Rebel

Chapter 4: Closer

"Oh my God, you guys! She's probably laying in a ditch somewhere!" Rachel screamed. "She better be! So help me God, if she isn't, I'm going to put her ass there!" Candace growled. "Maybe she got tired of us hounding her for wanting to be with someone and she finally got laid," Mel added. "Syd, call us when you can," Jamie huffed, being the only level headed one on the voicemail message. I laughed maniacally at how freaked out they were. I just kept replaying the message over and over again.

Danny stepped out onto the front porch, handing me a cup of black coffee. Nothing helped take the edge off of a long night like a warm cup of black coffee. I lit a cigarette as he sat down next to me on the bench and guzzled down half the cup. "How can you drink that without anything in it? It tastes like dirt when it's black," he gagged. I fondly remembered my dad telling me how to nurse a hangover long before I thought of even looking at alcohol. "Gets ya going when you feel like you're going to puke," I said, quoting him proudly, "Sometimes I think I could add a little cream to my coffee. Just how I like my men," I said with a wink. Danny just rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I would say that I liked my coffee like I like my women, but black coffee is where I draw the line." Holy fuck. We were flirting. I didn't want to be all flirty, but honestly it took little to no effort around him. It just came out naturally.

I panicked and quickly changed the subject. "So, why exactly did we come to your brother's house?" I asked, taking another sip from my cup as I folded my legs Indian style. "For obvious reasons. Best place in the county to stay hidden. I don't want anyone to know that I'm back yet." He stretched his arms out, letting a yawn escape from his mouth and then placed his arm behind me on the back of the porch swing. "You know Jada and Ryan. They love their privacy and Jada loves to look down on this town like she's in a castle and the rest of the county was her kingdom."

His brother Ryan and his girlfriend Jada were much older than us. Probably in their thirties if I had to guess and they liked to keep to themselves. We only knew of them. Even before when Danny would hang out with us, we never saw them around much, but we knew that they were close. All I ever heard about Jada was that she was a stuck up bitch that walked around with her nose in the air. Their house was well hidden up in the mountains. Even though it was close to the school, no one ever dared to set foot on their property. I was probably the only one to ever be here and I was hoping to live to tell the tale.

I didn't know what either of them did for a living, but their house was pretty damn amazing. The view from the front porch was breathtaking and it was definitely something I could get used to even though I wasn't a morning person.

"Do you smoke all the time? Like constantly?" he asked with a chuckle. I hadn't even realized that I was on my second cigarette. "You need to learn the meaning of boundaries," I said with a smile. "Alright. You're a big girl," he said, holding his hands up. "Honestly, it's the only thing that keeps my head level. It keeps my nerves from eating me alive." I shrugged and sat back to stare at the trees.

The front door flew open and we both jerked our heads in its direction and came face to face with Jada, the last person that I wanted to see this morning. She stumbled out in a long silk black robe, flowing all around her. Her hair was piled up in a neatly messy bun on top of her head. I didn't know if she had just woken up or if she was planning on storming down a runway.

"Good morning, little brother!" she shouted in a sing song voice. She looked past Danny and right at me and she froze. "Sydney," she said dryly, "I didn't expect to see you. So sorry for your loss," she said with a smirk. I knew that she was just trying to be rude as hell for no reason at all. But it still made my blood boil. I managed to keep my composure. I looked at Danny from the corner of my eye and I could tell that he was getting angrier by the minute.