“Which way?” she asked when they came to an intersection of hallways.
“Not sure,” he answered honestly. “Left. Let’s go left.”
Wren nodded and stayed close. It was dark, but neither of them wanted to turn on the flashlights on their phones. It felt safer not being illuminated right now.
“Was that…was that one of those things?” she asked, not wanting to call them humans anymore.
“I think so. Maybe,” Elijah answered quietly. “This way. Come on.”
They went through a door marked “Maintenance Only” and were back in the tunnel system a second later. Elijah locked the door behind them.
“Let’s just keep moving,” he said. “Can you jog?”
“Can you keep up?” she teased. She really wasn’t joking. She was about to damn well sprint and beat the gold medal record. Adrenaline was coursing through her. She was scared out of her mind. Those birds freaked her out, too. They knew something wasn’t right. Maybe animals could sense it, or maybe they could sense something was just wrong, or perhaps they could sense them.
He chuckled and nodded. Then he lit their way with his phone since it was a lot darker in this tunnel. She dropped her hand and ran alongside him. When they turned the corner that would take them to the gym, something banged behind them. Maybe ductwork again. Maybe not.
She spoke what she was thinking, “Do you think animals can sense them or something?”
“I don’t know. If they do, I’m buying a dog in the morning,” he said.
“Me, too. Maybe three,” she announced as they arrived at the gym door. “Wait. Listen first.”
“I don’t think anyone’s in there. We were just in the gym. We were the only ones left, remember?”
She pinched her eyebrows together and frowned. He listened at the door, pressing his ear against it. Then he shrugged.
“I don’t hear anything.”
Wren nodded, and he opened the door. He was right. Nobody was there.
“Let’s go,” he said as if she needed him to. “I just need my bag.”
She nodded and followed him back to the locker room area and waited outside again. Wren nearly jumped out of her skin when a noise to her right frightened her. It came from the pool. Not wanting to look, but needing to, she tiptoed to the double glass doors and glanced in. She didn’t see anything. The water looked almost black in the dark corners where the security lights weren’t projecting far enough. She reached out and turned the deadbolt connecting the two glass entry doors. Something inside of her, a survival instinct maybe, told her to get the hell out of the building.
“Hey,” he called down the hall to her, making her jump and spin. “Ready?”
Wren nodded and rushed toward him, looking over her shoulder twice at those doors leading to the pool. Elijah led her to the entry doors and paused before going out. It was raining pretty hard, which she hadn’t even noticed in the school.
“Can I catch a lift? I walked to school today,” he said.
“I thought you had a car,” she remarked, looking around him toward that hallway that led to the pool.
He nodded. “I do. I just wanted the cardio. I didn’t want to hit the treadmill during lunch.”
“Oh,” she said, admiring his dedication. “Yeah, fine. Sure. Let’s just get out of here.”
He wasn’t far from the school anyway, probably three miles. Wren glanced out the glass door again, feeling edgy.
“It’s okay,” he reassured her. “Ready?”
She nodded as he pushed open the door.
“Just…” he said and paused. “Just stay close.”
Glancing down that hall again and keeping her hand over the pistol under her right breast, she said, “You know what’s in my jacket. You should give yourself that advice.”
He smirked knowingly and replied, “True. Let’s go.”
They ran through a real downpour to her car, which was parked relatively close to the gym. Somewhere nearby, she could hear dogs barking. In the back of her mind, Wren wondered if they were like the birds, nervous because those things were close. It made her run faster and hit the remote ten yards from the car. Once they were in, she hit the locking mechanism.
A chill ran through her, and it wasn’t just from the cold rain soaking through her clothes. Something was in that school just now. It wasn’t her imagination. It wasn’t just a janitor or some kid messing with them. That was enough to get her moving. She fired up the Honda and sped away from the school, blowing the stop signs until she came to a red light at the end of the street leading to the main drag.
“I’ve gotta call the cops,” he remarked as he ran the sleeve of his jacket over his face to dry it. “Slow down. You’re driving recklessly.”
“What? No way,” she said and grabbed his phone out of his hand. She through it into the backseat somewhere. “No cops.”
“Hey, what the hell?” he said with force. Leaning over his seat, he dug around until he located it on the floor. “Jesus, Wren.”
“You aren’t calling the cops.”
He sighed and ran a hand through his wet hair. Hers was dripping. Her makeup was probably running down her face. She was soaked to the bone. They both were.
