Trapped

4A

Zoe’s POV

During Alfie’s visit, I remained in the living room, watching some movies on our tv. Meanwhile, Alfie spent most of his visit in Joe’s room probably playing video games or whatever boys do when they hang out. The only time I saw Alfie again was when he excused himself to go to the bathroom, only instead, he came over and sat down next to me. He played it off as a casual conversation, but his intentions were something odd. He grabbed my phone swiftly from the center table and started playing with it. I fought for my phone, but after he finished his mysterious task, he gave it up. He laughed before standing up, kissing my forehead, and returning back to Joe’s room. I chuckled to myself as he walked away, that odd boy.

I unlocked my phone to see what damage he did. No embarrassing texts sent, no awkward selfies, nothing. I double pressed on the home button to reveal the recent apps: contacts. Of course! Alfie put in his number in my phone along with his address. I spent the rest of the day finishing up movies I promised myself to watch but never really put the effort into watching until now. At the end of the day, Joe was leading Alfie out the door. I was passed out on the couch with my favorite light blue blanket, so I had no idea what was going on.

When I awoke in the middle of the night, I slowly got up and stretched my arms out as I did a really huge yawn. As I did so, a little sticky note fell from my hair. I picked it up from the floor and examined the paper. The only thing it had on it was a giant 4 on it and a little A in the corner. I scratch my head at the vague note and get up from the couch. I wrap the blanket around me, dragging it along the floor as I walked towards the kitchen. I grab a clean cup from the sink and place it on the water dispenser on the fridge.

Moments later, Joe walks in and repeats what I just did. I finish filling my cup and am soon replaced by Joe. He turns around, facing me as I lean against the counter with one arm, as he continues to fill his own cup. “Ah, you’re finally awake sis! You left the tv on, so I turned it off for you.”

I refocused on his cup of water that was now almost spilling onto the floor. He took a sip so it wouldn’t flood and walked over to me. “Thanks Joe. Umm, Joe?”

“Yeah?”

I set the cup down on the counter and reach into jeans to take out the yellow square. “I woke up with this note. Maybe it’s nothing but it was in my-”

“Oh, Alfie left that for you.”

“What?” I’m taken back by his words. “Did he say anything?”

“No, he just set it on top of you. He said you’d understand, or catch on at least. But you should’ve seen our faces when we found you,” he started laughing moderately loud, our dad was asleep upstairs and it was 2 am, “you looked like a drunken squirrel!”

My cheeks flush at the thought of Alfie seeing me like that. Joe chugs down his water and sets it in the sink.

“Night.” He wipes his mouth and descends to his room.

I examine the note again. 4A. A must mean Alfie, but what would the 4 mean? I finished my drink and quietly headed upstairs to my room, careful not to wake up my dad. I closed my door when I entered and changed into my pjs. Afterwards, I turned the lights off, a small light from my alarm clock illuminated the room, and I lied on the bed. I was too tired to think about the note, so instead, I fell asleep once more.

The next morning I woke up like any other day. I got dressed, ate breakfast, and ran a few errands here and there. I drove from place to place all morning picking stuff up for my dad while she was at work. I also promised Louise to pick up her daughter at daycare at 5 since Louise had a doctor’s appointment and her husband was working. I stopped by the mall to look around the stores for a while as I waited for it to be 5. Two hours of shopping should be good enough.