𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒. ᵒᵘᵗᵉʳ ᵇᵃⁿᵏˢ ¹

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 13.

━  𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗴𝗿𝘂𝗯𝗯𝘀.

    𝐈'𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐀 gunshot once in my life. It happened when I was eight years old, walking in the downtown streets of New York City with my mother's assistant, Anne. We had been on our way to go shopping, for my birthday arriving in a few days, when the piercing sound broke out over the busy traffic, ripping through the air. Only a mere second after, multiple gunshots were fired in a sequence. I remember being pulled into Anne's chest tightly, my mind boggled and unaware of what was going on, while the people around us shouted and yelled. Anne had jumped a cab immediately, and we were driven back home, barely a word spoken.

The dangerous event didn't cause me any difficulties, though. My parents, nor Anne, ever told me exactly what had happened on the streets, so I thought nothing more of it. Until I got older, I realized what it was.

After the fight between John B and Topper, I had run away with the crowd of teenagers. I cold have stayed, made sure he was alright, but it seemed odd of me to care so much and so soon. Besides, I didn't want to die. So, I did what everyone else was doing, and ran. When I heard the gunshot, my first thought was that someone had gotten hit. But as I followed the people in front of me for a good while, until I'd made it off the beach, no one was screaming for pain.

    Running off the beach, I had found myself standing on the curb of the road Caroline had dropped me off on. I walked by myself, in the dark, on the side of the road, following the recognizable houses we'd passed on the way to the beach. It was easier to get home than I had though it'd be.

    When had I opened the screen door, both of my grandparents were sitting on the futon sofa, Daryl asleep, and Caroline reading. They'd seemed to have been waiting for me, because when I entered the silent house, Caroline had quickly looked up with a sigh of relief. She stood up and walked right over to me, immediately asking about the party and how I had gotten home. I told her everything on the way to my bedroom, her arm interlocked with mine, leaving out the part with the fight and the gunshot.

I also forgot to mention the part where I walked home by myself. I had told her that I'd met Sarah Cameron, who had given me a ride home after the party, which was false. Caroline seemed slightly surprised when I mentioned the name, but nonetheless, still smiled brightly and asked a few more harmless questions about my time spent away. We were sitting on my bed in the dark room, Daryl still asleep on the couch, when we'd finished talking about it.

Now, I sat on my bed in the daylight, staring out the window, trying to wrap my head around what had happened. It was bewildering, that, just after finishing a conversation with John B— getting to know more about him and surprisingly having a good time — moments later, he was being drowned in the water. It was even more baffling that JJ, a boy who I'd hung out with one time, was pulling a gun to someone's head, threatening to shoot.

I didn't want to be around John B or his friend again. Even though John B and I bonded the night before, had a fun talk with one another, I stayed up all night thinking about the incident on the beach and how dangerous it could have been.

"We're leaving, bug!" Caroline shouted from the front of the house, her voice wafting through my open door.

I wiped my hands over my eyes, stressfully, before standing up and leaving the room. Caroline was standing by the screen door, reaching over for her bag placed on the round table while Daryl was walking over to the truck, placing some boxes in the cargo bed in the back. It was about midday, and they were both off to the motel, like they'd be doing for the rest of the week.

"See you later," I casually smiled to her, leaning my arms along the top rim of one of the the dining chairs.

"Do I have my keys," she was talking to herself, while searching through the bag on her shoulder. "Oh my goodness!" her face turned into a shocked expression, while pulling out a small pink box, "I completely forgot!" she exclaimed.