries far and wide, because if it were for the same town I grew up in and the same faces around me, sanity was the last thing I could conquer.

And it was either that Evan understood that I was lying completely, or I was desperate about hiding something wrapped up behind my bundled words—because no way did he believe what I just said, a soft look in his eyes.

Then, he grinned.

"Starting afresh has been going well, then?"

I picked up the façade I had lost minutes ago, and gave him my best eye-roll. "I wouldn't say for sure, you know—with you by my side."

▂

"I have a plan for the weekend."

Sean almost went unheard. Everybody was busy eating, some of us talking about random affairs. Xavier was showing Evan something on his phone, while Leo and Raymond invested in talking about new music they co-found. I was meddling in between, though much of my conversation was with Stella, and the infamous Mr. Williams who wouldn't give her a break.

We weren't done in any way, either.

Xavier was the first to whip his head in Sean's direction, laugh mocking. "Why would we want to know your weekend plans?"

Every single conversation reminded me how comedic it was—sitting with the boys on their table. I didn't know how it ended up happening, up until Xavier had walked me to them and we had just rolled with it.

The shy brunette had warmed up to us within three months, now providing Xavier a bone-chilling glare. "Let me continue, man."

Everybody fell silent. He smiled, before drumming his fingers slightly on the wooden table. "So. . .I was looking up places to visit near us. Do you guys want to go somewhere?"

Xavier grinned. "As in, a trip?"

"As in, a road trip."

My attention got robbed off at the mention of a road trip, eyes lined with curiosity. "Road trip? To where?"

Sean shrugged. "That's. . .what's not confirmed," he looked warily at us, but the boys were already making faces and facepalming themselves. "But hey, if you guys are free this weekend, I'm sure we can make room for this yet-to-be-decided trip."

Chloe hummed, eyes not leaving the table. "I love road trips, but we do need to know the destination, right?"

Raymond was way too excited to be sitting with us. With eyes bright and starry and mouth twitched up wide, he spoke, "But isn't a road trip known for the journey and not the destination?"

"Nice quote," Stella pointed out. "You on Pinterest too?"

Leo snorted, elbowing her. "Let the guy live, Reyes."

Sean waved a hand, magically diverting the topic to the important thing. "Anyway, I am thinking cities close to Vegas, as in where we are right now. Xavi, can you search it up?"

It took him a heartbeat. With furrowed eyebrows and sharp gaze, he recited what he had just found. "There's a lot of local cities, but aren't worth a road trip, you know. The first major city with a good distance is Los Angeles—four hours or so."

"I've never been there," I muttered, smile intact. Evan continued almost immediately, hands folded. "I have, and it can make a good destination—only if you get past the immense population and sky-high price for everything."

Of course, I thought, it was LA we were talking about. When he shifted his gaze back to me from the rest of us, he saw my eyes still searching for answers.

"A couple photoshoots happened there this year—and also my last gig."

I was astonished at the ease with which he replied, looking at how many loose ends I left in conversations. And when he spoke about gigs and photoshoots, I couldn't deny the admiration that took over my features. "Wow."

He just rose an eyebrow, smug as ever.

"Well, it's not like we are going to stay there for more than a night. Road trips are meant to be about the journey. We can actually work this out if we want," Sean spoke in a rush, checking his watch. Lunch break would get over soon, and this was the only time all of us could have a decent talk. "What do y'all say?"

Everybody had a look of doubt on their faces, silence overpowering the conversation. Xavier had hopped in to persuade Stella and Chloe, and Evan stared at me for what seemed like centuries. "How about you?"

I shrugged. "I. . .don't know. You?"

He gave me one of his ever-enthralling smiles, and my eyes fell onto his hands when he put them on the table. "I accompany them anywhere," he laughed, and looked intently in my eyes. "And with the way your eyes light up at the mention of road trips, I would've gone if I were you."

My cheeks burned slightly, eyes crinkling. "I love them."

"I know."

His gaze was still fixated on me, all while others went on discussing about the actual possibilities of the trip. Everybody had grins on their faces, excitement on the table tripling tenfold. Going or not going depended highly on what I decided, and on what Liam thought. By the time I had finished my food quietly with the occasional interruption for my opinion, it was finalized that the road trip would be, in fact, taking place.

And it brought back the honeyed memories of my past before things went crashing down.

• • •

author's note:

hey! i am so excited for what's to come, i hope you are too! let me know what you think. who's your favourite character till now? 

i love you. you're golden <3