Elements (Pentatonix)

Chapter 20

Avi's POV

"This is serious, Seraphina. If I can't even trust you at school, how can I trust you in New York? You almost exposed yourself today over something petty."

"Taunting my boyfriend about getting shot isn't petty, mom! You weren't there! You don't know what happened!"

Wait...boyfriend?

"Give me one good reason why I should trust you now."

"No one in New York knows how to get under my skin. No one there knows what happened. Rhett crossed a line so I pushed him back over it. God, if this was Nathan, you'd give him a slap on the wrist and tell him to go do his homework!"

"Because Nathan was normal!"

Ouch. They had been going at it all week about the incident at lunch when Rhett taunted me, and even though we were leaving tomorrow, I wasn't sure I wanted to go if she couldn't. I watched in silence as Sarah sat back in her seat, hurt clearly written on her face. It was understandable though. Every one of us at this table were freaks of nature that no one else understood, but to have your own parent compare you to your dead little brother, I couldn't imagine it. That's why it didn't surprise me when Sarah got up and ran upstairs.

"I'll go check on her," Mitch said quietly and stood up, following the direction she had gone.

"I didn't go too far, did I?" her mother asked, placing her head in her hands.

"With all due respect, Mrs. Hunter, you did. Every one of us has abilities just as great as Sarah's. It's what makes us unique. Comparing her to Nathan like that, it just wasn't right," Scott said softly, being careful not to push the wrong buttons.

"She's not opening up for me. You wanna try?" Mitch asked as he returned and looked at me. "You have a better chance with her."

I nodded quietly and got up, heading upstairs to her room. "Sarah, open up," I said as I knocked lightly on the door. I didn't hear anything aside from the occasional choked sob. Trying the knob, I quickly realized it was locked and let out a sigh, knocking again. "Please? You gotta talk to someone and I'm the only one here right now."

"I don't wanna talk!" she called, and from the sound, she was just on the other side of the door.

"And I'm not taking no for an answer." There was a small click, and I tried the door again, letting out a relieved sigh when it opened. I walked in and closed the door behind me, finding Sarah on the floor next to her bed.

I quietly took a seat next to her, deciding she would talk when she was ready. Lucky for me, it didn't take long. "She doesn't understand what it's like to not be able to live a normal life."

"No one besides us, knows," I said, gently wrapping my arm around her. "None of us have found our place yet in this world, but I don't doubt we will. We're the only ones that understand that. Besides, if she doesn't let you go, we'll find something here to do over the summer." I smiled softly and tightened my grip on her.

"No, you guys spent your money already. Don't let me stop you from having fun."

"But it would be no fun without you. Besides, we need someone willing to beat someone up if they mess with us, and we can't have that if you're here and we're there. And if that's not enough, I don't entirely feel comfortable being across the country without my girlfriend."

"Oh well, because she's not letting me go. She doesn't trust me."

"Begging always worked for me."

She looked up at me, trying to hide a smile, but I easily spotted it. "I guess it's worth a try."

I grinned as I got up, pulling her with me as we made our way back downstairs. I was confused when I noticed everyone grinning and staring at us. "What?"

"Your mom said you could go as long as we keep your temp under control and tell her if anything happens," Scott said instantly as he stood up, engulfing Sarah in a hug.

"So much for begging," she said, her voice muffled from Scott's shirt.

"I hate to be a burden, guys, but we should probably get some sleep. We leave tomorrow," Kevin said as he hopped up, followed quickly by Esther and Kirstie.

Sarah let go of Scott and moved to her mother, hugging her tightly. "Thank you."

"Just be careful."

"I will," she said and turned to us. "Move it!" I jumped slightly and headed upstairs, followed closely by the others, barely able to contain my excitement.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah's POV

"Okay, our flight is booked. We can catch a cab to the loft once we get there. We've decided on Kirstie and Esther staring a bed, Mitch and I, Avi and Sarah..." Scott paused and glanced over at my mom. "And Kevin is lucky and gets a bed to himself."

"That sounds about right," Kevin said, zipping up the last of his suitcases.

"Wait, you two are sharing a bed?" she asked, glancing between Avi and me. "Just behave."

"Mom, don't you trust me?" I asked curiously.

"I wasn't talking to you," she said, her eyes darting over to Avi. He gave her a nervous smile and nodded quietly.

Standing up, I turned and began grabbing my things. "I'm glad you're looking out for me and all, mom, but we have to go. Our flight leaves in a couple hours and security sucks."

And it did. It took nearly an hour just to get through security, and it almost made us late for the flight. As we found our seats. I couldn't help but smile at the fact tat I got a window seat. Kevin took a seat next to the isle, no one occupying the seat in between us. Scott, Mitch, and Avi took their seats in the row, Mitch clearly not ecstatic about being in between the other two, but Scott seeming just as happy as I was to be next to the window. Esther and Kirstie took the seats behind me and Kevin, already talking about anything that came to mind.

I waited impatiently until we were in the air to put my headphones in and stare out the window. I wasn't sure how much time had passed, but I eventually looked over to find Kevin taking a picture of a sleeping Avi, while Esther watched and snickered quietly. "What's all that about?" I asked him once he leaned back in his sleep.

Kevin looked at me and smiled. "Sleep wars. It's something we've been doing since we met. If one of us is sleeping, the other takes a picture of them because we both sleep so much."

I nodded in understanding and raised an eyebrow. "Can anyone join this game?"

"If you join, there's no backing out and you can't get mad if either of us take pictures of you sleeping."

"I solemnly swear not to get mad," I said as I pulled my phone out and snapped a quick picture of Avi. I was probably going to regret this eventually, but it seemed like fun and there was no harm having a little fun. It was the whole point of the trip.