hømetøwn

• : / eighteen / : •

For a flash of a second, surprise raced in her eyes. Then she blinked. Her gaze fixed on me, passive and emotionless.

There was a long moment of silence.

"A-Angie?" I said again. My voice came out higher pitched than usual.

"Lake." Her voice was measured. Neutral. Even. "Ryan said Brendon's here. I need to talk to him."

No what are you doing here? No I've missed you! No are you okay? No surprise. No disbelief. No anger or excitement or relief. Just, "I need to talk to him."

"I -- Angie -- what -- what're you doing here?" I said.

Her ginger hair was a tangled mess, reaching just past her shoulders. Stray hairs swung outwards as a gust of wind snapped against us. We cringed against the cool air and she started forward, but I blocked the front door with my body, stepping in front of her.

"What're you doing here?" I said again.

"Move, Lake," she said.

"Are you not at all surprised to see me here?" I said. "I mean, I kind of disappeared on you. And you didn't know where I was. Aren't you --"

"No," said Angie. "I'm not surprised. We knew you were here. Now move it. I'm coming in."

I didn't move. "We?"

"Connor and I, dumbass."

The harshness of her voice caught me off guard. I didn't know what to say. Angie had never talked to me like that before unless she was joking.

I stared at her, trying to think of a comeback. But just as I was about to speak, she overrode me.

"Okay, look, save it, okay? We're friends or whatever, but that's not really relevant now. Like you said, you disappeared on us -- on me. And I'm not here to see you. We can talk about our stuff later. I'm here to talk to Brendon."

"Why?" My voice was cold.

Her eyebrows rose. "Why do you care?"

"Brendon's not your friend anymore, but he's mine," I said. "And right now, he's busy."

Angie's face remained emotionless. "Oh. Right. Okay. Well, uh...tell him I dropped by."

"Okay."

"I've missed you, Lake. I'm sorry about snapping at you." She looked down, biting her lip. "Hug it out?"

Something in the base of my spine tingled. "Yeah, uh, sure."

She closed the gap between us and drew me into a hug. She smelled like pennies and hairspray.

"Well, at least you put on a good effort," she said. Her voice was low in my ear, and though her voice was soft, it was dark and sharpened at the edges.

"What?"

Then her knee slammed into my gut.

My legs buckled and I pitched forward. She caught me by the wrists, her small hands possessed by an impossible strength as she grabbed me.

"ANGIE WHAT THE --"

Her fingers dug into my skin.  "Stop moving." Her hands strained against mine, twisting my wrists. A rough scream burst out my lips.

"ANGIE, WHAT THE HELL?"

A sharp pain ripped up my wrists. I yelled out again and recoiled, pulling against her, but before I could get away her grip tightened on my arms and she threw me to the ground.

My elbows crashed into the pavement, breaking my fall, but I felt the skin ripping and a hotness dripping across my nerves. I shoved myself to my feet and whirled around. The door slammed. Angie was gone.

I ran to the door and snatched the handle. The breath hitched in my throat. She'd locked me out. She'd run inside and locked me out. I couldn't believe it. A harsh sting tingled on my elbows.

I banged on the door. "Brendon! Ryan! Let me in!"

Muffled voices broke out from inside. I slammed my fist against the door again.

The door rattled and I jumped back. More muffled voices --a scuffle, and a series of thumping noises -- then the lock ground out of place and the door swung open.

Ryan stood tensely in the doorframe. He grimaced and said, "Get in. Hurry."

"I'm sorry," I said, rushing inside. "I didn't mean to let her in. I swear. She -- like -- she attacked me!"

"Yeah, not surprising," said Ryan.

"I heard voices inside. What's going on? What did she --?"

"She and Brendon are talking in the kitchen now." Ryan's voice was low. "I tried to get her out, but...yeah, that didn't work. We should probably go back him up."

"This is insane," I said, following him into the kitchen. "She's acting like a totally different --"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Angie's voice snapped across the room. Her eyes fell onto me. Disdain pulled across her features.

I'd known her for almost a year now, and I'd never felt intimidated by Angie. But now, as she sat at the table across from Brendon, with that look on her face, and with Ryan shrinking away from her like she could spit poison, fear rose in my chest. How much did I not know about her?

Brendon spotted me and stood up so fast, he sent his chair skidding backwards. "Lake!"

"Sit down." Angie's eyes were mere slits.

"You're such a freak," said Ryan. "There's three of us. One of you. You're the size of an elf. Brendon and I could crush you with our pinkies. What the hell makes you think you can come in here and --"

"Shut the fuck up, we're talking!" snarled Angie.

Ryan opened his mouth to retort, then closed it. Brendon shifted uncomfortably. He didn't sit down.

"I'm not talking to you unless they can stay," said Brendon.

"Don't worry about that," I said. "There's no way we're leaving you alone with her."

Angie was silent for a moment, surveying us. She pressed her lips together. "Yeah, okay," she said. Her voice lightened, curling into her old playful tone that I knew so well. "Wow, you must think I'm acting like a crazy person. I'm sorry." She laughed. "But hey. You guys know I'm just messin' with you. Sit down if you want, I don't bite."

Ryan and I exchanged glances.

"Uh. Yeah. Okay, sure," said Ryan.

We  went to the table and sat down. I slid into the seat beside Brendon, and Ryan sat at the head of the table, a safe distance away from Angie.

It was a long moment before Brendon sank into his seat. His shoulder brushed against mine. I could feel the unease radiating off his skin.

"Okay," he said. He didn't look at Angie, but focused his gaze on the table. "What do you want?"