Swell (Complete)

Chapter Forty-Five (Part Two)

"I am swollen, and this has stolen my sanity,
Well it's hard to see beyond this when it's fighting against me."

....

Adora wiped her face at the table and tried to ignore her mother crying on the other side.
"I'm sorry, Mum. I just..." Anne had burst into tears the moment they had stepped into the Escape. Dodge's car was in the car park, but her cousin had made himself scarce.
"Adora, you have no idea how terrified I was do you?" Her mum's voice quivered.
She forced herself to look at her mother's blood shot eyes.
"No." She whispered. "I just needed to feel..." What? Safe? She was being guarded by her cousins and video cameras at her own home, yet she felt unsafe? It felt like the only right word in her mouth. "I can't explain it. With Dodge, and here, I know I'm safe, but I still feel scared. With Will, I actually felt safe. I wasn't worried about being watched." Her voice choked.
"Adora, what would Will do if a car tried to run into the two of you like it had Brett? Or if someone came up behind you two with a weapon?"
The words were spat out and they stung in her chest like a shape ball of trapped air.
"I don't know, Mum. But for the first time in weeks I felt like myself. I wasn't worried about depression returning, I wasn't thinking about how I had to make myself eat. Will doesn't have any reason to be a danger to me. I already like him."
"That's not the point, even if this stalker isn't one of the Taylors, he is dangerous."
"And keeping me isolated is dangerous too." Adora leaned back to put as much space between her and her mother as she could as Anne looked at her with surprise.
"We're not isolating..."
"I can't be alone with Marti, or Will unless there's someone watching? Marti is my best friend, I really like Will. I don't want to be spied on by my cousins when I am with them."
Anne put her hands on the table, palms open for Adora's.
"Baby, I'm just scared I can't protect you. That doll..." Anne looked down at her hands and Adora felt the guilt sinking in.
"I know, Mum. I know you want to keep me safe, and Dodge and Iain too, but please, don't stop me from feeling safe with my friends." Adora put her hands over her mothers and leaned her arms on the table between them. "I feel safe with Will, it's not the kind of safe I can explain. I asked him out, I kissed him first."
Anne closed her eyes and her shoulders slumped. "If you ever do what you did today again, Adora, I will chain you to your bed. You always answer your phone. You got that?" Anne's grip tightened around Adora's hands and their eyes locked.
"Alright, Mum. I promise, I'll never ignore my phone again." Adora sucked her lips in and took a deep breath in. "Does that mean I'm free?"
"Oh, no. You are still under guard."
"Can I go out with Will again tomorrow?"
Anne laughed in disbelief. "Didn't I ground you before we left the bakery?"
"Well... Yes, but... I figure being under guard is basically the same thing as being grounded..." Adora closed her teeth and forced a hesitant smile.
Anne's shoulders slumped. "I'll think about it." She took her hands out from underneath Adora's and left the table. "Though after what you put me through today, and lying... At a time like this..."
Adora slumped back and looked out the kitchen window.
"You alright?" Dodge's voice was gentle as he sat down opposite her a few minutes later.
"No." Adora's voice was thick. "I know I screwed up, but I can't stand being watched every minute I'm not in the bathroom."
"What if I come up with a plan that your Mum agrees on?"
Adora looked at her cousin with a frown. "Like what?"
"Iain told me the plans for the dance, I know you want to go with Marti and Will, I know Iain is going to be there, what about a sort of date with the four of you? Like a double date?"
"I don't think Marti and Iain like each other that way..." Adora shook her head.
"They don't have to. It's just so Iain can be around without you feeling like you're being watched like a hawk."
Adora bit her bottom lip and tried to imagine going out with Will, Marti and Iain. Will and Marti had gone out with Elissa together, and Tom had often joined them.
It wouldn't be too bad, would it?
"Do you think Mum would say yes?"
"I can ask. If it works out alright then you already know how the dance will go." Dodge gave her a small smile and she felt her head nodding slowly.
"Let's try." She slid out of the booth and into the opposite one next to her cousin. He put an arm around her and she leaned against his body as rain started to fall beyond the alfresco outside.


