Their Girl

6: Shock

By the end of the first week, the boys and I had fallen into a quiet routine. It was nice, at times but I also missed the fun in the chaos. You have to face something to be free of when you're finally free of school, right? Anyhow, today was Friday and I was up picking out my wardrobe.

I changed into gray long sleeve crop top and a high waisted pair of black leggings. I grabbed my black combat boots and headed for the stairs.

This morning was only Kota and I, and he was already making breakfast seeing as I had run a little late. Nathan was busy with something, and I was curious why he had been gone so much but I didn't ask. Besides, if I confronted him about that, he could confront me.

Admittedly, I hadn't seen the eyes since the night with North, but I had trouble keeping my focus off of them. They were so strange, and they made me act strange. I was surprised none of the boys had really asked about it, but I'm sure they knew something was up.

The school day was unexciting, and I found myself drifting to the eyes more than once. The mystery was consuming, and much more entertaining than right triangle trigonometry. I bit my lip. What if I was spending all this time on nothing? What if it was nothing, an excuse to be distracted?

With that thought in mind, I did my best to focus on the school day. As soon as the final bell rang I sighed and found Nathan in the crowded gym so we could go home.

"Ready to go, Peanut?" He smiled.

"Sure am honey," I laughed, reaching up to ruffle his hair. It was always soft.

We let the people pass before us and the halls were nearly empty as we started making our way out. Kota was at the library and was gonna meet us at his car. I let my fingers weave in-between Nathan's as we walked; it was a habit, now, walking in the hallways. We always held hands when we walked to make sure we didn't lose each other, so I didn't mind.

Nathan was in the middle of telling me about this movie he saw when I felt it. A slight breeze, enough to raise the hairs on my arms and the feeling that I wasn't alone. Nate wasn't the only one here. My fingers tightened around Nate's loose ones as I tugged him to stop.

"What is it?" He asked quietly.

I put my fingers to my lips, "who are you?" I asked.

There were soft tapping noises and shivers cascaded down my spine. Nathan was on high alert, drawing me closer to him.

"You're the eyes." I whispered.

I felt the breeze again, softer this time, and started pulling Nate.

"What's going on?" Nate spoke urgently.

"We need to get to the car. Now."

We rushed outside, our heads swinging around to check for people and Nathan called Kota.

"We need you at the car as soon as possible. We might be dealing with someone. Check for tails. Sang's with me, and she's gonna tell us what she knows."

The edge in Nate's voice made my heart skip faster as Nate pulled out his extra set of keys and unlocked the car, opening the back door for me. I climbed in and tucked my knees up to my chest, rocking back and forth as I tried to catch my breath.

After another minute of Nathan searching the parking lot, he crawled in the back seat next to me and pulled me into his side. Gently he pushed my legs down and then my arms away from my face so he could look at me. There were tears in my eyes and I blinked furiously.

"Kota's on his way, but I need you to tell me what's going on."

I opened my mouth to say something but ended up choking on my words and falling into a fit of crying. I was so embarrassed. I wanted to disappear in a hole in the ground. Oh my.

"I'm s-sorry, Nathan," I choked out.

He sighed and rubbed my back. I felt like a child and I hated it, but I didn't bother pushing him away. Kota finally made it to the car, leaning in to hug me and whispering to Nathan.

Nathan traded places with Kota and started the car as Kota came in the back to sit with me, rubbing my back like Nathan did.

"It's okay, Sang, we're going home. You're safe."

He played with the ends of my hair as I melted into him, wondering how much trouble I'd be in when we got home. I shouldn't have kept it from them, but what if it had been a mistake? What if it was my eyes playing tricks on me?

I curled tighter into Kota. Someone was following me. Someone was stalking me. Oh god. What did they want? Were they hunting me? I tried to control my breathing but I was in between crying fits, the reality setting in of everything this could be.

Kota noticed my struggle, quickly lifting my head up so that I was looking at him. The pads of his thumbs wiped away the tears on my cheeks.

"I'm really sorry, p-please don't be ma-ad at me! I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to I p-promise!"

"Hey, hey," he whispered, "breathe with me sweetie. In, out. Good. In, out."

We repeated it until I felt more in control and once more I collapsed against his body. We had just pulled into the driveway when I remembered everyone was coming over today. I was in so much trouble.

As Nate and Kota got out of the car, I took a deep breath and stood up, pushing off the door and nearly landing face first on the pavement. Nathan's arm guided me back up and he looked at me concerned.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling okay? Can you walk?"

I felt shaky all over. My legs were wobbling. I felt like... Like I was made out of noodles.  What was wrong with me? I've heard about being in shock before, maybe that's what this was. It must be the realization of the whole situation settling under my skin and rattling my bones.

Nathan frowned and carried me to the door where Kota held it open for us. Everyone was in the living room having a conversation. I was so happy to see my boys I almost forgot what was going on. It stopped when they all turned to look at me, clearing a place on the couch and drowning us with questions.