IN WHICH after a friendship blow up, Talia Anderson chooses one friend over the other and realizes she either has to stay an ousted kook or learn to live life like a pogue. Problem one, she's a kook through and through. Problem two, pogue king John...
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❝i don't feel it till it hurts sometimes oh go on baby, hurt me tonight i want ours to be an endless song baby in my eyes you do no wrong❞
-love like ghosts, lord huron
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chapter seventeen, THE BEGINNING OF THE END
Talia Anderson was lying next to Sarah Cameron, both teenage girls staring mindlessly up at the ceiling fan as it rhythmically spun around. The cool air drifted around the room and made the brunette shiver. Neither had slept, neither had rested, and neither had the energy to move. It was like a blanket was over the top of them, weighing them down.
Talia wasn't even sure what time it was, but the golden hue of the naturally lit room indicated it was the afternoon already. How was it the afternoon already?
Sarah was holding onto John B's bloodied bandana, the fabric stained from the Sheriff—the last thing left of the woman and what happened to her.
They could both briefly hear the shouting and chaos of the floor beneath them, Ward and Rose arguing about what was happening. Rafe, the murderer himself hidden somewhere inside the walls of Tannyhill. All while John B was running for his life.
Talia felt utterly useless, a shell of herself as she tried to process the events of the last twenty-four hours. How could it all go to shit so quickly? How was it that John B was being accused of a crime he did not commit when Sarah and Talia were telling the truth?
Why were Ward Cameron and Laurel Anderson so much easier to believe than two devastated teenagers? How was it that Shoupe had taken Ward's side after watching her break down in front of him? Why was it them the island believed instead of the girl covered in blood-stained clothing, the only one mourning the loss?
"Sarah-" Neither of the girls moved at first, both convinced it was in their own minds, but when the sound came through the vent again, Sarah and Talia shared a look.
"Please answer-" Wheezie, Sarah's younger sister, pleaded. The two teenagers jumped up, rushing to the vent seconds later. Sarah pulled the cover off, reaching for a cup on a string and lifting it to her face.
"Wheez?" It was a whisper, still unsure if it was real or not. Talia leaned closer to the blonde, turning her ear to the cup as Sarah held it between them.
"Yeah, I'm here," Wheezie spoke, and Talia's stomach flipped.
"Wheez, Dad's got us locked in the room." The pair waited for an answer.
"I know, Rose is fighting with him about it." The girls shared a look, and their eyes spoke what words couldn't.
"Are they downstairs?" It was another moment before Wheezie answered, and the girls were fighting their patience.
