STATIC; JR [2]

4.4

Sam insisted on angering the boy the whole time we spoke of a plan, doing our best to act natural as we waited on a bench seat for the boy to pass through the playground.

"Come on, please?" He asked me, big brown eyes trying to guilt me into letting him do the wrong thing. "Anger really gets the magic going, right?" He said, taking a light jab at Jake and I.

Even though he was right, I rolled my own eyes at his antics. "Sam, no. We can't just piss him off for no reason. Do you want Lachlan to add you to his list of enemies?" I retorted, flicking my hair from my vision.

"He's already on mine! I don't care, Edith." He said, his knee knocking into mine accidentally as he readjusted himself in the wooden chair. I only shook my head then, not wanting to keep up with him. Honestly, sometimes it was like talking to a brick wall; albeit a very polite one.

I found myself staring off into the distance as I thought of a plan, not really knowing where to start but definitely knowing that making him angry wasn't the answer. I tried not to think of Jake and the way he smiled at the new girl the way he was supposed to be smiling at me. It was a terrible feeling, really, to be left with the hurt.

I heard Sam sigh before I felt his breath on the side of my face. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked me, his head cocked slightly. He was only helpful, and I loved him for it.

"I don't know." I said honestly, dropping my head at his attempt to make me feel better. "I just... I wonder what I haven't done right with him."

Sam inched closer to me and propped his leg up on his lap, his shoe falling limp as his ankle rested against his knee. "Edith, you haven't done anything wrong. You are a great girlfriend to him! He's just stupid, his head is full of... rocks." He said, suddenly sheepish at his elemental insult.

When I lifted my eyes to his, I saw that he was trying to get me to smile. It worked, and I couldn't help but let a fit of laughter overcome me. "That was a horrible joke." I told him, shaking my head.

He continued to grin at me, ducking his head. "But, you liked it." He nudged me gently, brushing my shoulder with the back of his hand. I only hummed in agreement before letting my gaze fall to my black shoes. I crossed my legs as Sam cleared his throat, and when I looked over at his face I was slightly shocked to see the intensity that resided there. "Felix is right." He mumbled, his eyebrows furrowed, but only a little bit, like this next thing wasn't too hard to say. "We'll protect you. As best we can, we'll protect you."

I didn't really know what he was referring to, and I also didn't really know what to say; it was a tough thing to respond to, especially when this vulnerability of Sam's was so rarely shown. I let a tiny smile grace my lips, but it was nothing compared to the emotion I felt inside; I loved these boys, with all my heart I loved them.

In that same moment, I caught a glimpse of our target. I nodded my head in Lachlan's general direction and Sam noticed right away, standing up and bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Follow my lead." He muttered, beginning to approach.

"Sam, no." I called out, quickly racing after him before he could do something to Lachlan neither I nor Felix would approve of.

He glanced back at me over his shoulder to see I was too far behind him to really do anything, and then as if he knew I was about to call his name again, he turned around.

I watched with a grimace as Lachlan began to unwrap a sandwich, leaning up against a pole as Sam snaked past and snatched the sandwich from his grasp. The boy yelped as Sam fled the scene, leaving me in the dust. He sneaked around the corner of the building, and so i ran around the other way and had to tug the skirt of my dress down as I did so.

I got there just in time to see Sam skid across the dirt and slide behind a bin. I made sure I was hidden well, but Sam could see me from where he was sat on the ground. He sent me a wink, and I suppressed a giggle as I peered around the side of the building; Lachlan fell into my view quickly.

He hesitated, halting in the middle of the opening. There were four bins, and he analysed each of them before furrowing his eyebrows and turning away, deciding his sandwich pursuit wasn't worth it.

I honestly couldn't blame him, but I had to admit, I didn't have a better plan. I didn't have a plan at all.

I came out of hiding as Sam shook his head at me, glum and disappointed, before realising he had scored a sandwich out of the failed attempt. He smiled up at me from his spot in the dirt and offered me a bite. When I declined, he shrugged and took a bite himself.

I hoped the other boys had fared better than us.