One Touch | Charlie Gillespie

T W E N T Y

"God, June, why are you doing this to yourself?"

C H A R L I E

"She's literally freaking out," Savannah says. We stand in the doorway, looking at the blonde pacing through the living room.

She bites her nails in concern, wondering where her cousin is and summing op the options where she could might be. But she has no idea. Vancouver is big, you can easily get lost when you roam the streets alone. Especially if you don't even know the city.

Only one text message is all June has left in the past few hours. It's a strange message, saying that she will come back whenever the sun rises. I glance at the shorter girl who stands next to me, one hand on her hip and the other onto her thigh. Savannah's face seems tired. She probably hasn't slept yet. I slightly punch her in the side. "Where's Madi?"

She looks up, her eyes doing their best to stay open. "Asleep," she answers, turning her head to the closed door across the front door, where we're standing in. I follow her gaze, and then grab her arm, leading her to the door next to Madi's. "Get some sleep, I'll handle her," I say, pointing my head to the blonde still pacing up and down.

Hesitating for a minute, Savannah nods sleepily. "Thanks. Wake me up when you know more."

"I will."

"And good luck with her," she comments, glancing behind me at Quinn. With that, she turns around and heads into her room. Now it's just Quinn and me. Great.

"Okay so, she texted she'll be back when the sun comes up, right?" I ask to stop the nerves Quinn is giving me with her restless behavior, but I receive an annoyed expression from her in return.

"Yeah, that's what I just said," she mutters irritatingly.

"Then why don't we wait for the sun to rise?" I glance at my watch. "It comes up at six, so we have about three hours to catch some sleep. If she's not back at six-thirty, we'll go look for her."

Unsurprisingly, Quinn scoffs. She stands in front of the TV with crossed arms, and the annoyed look on her face almost seems deadly.

"Listen, Gillespie," she begins in a calm tone, not wanting to wake the girls with her terrifying voice. She walks toward me menacingly. "I don't know what you said to her, but she was clearly upset, so technically you're the reason for all this shit. And now you've got the guts to come up with a 'plan'? The poor girl's walking alone on the streets at—" She takes a pause to look at the time on her lock screen. "At quarter past three in the fuckin' morning! Do not think I'll leave her alone out there, 'cause I won't."

I offendedly step back with my hands in the air when she's so close I can smell her floral perfume. I roll my eyes. "Fine, you're right. We'll go look for her."

"Excuse me, did you just roll your eyes at me?" Quinn raises her voice. She no longer cares if Savannah and Madi wake up because of her loud voice. She narrows her eyes and points at me as if I have just committed a murder. "You're a jackass, ya know that?"

"Yeah, you're not the first one to say," I reply sarcastically, pulling a chair from under the kitchen table to sit on. Quinn leans on the back of the sofa, her head down and her mouth suddenly shut.

It stays silent for a while, but when I hear the sound of soft sobbing, I sigh and feel guilty. "Look. I know it's my fault, and I blame myself for it. I care about her as well, so please don't think I did it on purpose. It was her own choice to walk away and be alone for the night, and we both know she'll save her own ass out there, am I right?"

No reaction comes out of her mouth, and she doesn't even bother to look at me. But then she murmurs, "whatever," walks to the front door and grabs her coat, which was hanging over the back of a kitchen chair. She opens the door, but pauses, standing in the doorway with her back at me. "I know you care," she says in a soft tone, but loud enough for me to hear. "Make sure you're gone when I get back."