Page 28 of Riot Reunion
“It’ll be coming up here on the left then.”
And it is.
Four doors away.
Three doors away.
Two.
One.
The hallway stretches out like some dramatic horror movie pull-back. Why thefuckare my palms so sweaty? The three of us come to a halt in front of Chase’s door. Half-scraped-off Harry Styles stickers cover the chipped paintwork. Jesus wept, why is my throat closing up? Why—
“You gonna knock, or should I?” Elodie asks.
I start, glancing at her out of the corner of my eye. “I’m gonna do it. In a second. I’m just…”
“Taking your sweet fucking time,” Wren mutters under his breath.
I lift my hand. I’maboutto knock, but before I can, the door whips inwards and there she stands. My Firebrand. Presley Maria Witton Chase, in all her auburn-haired glory. She wears a blue and black checked flannel that I haven’t seen her in before. It looks massive on her. By her fur-lined boots, it appears that she’s heading outside. If that’s the case, then she sure as shit shouldn’t be wearing yoga pants. Or the skimpy black strappy shirt beneath the flannel.
Her face drains of color when she realizes who's standing in front of her bedroom door; mouth opening and closing, eyes twice their normal size, she looks like a cartoon version of herself, scrambling to make sense of what she’s seeing.
“Pres!’ Elodie rushes in to give her friend a hug. “Oh my god, it’s so good to see you!”
Chase stands there for a second, then automatically wraps her arms around Elodie, her eyes still locked on me. She finds her voice, and the words that come out of her mouth sound strange. Too high. Strangled. “Guys. What…what the hell are you doing here?”
“Good question,” Wren mutters.
I say nothing. I can’t look away from the girl I fell in love with back in New Hampshire. I can feel the fear rolling off her from four feet away. Anxious doesn’t even come close—she’sterrified. And I get it now. I understand why.
“Pax? Hey, Earth to Pax?” Elodie’s stopped hugging Chase. She’s staring at me, prodding me in the arm. I feel her gaze on me, but it’s impossible to turn my attention to her. I’m frozen to the spot, gripped by an unnamable panic. “Don’t be rude. Aren’t you gonna say hello to your girlfriend?” Elodie coaxes. “See, everything’s okay. He’s been worried as hell about you. Wouldn’t shut up about coming to see you until we eventually all decided to just get on a plane. And now we’re here, and Presley’s fine, Pax. You’re fine. I’m fine. Wren’s fine. Everything’s fine!”
I swallow down the golf-ball-sized lump in my throat, but it doesn’t stop the burning ache I feel there. “Everything is not fine, is it, Presley?” I say, my voice rough-edged.
Her eyes shine, tears welling in them as she reaches out to try and take my hands. “Pax, please. Don’t. Don’t freak—” She cuts herself off when I step back, out of her reach.
An invisible wall begins to form between us. The same wall that used to stand between me and the outside world—a wall I know all too well. It’s like a familiar, long-lost friend, throwing a protective arm around me as it snaps back into place. “I need to get some air,” I grit out.
“Pax, no! Let’s just talk about this!” Presley pleads.
“Can someone explain what thefuckis going on?” Wren demands. “You’re all acting like insane people. I don’t see what the problem is.”
And he wouldn’t. Why would he? He only has eyes for his Little E. He saw Chase standing there in one piece and didn’t bother to look any closer. But Elodie did. And so did I. If Wren had bothered toreallylook at Chase, he’d have immediately noticed the reason why Elodie tugged Chase’s shirt closed as she drew back from hugging her. He would have seen the small but noticeable swell of her normally flat stomach. He would have seen that she’s fuckingpregnant.
10
WREN
Modern medicine is a wonderful thing.Less than a hundred years ago, women used to employ all kinds of untrustworthy methods to prevent pregnancy, and when they invariably failed, they’d risk throwing back a mad concoction of poisonous plants to get rid of an unwanted child. Even that wasn’t foolproof. Back-alley abortions used to kill as many women as they helped, and even knowing that was a possibility, they still begged for the barbarous procedures to be performed on them rather than bring a child into a world where it couldn’t be supported.
Today, things are mercifully different. For starters, highly effective birth control exists. Condoms. Which is why my blood is boiling hot, scorching at my veins, as I stalk after Pax into the café he just bolted inside. I follow after him, instantly sweating in my oversized jacket as the heat from the kitchen hits me in the face, hissing like a scalded cat as I hurl myself into the booth opposite my friend.
“You’re a fucking moron,” I announce.
My friend lances me through with a look so violent and bloody, it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention. “Be very careful what you say next,” he seethes. Fighting his way out of his coat, Pax dumps it onto the bench beside him, revealing a hoody underneath with a vampire teeth logo and graffitied text that says,‘Evil Overlord’ on it. The design’s pretty cool. I want to ask him where he got it, but now isnotthe time. I disrobe, too, chewing on all of the scathing words I want to say to him. I give the situation a moment. If I’m not careful, he'll put his fist through my face; he won’t be able to help himself.
“Afternoon, boys. What can I get for you?” A cheery woman with a mop of curly red hair has materialized next to the booth. She isn’t in uniform. No order pad in hand. In fact, I have no real reason to believe she even works here, aside from the fact that she just asked us what we’d like.
