OLIVIA 

When they got back to the high school football field, they found Noah checking IDs at the gate.

"Hey, Olivia, right?" Noah grinned at her. "Nice seeing you again so soon. You with anybody?"

"Yeah." Olivia motioned to Milo and his friends behind her. "I'm with them.

Noah's face contorted into something that Olivia couldn't decipher. The moment passed quickly, though, and he looked back at her with an easy smile, that slight irregularity gone.

"I don't need to see your IDs, guys, I know you all," he said, and he waved them through.

"Milo," Olivia said when they were out of earshot, and Noah had started talking to the next group of people. "Did you see that?"

Milo frowned. "See what?"

"He looked like - like he remembered something ugly."

He didn't seem to follow. "Like an ugly person?"

Olivia shook her head. "It was nothing," she murmured. Milo gave her a concerned look, but at her insisting, he let up.

It took longer than Olivia thought it would for the game to start, but eventually, the commentator began speaking over the loudspeaker, and the game began.

Olivia had no idea how to play football. She didn't know what the players were running for, or running from, or running to, but she knew she didn't mind being there. Emily sat on one side of her, at equal times roaring and standing up and cheering, and Milo sat on her other side, randomly yelling out what she assumed were instructions to players that would never hear him, and rapidly explaining what was going on to Olivia.

She had her binoculars pressed to her eyes so she could see what was going on down at the bottom of the field. She could see the back of Melanie's cheer uniform - the cheerleaders were all facing away from them, sitting at the very bottom - and she could see Jackson's jersey - number seven - and though she knew she could never belong, she let herself pretend a little.

It was about twenty minutes in, just a little while before the cheerleaders and band would come out for halftime, when she noticed him. She had turned to face Milo as he spoke to her when she caught him out of the corner of her eye.

At first, it was only one. A man in a dark coat and sunglasses was standing about five rows behind them, conspicuously craning his neck to see over the sea of heads. The dark coat Olivia could allow, but it was six in the evening. There was no need for any dark glasses.

It's nothing. He's not here for me. He's just a weird parent or a crazy uncle.

She ignored the sick feeling that started to grow in her stomach.

It persisted. The sick feeling grew and grew until it bubbled over in anger. Couldn't she just enjoy a high school football game like a normal human being? Couldn't she sit in peace for just a few hours? Couldn't she walk anywhere without them trying to get her?

She clutched her hair and leaned over, trying to get her thoughts into some sort of cohesive structure.

Just take a breath. Take a few breaths and then think about it.

She looked behind her a few minutes later. The man was two rows closer. Worse, she could now see another man in dark sunglasses just a few rows behind him. She just managed to catch him pulling his phone away from his face and putting it away.

Had he been taking a picture of her from his phone camera?

Her hands began to tremble, and not from the cold.

There was a roar from both sides of the bleachers as a touchdown was made. People everywhere stood up to scream and stamp their feet. Olivia did the opposite and sat down on the cold bleacher underneath her, momentarily hidden from the wall of people between her and the men with the coats and glasses.

"Milo," she yelled at him over the cacophony of voices rising up everywhere around them. When he didn't notice, she tugged on his arm.

"What?" he yelled back. "What did you say?"

Olivia quickly got up on her toes and cupped her hand around his ear. "Can I borrow your beanie for a few minutes?" she asked.

"You cold?" he shouted.

That was the only logical explanation for him. And that was enough for Olivia. She nodded, and he handed her his beanie. She sat back down, put her curly hair up into a bun, and jammed the beanie down over her most distinctive feature.

Milo watched her carefully. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

Olivia didn't even hear. She was too busy yanking off her jacket. She folded it up and turned to go, only to find herself nose to nose with Emily.

"Here, Olivia," said Emily, holding out her black windbreaker. "Want to switch?"

Panic shot through her chest like a live electric fire, making it hard to breathe, to protest, to make even a sound. Did she know?

Emily leaned in close so she didn't have to speak so loud. "I don't know what it is you're doing," she said lowly, "but do what you need to do." Without another word, she thrust the jacket into her hands and pulled Olivia's on in its place.

Olivia tried to see the girl that lay behind the black eyeliner and red lipstick. The one that somehow knew what to do. That knew Olivia didn't want questions now.

"Thanks," she said, and meant it, with all her heart. Olivia slid Emily's jacket on, and despite Milo's protests, slipped away from the crowd.

She moved quickly, dodging arms and legs and elbows and hips, trying not to cause a scene that would alert whoever was watching her and reveal her position.

But that couldn't last.

As she was running down the aisle amongst dozens of feet, she tripped over someone's boots.

