Olivia sat next to Jake's hospital bed, waiting for him to wake up. She shouldn't have left him all alone. This was her fault. She heard footsteps. "I've never seen him with his mouth shut before." Noah had come to pick her up for school. I'm

Olivia turned and saw Noah standing in the doorway. "Yeah." She chuckled before standing up. Noah wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. He could not believe that a month ago, he was petrified to even talk to this girl. Now, he was hanging out with her every single day.

"He's gonna be okay. Don't worry." Noah whispered into her hair, comfortingly.

Olivia nodded against him. "He's just sleeping off his pain meds." Olivia explained. "The doctors told me it was a miracle that he didn't die."

"That's good." Noah sent her a smile.

"Yeah." Olivia sighed. "He should be up by now. Why isn't he up?"

"How long have you been here?"

"Late last night." Olivia answered him. "I couldn't sleep because I was scared that he wasn't going to make it."

Noah nodded and rubbed her back. "Why don't you go get yourself some coffee." Olivia nodded before leaving the room. Noah's gaze shifted to Jake. "So, unconscious Jake." Noah smiled. "There are so many things that I want to say to you. It was me who tagged your four hundred pound check me out monster truck." Noah stepped closer to the sleeping boy. "And it was awesome."

Noah looked back at the door. "And, also, I think that I might get the girl." Noah smiled as he fixed his shirt. "You think she is going to forgive you? Then you have no idea how much you hurt her. I do. She came to me. I helped her through that tough time. She is only here because of her moral compass."

Noah saw Jake's finger starting to move. He chuckled. "Are you trying to give me the cold finger?"

Jake's eyes slowly opened as he started mumbling something. "Uh- uh- uh- nerd." He stuttered. "What happened? Did we make it?"

"Yeah." Noah nodded. "Yeah, uh- we got out."

"Let me guess." Jake slightly smirked. "Emma went all Florence Nightingale on Will's ass. And then fell in love with that dumb fuckwad again. And now they're out making sweet, sweet love."

"Uh, not exactly." Noah stated as he shook his head.

Olivia walked back into the room, sipping her coffee. She saw Jake and smiled. "You're awake."

"How's Will?" He asked her.

Noah looked over at Olivia, who sighed. She handed her coffee to Noah before going over to Jake and whispering in his ear, "Will is dead."

"What?" Jake whimpered.

"I'm sorry." Olivia stated as she felt a year run down her cheek. "I'm so sorry that you had to find out this way." She pulled Jake into a hug, and he cried into her shoulder for a while.

Olivia pulled away as Jake started to calm down. She turned to talk to Noah, but he was gone. She saw her coffee on the table, and saw a text from him on her phone. 'Didn't want to disrupt anything. Will be in the parking lot.', it read. Olivia sighed before saying her goodbyes to Jake, and leaving.

She walked into the parking lot, finding Noah standing by the door. "You good?" Noah asked her.

Olivia nodded. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" He questioned.

"I know that you hate seeing me like that with Jake, but he doesn't really have anyone else." Olivia sighed, taking his hands in hers. "I know his parents, and they probably won't come, so I thought that it was up to me because I'm the reason he's in there in the first place." Olivia had tears running down her cheeks. "I left him alone. I was only looking out for myself. And look where that got him."

"Olivia, this isn't your fault." Noah told her, wiping her tears and he cupped her cheeks. "You were just scared. He shouldn't have left you."

"You always make me feel better, Noah." Olivia smiled at him.

"I try." He smiled back.

*

Audrey, Noah, and Olivia stood in the hallway of the school. Olivia gasped as she watched her sister walk into the school. "Emma." She mumbled.

Audrey and Noah looked over at her. "Emma, hey." Audrey said to her friend.

Emma sent them a small smile as she walked over towards her locker. The three stood behind her, as she opened it. She turned to them. "What?"

"Um, you're here." Noah stated.

"I am." Emma nodded, pretending that nothing was wrong.

"We just didn't expect to see you back so soon." Audrey explained to her, still not believing that Emma was standing right in front of them. "I stopped by to check on your."

"Yeah, thanks." Emma smiled at her. "My mom told me."

"Emma, honey, I feel so bad." Olivia sighed before pulling her sister in for a hug. Emma smiled before hugging her sister back.

"I know what you're going through." Audrey told Emma. "And I'm here if you need us."

"It's okay." Emma pulled away from the hug. "I'm okay." She breathed in heavily. "I'll see you in class." The three teenagers watched Emma walk away from them.

"She's so not okay." Audrey sighed, shaking her head.

"Yeah." Noah nodded. "Not even close."

They walked behind Emma, and saw her come to a halt as she saw the memorial for Will at his locker. She stared at it for a while before walking past.

*

"Intolerance." Branson spoke as he closed the book he was holding. "Deception. Hysteria. These are all central themes to The Crucible."

Olivia stopped listening after that, staring down at her phone that was in her lap. She had been texting Jake all class, making sure that he was alright. Even after Noah assured her that it wasn't her fault, Olivia still felt as if she owed him. 'I'm fine, Ollie. I told you not to worry.' Olivia shuddered at the nickname.

'Well, I am worrying.'

"Noah, can you describe to me parallels between The Crucible and McCarthyism?" Olivia's head snapped up as Branson smacked the book against his desk.

"Well, I'm not fan of McCarthyism, but maybe the guy next door is worshipping the devil." Noah spoke. "Like Richard Ramirez."

Branson nodded. "Noah is right. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule." Branson started to walk around his class again. "However, the themes of trust and tolerance still resonate." 

AN : new chapter up! I really hope that you guys are enjoying this story! Thank you to all of you that are reading this! You guys are amazing!

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Have a nice day, lovelies 💞💞