“Fine,” he gave in. “I’ll call the sheriff. He’s a booster. He won’t give us any trouble. I won’t even tell him you’re with me.”
“No. And I don’t know what a booster is.”
Elijah sighed and said, “He supports the football team. I’ll call him when I get home. That way, we aren’t anywhere near the school when they show up.”
“Why do you want to call him?”
“Because, Wren, in a few hours there’s gonna be janitors showing up to clean the school buildings. If one of those…people is in there, don’t you think they should at least have a fair warning? The cops need to go in and check it out. That wasn’t just a bird hitting those doors. You heard it. Whoever it was, they followed us through the school tracking us. I think we just gave them the slip, got lucky.”
She remembered the feeling she had by the pool, too. Was it legitimate or was her imagination running wild because she was afraid?
“Fine. Fine, you can call him when I drop you off,” she allowed.
She pulled into his driveway around back like he’d shown her the other night.
“See you,” she said and put it in reverse.
“Hey, wait,” he said, laying his hand on hers. “Come inside. Let me at least get you a towel. I…I need to talk this out with someone. Alex is at work, and it’s only eight. You’ve got time before you need to be home, right?”
She nodded, hoping that he couldn’t tell her hand was shaking under his. It probably wasn’t a good idea to go home just yet anyway. If Jamie were there, he’d know something happened. He read her like a book. Unfortunately. Instead, she followed him into the laundry room.
“Give me some layers, and I’ll throw them in the dryer,” he offered.
“No, it’s fine.”
He smiled and said, “You’re too thin already to stand there shivering away more calories.”
She cocked her head to the side and gave him an unpleasant look. He just motioned with his fingers impatiently that she should listen to him and hand them over. Reluctantly, she started removing her jacket. Then she remembered she had on a shoulder holster. Too late, she tried to shrug back into her leather jacket.
“I already know about it,” he told her. “It’s fine. I’m not gonna tell anyone or I would’ve already. Come here.”
He walked away, and she followed, although she should’ve sprinted out of his house when his back was turned. Elijah led her to a laundry room and turned on the low wattage overhead light. It was a small room but tidy and painted in a minty bluish-green that she liked. It reminded her of the ocean colors near the shores back home. It was tidy, all except for the pile of laundry on the floor in front of the washing machine. For a bachelor’s pad, though, their house was very neat and clean, what she’d seen of it.
“Take off your stuff,” he instructed and stripped right in front of her all the way down to his bare torso. Wren just stood there staring. He certainly wasn’t shy. “Gimme your shirts.”
“No!” she protested.
“I’ll turn my back,” he offered and went to a cupboard that looked like the antique wardrobe in his mother’s bathroom upstairs. He dug around inside and pulled out a long-sleeved shirt. “You can wear this.” He tossed it over his head, and it landed on her feet.
“Fine,” she said with irritation and turned her back to him just in case he was a perv and peeked. Then she removed her jacket, hoodie, and tank top. The tank top wasn’t too bad, but it was damp. She removed it anyway. Then she grabbed up the shirt and pulled it over her head. It came down to the middle of her thighs.
“Gimme’ your pants, too,” he suggested. “I’ll throw them in. Mine were soaked.”
She wasn’t too keen on the idea, but for some reason, Wren also didn’t want to seem like a prude. This boy was hugely popular, hung out with all the jocks and their cheerleader girlfriends, and probably went to crazy, wild parties. Not that she cared about any of that stuff. But she stripped out of her baggy dark jeans anyway. They were soaked.
“Want to borrow some shorts?” he asked.
“No, this shirt could be a dress,” she joked, getting a laugh. Wren turned and couldn’t have been more shocked. He was standing there in only his boxer briefs. “Oh, um, sorry.”
“It’s cool,” he said and pulled on sweats but didn’t bother with a shirt.
He acted so nonchalant, so she tried to, as well, but probably came off as an uncomfortable loser. After he shoved their clothes into the dryer and started it, Elijah handed her a towel down from a cupboard for her hair.
“Thanks,” she murmured.
“You okay?” he asked and tipped her chin back with his forefinger.
Wren pushed his hand away and nodded. “Yeah, fine.”
“Are you hungry? I’m starving,” he said.
“You seem like you’re always hungry,” she observed.
“You look good in my number,” he said, briefly touching the tip of his forefinger to the center of her chest.
