Push & Gravity

7

That night was a success. Sofía and Raúl managed to sneak into the warehouse and find the final piece they needed, and her and Javier's beanie guy led them right up to what they'd suspected, confirming Sofía's theory and therefore this people's whole modus operandi and objectives. After all this time, finally, they had them.

And that was all Natalia cared or thought about. Not Javier or the kiss they'd had to fake that night, certainly not. There hadn't been any glances from either part, nor did they act like it didn't happen whenever their eyes met.

Okay, so things were a little weird. That was normal, considering. Neither of them had wanted to do that, so now it was awkward.

(She remembered his hands gripping her tighter the harder they kissed.)

(She remembered his warm breath on her neck.)

(She remembered wondering if the pounding heartbeat was his or her own.)

But besides that, things were still pretty much the same. They hardly talked, only when it was necessary. Javier still acted cold towards her, maybe even more so than before, and he stuck to Sofía's side like saying 'this is what I want, don't get any ideas.'

It was annoying and unnecessary. Natalia didn't care about Javier anymore; he could do whatever he wanted.

(She didn't get scared out of her mind when the bad guys tried to hurt him.)

(She wasn't so worried when she noticed a man following Javier outside of school that she'd knocked him out with a selfie stick, only to find out later that it was Sofía's dad.)

Sofía's dad had to be less shady if he didn't want to be attacked by high school girls.

Anyway, all of this was finally coming to an end. They'd gotten everything they needed— All that was left was making their move. Just one move, and it could all be over.

They were ready. The plan was fairly simple, if not for how ridiculously dangerous it was and how many things could possibly go wrong.

But they had to do this— They'd come this far. Just one last risk tomorrow and finally the threats, the attacks, the deaths, would come to an end.

"You're not going."

Natalia grew quiet and turned to see Javier with confusion.

"...What?"

Raúl had been the first to leave Javier's house. He had a lot to get ready for tomorrow and he wanted to get an early start. Sofía had left soon after, encouraged by Javier on the grounds of needing to get some sleep for the big day tomorrow.

Natalia doubted any of them would get much sleep tonight anyway. There were too many things to think about, too much anxiety. She had chosen to stay a little longer precisely for that reason, to go over the plan one final time, observe everything on the evidence board until it was printed on her retinas— Every backup plan, every countermeasure they'd come up with for hypothetical problems they imagined they could run into. She probably sounded a little insane recapping things out loud, but she needed to remember it all.

They would never be prepared for every single eventuality though, and they knew it.

This, for example, was a situation Natalia hadn't expected.

Javier stood by his glass desk on the other side of the room, looking at her with a blank expression. "Sofía, Raúl, and I can handle everything tomorrow, you've already done your part," he said, and moved to his full wall wardrobe, rummaging and pulling things out. "Stay at your house, and if none of us makes contact after two hours, call the police."