Invisible

Invisible Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Jealous Much?

(Mason)

The drive home from school is just as miserable as the drive to school was this morning. No one speaks. Even Evie is quiet, which is a small miracle. It’s a not so pleasant reminder that she is still pissed at me, though. As soon as we pile out of the Jeep and into the house, everyone goes their separate ways. For Olivia and Evie, that means up to their bedrooms. Me, I crash on the couch waiting for Robin to text me.

I wanted to get started on our Sentinel hunt right after school, but Robin had an eye appointment. She promised to text me as soon as she was done. Realizing now how incredibly horrible it was for me to show Olivia that we couldn’t be together by moving onto Robin right in front of her, I told Robin I’d meet her at the park instead of having her pick me up.

Flipping through channels on TV quickly gets boring. I settle on a favorite, but even that has trouble keeping me occupied. The minutes tick by slowly as I watch reruns of Uncle Si and Willie getting into one crazy situation after another.

The house is so quiet with Mom at work for the afternoon. The mental and emotional exhaustion of the past few days starts to catch up with me and my eyes slowly drift closed.

Images start flickering through my mind, all of Olivia. Her on the phone, opening the front door. She takes a plate out of the dishwasher. Suddenly she’s on the kitchen floor, the broken plate lying next to her.

Buzzz! Buzzz!

My phone vibrating against my hand jerks me awake. The images fall away as I blink and try to open my text messages. Robin’s number pops up with a new message.

Finished. Meet U @ the park in 10.

It only takes a few minutes to walk to the park, but I don’t wait. Eager to get out of the house, I shove my phone in my pocket and head for the front door. Evie’s hand on my arm stops me before I can escape. I’m not sure how she knew I was there, but I suspect she’s been watching me.

“Where are you going?” she demands.

“I just need to get out for a while, okay?”

“With who? Robin?”

The way my body goes still must give me away because Evie’s face screws up in disgust. I sigh, wishing I could explain. “Evie, I know you’re mad, and you have every right to be, but please believe me when I say that this is the only way I know how to protect Olivia.”

Confusion spreads across her features, but I don’t wait for her to respond. I slip away from her and out the front door, trying not to look back. I only last until I reach the front sidewalk before my eyes dart back at the house. It isn’t the front door or Evie that trips me up. I only see Olivia’s curtain swish closed, but it’s enough to know that she saw me leave, and just like Evie, she can probably guess who I’m going to see.

There’s nothing I can do about it now, so I keep walking. The park is empty when I arrive. To the rest of the world, it still looks empty even after I sit down. Five minutes later, Robin pulls up to the curb and gets out of her car. She looks completely casual as she sits down next to me, keeping her phone in her hands.

“Do we have a plan?” she asks.

Not much of one. But to her I say, “They’ve got to be watching the house from somewhere nearby. It wasn’t by chance they found Olivia in a basketball park across town. Someone followed her and waited for the right opportunity.”

“So if we find their lookout spot, we can watch them.”

“Exactly.”

“Great,” Robin says, “then let’s get started.”