She looked down. It was a black, long-sleeve tee with the number seven in orange lettering that took up most of the front. Elijah spun her by putting his hands on her shoulders. He ran his fingers across the top of her back.
“Brannon,” he told her. “You’re wearing my name and number. What’s this?”
His fingers stopped and traced over the leather of the holster under the shirt. He turned her back around to face him.
“You know what it is, Boy Genius,” she quipped.
“Do you ever take it off?”
Wren answered honestly because he already knew about the pistol. “Only when I sleep. Then it sits beside me on my nightstand or under my pillow.”
“Remind me not to sneak in your window at night,” he joked.
“Why would you?”
He folded his arms across his chest, which made his biceps look even bigger. Was he doing it on purpose? It didn’t seem like it.
“You know, to get my shirt back if you forget,” he joked. “I wouldn’t mind, though. You can keep it if you want, wear it to school even.”
Why would he offer that? He paused a moment as if he, too, were surprised to have said it. It had to signify something. Wearing a boy’s jersey? Sounded like a bad idea. Wren’s mind was racing with too many questions she didn’t need the answers to. So, she went with defense mechanism instead.
“Gee, Wonder Boy, how many others have worn this?”
“Not a single one, Australia,” he said, causing her to pivot on the ball of her foot and glare up at him. Somehow without her shoes on, he seemed even taller. “Hey, don’t give me that look. You were warned.”
“I didn’t say ‘Golden Boy’,” she argued.
“Still wasn’t nice,” he returned with superiority. “And I was being nice. I said you look good wearing my shirt.”
She inhaled sharply and exhaled with irritation. “I couldn’t wear this at school anyways. One of your groupies might beat me up.”
He chuckled. “Says the girl who’s always packin’ heat.”
“Shooting fellow classmates over a boy’s football jersey is usually frowned upon.”
Nodding, Elijah said, “Probably true.”
They stood there a moment. She, uncomfortable. He, probably just fine. Or so he seemed.
“Let’s call the sheriff,” he suggested and indicated she should leave the room by sweeping his arm past her.
Her heart rate accelerated as much as it had the first time he suggested the police in the car, but she followed after him to the kitchen table. Elijah placed the phone on the counter and hit the speaker button and dialed. The sheriff, strangely enough, sounded excited to hear from him.
“Thank you, sir,” Elijah said for the third time after being complimented for his “great game.” Then he looked at Wren and rolled his eyes. “I was calling actually to report some strange behavior at the school tonight. At the gym, you know. I was trying to get in an extra workout when I heard some commotions in the school.”
He shrugged as if he weren’t sure it was believable. It was good enough, so Wren nodded for him to continue.
“There were some strange noises, and I think someone might’ve been in trouble in there. After what happened at the pharmacy…”
“Yes, son, I heard about that. Now, don’t you go doing anything risky like you did down there. We need you in top shape. Your coach called and said to make sure you were staying out of trouble.”
That was odd. Wren couldn’t figure out why the head coach of a high school football team would talk to the sheriff about his player. Maybe that was a normal thing in America. Apparently not because Elijah looked at her as if were pissed.
“Yes, sir, I am. It’s just that it sounded really bad. I heard what happened at the festival, too. Can you tell me if you know anything about that? Seems like some people are getting sick with some…”
“Don’t you worry about that,” the sheriff said. “Just get yourself ready for the big game Friday night. Nobody’s sick with anything serious. This is nothin’ but a simple flu bug going around. Just knocking some folks down harder than others.”
“But what about the man at the festival? I heard he got really violent and tried to stab some people. I looked in the paper, but there wasn’t anything about it.”
She knew Elijah was lying. They were right there when it was happening. They knew exactly what the man did. He maybe had looked in the paper, but apparently, it wasn’t being reported.
“Aw, just some druggie. Everything’s fine. Remember, Friday night’s tomorrow, young man. I’ll see you there.”
Elijah picked up on the man wanting off the phone, so he quickly added, “And you’ll send some men to check out the school? I mean, the janitorial staff comes in late at night. I wouldn’t want…”
“We’ll handle it, Brannon. Thanks for the tip.”
The sheriff ended the call, and they stood there looking at each other. Elijah shook his head and gave her a somber expression. The sheriff just lied to them.
“I know him,” he said quietly. “That wasn’t like him. He’s told me a lot of stuff the last few years he probably shouldn’t have. You know, people he’s arrested, stories, some funny, some not so funny. He’s never blown me off like that.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t have trusted him.”
