Page 101 of Hidden

Sadie

Three days later.

That's how long it's been since Miles said anything to me since our night at regionals. It’s been three days since the plans we had fell apart without explanation, I got one message, something came up, sorry. Then silence. No follow-up. No, can you make another date? No appearance at Grounds, I’ve not seen any of the Crawford family. I know Lileah is still walking around campus, but she’s been keeping to herself.

I'm not thinking about it. That might be the biggest lie I’ve told myself because I'm thinking about him constantly. Ghost hasn’t made contact either. He seems to know everything, does he know I had sex with Miles, is he angry about it? Does he think I cheated on him? Was there anything to cheat on? I don’t even know who Ghost is, and now I've become a one night stand for Miles.

"You have your thinking face on." Juno says, from across the corner table.

"I don't have a face." I look over at her smiling.

"You’re thinking about Miles.” I hear Maya laughing.

"I'm thinking about the new conditioning block," I say. "Coach added more sessions and I need to restructure my week." I know I can lie all I want, but they know the truth. Well half of it, they know about Miles, but not about the other man I keep thinking about.

Am I dating or sleeping with two men? Am I in a relationship? I think I’m in one and I’m cheating on them both. Oh my God, I’m going to drive myself crazy.

"Mm." Juno picks up her coffee. "And how does the conditioning block feel about Miles not showing up for three days?"

"He's busy," I say. "He has his own life. We're not… it was one cancelled plan." I fight. I didn’t want to tell anyone I had sex with him, because they were going to ask questions, and I don't have answers for them. Even I don’t know what is happening between us.

"And the three days of nothing?” Maya asks.

"People are busy, Maya." I drink my coffee and look at the door and don't think about Miles, or I try my best not to think about him.

***

It’s been another two days and silence from both of them. Which has me thinking, are they the same person? I understand one of them ignoring me, but both at the same time, that seems a little off. I just don’t think Miles seems like the stalker type.

We walk into Grounds, and I freeze, Miles is here. Oh my God, his face. His left eye is swollen, it’s almost completely shut. There’s a cut above his cheekbone; it’s healing but I can see it from here. The bruising shows he has taken a beating and is several days into recovering from it. He sits there and you can see the tension in the conversation him and Lileah are having.

Whatever is happening, Lileah is angry, and Miles looks like he’s about to lose his temper.

"Sadie." Juno touches my arm. "Come on." Her voice comes out soft, I don’t have to say it, but she can see it on my face, I want to talk to him. I want to ask him what I’ve done for him to ignore me.

We take our normal table. The corner one, close enough that I can see and hear part of the conversation, but far enough that I can pretend I'm not watching. I order without looking at the menu and keep my eyes on my phone and look over at the Miles’ table every thirty seconds and tell myself I'm not doing that.

Whatever they're saying, it's been going on for a while.

Lileah's posture has shifted, she’s leaning forward now, she’s been arguing for a while by the looks of it.

Miles shakes his head and slams his hand on the table and Lileah’s voice comes out angry. "I hate all of you."

The coffee shop goes briefly quiet around us; all eyes are on them now.

Miles's hand comes down flat on the table again. Not a slam exactly, more controlled, but with enough force that the cups rattle.

"We're doing this to protect you." His voice carries now, low and hard. "So, pack your bags and get back home. Lincoln is going with you."

Lileah says something back, but I can’t make out what it is, but if I have to guess, I’m going to say she’s telling him to fuck off. She's standing, pushing back from the table, and then she's walking toward the door.

Mason comes through it at exactly that moment. Lileah looks at him.

"Fuck off," she says, very clearly, and walks past him and out the door, and I see a man walking over to her. That must be Lincoln.

Mason watches her go, then turns to Miles with a smile. He briefly looks over at our table, where I'm sitting with my coffee halfway to my mouth and absolutely no idea what expression is on my face right now.

He crosses to Miles, leaning down he says something low that I can't hear. Miles looks up at him, then looks past him, at me. I stand up, I’ve built the courage to talk to him. I need to get some answers from him.