Veil of Vows

Ch.8

(Sierra's point of view after Grayson leaves with Jaxon and Harold)

I watched Grayson turn his head to look at me one last time, a concerned look on his face, before he turned back looking forward, walking away with Jaxon and Harold to find Elliott.

I was left alone with an annoyed Chloe, her arms crossed, tension on her shoulders, looking at me pissed, her lips pressed into a thin line.

I, on the other hand, was still flustered but relieved that I could do something on my own now. Chloe looked pathetic from the corner of my eye, but I didn't say anything about her current behavior.

"Well, we have no time to be standing around. We have to find Elliott and his cat," I said, turning to look at her now.

Chloe, still annoyed at me, looked back with burning hatred in her eyes as she responded in an irritated tone, "You don't tell me what to do, Sierra. Just because Grayson babies you doesn't mean you're in charge here."

She scoffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder before glancing toward the small group of girls gathered nearby. "Come on, let's go find Elliott. I'm not wasting my time listening to you," she muttered, turning around and walking off, expecting me to follow her without question.

Grayson babying me? What the hell was she talking about?

Her response, the audacity in the way she said it almost made me chuckle because of how stupid she sounded. I looked down at the cross necklace for a brief second.

Grayson believed that the cross would always protect anyone who wore it. It was a symbol of being close to God and having His protection.

I huffed, then followed behind her as she walked toward a small group of girls.

Soon enough, as I walked, I noticed these were the girls Chloe usually hung out with and talked to, inside the church and after, always whispering to each other about God knows what. I couldn't help but feel my stomach twist at that like something was telling me to always keep an eye out for these girls.

Did I walk into trouble? Maybe I'm overreacting. Not everyone can be as bad as Chloe, even if they surround themselves with her... right?

One of the girls noticed Chloe finally showing up. She took a step toward us as she said, "Look who finally decided to show up. I was getting worried that you almost forgot about us," she said in a casual tone.

Then the girl turned her eyes toward me, giving me a weird look I couldn't quite explain. It was almost like judging. "You brought her here too, Chloe?" she asked curiously, almost wondering why someone like me was with them.

Chloe simply shook her head and shrugged her shoulders all at the same time. Then said "I had no choice. She was kind of nagging me and bugging me to take her along. I couldn't say no after she begged me so much a few minutes ago," Chloe said in a matter-of-fact tone.

The group of girls looked me up and down, judging me, their expressions annoyed as they simply bought whatever Chloe said without even questioning it.

I was a bit stunned. That wasn't true. I never begged Chloe for anything, and she was making up lies right in front of me, and everyone was buying into it. "Hey, that's not-" I tried to protest, but Chloe cut me off as she pulled my arm and started walking in the direction they were meant to go to find Elliott and his cat.

"Come on, let's go. We've already been wasting so much time just standing around and talking all night. We've got a friend to find," Chloe said in a gentle yet firm tone to her friends, and they all nodded.