He shook his head. “No, we can. It’s just that…”
After he didn’t answer, Wren prompted him, “What?”
“It sounds paranoid, but are people covering this up? I mean, that video tonight and that podcast guy, they acted like this was some big conspiracy theory cover-up.”
She nodded because she’d been wondering the same thing. “I know. It sounds crazy.”
They were quiet while he heated up food he insisted on sharing, which was really good. It was probably even better because she didn’t have to make it for a change. It was some sort of Chinese style chicken with white rice. His portion was huge, taking up the whole plate, but she took a small amount. Her nerves felt too frayed to relax and enjoy a meal.
“Where’s your brother?” she asked.
“Still on the job site,” he said. “Your uncle?”
She nodded. “Right. Same. Do you think the cops’ll find something in the school?”
“Unless it’s gone.”
“It?”
He shrugged, and Wren wished he would’ve put on a shirt. It was distracting. Every time he moved, some muscle group or another on his chest or arms would jump or flex.
“Wren, what do you think?” he asked.
“Wh-what?” she stammered, to which he chuckled. She’d been staring at his shoulders. Did he know that? Was that why he was laughing? She frowned and looked down at her food instead.
“I said maybe they aren’t human,” he suggested.
She looked at him with confusion. “What’s that mean? Of course, they are. We’ve seen three.”
“Yeah, but what if they’re something else now?”
Wren didn’t understand what he meant by that. With great hesitancy, she asked slowly, “What else would they be?”
“Something…new,” he pondered and stared into her eyes.
“Like evolution or something?”
He shook his head, “Just mutated. What if this flu is mutating people’s DNA, changing it somehow?”
“I think you watch too many sci-fi movies,” she joked and took a nervous drink of her Cherry Coke.
Elijah chuckled. “Maybe. I do like science fiction.”
This made her wonder about him, so she asked, “What are you going to major in at school? Other than football, of course.”
“Football’s not a major,” he corrected as if he were irritated. “It’s what I got a scholarship on, but it’s not my major.”
“So, what is? Beer pong? Chasing cheerleaders? Sorority parties?”
He grinned, “I don’t like beer. And no to chasing cheerleaders. Chasing secretive girls who carry guns is obviously more my thing lately.”
She puffed through her nose. His grin was provocative in nature. He was daring her to question him. She took another sip instead.
“No?” he taunted, realizing she wasn’t taking the bait. “I’m majoring in business with a minor in finance.”
“Whoa, I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Well, you can’t play football forever. If I get lucky enough to get drafted to the NFL, which my brother and coaches think I will, then I’ll be coming into a lot of money. I want to know how to handle it. I don’t want to be one of those dumb jocks that blows their money on cars and fat pads and women or whatever. Alex and I would eventually like to go into business together. I could run the financial end of it, and he could get the business off the ground. He’s good with that, schmoozing and working that end.”
“What kind of business?” she asked with curiosity.
“Concrete company,” he said. “It’s what he’s doing now. He likes certain aspects of it but would like to run his own crew and be a fifty-fifty owner of the business instead.”
“Wow, ambitious,” she remarked.
“I like the idea of the financial end of it,” he said. “My dad was like that, too. Alex says that’s where I get it. I like math, accounting, financial planning is cool.”
“Sounds fun,” she repeated him dryly. “And super hot.”
He laughed loudly this time. “Hey, there could be hot accountants out there. Ya’ never know.”
“You’d be the first,” she quipped.
He pounced, “You think I’m hot?”
“What?” she asked and choked on her drink. “Wait. No, that’s not what I meant. Anyway, about your brother. He’s gonna be the job foreman or something?”
He eyed her up and went back to his food with an ornery grin.
“Yeah, Alex has a lot of great ideas. He’s really creative, too. Does a lot of the design work for his boss now. You should see some of the projects they’ve done before. Not this stadium job, but at residences. Stone walls, paved patios that are stamped with designs. He has an eye for detail and working the landscaping aspect into it.”
“Cool,” she remarked.
“I could drive you around tomorrow. Show you some of them.”
“I don’t know,” she retreated quickly.
“What about you?” he asked. “You’re fast-tracking senior year. Must be a reason. Did you pick a college to go to, or are you just gonna join the Army and be the first G.I. Joe girl? Carry around that .45 and shoot terrorists.”
