Birds chirped proudly outside of the windows of Tannyhill, the sun rising without fail over the land as it did every morning. The sound of a door closing woke the girl, June March stirring in her spot on the couch. She breathed in that first morning breath, stretching her body as she reveled in the bliss of forgetting where she was. Hurried footsteps is what made her confused, and she tried her hardest to drift back into sleep for a moment.
"June!" Her eyes shot open at the sound of the voice, her head turning to see who it was. Rafe was standing to the side of the couch, the boy looking down at her with some strange expression in his eyes. She took his appearance in, the boy sweaty and covered in dirt and she considered questioning it but decided she would rather continue this sleep in her bed and leave whatever the hell his issue was alone.
"What?" She said in an angrier tone than expected, her eyes squinted as she adjusted to the light. She pushed herself up onto her elbows and shrugged, Rafe still just staring down at her wild eyed.
"Go home. I've got—there's people coming over and I need you to not be here okay?" The confusion of early morning left her hesitant to leave, but he was fidgety and frantic, so he reached forwards from where he was standing, grabbing her by the arms and pulling her up from her laying position. She gasped out in surprise, the sleepiness disappearing from her body as she stood in his grip. "Go home."
For a moment she felt like everything they had talked about was for nothing, but then he let go of her arms, the girl sitting on the edge of the couch with fear and confusion in her eyes. He took a knee in front of her, grabbing her shoes from beside the couch and beginning to put them on, June watching him with so much confusion as he pulled her socks onto her feet. Her heart beat rather fast as he slid her shoes onto her feet, a hardened look in his eyes as he did so. Once the shoes were tied he stood, holding out a hand to her and waiting for her to take it. Their terms were shaky and blurry but maybe they weren't as bad as they used to be. Maybe she really could open her heart to forgiveness. She had woken up and she could remember everything, but she knew now was definitely not the time to get into any of it. She grabbed his hand, Rafe pulling her up and then not so subtly gearing her in the direction of the door.
"Alright bye." Rafe said as he pulled her through the front door and out into the yard. He let go of her hand, not a second of hesitance as he took off back towards the house. If she wasn't so fresh out of her sleep she would have been able to note that this was strange and suspicious, but really she was just worried about how hot it was outside and how much she wanted to crawl back into bed and sleep. That was the Rafe she knew, she was almost relieved her had returned to usher her back into reality.
"Bye." She said to no one in particular, her body turning as she made her way to her car. The ride home was rather uneventful, June just listened to the radio and thought about the gala. Besides the fact that she had been stalked and potentially almost murdered or kidnapped again, it was a rather exciting evening, one she didn't mind saying she actually enjoyed until the end.
June pulled into her driveway, the girl quickly getting out of her car and heading towards the house. There were no cars in the driveway, only hers, and she wondered if anyone was home. Surely Tyler would be. She opened the front door, her eyes scanning the foyer and the kitchen.
"Mom?" She called, walking through the bottom floor of the house."Dad?"
Nothing.
She started towards the stairs, figuring she would check the bedrooms to see if everyone was still asleep. But it was a weekday, her parents were probably just at work. She pushed the door to Tyler's room open, alarmed that he wasn't in there. He did say he had an interview...maybe he got the job. She started towards the end of the hallway, her hand hovering over Adams doorknob when she heard a rustle above her, her head immediately shooting up to look.
