RUN!

14. Full Machine

Song: Full Machine by Gracie Abrams

He.
Nick.
Declan.

  I wonder which other boy Avery had been fraternizing with before she went missing. Her freeness with the opposite sex was making it hard to zero in on anyone. Their chat was cryptic and never explicit. Declan never said anything near the ghastly and disgusting words he'd say to girls at school. In fact, he even seemed nice. That last text was sent 7:30 in the morning on the day she went missing. Why then had Declan pretended to not know her for so long?

"Hey, are you okay?" Yara asks softly. I'd forgotten she was next to me. I shake my head and focus on the road. We're almost at the Beach House or whatever they call it. I'm glad that the traffic is holding us back though, I'm not sure if I'm ready to see Declan yet.

"Did you know Jessica has a boyfriend?" I ask, suddenly remembering how handsy Landon was with Jessica the other day. Yara widens her already wide eyes.

"For real? How do you know?"

"Saw them together at a party. Landon Stone, ever heard of him?"

She shakes her head. "Damien would be so disappointed, she's all he's spoken about all week."

"You think she didn't tell him? It's not like she's hiding it from her brother."

"Unless she doesn't want him to know. But why would she want that?"

I shrug, I honestly couldn't care. This mystery seems inconspicuous compared to the one looming over my head. Damien and Jessica will be fine in the end, at least no one's holding them captive.

"Any plans for the weekend?" Yara ventures, deciding that they'd be fine as well.

"Well I don't know, what do they do at a beach house?"

"I think Declan's prepared an entire agenda for us. Like competitions and all of that."

"I've got a history test on Monday. Mr. Lamar really wouldn't give a shit about my weekend."

She groans loudly. "Oh come on Adi, live a little. You don't always have to be so studious!"

"I'm not, you know I'm not. I just happen to like this particular subject," I shrug. We pass through their large Gates and one of the security men hands me a red pass. I see, keeping this strict.

"You'll have to tag along with me this weekend," Yara says as I keep the pass in my compartment.

"What? Why?"

"So you don't miss out on anything. Now come on, I feel like we're late." She doesn't even wait for me to park properly before jumping down, someone's excited.

"We are late," I clarify as I kill my engine. I open the boot and grab our bags.

"This place is cool isn't it?" She gawks, walking ahead of me. The fluorescent lights from the building light up her smooth white skin and it's almost like she's glowing. She's pretty underdressed, which is nothing like her. In her flowing sun dress and her hair packed in a ponytail she still looks like she just got out of a photoshoot. I wonder why she's still single.

"A.D! Wassup man!" The guys holler from the patio. I raise my head and wave at them. I have no idea how the living arrangements have been set but I'm hoping Lee's kept a room for me or something. Yara and I enter through the front door and are met with a semi crowded living room. Nobody stops to say hi or check who's entered, they're already dressed in their nighties but it's just 9:30. It's almost as if they live here already.