She smiled at his humor, noticed that he recognized the caliber of her pistol, and shook her head. “No, not going into the Army. Besides, I don’t even think I could.”
Crap. She hadn’t meant to say that. Why did Elijah always pull information from her? Her guard was always way too far down around him. He should scrap his business plans and become an interrogator for the FBI or CIA or something. Interpol.
“Why couldn’t you go?”
“Nothing,” she evaded. He never missed anything. That was a problem, too. She wasn’t sure if she could join the U.S. Army because she was not an actual U.S. citizen.
“So, no to the Army. But what then? College?”
She nodded and scolded herself again. Dammit. This had to stop. She had to stop being around Elijah, talking to him, hanging out together. All of it.
“I should go,” she said and stood as the back door opened and slammed shut loudly.
“Bro! You locked me out? What the hell? It’s raining goats and ponies out there!”
Wren furrowed her brow at the strange expression, and Elijah shook his head and chuckled. He seemed a little nervous.
“I need to go,” she blurted and attempted a dash to the laundry room when his brother walked into the kitchen looking down at a stack of envelopes, probably their mail.
“…and then this finisher lost his shit and started hitting Joseph with a fuckin’ hammer and…” He spotted her and froze mid-sentence.
“Hey,” Elijah said quietly to his brother.
“Hey,” Alex returned.
“Alex, this is Wren,” he said, to which his brother’s left eyebrow shot up. “Remember? From the festival?”
“Hi,” she said, sending a small and uncomfortable wave in his direction. Elijah wasn’t wearing a shirt. She was standing in his kitchen in just his shirt. It was obviously his. This looked very, very bad. She felt branded by his shirt, too, wearing his name and football number on her body. “I was just leaving.”
She dashed into the laundry room, yanked open the door to the dryer and began tugging on her clothes. She could hear him talking to his brother in the kitchen but couldn’t make out the words. Wren couldn’t see well enough inside the dryer to find her shirt since he’d thrown their clothes in together, so she just pulled on her leather jacket and abandoned the tank top and shirt. Her jeans were still damp, but she managed to get them on. Then she grabbed her boots and tugged them on but didn’t bother tying the laces. It all took about twenty seconds. She knew how to dress quickly. Once she had everything, she cracked the door open slightly and listened.
“…yeah, I understand, but you know the rules, Elijah,” Alex was stating, his voice as deep as his brother’s.
“I know,” Elijah answered. “It’s not like that. We’re lab partners. We got caught in the rain. She was soaked. I didn’t want her to drive home like that.”
“It looked like more than that to me, Elijah. Is that why you’ve been acting so different lately? Is it this girl?”
There was silence. She dared not breathe it was so quiet.
Then a long sigh, “Elijah, come on. Seriously? Don’t do this, man. You’re so close to getting everything you hoped for. Don’t blow this.”
“I’m not, Alex. I don’t know. I can’t explain it. She’s just…”
She couldn’t hear the rest, couldn’t bear it. Wren barged out into the room and announced, “Thanks for drying my clothes. See ya’ later.”
“Wait,” Elijah said as she spun and fled. “Wren, wait.”
She didn’t. She kept going until she got in her car and took off. When they’d gone through that tunnel, Wren had turned off her phone so that it didn’t ring and alert someone. She had been worried about being caught by a teacher or Principal Pothead.
If Elijah’s brother was home, then her uncle probably was too. This was all because she was being too careless by spending time with him. That wasn’t going to happen anymore.
Wren tried not to speed, but her foot became heavier on the pedal as she got closer to home. It didn’t matter. He was there when she pulled in the drive, and the second she walked through the door, she could tell she was in trouble.
“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been calling and calling,” Uncle Jamie barked.
“Sorry, I was at the library studying,” she lied.
“I drove by there, Wren,” he said. “I didn’t see your car.”
“Cameras in the lot,” she pointed out. “I didn’t want to create a pattern since I’ve been going there so much lately, so I parked on the street a few blocks away.”
He paused and considered whether or not she was lying before asking, “Why’d you turn off your phone? You know that’s unacceptable.”
“I was trying to be quiet. Library, remember?”
“Then put it bloody damn well on vibrate,” he growled.
She stepped closer and said, “Sorry. Did you eat anything? I can heat up leftovers.”
“I ate,” he said with an irritated shake of his head. “Did you at least make your meeting?”
“Yes, did you?”
