Endless Summer (emison)

10

"Do you think she's mad at me?" Alison asked Noel the next day. They were on the porch, and he was smoking a cigarette quietly beside her.

"I would be surprised if she wasn't." Noel said, the cigarette dangling loosely from his lips as he spoke. "We did leave her behind."

"How was I supposed to know that she had been caught?" Alison asked. "I told her to follow."

"She was following you, but she got the track star cop." Noel said. "Look I don't know how she's going to react. But whatever that may be, you may have a big storm coming for you."

His phone beeped in his pocket, and he quickly took out his phone to look.

"It's Em. Her parents are not happy with what happened. She's grounded." Noel sighed.

"Why didn't she text me?" Alison asked curiously.

"Probably because she's mad at you." Noel said, flicking his cigarette butt into the gravel driveway. Noel often stole his dad's cigarettes, just not the cigars. His dad would definitely those being missing. He coughed and stood up, massaging his neck in the process. "Things aren't looking up for you."

"I've realized." Alison deadpanned.

"What are you going to do?" Noel asked curiously.

"I don't know! I don't even know what's going on." Alison said, getting up. She paced the driveway, listening to the gravel crunch under her shoes. An idea formed in her head, and she snapped her fingers. "I'm going to go see her."

"Now?" Noel asked. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Trust me Noel. I know what I'm doing." Ali lied. In reality, she had no idea what she was doing. "Drive me."

"Ali that's not-"

"I said drive me." she snapped angrily.

She hadn't gotten this angry lately. Noel didn't attempt to argue anymore, and got into the driver's seat of his car. Ali was already in the passenger seat, avoiding Noel by glaring in the opposite direction. When anger struck, anger consumed Alison. It was like a flame to gas, small and then all at once an uncontrollable fury that was hard to put out. Noel knew she was angry, just by the way her jaw hardened and her blue eyes narrowed. Her voice became sharper and her posture just seemed stiff. Bad things usually happened when the anger came out.

Noel rolled up next to Emily's house, sighing and rubbing his forehead. Alison could feel the nervous vibe radiating off of him, but she ignored it as she got out of the car.

"Don't do anything stupid ok?" Noel said as Alison walked towards Emily's driveway.

"I'm not an idiot." Alison said angrily, walking around the back of the house. Her parents were home, and she knew approaching the front door was a mistake. Instead she looked up at the window to Emily's bedroom, knowing just how to get up there. Emily's room being CeCe's old bedroom had its perks. She had climbed up there before when it belonged to CeCe. Alison examined the tree next to the house, wondering if it would still be able to hold her weight. It seemed sturdy enough, but Alison put a steady foot on the branch to make sure.

When the branch didn't give, Alison grabbed onto the other two and pulled herself up. Getting the rest of the way up was easy, the path coming back to her like an old song. Soon enough, she was pushing open Emily's window and pulling herself in. She forgot that Emily didn't have a bench by the window like CeCe did, and fell onto the ground instead of onto the missing bench.

She sat up and rubbed her forehead, looking around Emily's room. She saw Emily sitting on her bed, looking at her with bewilderment.

"Alison?" Emily asked, as Alison got up.