you're next | dolan twins

t w e n ty s i x

The smell of my mother's fresh pancakes fill my nostrils as I exit my bedroom and step into the kitchen.

"Hi sweetheart." She flashes me a bright smile.

"You seem to be in a good mood." I stare at her happiness.

"I figured we can have a girls morning, Robert got called into work." She puts two pancakes on a plate and places it on the table.

"On a Saturday?" I ask as I take a seat.

"Yeah, it happens." She looks back at me. "Do you have any big plans today?"

"Grayson is coming over soon, I'm going to take him somewhere." I respond while pouring water into a glass.

"I like him, always did. He seems to make you happy which is hard to do these days."

"He makes me really happy." I bite down on my lower lip just thinking about him.

"Is he your new boyfriend?" She arches her eyebrow in curiosity.

"Not yet, but hopefully soon." I blush.

My mother flashes me another grin before taking a bite of her breakfast. "Did you hear the news about the Hardings? They're moving."

"They are?" Sadness washes over me hearing this news. "Wow."

"They can't take living in this town anymore. I don't blame them, that poor family has been through enough."

"And the police are doing nothing to help them." I shiver at the thought of Amanda's killer.

"It's disgusting how people in this town treated the situation." She takes a sip of her coffee.

"Mr. Porter told me that somebody destroyed her memorial." I mumble as I look down at my food.

"James Porter?" She gives me a weird look.

"Yeah, the principle. Why?"

"I don't think he's going to be the principle much longer, he got caught stealing money out of the schools bank account."

"What?" I raise my eyebrows in shock. "When did this happen?"

"It's been going on for about two years now, but he just got caught. Police came to the bank looking into his account. It's actually a serious crime, he may end up in jail for many years." I watch her disappointingly shake her head back and forth.

"That's crazy." My mind begins to trail off but the ringing of my phone causes me to snap out of my thought. I see that it's Nicole, so I answer it. "Hey."

"Hey, how are you?" Her quiet voice asks me.

"I'm okay." I look down at my pajamas.

"Look, I'm so fucking sorry. I was being such a bitch for judging you about what you did. That was your choice to make and I should have respected that."

"It's okay, it was a lot to take in all at once. I get it." I let out a sigh as I press the phone to my ear.

"It's not okay. I've been ignoring you for the past few days and that was really immature of me. I'm so sorry, Rach." She lowly whispers.

"Apology accepted." I look back at my mother, who looks confused.

"I miss you." She replies.

"I miss you too." I let out a tiny laugh.

"Are you coming to Alex's tonight?"

"Oh, I don't know." My voice trails off.

"Grayson can come too, obviously." She quickly adds.