Now I Panic

The Box

"Are we done yet? Everything looks fine to me," Mark half whines, dropping onto the sofa dramatically.

I look around the room, examining every nook and cranny, before relaxing. "Fine. Now we're done."

The guys groan in unison and fall down in exhaustion, and I struggle to keep my face stern.

"Now, what have you all learned from this?"

Peter leans up on an elbow. "To change the locks next time you leave so you can't get back in and make us clean the house?"

I put my hands on my hips, glaring. He sighs. They all answer at once.

"If we clean up the small things when they happen, we wont end up cleaning everything all at once. It's for our own good."

Satisfied, I look at my watch. "It's still early; why don't we go get some dinner? How does Chinese sound?"

They all go pale.

"What?"

Bryan sits up. "We've been eating Chinese food, and drinking beer since you left. We never want to look at another Chinese carton, I for one will be sick."

Annoyed now, I throw up my hands and start towards my room. "Fine then- just get whatever you want. I'm going back to bed."

Mark blocks my path. "Kort. What's with you? You've been like this since you hung up with Zach. What did he say to you?"

I give him my best smile and step past him. "Nothing I didn't already know, so don't worry about me. I just need time to think. I'll make you guys some chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, okay?"

"So you're not hungry? When was the last time you ate?"

I think back. "Breakfast on the plane this morning. But no, I'm not hungry. Don't worry. Goodnight."

He nods. "Goodnight."

.............................................................................................................

The sound of the guys wolfing their food down as usual, makes me smile. I missed this. I missed them. I pile a few more pancakes onto the plate on the table, and sit down myself, serving myself a few.

Mark pauses in eating, as I pour my syrup. "Zach called me last night."

I pause, looking up at him. "What did he want?"

"He wanted to know if I knew where you were."

"And?"

He shrugs, looking confused. "I told him you were here; that you were safe."

I bolt to my feet, causing my fork to clatter to the ground. "You did not!"

Mark, and the rest of them, look alarmed. "What was I supposed to tell him? He was worried about you, and-"

"No he wasn't!! His parents are worried about me! He doesn't care at all. I heard him say so!"

They're silent for a while, and I finally sit back down, dropping my head into my hands. "This is not good." I look up. "But it's not like he's going to come here or anything, so I should be fine-"

The doorbell rings, and I feel all of the blood drain out of my face. There is no way that's him. He wouldn't come here.

With this thought in mind, I make my way to the door, and take a breath before opening it. A guy wearing a UPS uniform stands on the other side, holding a big package. "Are you a...Kortney Rene?"

Practically limp with relief, I nod. "Yes."

He hands me the package, and turns to leave.

Closing the door behind me, I make my way into the living room. The guys don't pause in their eating, barely even noticing me in the room.

I open the box, which is somewhat large, and push aside the packing peanuts that fill it. Towards the bottom, I find: an ipad(Brand new), an ipod(160gigs; original), and the entire boxed set of the Uglies trilogy.

Officially stunned, I lay all of it on the ground, and sift through the remaining packing peanuts, until I find a note, typed on thick paper in blue. It reads:

Kortney,

I'm very sorry for everything that's happened since you were here in California. If you didn't notice, I don't feel comfortable around people I don't know, so I mostly try to do whatever I can to avoid them. I tried everything I could think of to get you to leave, and yesterday, you did.

I thought that I'd be happy when you were gone, but it's actually been a bit lonely around here- not to mention completely hostile, since my parents and josh alike refuse to talk to me. Derek thinks I messed up too, but he doesn't completely ignore me like everyone else.

I'm still not happy about this whole arrangement, but I think I'll be able to stick it out. You probably think that this is all lies, and that I'm being held at gunpoint by my parents to write this, but they don't even know that I'm sending this for you.

So, I don't expect you to come back today, or even tomorrow, but I hope you do soon. Honest. Call me, if you want to talk about anything. Or you can call Derek if you don't want to talk to me directly, and he'll pass on any messages of hate and fury you might have.

I really am sorry.

Zach

I read the note over and over again, then look back at the gifts spread around me on the floor.

"No way! When did you order an ipad?!" Peter runs up behind me, grabbing it. I snatch it out of his hands, smacking him on the back of the head. "Keep your hands off my stuff!"

"Whoa. What in the world did you sell to get all of this stuff, Kortney?" Mark comes up to me, looking honestly suspicious.

I shrug, not telling him anything, and put everything back into the box. "Um... don't worry about it, okay? I'll be in my room. You guys wash your dishes."

They groan, and I walk down the hall to my room, setting the box on my bed, and pull out my cell. I dial Derek.

"Ello?"

"Was this your idea, or did he come up with it himself?"

There's a pause. "Excuse me?"

But I hear the smile in his voice, and can't help but follow. "Was it your idea, or his idea? It's a simple question."

There's some rustling in the background, and I hear him cough, definitely smothering a laugh. "It was his idea. Honest. I was told only to be available to pass on messages to him if needed."

I nod to myself, still smiling. "Okay. Bye."

"You don't want me to tell him anything?"

"No. Bye." I hang up, and consider dialing Zach's number, but decide against it. I'll see if he really is sorry tomorrow, when I pass on a message to Derek.

"Mark!! Can we go out? I need to do something important!"

"Okay! Come on; we were just about to go to the store. Megan wants you to stop by too."

I close the box quickly and grab my coat.

I don't know what Zach is up to, but I'm going to find out soon enough.