The senior in question glared at her and began yelling something she couldn't hear over the din of the crowd. She was up in a second, escaping the angry boy and two of his laughing friends, but when she looked back, she saw that the two men that had been standing behind Milo and Emily had turned in the direction of the chaos.

Olivia couldn't see their eyes, but she felt them make eye contact.

She burst through the end of the aisle and hurtled down the steps, taking them three at a time. She leapt the last four, slamming into the floor at the bottom, and took a turn to the left to find doors under an archway. She didn't know where they went, but she pulled open the heavy metal doors and slipped through.

She shut the door behind her and looked around for anything to lock the handles with - a broom or a mop - but there was nothing in sight. Olivia considered for a moment looping her jacket through the handles, but when she remembered she was wearing Emily's, she decided against it and hurried down the hallway.

She came to a place where the hallway split off into two: a sign for the girls' bathroom led to her right, and the boys' bathroom to her left.

Would they think she would hide in the girls' bathroom? Or would they think she would hide in the boys' bathroom, to throw them off?

There wasn't that much time. Olivia only had a half minute's head start on them. She turned to the right, and not a second too soon. She heard the heavy door open and deep voices echo down the hall.

Her heart beat madly in her throat as she looked for some place to hide in the bathroom. She saw the janitor's closet and tried the handle, knowing that if she could just lock herself in there, she would be able to get some help before they managed to open it.

The door handle didn't swing though. It was locked. She dropped it, defeated.

She felt like crying. She wanted her mom. She wanted to hear her voice and touch her hand so badly it made her hands hurt just thinking about it. She wanted her mom to tell her she would help her, protect her no matter what.

But her mom had already helped her out of a tight situation for the last time.

And Olivia didn't want to end up like her.

Olivia swiped her hand across her eyes and forced herself to turn away from the locked door and kept going down the rows of bathroom stalls, ignoring them as they would be the first place those two men would check. Eventually, she came to the end of the bathroom, where there were lockers down the hallway to the left, and a line of six showers against the back wall.

The showers were her only option. There was no way they wouldn't find her hiding in the locker room.

The accessible shower was a bit larger than all the others, and had a wider front facing wall as well. Olivia ducked inside and pressed herself flat against the outer wall so anyone peeking in would have to turn their head to the side to see her. She set one foot against the towel bar behind her and put the other against the far edge of the seat in front of her so no one would be able to see her feet peeking out from underneath.

She should have brought her pepper spray, but it wasn't allowed at school. As much as she wanted that bit of protection, she wanted even more not to get caught and have to explain to Elijah. She didn't want to disappoint him.

There was nothing else to do. She held her breath as she heard heavy shoes hurriedly clomping across the tiles.

And she waited.

A harsh, scratchy voice was the first to speak. He had an authoritative tone, one not used to taking orders and solely accustomed to dishing them out. He rasped, "Check in that supply closet."

Olivia heard the familiar noise of the door handle jiggling up and down to no avail.

"I can't, Michael," said the second voice, deep and smooth. "It's locked."

There was an irritated sigh. "Open it, then, idiot." Olivia heard the bathroom stall doors opening and closing systematically and tightened her sweaty grip on the towel bar behind her.

After much clicking and banging, Olivia heard the smooth voice say, "She's not in there," and she silently thanked whoever was listening for preventing her from hiding in that closet.

Her relief didn't last long.

"Check those showers."

Blood began to pound so hard behind her eyes that Olivia could hear every single beat bursting through her ears. She heard the shower curtains being yanked back haphazardly starting from the far end. The chains on the rods clinked together noisily.

She suddenly felt the need to gasp for air and she was sure she was going to have to heave in a huge, gasping breath and give herself away.

The curtain in the stall next to hers was pulled aside.

Hold it in, hold it in, hold it in.

Her chest burned. Her throat burned. Her eyes burned with tears.

There was a brief time during her stay at her foster parents' house during which she wished for the people after her to come get her. She wanted relief from the incessant panic. She wanted it all to be over.

Sometimes, she was sure she wanted to die.

If they had found her hiding in the bathroom showers in those bleak days, she was sure she wouldn't have hid. She would have given herself up willingly, if only to be done with this whole mess.

Since Elijah had taken her home, she still wanted it to end, but more than that, she wanted to go home to her brothers. She wanted to see them, if just one more time. She wanted to hear Blake go on and on about his teachers, and she wanted to see that smile Elijah got on his face when he thought no one was watching.

And because she wanted so desperately to be with them, always, she held in her breath. She kept it in so long she saw stars, and then even the stars faded as darkness took over.

Mom.

As if from a distance, she heard the shower curtain being pulled open just inches from her ear.

She dizzily jerked her head up and held it against the back of the wall and blinked until she could see shapes and blobs opposite her. It was so quiet she could hear the man breathing just a hair breadth's width away from her face.

