Burned Ones

Chapter 12

Annabeth.
15 years old.

I glared at the person walking beside me. He smiled.

"Go away from me," I said slowly, enunciating each word a little more than the last time I had said it. "Leave."

And just like the last time, Finn ignored my words.

Which wasn't really surprising because most people ignored what I was saying, especially when I was asking them to leave. But the surprising part was I wasn't too annoyed that he was still following me and that fact angered me more than anything else. Almost every conversation I'd had with Finn so far when I got roped into being around him thanks to Cam had involved me telling him to get lost. He never did and it made me wonder what exactly I had to say to finally get his smile to disappear.

Everyone had a limit. I wanted to know his. A small part of me said that I shouldn't want to find out how to break this guy but an even larger part of me wanted to know if he was always so bubbly. It didn't seem natural. I wanted to know if it was all fake or not.

I had been out with Lucky and Jay earlier because my dad wanted me to know every part of how the Caseys worked, inside and out. Lucky had to collect money from someone who hadn't paid us for a job we'd done for them. They were two months behind paying us and Lucky had believed they were about to skip town. I knew that Lucky could fight - I'd even practiced with him a few times in the past. But lately, he'd been bringing Jay out with him to be the muscle so all Lucky had to do was talk. Lucky was really good at talking and saying just the right thing to get what he wanted.

After we had arrived at the house, the guy let us in and was very welcoming. He even offered us something to drink and said he had our money. I went to the bathroom and out of habit, I checked behind the closed shower curtain. That's where I found the packed suitcase, all ready like he really had been about to leave town. Lucky hadn't taken too kindly to that, especially when he only had half of the money owed. The guy gave us everything he had and Lucky gave him a day to get the rest while Jay gave him some bruises.

We were all supposed to go back to the Casey house together but I had something I wanted to take care of that I couldn't do with Lucky around. So I told them I'd be home later. Jay gave me a skeptical look but it wasn't like I could explain anything so they left.

And once I walked to my destination in an old parking lot and found a spot to wait in against the building, Finn somehow found me.

"How'd you know where I was?" I asked, finally engaging in some conversation other than ignoring him and telling him to leave me alone.

He shrugged. "Beats me."

"You're saying this was a coincidence."

"Yeah."

"Melkin isn't a small town."

He squinted. "It kind of is."

I studied him for a moment. It wasn't. It wasn't a major city or anything but it was large enough to house two gangs and not have them breathing down each other's necks. It was large enough to rob a store and get far away from the scene of the crime before the police got there. I couldn't figure out if he was messing with me or not.

"You're very unsettling," I admitted.

"Thank you," Finn said, putting a hand to his chest like I'd given him a compliment he cherished.

And since I was being honest with him, I said, "I don't know what to do with you."

The grin stayed on his face as he suggested, "You could give me your number, if you've still got that burner phone."