young lies

chapter twenty four - sectioned truth

the boulder that slammed against bex's lungs right then might affect her for life. breathing is a foreign concept to the girl and it's like someone stole her ears and replaced them with a distant ringing noise. another sense gone as her vision blurs, however, her sense of touch is heightened and she's overly conscious of the leather beneath her and the sweatshirt on her body.

the flashing imagines of her future, the one described by sam, her mind spent all morning creating suddenly filled her brain and prevented her from doing anything else.

she can't get a single thought in as all of these things happened within a fraction of a second.

"i don't know what's happening here, but i do know when i'm being manipulated." the woman moves to sit down, looking between the eyes of the entire family.

instinctively, bex's right hand moves beneath the material of her sweatshirt and towards her wrist. however, her whole body tenses as she feels the bandages that wrap the area. this brings her back to reality as the sounds in her ears die and her vision returns to its original state. though, she still feels the strong need to release some of her mental pain through her body.

knowing she shouldn't, she wills her hand to her thigh where she balls it into a tight fist.

when landon heard what ingrid had to say, he immediately placed his attention on bex to gauge her reaction. his brows furrowed at her initial panic and he couldn't help a feeling of confusion fall over him. a stroke of worry strikes him as he momentarily wonders if maybe the girl is lying about more than just her name. however, he feels immediate guilt and he looks away to see the rest of his family frowning in bewilderment.

"what?" nick asks, offended. her voice bringing most of the room back to the moment.

leaning forward and shaking her head, ingrid speaks. "clearly, you just staged a big show for my benefit. now, tell me, what's really going on here?"

even though bex and nick have good abilities to think quick in situations like these, they were both struggling on what to say. anxiety riddled their bodies and the intense stares from every eye in the room weren't helping. however, everyone's attention moved from them over to jeremy as he leans forward.

"wait, so you think they're not being genuine?" he grins. "please continue."

"i'm a trained professional. i know when kids aren't being honest. ands it clear to me, bex and nick aren't."

the friends eyes lock, unsure of what to do. though, at the same time an idea strikes them and bex quickly stands.

"oh, sorry," she fake laughs. "i'm getting a text, let me tell them i can't talk." as she moves behind the couch and pulls out her phone, nick gives her a small nod. her fingers move fast as she sends sam a 911 text.

when bex approaches the couch again, ingrid begins. "maybe they're not being honest because they don't feel safe here. and if that's true, this might not be the right home for them."

"wait, what?" molly's eyes widen.

closing his eyes, ed sighs. "lets not over react."

"yeah, nick, bex, you're being honest with us, right?" liz asks as she walks behind the couch, standing next to bex.

"of course." bex nods.