Broken Arrows

05 | a morning jog

"Sometimes, we search for things that are right in front of us."

—Freaky Friday (2003)

☁☁☁☁

Nighttime fell quickly, or at least, it felt quick to her as she spent the rest of her evening shoving down granola bars and dusting and sweeping. It was a continuous process, one that became tiresome after its first round, but had to be repeated several times to have any sort of effect.

Once they'd finished—Elliot and Hunter had helped, much to their relief—Sachi was about ready to collapse. Literally. She shuffled like a zombie into the bedroom she'd thrown all of her belongings into. It was the second door away from the front entrance, which would work fine. She went on morning jogs each day, and she'd rather be close enough to not wake anyone than have to rush out of the house in the hopes of escaping unscathed.

She hadn't even unpacked. All of her clothing was pressed into her suitcases in sort-of neat folds, and she tore out the first pajama shirt she found, along with the first pair of soccer shorts she'd left on top.

She wasted no time in getting dressed. She stripped of her shorts and tank, and hopped into her nightclothes. She didn't bother tying her hair or anything to ready herself for bed; braids led to curly hair, and fishtails led to frizz.

Once she'd finished up in the bathroom, she padded back down the hallway into her sanctuary. She didn't want to stay there longer than necessary, since she'd never shared a bathroom with anyone other than her parents for longer than a night, and she wasn't aware of their bathroom habits. She'd just stay clear of them until she figured it out.

Sachi sent a quick text to her parents, so they'd know they ended up at Crimson Lake safely and that she hadn't been ripped to shreds by Hunter. Yet.

Me (10:42): made it to crimson. everything is great sort of & I miss you both. love you. night.

Akemi Nakano (10:44): glad ur ok. night night night.

She smiled at the response with amusement. Trust her mother to repeat words unnecessarily. At least she didn't send an overabundance of emojis with each text.

Her bedroom creaked open, and the light from the hallway flooded through the crack, making Sachi look up. Erin stood in the doorway, one hand braced against the door, and she offered a small smile. "Can I come in?"

"Of course." She tossed her phone aside and shuffled backwards on the bed, making room for her to sit. "What's up?"

Erin made herself comfortable, running a hand through her head of waves and curls. She was already dressed in her pajamas as well; an old earth day shirt paired with sweat shorts made up her night attire, and somehow, she made the look work. "Nothing much. I wanted to talk about you, actually."

"Did I forget to cap my toothpaste? I swear, I always forget to do that."

She laughed. "No, it's not that, but thanks for the warning." She huffed before saying, "It's about you and Hunter."

"I'm not sure I like the direction this conversation is taking." Sachi flashed her a sheepish grin. "I don't have a crush on him or anything."

"Um, that's not what I was going to say. Like, at all."

"Oh."

"Hunter is being super closed-off, which is expected, especially from him. He barely speaks and he has this super pissed off look on twenty-four/seven. But for some reason, he seems extremely pissed at you."