And then the shower curtain was pulled back across, and she let out the breath she had been holding in.

"She's not here," said the smooth voice, and Olivia resisted the urge to collapse to the ground in relief and take in huge, desperate breaths. She breathed in shallow breaths through her mouth and adjusted her foot against the slippery seat.

"Look in the locker room. She's a tiny thing, she could fit in any of the lockers. I'm going to look in the boys'," said the other one.

The two pairs of shoes went separate ways. One headed to the right, towards the girls' locker room, and the other went left, towards the boys' bathroom. She heard the man in the locker room opening and slamming the locker doors shut, grumbling and muttering to himself though she couldn't catch any words. Soon, he realized she wasn't there, and he stomped back off in the direction of the boys' bathrooms.

When Olivia was sure he was gone, she stretched her aching limbs out from her uncomfortable position against the wall and gently stepped back down on the ground. She peeked around the shower curtain, and when she didn't see anyone, she took in deep gulps of air, purging her air of the shallow, useless breaths she had been forced to take in.

She pulled out her phone and had pressed Blake's number before she was conscious of what she was doing. On the first ring, she came back to her senses and hung up on him.

As soon as she did, however, the screen immediately lit up with Blake's name, calling her back. Olivia's finger hovered over the red decline button. She shouldn't pick up the call. They were going to hear her talking. They would find out where she was, and then it would be over.

But the longer she hesitated, the longer she stared at his name and his goofy smile lighting up the screen, the more she realized she wanted - needed - to hear her brother's gentle chattering voice right now. She needed just a little bit of warmth and comfort so she could calm down enough to get herself out of here.

So against her better judgement, she pressed the green button. She held the phone to her ear, more than a little terrified. What was she going to say to him?

The sound of yelling and cheering and a thousand people talking came through the phone, overshadowed by Blake's gentle voice.

"Hey, Livvy, what's up? Are you good? Wait, why is it so quiet over there? Are you in the school building? Do you - do you want me to come and get you?"

Olivia couldn't remember why she thought she wouldn't know what to say to him because regardless of what she was feeling, Blake always knew what to say. His warm voice soothed her frayed nerves and aching heart, if only for the next few minutes.

"Liv, you still there? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she whispered back. "Just came down to the locker rooms to use the bathroom."

"Oh. But why're you whispering? Is -" His voice dropped. "Is there someone in there? Are you with someone?"

"I'm by myself. It's just...really quiet in here, I don't want to talk loudly." Olivia cringed at her own lie. She couldn't make up any more decent explanation in this short span of time.

There was a small pause. Olivia thought for sure he was going to demand where she was and find out what was going on for himself, but all he asked was, "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. I just wanted to -" Hear your voice. "Never mind, I'll just ask you at home."

"You can ask me now, Liv, I don't mind. I've got all the time in the world for you." He laughed at his own cheesy line, and the sound of his laughter and his silly yet sincere words made Olivia's heart clench so suddenly she felt tears in her eyes.

She bit down on her bottom lip so she wouldn't spill her guts to him, beg him to help her. She took a few deep breaths until she knew she wouldn't accidentally tell him everything and get him involved in this huge mess.

He stayed quiet, waiting, until she finally managed to say, "No, really, it's fine. I'll see you at the parking lot when the game's over. Bye." Without waiting for his response, Olivia hung up on him.

As quietly as she could, Olivia crept to the edge of the bathroom towards the hallway, hoping to run back through the hall and disappear back into the crowd at the football game before the men could come out of the boys' bathroom.

She glanced around the edge of the wall and froze.

One of the men was standing at the very end of the hallway. And he was looking right at her.

She spun around and tore back through the bathroom without another thought, with no time to make a plan and no time to call Blake and tell him to come get her.

As she was running past the janitor's closet, however, the door opened just a few inches. A hand reached out and grabbed her by her arm.

And they dragged her inside.

So it's day three of this self-induced quarantine (not sick though) and I'm slowly losing all my brain cells. I might be updating frequently to preserve some sanity, hope it doesn't drive anyone crazy with all the notifications. How are all you guys holding up, wherever you are?

Also, tickets to California are dirt cheap right now, and since my cousins who I haven't seen in years live there, I'm trying really, really hard to remind myself I'm supposed to be trying to limit physical contact and stay home. MUST. RESIST.

Anyways, this chapter was kinda hard for me to write because I'm not too great at writing action scenes. I either write them way too fast or way too slow. Also, writing action literally puts me to sleep, I've got no idea why. If anyone has any critiques for this chapter, I would really appreciate it!

Remember to vote and comment if you enjoyed!

For next time: the cliffhanger speaks for itself ;)