Even though everyone acted more comfortable around Harper during breakfast, no one would talk about what had happened. Instead, they all talked about the movie except Emily, who was explaining a strange musical about three popular girls, a friend they take advantage of, and a psychopath who thought the solution to every problem was murder to Tori. All the while, Harper stayed focused on her phone, not really wanting to join any conversation.

As soon as Holiday's mother dismissed her from the table, Harper went back to the living room and started packing her things. Everyone else's voices still rang loud and clear from the dining room, but nobody seemed to realize she was gone.

Once she zipped up her bag she leaned back on her heels and sighed. "Already packed? " a voice caused her to jump. When she looked up, she saw Holiday's father looking at her.

"Um... yeah. " Harper said slowly, "My dad needs me at home to prepare for my siblings' visit."

 " Are they in college or something? "

 "N-no. They live with my mom."

 "Ah, I'm sorry."

 Harper shrugged, "She wasn't the best anyway."

 " Still, it must be hard. "

 "I guess." Harper stood up and slung the strap of her bag over her shoulder. she pulled out her phone and quickly made sure Wyatt was coming, "Wyatt will be here soon  to pick me up."

" Wyatt? "

"He's my bodyguard. My dad is kind of paranoid."

 " Huh. " was all the man said before Wyatt's car pulled up in the drive way.

"That's him. Thank you for letting me stay."

 "Hey, it was our pleasure! " the man smiled.

Harper smiled back before hurrying back down the hall. She hadn't forgotten what she'd heard Holiday's father say earlier, and wanted to get away from him as fast as possible. On her way out, Tori and Merindy confronted her.

 "Listen, Harp," Merindy said, "We realize what happened last night was kind of creepy-"

"You still haven't told me what even happened." Harper interrupted .

"Um, yeah, about that..." Tori said slowly, " Holiday asked us not to tell you. "

"What?"

"I promise, we were planning on explaining everything, but she told us not to. That, if what we saw had actually happened, you would already know."

" but I don't! " Harper exclaimed.

"We know," Merindy stated, " but we might not see you again, and you're leaving, so we don't have time to tell you everything. "

"So we were wondering if we could have your number so we could make a group chat and tell you once we get back." Tori finished.

"Why couldn't you tell me on the way back?" Harper asked.

"Holiday wants us to either FaceTime or text her most of the way back," Merindy explained, "Since one time she was on FaceTime with someone else, and she was able to dial 911 faster than anyone else could when her friend 's car got overturned and fell into a ditch in the middle of nowhere. "

"Well, that makes sense, but it seems sort of strange."

" Yeah. "

"So, are we exchanging numbers?" Tori asked.

Harper nodded and gave them her number. Quickly checking to make sure everyone could talk, she gave the two girls a hug before waving goodbye as she walked out the front door.

When she opened the passenger door, she threw her things into the back of the car before sitting down. "So, did something happen?" Wyatt asked as they drove away.

 "Apparently."

 " What does that mean? "

Harper sighed, "Somehow I did something wrong while I was asleep."

Wyatt paused for a few seconds , "What?"

"My thoughts exactly. "

"Maybe someone was acting or something?"

"Yes, because 6 teenage girls and an adult are all acting."

 " Adult? " Wyatt asked.

"Holiday's dad. He was talking about it on the phone at, like, 2 in the morning."

"That's interesting."

 " Yeah. "

The usually loud duo was surprisingly quiet. It wasn't normal, but it didn't seem odd, either. Like when there was just nothing else to say.

When they pulled up at the house again, Harper couldn't help but feel nervous. If her theory was correct, she needed to get into her father's office. Of course, there was no way he was home, but considering how protective he was, she could never be too careful.

"Thanks, Wyatt." Harper said as she grabbed her bag.

 "No problem, Harp! " Wyatt exclaimed cheerfully.

Harper walked towards the house, sneaking a glance back at Wyatt. He hadn't left yet, but he also wasn't looking at her. Instead, he was staring straight ahead, whispering something over and over to himself. Deciding to let him keep his secrets, she put her hand on the scanner and went inside.

Walking to her room, Harper set her things on her bed before she made her way to where she remembered the office was. As she expected, it was locked, this time with a 5 digit combination lock. so, she went to her father's bedroom, which, surprisingly, was in worse shape than her own. Making her way through the junk on the dresser, she found a slip of paper with 5 numbers written on it. It wasn't that hard to find either, like someone had pulled something from a box and then just laid it across the top.

Even though she was nervous, Harper couldn't keep a grin off her face as she punched the numbers into the lock. It opened easily, and she let the door swung open before she walked inside. The desk was neater than the dresser, and a small stack of papers sat on top of it. Gently, Harper picked up the stack of papers and read the one on top.

Project H.A.R.P

Subject #317

Day 4939

The project has come to a delay. It won't be long before the obstacle is removed, however, as long as subject #317 learns nothing else. 

Subject #317? Harper thought, who? what? What does any of this mean?

Harper decided the only way to find out was to keep reading. So, she sat down and went to the bottom page, hoping that starting from the beginning would help.

Project H.A.R.P

subject #1

Project failed.

Story word count: 1040

I apologize for updating so late!! My wattpad account was being crazy and wouldn't let me in. I'll try to update tomorrow to make up for it! See y'all later!