RUN!

19. 5am in Cairo

Song: 5am in Cairo by oh, the joy.

        "Adonis!" Mum screams once I enter our driveway. She's outside watering the plants and just seeing her bright blonde hair does wonders to my mood.

"Hi mum!" I squeeze her tight when I go to hug her.

"How was your weekend?" She asks me, checking my face for any burns.

"It was eventful," I summarize. "Is pops in?"

"Yeah, he was making tea when I left him."

I hug her once again and then go in to meet my dad.

"A.D!" He bellows, less enthusiastic but he's never been good at that. We don't hug, we shake hands like we're in a cult.

"How've you been?" I run my eyes along his face. My dad's an engineer and he's gotten a lot of injuries from that job and from when he was young and still a member of a gang but they've blended well with his dark skin and make it hard to tell.

"Fine now that you're home. The whole weekend your momma wouldn't rest. Anything interesting happen?" He sets his tea aside and starts making one for me.

"A lot." I mentally go through it all again. I found Avery's phone, confronted Declan, kissed Jordan. "I kissed a girl," I blurt.

Dad whistles loudly in approval.
"I was beginning to fear for your talent. Not to rusty are you?"

"I don't think so," I grin back. Jordan would hit my head if she was here.

"Just stay within your limits, cool?"

I nod at him. "Cool."

My dad has always been cool about dating and the teenage life, when Andy started dating Heather he'd literally spend hours talking to him about how to make her happy. Mum is a lot more reserved, she doesn't really think any girl could be good enough for her sons which is weird but...a mum's gotta do what a mum's gotta do.

I go grab my things and start unpacking, ready to itemize my week. I've got that history test tomorrow and a project to begin. I think I've got a lot to do but when my ring tone blares and Lee's face appears on my screen I push my work behind for a moment. And when he tells me frantically that Reyna's at Nick's place I down right forget about them.

||

I can't lie, I'm freaked out when I get to Nick's neighborhood. It's no wonder that he sells drugs, this entire place is screaming marijuana. His house however is quite impressive. It's nothing large and you can tell it's old from the washed up lavender paint but it's still neat and presentable. I half expected Reyna to be swinging from Nick's window but thankfully she's quietly fuming at the corner outside the house and Lee's next to her.

"Hi," I greet shortly, wouldn't want her to vent her anger out on me.

"You guys took so long, I was this close to beating him to a pulp," she seethes. It's like I can see the steam coming out from her.

"How'd you know she was here?" I turn to Lee.

"She sent a text message earlier that she was going but I wasn't online then so when I read the message I just ran down to the address," he explains. He isn't wearing his glasses so he must have really ran.

"Is he in?" I ask her.

"Yeah, he's probably already seen us though."

"Well though luck. We can go meet him now but I just want you to stay cool okay?"

"Okay," she bites her lips. When I'm sure she's agreed I go to ring the doorbell. Nobody comes out.

"Are his parents home?" I whisper.

"I don't know, they're not very reliable," she shrugs. I ring it again.

"Can't we just go in?" Lee asks, sounding quite unbothered.

"Isn't that like trespassing?"

"We have proof this dude sells drugs Adonis, trespassing is child's play," Reyna argues.

"Yeah but we're not here to threaten him. We're here to make him our ally," I retort.

"Well you could at least bang the gate a little harder-"

"No need Diaz, I'm right here." A new voice cuts in. My neck jerks in the direction of the voice- behind me.

"How'd you get here? You were inside," Reyna for once looks flabbergasted.

"That's my brother. It's you again," Nick turns to me. He's wearing a black hoodie over black shorts that make his pale skin look even paler.

"It's me again," I confirm.

"What do you three want?"

"Could we speak to you inside? It's about Avery," Lee answers. Nick tilts his head as if he's considering it and then shakes his head.

"I don't know anything that could be of help. You guys should get out."

I open my mouth to speak but Reyna beats me to it.

"Are you kidding me? You don't know anything about her? Well I guess you don't know who was supplying her those pills too right?"

Nick blinks. Probably didn't see that coming.

"Listen here Nicholas. The only thing that's stopping me from breaking your hands right now are these two gentlemen who are convinced that you have a potential which is greater than selling drugs. They think you can help us and they're willing to give you a shot. I on the other hand am willing and ready to rat you out to the cops for ruining my friend's life!" She's standing now.

"I didn't ruin her life!"

"You were fucking feeding her addictive pills!"

"I thought I was helping her okay!? And I tried to get her to stop but she'd just get more anxious and I didn't know what to do-"

"You could've told me!"

"Well I'm sorry but that didn't look like an option!"

Silence. Reyna heaves deep breaths as she continues glaring at Nick, who looks as defeated as he sounds.

I cough, trying to dissipate the tension.

"I'm guessing you've got a lot to say?" I try. Surprisingly Nick turns to look at me and nods.

"Yeah I do."