Adora sat at the computer waiting later Saturday night. Dodge had spoke with her mother, and Adora was waiting for a video call with Will and Marti before dinner.
Marti appeared on the screen first.
"So, are you still allowed to come to the dance?" Was her first question.
"I'm not sure. Dodge has an idea that he thinks she might go for, which is why I wanted to call you guys. Is Will there?" Adora leaned back in the computer chair and wrapped her arms around her knees.
"He's in the shower, Dad kind of laid into him about this afternoon. Irresponsible and stupid were the key words in our house today."
"I was stupid, not him. Urg." Adora heaved a sigh and Marti gave her a grimace.
"So what's Dodge's idea?"
"He thinks Mum might let me go out in a group if Iain joins us. Dodge thought it could kind of be like a double date; You, Me, Will and Iain."
Marti looked away from the screen for a few moments and Adora heard Will's voice moments before he appeared in front of the webcam pulling a chair over to sit beside Marti.
"I mean, it could work. It's not really that much different to what school has been the last week and a bit." Marti shrugged.
"What's this?" Will brushed his hand through his wet hair.
"You, me, Adora and Iain going out. It's basically how the dance would be." Marti explained.
"Well, I'll be honest," Will smiled as he looked into the webcam. "After today, I think I'm more afraid of your Mum than the psycho stranger, so I'll do whatever she says."
Adora felt her face get warm with embarrassment. "I'm sorry I got you into trouble. I didn't think she would try and find me if I told her I was with the band."
"It's OK, it was kind of worth it."
She looked up at Will's cheeky smile and her heart raced.
"Here we go." Marti rolled her eyes with a laugh.
There was a knock behind her and Adora turned around on the chair and felt her chest tighten as Dodge opened the study door.
"Hey. You busy?" He asked, poking his head in the space between the door and its frame.
"Just chatting with Marti and Will. What did Mum say?"
Dodge came into the study and pulled the spare chair over in front of the webcam. "Hey kids." He gave the Taylors on the screen a small wave. "Here's the deal; Anne has agreed to lunch tomorrow, the catch is that I'll be driving, I haven't spoken to Iain yet, but Anne wants him there too. So, Adora's far from off the watch list, but so long as you three don't go on walkabouts I might be a little more lax on the supervision than I should be."
Adora wrapped her arms around Dodge's shoulders. "Thank you." She said quietly into his ear. He gently patted her back.
"I guess it's better than nothing." Marti shrugged. "Not like anyone thinks you or Iain are the psycho, right?"
Dodge pulled out of Adora's arms and chuckled. "There's no way after today that Anne is going to let this one free, so I'm afraid it's the best you'll get for now. Sorry."
"It's fine with me." Will chuckled bashfully.
"Alright, well, I'll go call Iain, you guys can decide where and when. Adora's curfew is 5pm though." Dodge ruffled Adora's hair and left the room.
"I don't know whether to be scared and disappointed or excited." Marti said once Dodge had closed the door behind him.
"Scared?" Will frowned at his sister.
"Well, for all we know it could be Iain or Dodge that killed Gus." Marti pointed out.
"That's terrifying, and no." Adora shook her head, the air leaving her lungs for a few moments as she envisioned Iain punching Tom at school.
"They didn't know anything about Liss, Marti, don't be ridiculous." Will's tone was stone cold and Adora tried to block the doll from her memory.
"You're right. Sorry. I just hate being guarded around my best friend." Marti grumbled.
"What do we want to do tomorrow?" Will tried to shift the conversation with a bit more enthusiasm in his voice.
"That's a good question." Adora nodded and pursed her lips together. "What's the weather going to be like?"
Marti pulled her phone from her pocket and started looking at the screen. "It's actually going to be nice tomorrow. Oh no..."
"What?" Will looked at the phone screen over her shoulder and Adora smiled at the strange connection through their computers.
"Friday has a high chance of rain. What if we can't do out photos before the dance?" Marti lowered her phone and Adora could see her disappointment even in the pixels of the monitor.
"Maybe we can do that tomorrow?" Adora suggested, lightening the tone in her voice and smiling.
"What?" Marti put her phone down and frowned.
"A fake dance photo shoot. We can get Dodge to take the photos at the beach, or the cove."
"Hey, that's not a bad idea." Will nodded. "That way if it rains on Friday there's no missing memories."
Marti didn't say anything straight away.
"How about it?" Adora moved closer to her camera and smiled.
"What if our dresses get dirty?"
"Well, dry sand just takes a lot of shaking to get out, wet sand is dirty. We can just make sure not to get too close to the water."
Marti bit her lips as she thought. "I guess a practise run on hair and make up would be fun." Her worried frown gave way to a smile and Adora watched as Will draped an arm over his sister's shoulders.
"We have a fake dance then!" He announced.