Laconic » a.i

0.3

//cooper//

I woke up due to lack of lack of space, if that makes any sense. There was more room on the bed than usual, which made me feel uncomfortable. I peeled my eyes open to see Michael was gone. I sighed, looking to the clock on the nightstand. The red lights blinked 5:46 at me. Why was he gone so early in the morning?

I stumbled out of bed, my feet hitting the cold floor. I padded across the room and to the door. When I opened it, however, Luke stood there with his eyebrows raised, "Why are you up?"

"Mikey's not here." I said in a groggy voice, rubbing my eyes as if I were a child.

"I know," he shrugged, turning me back around. "He'll be back. Just go back to sleep. You're going to be up all day and who knows how long tonight, and-"

"Luke," I stopped him as he brought me back into my room. I turned to face him again, "why are you acting funny?"

"I am not," he countered, "you're acting funny. You're talking."

I looked at him skeptically, "You wouldn't happen to know where he went, would you?"

Luke looked to the wall next to me, "No."

I moved so he had to look at me, "Lucas Robert Hemmings."

"Fine," he huffed, "I know where he went."

"And?" I pressed after he didn't say anything more.

Luke bit on his lip, looking around the room, "I don't know if he'd like me telling you..."

"You've told me things before that he didn't want you telling me."

"This is different, Cooper," he let out a deep sigh before sitting down on the bed with his head in his hands. He looked up, staring blankly at the wall. Then he stood and took my hand. "I guess it doesn't matter."

We were suddenly outside a gated cemetery. As I was looking around, trying to figure out why we were here, Luke yanked me behind a pillar. He poked his head around and pointed. I looked around, following where he was pointing, and saw Michael leaning up against a tree, his back to us. He was watching a petite girl with pale skin and almost white hair as she left white flowers on one of the graves.

"Why is he here?" I whispered.

"This is where he was buried," Luke explained quietly, "and that is Annie."

I'd hardly heard of Annie, but I knew she was Michael's ex girlfriend. They were together until he died, and he mentioned that she did have a new boyfriend. But I could only imagine how she felt when a boy she was dating died while they were together. That must've been hard to get over no matter what.

"Annabelle Reagan," Luke sighed sadly, shaking his head. "She was so in love with Michael. It was obvious. She was such a sweetie, too."

"Thanks for making me feel great," I said sarcastically. "I'm a wonderful friend to Michael, and I'm also sweet."

"Sorry," he chuckled lightly. He looked up and his eyes widened. "Shit, they're coming."

"What do we do?" I panicked as we pulled our heads back behind the pillar.

"Invisible, duh." he said as he faded out.

"But I don't know how to-"

"Hello." a high voice came from next to me.

...Do that...

I turned to face the porcelain-like girl. Her lips were small in length, but very full. She looked so much like a glass doll. Annie Reagan was the most adorable thing I'd ever seen.

I smiled politely, "Hi. Um...are you okay?"

I saw Michael walk up behind her. Once he saw me, his eyes widened. I couldn't tell if he looked shocked or angry. Or both.

"Yeah," she chuckled at herself, wiping off under her eyes again. "Um, it's the anniversary of when my boy- um, ex boyfriend died."

"I'm so sorry." I told her sincerely. I knew how it felt to lose someone you loved -- Ashtonwas missing.

She nodded a thanks, "I've tried moving on, but it's kind of hard, you know?"

"I get it." I nodded, because I did get it. All too well.

"Enough about me," she said with a sniff. She looked at me -- we were about the same height. "Why are you here? Lost a loved one?"

Yeah, just about everyone I love is dead.

"I-I was just taking a walk." I lied.

Michael continued to study me from behind Annie, probably trying to figure out how I managed to get to the cemetery by myself. Luke must've hidden himself from Michael as well.

Annie continued to stand there, hugging herself like she would fall apart. I just felt so bad, I didn't know what to do. I found myself blurting, "Would you like me to walk you home?"

She looked up at me with surprise, "Yes, thank you."

We made our way out of the cemetery and I walked with her to her house. I didn't know how far away it was, but I already got myself into this awkward situation. I tried not to look behind us to see if Michael or Luke was following us.

"I'm Annie, by the way." she smiled.

"Coop- um, Bridgette," I nodded. "Sorry, my friends call me Cooper a lot. I'm just used to it."

"Are you from around here, Bridgette?" she asked.

I honestly didn't know. There weren't really any signs around that indicated if I was even in the same town. So I went with, "No."

"So what are you doing around here?"

I shrugged, "New change of scenery, I suppose. I just walked and walked until I ended up somewhere different."

She nodded, pulling her hands into the sleeves of her over-sized sweatshirt, "Yeah, I get that. I moved after Michael died -- he was my boyfriend."

"Yeah," I hummed, "I'm leaving later on today."

"Why?" she wondered.

I shrugged, "Same reason."