echo // hemmings [completed]

thirteen | pray and pray

—September 8th—

"No," Rowan stated firmly. "This is ridiculous. How shallow do you think I am?" Michael grimaced at her answer.

"We understand," Calum said calmly. "It was crazy, to begin with." The dark-haired boy let out a sigh of relief. It's not like he wanted Luke to be sad, but he also didn't want her to agree. If had she agreed would it fix things? Would it bring Riley back? Would it let them travel back to the time when everyone was happy? No, it would only bring more pain, more guilt, and a bigger risk of losing it all. "We should just tell him," Calum told the group.

"We can't break the truth to Luke. He's barely stable right now," Ashton said as he sighed deeply.

"Then we wait," Michael decided.

"For what? The right time?" Rowan interrupted the boys' conversation, but immediately regretted it, she wanted nothing to do with this."Never mind. Just please leave."

"Guys, she's right. I had no idea what I was thinking when I thought of this." Michael seemed a little sullen, but he knew she was right and that the lie had to end. But it was so hard; telling Luke that he would never be with Riley again was like telling him that he would never smile the same way again. And the fact that he even dared to put a price on Riley's life made him feel sick.

"We're sorry we bothered you. We won't come back again," Michael said. The two other boys followed his actions and headed toward the door.

"Please leave," Riley said. Their words had brought up bad memories from her childhood.

"I'm so--" Ashton began to apologize, but Rowan cut him off.

"If you're sorry, please leave me along for now," Rowan said. She turned around to look at the three boys who stood there nervously. "And stop thinking the three of you can solve any problem. You should lean on someone every once in a while." She smiled regretfully at the three of them. 

After they left, Rowan sighed. It had been too long since she had had company. And it was strange and made her a little uncomfortable, but at the same time, she wished they would come over again. She wished she wouldn't be alone.

Her phone buzzed a few times so she quickly picked it up, setting it off of vibrate. She had several missed calls from an unknown number with her hometown area code. She checked her voicemail first.

"Rowan? Rowan?!" A frantic female voice was on the other side, it had a familiar feel. "It's me, Drew's mother. Vanessa Kerrington? I'm leaving this message because I was just in the middle of a phone call with my son, but all of a sudden he started gasping and I heard a crash. It might be nothing, but I know you're his friend so can you go and--" The message didn't finish, but Rowan wasn't listening anymore. She shoved her phone in her pocket and grabbed a light sweater from the edge of her bed. 

All that could process in her head was that Drew might be hurt or in danger. She only realized she forgot her wallet just as she was about to hail a taxi. The taxi was about to stop and she might have had enough money in her pocket, but she didn't want to hesitate for another second and began to run. She wasn't the best at sports involving a racket or ball, but she knew from years of track that she was more than capable of running a few blocks.

Her feet might've felt sore and her throat may have felt a bit dry, but all she could care about was the distance between him and her. As she ran, she felt water drip down her cheeks. She didn't know if it was because it had begun to rain or if she was sweating or crying. But she knew if she stopped for even a second to tie her shoes or to take a breath, while Drew was actually in trouble. She would never be able to look at herself in the mirror. So she ran and prayed.

She prayed that her legs wouldn't give in, that she would get there in time and most of all that he was okay. Because sometimes that's all you can do. Pray and pray.

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a/n: sorry for the short chapter