Behind the Scenes

Part 19

Part 19!

I stood up after a while, dropped the dress, and slipped on the purple taupe shirt that was hanging from my frame. I pulled up the black basketball shorts. I tried to tie the shorts to make sure they would stay on my hips.

I grasped the dress and walked out of the bathroom.

Adam was in the kitchen, already changed. "I was about to send a search party in for you."

I smiled in spite of myself.

He looked down at the dress in my hands. "I have a cover that you can put over that so it won't get ruined. We can hang it, too."

"Thank you." Adam smiled, taking my dress and hanging it with a cover over it.

He came back into the kitchen, where I was still standing.

"Are you tired?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, not really."

"Do you want to watch a movie?"

"Sure."

He lead me to the living room. His hands reached behind my head and I froze. His fingers tickled in a message. When his hands drew back, my hair was rolling down my shoulders. He smiled. "There. Better."

I blushed and plopped down into the couch.

"What do you want to watch?"

"I don't care." I stated.

"A horror film?"

My face scrunched up. "I've never watched one."

He grinned. "Let's give it a try."

Adam set up the movie before plopping down next to me.

He yawned, dropped his arm around my shoulders, and I blushed. I knew exactly what he was doing.

"Smooth move," I said, turning to look at him. The grin that spread across my face felt really nice.

He shrugged. "What, can you blame me?"

I rolled my eyes and scooted closer to him. He wrapped his arm around me, his fingers playing with my shoulder.

The movie didn't scare me. Instead, I was entranced with it.

"I'm going to the restroom really quick. I'll be back."

He got up and moved. I took the moment to sprawl on my stomach on the ground.

When Adam returned, he was laughing.

"Chose the ground over me?" his playful tone asked.

"Yup." I kicked my legs. "Had to stretch my legs."

He turned off the main light, keeping the small lamp on.

I was glued to the screen, the jump scares had me laughing. I honestly didn't know why it wasn't scaring me.

"Isn't that my shirt?" a smokey voice asked.

I peeled my eyes away from the screen and turned to look at the guy. He was in a dark suit with a tie the color of the shirt I was wearing. He also had a mask in his hands, outlined in the same misty purple.

His eyes were a bright hazel yellowish color. His hair was a shaggy black, hanging in his eyes and down his neck.

His sharp eyes were held in a curious spark. Adam began to talk. "This is Scarlett. Scarlett, this is Brice, my roommate."

"Oh," I said.

"Nice to meet you." Brice said to me.

"Same," I said.

There was a crash from the TV screen. My head whipped back to it, and I propped it up, watching intently.

"A horror film, at eleven thirty?" I liked Brice's voice. I wish he would just read me the longest book in the world, and I would be the happiest person in the world. "You're going to scare the girl out of her mind."

"I asked her. She said she never watched one before, and I asked her if she wanted to."

"I said yes," I yelled from the ground. My eyes were still attached to the moving pictures. There was another jump scare, and I giggled.

"See, she loves it!" Adam insisted.

I giggled again. "I've never seen a girl deal with a scary movie so well." Brice said, sounding impressed.

It ended, and I dropped my head in my arms. I was giggling silently.

"Is she crying?" one of them asked.

I was shaking harder, my gut hurting with the amount of my laughter.

"I don't know, you brought her here."

I rolled onto my back, full blown laughing. I wiped the tears that were streaming down my face.

When I finally caught my breath, the boys were looking at me, chuckling at me.

I stood up, swiping from under my eye one final time.

Brice took my hand, shaking it.

He glanced me over. A smile tugged at his lips.

"You look good in my shirt."

"Don't flatter yourself." Adam said. "Your shirt was the only thing clean."

Brice chuckled. "I'll get you some blankets and a pillow. I assume you'll want to stay out here?"

"Yes, I planned on sleeping on the couch, if that's alright."

Brice and Adam shared this silent conversation. Didn't I see Luke, Gabe, and North share the same thing?

Were they from the Academy that Mr. McCoy was searching for?

They set up a bed on the couch for me. I nodded my thanks.

"We're both in rooms down this hall over here. If you need anything, just wake one of us up." Adam said. The hallway was to the left of the TV, staring the bathroom door down from across the hall.

I climbed into the makeshift bed. They turned off the lights, locked up the apartment, and went to bed.

I was laying in bed.

Everything was crashing down on me.

I didn't have a family.

I didn't have a home.

I didn't have a thing.

And I felt more lost than I've ever felt in my life.