Dear August

|Thirty-Three|

I wake up from my not so restful sleep and stretch out. The cuts on my hands sting for a second as I strain my muscles, and I wince.

Of course, my damn bladder always has to interrupt and demand I go to the bathroom. I sigh and step out of my bed. Just before I reach the door, I trip over something laying at the foot of my bed. I look down in confusion at a duffle bag laying on the ground.

Staring at it in confusion, I open the door and poke my head out towards the living room.

"Hey mom?" I call out.

"Yeah honey?" She answers.

"What's this duffel bag doing in my room?"

I hear her heavy footsteps approach and a few seconds later she appears in front of me.

"I'm glad you noticed."

I give her a face if confusion as I wait for her to explain.

"And what's it for?"

"I packed it for you last night," she simply smiles at me.

"Okay," I say, drawing out the last of the word. "Are you kicking me out or something?"

"No," she smiles again and walks away back to the living room.

Okay, so more questions were brought up than answered. I head to the bathroom and do my business then go back into my dark room.

Not too long after I lay back down onto my bed loud knocking sounds on the front door. Muffled talking of multiple voices can be heard right as my mom opens the door.

As soon as I realize what's happening it's already too late. I cling to my bed as Finley and Luca try to pull me out of it by either one of my legs. August and Joey grab my things from the floor and run to the front door, probably to go pack them into the car.

"No!" I call out as I claw at my blankets, anything to get them from pulling me from my bed.

"Yes!" They yell simultaneously. I turn around to see both of them struggling to grab me, and my mom watching from the doorway with amusement on her face.

"This is kidnapping!" I call out right as Luca finally pulls me from the bed and throws me over his shoulder. Finley struggles to get my sneakers on my feet. I flail and struggle as much as I can to get Luca to drop me from his shoulder, but he doesn't budge.

"Mom? You're just letting them take me? Don't you disapprove?" I yell out to my mom right before Luca carries me to the front door.

"No, they talked to me last night. Love you! I'll see you in a few days! Please be safe!" She smiles at me as she walks over to kiss my forehead.

I halt my struggling and just stare at her. Luca carries me through the door way and down the stairs. Mom watches as we walk towards the car.

"Love you," I say reluctantly.

Luca puts me into the middle seat of the car and slides in after me, shooting me a cheesy smile. I look over at August who was avoiding eye contact.

"Care to explain?" I ask him directly. He slowly turns to face me and shoots me a sheepish smile.

"Uh, we haven't heard from you in a few days so. . ." He rubs the back of his neck and laughs awkwardly.

"So we're kidnapping you," Joey turns from the passengers seat.

"To where?" I cross my arms and quirk a brow.

"You'll see," she wiggles her brows and turns back around.

"This is bull," I try to protest, but a hand covers my mouth and I look over at August who's shushing me.

"You'll like it," he smiles. "I promise." He lifts his hand from my mouth and pecks it.

"Could've at least let me shower," I mumble.

"You can shower at the hotel," Finley says as she starts the car.

"How long are we gonna be gone?" I question.

Luca shrugs. "Who knows? However long we need."

"And who's paying for all of this?" I ask more questions, trying to find any reason for them to turn around.

"Remember, rich parents," Finley reminds me, glancing at me from the rearview mirror as she drives.

I puff out a breath of air and sit there staring out the window in defeat. August takes my hand in his, a feeling that I was starting to miss.

I glance around the car and start to realize that they're all dressed in normal clothes. Me on the other hand, I'm in loosely fitting sweatpants, a rather large t-shirt with no bra on under, and my untied vans on my feet.

I reach to the trunk of the car and dig out the duffel bag that my mom had packed for me. Thank god she has a fashion sense close to mine and isn't some crazy lady who makes me cover myself from head to toe. I fish out a blank tank top, a pair of high waisted denim shorts and a green flannel. I begin to pull my sweatpants when I realize that Luca and August are both in the backseat with me. I look at them wearily and they get the message and look away quickly.

Once I'm done I let them know and they hesitantly look over at me.

"So what, you guys haven't done the deed yet?" Luca's voice startles me and I jump. Joey looks over from her seat and Finley glances into the mirror.

August and I stammer over our words as we try to come up with an answer.

Well, the answer is no, we haven't.

"I mean, I feel like if you have, Riley wouldn't be so uncomfortable changing in front of him. Just a thought." Luca shrugs nonchalantly as if he hadn't just asked me and August about our sex life.

August leans over me and begins to hit Luca. Luca yells out at the attack and giggles at the same time.

"You. Disgusting. Child. Apologize. Right. Now," August says in between blows to Lucas legs arms and the back of his head.

"Ah! Okay, okay! I'm sorry!" Luca says as he shrivels into a ball and tries to cover his head from the hard hits.

I surprise myself when I laugh at the sight in front of me. A real genuine laugh. Something I haven't heard in about four days. But it's also not surprising since I'm now with the four people that make me the happiest.