In The Scenes

Second

WARNING: May be mentions of abuse, panic attacks, trauma, blood, etc. If you are sensitive to these topics, please don't read.

Lia POV:

"Lia, I think I broke your laptop," someone screamed from the hallway.

Alex came downstairs carrying my laptop. By the look on his face, I can tell it will be my ex-laptop.

"Jane sat on it," he said, placing it in front of me.

"For god sakes, she's 17. She better learn to watch where she's sitting."

"I know."

Alex sat down and pushed his head into my shoulder. He seemed tired.

"You should get some sleep."

"Homework," he mumbled.

I knew university was intense but I didn't expect it to be this intense. Alex stood up and went upstairs.

"Wait for me," I said, following him to his room.

I sat on his bed and went through my phone while he worked. Suddenly, his phone rang. It was an unknown number so he put it on speaker so I could listen.

"Hello. How may I help you?"

We could hear breathing on the other side. Three people were whispering.

"It's him. I'm sure of it," a female voice said.

It wasn't clear so I didn't know who it was.

"Now what? You hung up, right?" a male voice said.

I recognized it. It was him. The man from the supermarket.

"Yes. Now, we get revenge," another male voice said.

It was distorted like the lady's. Alex was confused.

"Excuse me, who is this?"

The people on the other end's breathing became heavier. They threw the phone and ended the call. I was panicking. If I was correct and it was who I thought it was, we were in big trouble.

"Lia?" Alex asked.

I jumped and he flinched.

"Sorry. What were you saying?"

"I asked if you recognized any of them."

"I did . . . not."

"Are you sure?"

Alex was worried. I knew he knew I was hiding something.

"I recognized one of them. The one who asked if they hung up."

"Who was it?"

I didn't want to answer. The memories came back. I didn't want to remember him. Not now.

"Lia?"

"My step-father."

Alex looked tense.

"It couldn't have been. They recently updated the security measures in his cell. They . . . they would have found out if he had a phone with him."

I calmed down. He was right. They would have alerted me if there was a phone that was accessible to him. Also, he doesn't know I'm dating Alex. How would he get his phone number?

"You're right. I'm just panicking. We're getting ahead of ourselves. They're probably spam calls. Save the number as 'Do Not Answer' so you'll stop worrying."

"Okay."

He did so and we went into Jane's room. They were playing Chess. Mindy was against Micah. The two had gotten close over the past year and it was obvious they had crushes on each other.

"Bam. I'm much better than you, Brownie."

Mindy slammed her fist onto the board.

"I get it. You're better than me."

We played a couple more rounds. Alex and my game ended in a draw so we both were crowned winners. Mindy's phone rang. She put the phone on speaker and let us listen to it.

"Hello. Who is this?"

"Mindia."

The way the man said it was scary enough. Saying her full name was scarier. Mindy flinched and Alex grabbed the phone.

"Excuse me, who is this? Please tell us or we're hanging up."

"Alexander."

Another voice said this. I realized it was the same voices who called Alex earlier.

"You again. I'm hanging up," he said.

He turned to Mindy. She looked confused.

"You know them?"

Alex POV:

"We just got a call, like, 30 minutes ago that was exactly like that. They're probably prank calls."

Mindy nodded.

"I don't think so. Prank calls are different. They're not threatening and . . . well, pranks. Plus, they know our full names. This might be a problem."

I looked at Lia.

"Hopefully, it won't be one."

Jane and Bryce had some work to do so they left. Micah was picked up by his father, Brian, and Mindy went with them. Mattheo needed to get groceries for his mother so he left. It was just me and Lia. We decided to watch a movie.

"No, Lia. We're not watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for the sixth time."

We chose to watch The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It was our first time watching it. Lia quickly found the character of Eustace Clarence Scrubb hilarious. I liked Reepicheep because of how much he talked. We watched the movie in silence. Once the movie ended, I noticed Lia had fallen asleep. I put a blanket on her and left to finish my work for Monday's class.

"Create a table . . . set a variable . . . mix that up . . . it should work."

Two hours later, I finished my work. It was 10:30 p.m. so I decided to eat something. Lia was in the kitchen making dinner. She had the fridge open and was looking at me.

"You wanna cook?"

"No. You?"

"No."

That's how we ended up eating dinosaur nuggets and pizza for dinner. We went upstairs and I helped Lia with some of her college assignments. Technically, it's not cheating if you don't get caught. We were sitting on Lia's bed. She looked at me.

"Are you happy?"

I was confused.

"Why're you asking?"

"It's part of my homework. I have to ask someone if they're happy and write down their answer. Then, I have to write their explanation for their answer."

"What does that have to do with biochemistry?"

"Answer the question."

I thought for a moment before responding.

"I'm happy with the others around me but I'm not happy with myself."

Lia was confused.

"Say that in simpler terms."

"I love you but I hate myself."

Lia stood up.

"Say that again. I dare you."

"I don't have a death wish. I'm depressed, not suicidal."

She smiled.

"You'll love yourself. I'll make sure of it if it's the last thing I do."