“No,” he answered. “I gotta go in Friday night.”
“Oh, okay. That sucks.”
He eyed her suspiciously. Wren felt herself pulling her jacket more closely together. She was still wearing Elijah’s shirt underneath. If he saw it, there would be more significant problems to explain away.
“Had to run through the rain,” she explained her appearance.
This time, his eyes narrowed. “Take a vitamin packet and grab a hot shower. I don’t want you getting sick. If I have to take you to a doctor, you know that’s always a pain in the ass.”
“Right. Sorry,” she apologized again. “I won’t get sick. I promise.”
He rambled and lectured for a few minutes while she endured it. Then a thought occurred to Wren.
“Hey, Jamie,” she barged in, “have you…have you heard anything about this flu thing that’s going around?”
His eyes jumped to hers. “Some. What do you know?”
Wren shrugged. “Not much. I know about the incident at the festival. Some people at school were talking about it.” More lies that felt like battery acid in her stomach. They’d never had this kind of a relationship before. She’d always been a hundred percent honest with him in all things. “Guess some sort of flu bug is going around that makes people act…weird.”
His chin rose a notch, and he looked at her with suspicion again. She didn’t like this new, dishonest thing that was going on between them. Wren felt like he also wasn’t telling her the truth.
“No,” he answered finally and went around checking doors and windows, his nightly routine. “Just stay away from people, Wren. You’re supposed to be anyway.”
“I know,” she acknowledged. “I just overheard it. That’s all.”
“Keep your nose down and your eyes open,” he warned and left the kitchen for his bedroom.
She took his advice and chugged some vitamin mix she stirred into a glass of water. Next was a shower where she lingered under the hot, stinging spray. Her skin crawled as she recalled that video they’d watched. That person, that thing which had slammed itself against the windowpane played out in her mind’s eye again and again, and every time, it caused her to flinch the same way. The eyes had been so bloodshot and insane.
As she dried off a while later and dressed in warm pajamas, Wren couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever had hit the door to the tech center was the same thing that had bashed its own head into the glass window of that hospital door in the video. It caused her to shiver and not just because her hair was still damp.
She received a text message sound and picked up her phone.
Coming to the game Friday night?
She replied with:
Who is this?
Ouch, that was painful. You sure do know how to kill a guy’s ego.
????
It’s me, Elijah. Geeze
This was followed by a sad emoji face.
Wren instantly grew angry and began typing.
How’d you get my number?
She tapped her toe on the floor of her bedroom, then locked the door and plopped down onto the bed.
I synced to yours when you were doing arm extensions on the machine. You had me hold your phone, remember? Never give a guy your phone. Just a tip for the future. I could’ve uploaded dick pics on there for you.
Wren’s eyes narrowed. If he was trying to be funny, it wasn’t working. She had the perfect response:
I would’ve needed to enlarge the photo about 500% to detect it.
Laughing emoji, followed by the one with the character laughing so hard it was crying. Then a horse emoji. She returned that with a question mark and got a quick response.
Never mind. SO? Are you coming?
She thought about this for a minute. He texted again.
It’s a home game.
This message was followed by a football emoji. Then a happy face and some pom-poms. She groaned.
I have plans.
Doing what? Cleaning your gun? Sexy.
None of your business.
Hot date?
Yes.
Haha, sure.
You don’t know me well enough to decide that I don’t have a date, Brannon.
I’ve got your number, Australia.
Wren growled to the empty room. He was aggravating.
I hope I look up and see you in the stands Friday night.
An emoji for binoculars popped up, and she had to force herself not to laugh. He wasn’t funny. He was just…annoying.
How would you see me past your own inflated head?
Ha! You are pretty funny, did you know that? See you tomorrow night?
No.
A guy can hope. Winking emoji.
I think you are so annoying
He responded with:
Maybe, but at least you’re thinking about me. I know I’m thinking about you.
Again, you are just annoying. I think you missed that part.
Wren figured he must’ve gone to bed because there was a long pause. Then no answer at all, so Wren got into bed, plugged in her phone, and pulled the covers to her chin. He said he was thinking about her. Why? She was leaving soon. Why would he bother with her at all? Just when she was comfortable and ready to fall asleep, her phone bleeped again, of course.
And you are beautiful, Wren Foster.
Something in her gut shifted. Damn Elijah Brannon. She had to steer clear of that boy. He was nothing but trouble.