ISSUES II outer banks

little sisters

"Act as if what you do makes a difference."

❥

"Stop, kids, I've heard enough", Shoupe says as we meet him at the crime scene to tell him what happened but as Ward has been quicker, he was able to cover up his track and we stand here without any evidence, "I won't listen to your lies anymore!"

"Why should we lie?", Kie yells back, "I know that it sounds crazy, I know, okay. But why should wie lie?" "Shoupe please, just do your work, at least for twenty minutes", I beg him as he's about to go back to his car, "You've seen me witnessing in your office. Why would I lie under oath and why would we lie now?"

My voice even cracks when I remember what happened at the on the airstrip. Seeing Rafe standing there with the gun in his hand and Peterkin's dead body.. I still have nightmares from that day. "I know you are angry and I know you think you're friend is innocent but you haven't been there apart from Isabella. The only other witnesses who are still alive say something else and they have a lot more credibility than all of you right now. Go home."

❥

"Wheezie?", I say confused when I answer her call in the morning. Of course, I still talk to her and I regularly ask her how she feels because she doesn't know about Sarah being alive.. yet. I wish I could tell her but the risk of Ward or Rafe finding out is too high so I keep this a secret until we're safe. "Bella, I have to tell you something. Can you come over?"

She sounds way better than I thought. She usually calls me to ask me what Sarah would do in a certain situation or just to talk in general but she never sounded as happy as now. Maybe she's starting to find a way to deal with the situation. "Can we meet somewhere else? I don't want to see Rafe right now." "You were hiding from him for a longer time. Did he do something?"

Well.. If I told her, she'd be devastated or wouldn't believe me so I will wait until we've got enough evidence or until Sarah is back to be another witness. "I just.. he's not amused with me being around pogues", I tell her honestly. "When is he even amused with anything?", she laughs and I chuckle lightly. If making jokes about her brother helps her, it's great.

"That's true", I agree with her, "So can we meet at the beach?" "Could you please come to our house? It's really important that no one should find out about and I'm kind of stuck at home at the moment." "Because of Rafe?" "No, dad just wants us to be safe around here just in case there are any reporter out there." What an ironic explanation. Ward wants them to be safe. Ward literally just killed someone. One of his closest employees.

"Yeah, I understand that", I nod. As long as I can't tell her about it, I shouldn't make her feel like something's wrong. I'll just visit her for a few minutes and then leave. Rafe doesn't even have to be there, maybe he's not there anyways. "Can you come now? It's really important. Rafe's also not here so you won't have to see him." "Alright", I agree and feel relieved to hear that I won't have to see him. Now I hope that Ward won't be there as well. I will probably see Rose but I can deal with her. At least she didn't kill anyone.

"Finally, you're here!", Wheezie calls for me as soon as I enter the Cameron's premise and walk to her. "It seemed to be really important and of course I'll come whenever you ask me to", I give her a smile and hug her, "What is it about?" "It's a secret. Let's go to my room."

"You should sit down", Wheezie tells me seriously and I furl my eyebrows but sit down on her bed wondering what could be so serious that she knows about. "So?" "You won't believe it, it's crazy", she whispers and looks at me with big eyes, "Sarah, she's alive. John B, too, I guess, but Sarah called me."

I look at her for a second not knowing what to say. Should I act surprised or tell her the truth? Maybe it'll be weird to act like I didn't know about it as I don't jump up out of happiness like we did the day before. "To be honest.. I knew that. I found out about it yesterday", I tell her honestly, "I would have told you but we couldn't let anyone know as long as they're not here and we were busy helping Sarah and John to redeem their names so they can come back. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

"Redeem their names?", Wheezie just repeats my words confused, "But Sarah didn't do anything." "None of them did but the police thinks differently and we don't want John B to come back and be sent to jail immediately." "What is this all about, Bella? Dad and Rafe are arguing a lot and Rose is tense as well. You know something, don't you?" "I do but I cannot tell you, I'm sorry. It's better if you don't know yet. Do you trust me?"

"Of course." "Then please trust me when I say it's better if you wait a bit until you can find out about it. I know it's hard when this makes you feel bad but it's not the right time", I tell her completely understanding her position as  I hated those situations when everyone else knew more about a serious topic but I was the only one who was not involved. My parents didn't even tell me they would send me to the Outer Banks early enough. I had one week to pack everything and say goodbye to my friends. But in the end, I would have worried too much if I knew about it weeks before.

"But you will tell me about it as soon as possible, right?" "Of course", I promise her and stand up from her bed slowly. "Are you already leaving?", Wheezie asks giving me a sad look but I nod slowly. "JJ is waiting for me and Rafe could be here soon so it's better if I leave. But I will text you and we can meet at the club soon", I suggest and smile widely when she hugs me tightly.

"Bella, you're leaving?" I shouldn't have talked to Wheezie that long, of course Rafe would go home sooner or later. "Yes, I was just talking to Wheezie", I tell him and try to walk past him in the hallway but he doesn't stop. "And you didn't mean to say hello to me?" "I didn't know that you were here."

"Rafe, dinner is ready", Rose comes to the hallway and looks between us with a confused look, "Isabella, do you want to have dinner with us? It's your favorite." I sigh mentally for a moment.. Should I? Probably not, but she doesn't know what happened between him and I.. it's not her fault and we used to have good conversations sometimes. "Of course, we would understand if Christian and Anna are waiting for you."

I turn around surprised and face Ward who's now standing next to Rose. Ward looks nervous. He doesn't want me to eat with them because he's afraid that I would say something about Gavin. I enjoy the possibility to see Ward being nervous so I slowly nod and look at them with a faked smile. "Actually, I'm quite hungry. I would love to have dinner with you. Thank you, Rose."