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“It’s fine, Christopher. Nothing that hasn’t been said to me before.” I give him a small smile. I want to get away from this conversation already.
Christopher smiles, content with my answer, and walks out of the foyer. Michael steps in closer to me so that no one else can hear. I can smell his disgusting morning breath as it brushes across my face.
“You better not have heard anything, ingrate. If you did, you will pay for eavesdropping.” Michael pushes his finger into my chest until I wince in pain.
He gives me one more threatening look and turns on his heels, following the same path Christopher took, leaving me alone, wondering what the fuck just happened.
I look up at the staircase and scowl at it. Stupid fucking staircase. This could have been avoided if you weren’t such a piece of shit.
I take no time escaping the house through the front door before anyone corners me today. I’m not seeing Amy or Shaun today. I’m not dealing with the whole family starting shit with me. It’s bad enough that I had to deal with Christopher and Michael.
Walking down the path towards the sidewalk, I pull out my phone from my handbag and open my phone. I then open mine and Harlow’s conversation and text her.
I’ve now left that shit hole and am on my way to you. Where are we meeting?
She instantly texts back. I swear, she’s permanently attached to that phone.
Meet us under the old bridge in the park. The usual spot. Lockie will eventually meet us there.
I let out a breath. I wouldn’t say I like the places she chooses sometimes. They are always creepy as fuck.
I send her my reply.
Okay, see you in 20 minutes. Love you.
She instantly replies again.
Love you too, C. X.
I smile at her little remark about her nickname for me, put my phone back in my handbag, and carry on walking.
I can’t wait to tell Harlow and Lockie everything that’s happened. They can help me make sense of everything I have heard.
Calliope
Twenty minutes have passed, and I’m almost at the old bridge. God knows why Harlow insists on meeting here all the time. I approach the fence around the bridge to keep trespassers out because it is dangerous and unstable. It could collapse at any given time. That would be my fucking luck one day. The bridge collapses and crushes me, ending this all. That would be a good thing. I grab hold of the chain and padlock, tug at it, and the padlock clicks open. Thanks, Lockie, for lock-picking this months ago.
Holding the padlock still in my hand, I push the fence open and shimmy my way inside. I close the fence, locking it behind us. We don’t need anybody to know where we are. This is our secret place, not theirs. I trudge through the field towards the crumbling ruins of our favourite spot and look down at my shoes as I step on a rock. I should have worn better shoes.
The feeling of someone watching me shivers down my spine as I walk through the field. I look over my shoulder, but there is nothing there. Is something here watching me? Should I run? Should I carry on walking? Ignore it? I shake my anxiety away. There is no one here, you idiot.
I continue walking, trying not to think about it; maybe I’m overreacting. I hear a twig snap in the distance and dart my head towards the sound. I swear I just saw something behind that tree. I look around the area but can’t see anything moving. I’m just seeing things.
I shake my head and pick up the pace towards Harlow and Lockie. Harlow sees me and jumps up from the spot she was sitting in, waving me down. “Hey!” she calls. As I get closer, Harlow runs up to me, leaving Lockie back at the bridge, and embraces me in her arms.
“C, I’ve missed you! What took you so long?” she whispered in my ear.
“Sorry, Harl. My brothers were at the bottom of the stairs talking about me. I was listening in, and the stupid stairs made a noise, and-” I laugh, waving her off. “It is a whole thing.”
She leans back to see my face, holding me at arm’s length. “Oh shit. Tell me about it in a minute. Let’s go back to Lockie,” she says, grabbing me by the hand and dragging me towards the bridge.
Arm in arm, we walk back to Lockie, just like we always do when we walk places together. People usually think we are weird for it, but I don’t care. I feel safe when I’m with Harl. She is honestly my sister more than a best friend.
I see Lockie leaning against the bridge’s pier, smoking a cigarette. I take in his 6-foot-4 frame that towers over mine and Harls as he brings the cigarette to his lips and takes in a drag. Why does he have to make that look so attractive? I shouldn’t be thinking about him like that. He’s my best friend, for fuck sake. I admonish myself.
Lockie is wearing grey skinny jeans, a leather studded jacket, and white high-top trainers. His tattoos protrude from the top of his T-shirt. His blue hair is messily pulled back into a bun, as usual. I have always teased him about being too lazy to do his hair every morning, but I secretly love how the man bun looks on him.
“Hey Cal! Where have you been, girl?” Lockie says, pushing off the pillar and pulling me in for a hug.
