The Girl in Cleats

⚽️Chapter 34⚽️

{Kiera POV}

Alexis wraps me in a hug before yelling up the stairs, "Boys? Can you get down here please?" 

I started to doubt that they had heard her, but soon I hear their footsteps. 

Cameron is down first and he squints his eyes like I did. "Where are you guys? I swear if this is a pran-" He stops mid-sentence as he sees me, tears slowly falling down my cheek.

"What the heck happened to making mac 'n' cheese?" Dustin calls out. He finds Cameron and looks at him, confused, before following his gaze to me. 

"What happened?" They say at the same time. 

Cameron rushes to my side and wraps me in a hug, looking around. He soon finds what's making me so upset. Beer bottles. Lots of them. 

"Your dad drinks?" He looks down at me, wiping my tears with the end of his sleeve.

"I didn't know..." I choke out. 

Dustin is picking the bottles up, his face solemn and angry. 

"Here's a few receipts." He looks it over. "He bought every single one of these in a month..." 

Another tear spills onto my cheek and I wipe it away quickly. 

I am stronger than this.

Alexis has been quiet this whole time and I look at her to see what's the matter. She's in deep thought. 

"Kiera, does your dad ever leave late at night?" 

"Not that I know of, but I sleep with headphones in so I wouldn't hear anything."

Cameron speaks up, "There's nothing wrong with drinking beer, you just have to do it carefully and limit yourself. Judging by the forty or more bottles in a month, I don't think he's doing it that way."

I take a deep breath to contain myself and then say, "Well, what if we confront him about it?" 

Everyone is silent, thinking it over. I know it would feel better for a few seconds to catch him in the act, but that's not what a Christian is supposed to do, and certainly not the way I was taught to go about these things. 

"I think that's an excellent idea, babe." Alexis smiles at me. 

"I couldn't agree more myself." Cameron adds.

"And we will be with you the whole time." Dustin finishes. 

"Thank you." I say it so soft that it's barely above a whisper. 

In unison, they all envelop me in a huge group hug. 

This is safe, this is home. 

But someone is missing. 

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{Asher POV}

Chase and I are planning a way to escape, but he hasn't said anything about coming with me. We're having a bit of a struggle with the whole breaking out thing. So, basically the whole plan. 

"This is pointless." I flop onto my bed in defeat. 

"Bro, we started like ten minutes ago." Chase looks at me with a doubtful expression on his face. 

"And there's no way out." I sigh. 

"Out of where?" A voice says. 

I sit up on my bed, my elbows supporting my weight. 

Scarlett. 

"Oh, hey." Chase says without looking up. 

He's gonna tell her the whole thing. 

"We're just finding a way out of-" I jump off my bed and cover his mouth before he can say anything else. 

"...Out of.. the bathroom. Yea, the bathroom." I say quickly. 

Chase rolls his eyes. 

"If you wanna break out of this place, you should've asked." Scarlett says with a smirk on her face. 

Chase looks at me and removes my hand, "Dang she's good." 

I notice her blush before she turns away. Too late, I know your secret.

Chase pats the ground next to him and says, "So, you can help us?"

"Duh." She rolls her eyes playfully before smiling. 

"This is gross. Tell me before you start making out so I can leave." I say sarcastically. 

"Aren't we trying to get you out of here so you can do just that with Kiera?" Scarlett fires back. 

"OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!!!!" Chase yells enthusiastically. "Bro, she just burnt you! Need some ice for that? Looks painful." He says with a boyish grin. 

"Whatever, just get me out of here." I say with a frustrated grimace. 

"He's mad now." Chase "whispers" to Scarlett.

"I can hear you." I say, rolling my eyes. 

Scarlett pretends to whisper to Chase but says loudly, "He just can't take a joke." 

Again, cue the eye roll.

"Watch it, buddy. I read about someone who did that too much and he ended up with a glass eye." Chase says, making his voice deep and spooky at the end. 

"Mhm." I try not to smile, but fail. 

"He's back!" Chase looks proud of himself for making me smile. 

"So, I have a map of this dump. Follow me." Scarlett stands up and walks out the door. 

Chase looks at me and shrugs before following her like a lost puppy. 

This better be worth it.

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I told you there would be an update soon. :) How do you guys like the many plot twists? 

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-KD