Chapter Twelve

Present day

Storm

When I finally connected the dots with the stiff body in Orsen's embrace, I couldn't help but panic.

"Orsen, this is a murder scene! We have to get you out of here," I dragged him to his feet.

"And do what? We can't be involved in this!" Drew protested, pulling me aside. "We'll all go to jail, Thunder," he mumbled.

"Drew, we can't leave him alone."

"He's not alone, he has his dead buddy," he smirked. I slapped his arm, considering this is not a time to joke around. "Fine, I'm sorry!"

"We can't do shit until he tells us what happened," I thought out loud.

"Lucky for us, he won't say a damn thing," Law jumped in, frustration plastered on his face. Drew snickered.

"What do you mean?"

He simply shrugged.

Fuck! If Orsen won't tell his side of the story, we'll all be accomplices in murder.

The cops could show up at any moment now.

"Okay, listen to me!" I slapped Orsen's cheek, trying to snap him out of the trance. "You have to tell us what happened or we'll all end up in jail!"

I know he has a dead body in his arms and is probably traumatized, but we have no time for pity.

He just stared blankly at me.

"Orsen, do you understand?!" Still no answer.

I sighed and looked at Zara for help.

She crouched in front of him. "Look, I know you think I hate you, but let's put it all aside for now. You have to tell us what happened, cuz."

The look in his eyes changed.

"I... don't know," he mumbled. "I don't remember."

"Holy shit! Okay, so we're screwed. We're abso-fucking-lutely screwed," Law paced up and down, breathing heavily.

I don't know if it was exhaustion or panicking, but I couldn't think straight.

"We need a plan!" Zara reminded me.

"I know! I'm fucking thinking!" I brushed her off.

"Well, you gotta think faster, Thunder. Time's running out," Drew sang, nonchalantly swirling a cigarette through his fingers.

"Okay, we can bury the body in the woods or burn it-"

"Whoa, whoa, hold your horses," Law interrupted me. "We're not burying shit! As much as I want to help Orsen, I'm not ready to risk my future for a guy who left us to save his ass."

"That wasn't necessary, Lawrence," Zara interfered and disapprovingly shook her head. "Storm was right earlier, he's in trouble and he needs our help, no matter what he did or didn't do in the past."

"Then she can bury the body alone because I'm not doing it for him."

"Well, I'll watch her do it for sure," Drew walked over to me and threw his arm around my shoulders. "It's gonna be so hot."

"Drew, shut the fuck up!" Law and Zara hissed in sync.

"Stop with what you're doing right now and raise your hands where I can see them!" a deep voice rumbled, blinding us with a flashlight.

As he got closer, I started to realize what kind of a pussy I am. Not only that I couldn't move my body, but I couldn't talk either.

"I don't think you understand the situation here, sir," Drew tried to explain. "We found him like this, therefore, you should let us go."

"St. Matte! Are we gonna have problems?" the cop growled, glaring at Drew. "Again?"

"No, sir. I'm just trying to clear the situation," Drew raised his arms in surrender, dropping the cigarette to the floor.

"Why were you in trouble?" I asked him. I know he's nothing but danger, yet I didn't know he interfered with the police before.

He scoffed. "Driving while intoxicated, pissing on the police building, disturbing the public order... you get the point."

"If I hear one more word from you, St. Matte, I'll make sure you never see a ray of sunshine ever again!" the cop poked Drew's chest with the flashlight. "Anyone else wanna mess around?"

The next few flashes were a blur, but I remember walking up to the cop and saying something that pissed him off so bad, he immediately slammed me against the fence and cuffed me.

The second thing I knew, we were riding in a police van - Zara was hysterically crying, Drew was calmly talking with Law and Orsen was blankly looking ahead of himself.

"You have one phone call. I'll be listening, so don't try pulling any stunts," the cop handed me a phone when we arrived at the station.

"Who do I call?" I asked the group who was sat behind me at a table. All of us were cuffed.

"Try God. Maybe he can save us," Drew smirked. I shot him a warning glare and looked at the rest of the crew for help.

"Anyone? I can't waste this phone call," I reminded them.

"W-Wait!" Zara sniffed and straightened in her chair. "Call my mum! She'll get us out of this."

"Good point," I agreed and dialed the number.

"Hello?" her puzzled voice answered after a couple of rings.

I really didn't want to be the carrier of bad news, but apparently I was the top choice.

"Hi, Mrs. N."

"Storm?! What's going on? Where are you?"

I glanced at Zara, who couldn't keep eye contact from the embarrassment.

"Uh..." How the fuck am I supposed to say this? "Orsen got into trouble and we went to help him, but we got caught and now we're in jail for something we didn't do."

At this point, I would love to hear her scream and insult me. It would be rather comforting.

But the deadly silence that fell upon us was showing me the disappointment she felt.

And it was the worst feeling ever.

"Are you in the police station downtown?" was all she said.

"Yes. I'm so sorry, Mrs. N, we made a mistake," I tried to fix the situation.

"I'm coming, hang on," she ignored my apology and ended the call.

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"I'm so mad at you two!" Mrs. N yelled when we arrived inside of their mansion.

I had no doubt she would get us out of the trouble, but the part that followed scared me.

"It's all my fault. I wanted to help Orsen because he sounded miserable and scared. I had no idea it involved murder," I looked away and sat at a white, leather sofa.

"You should've told me! I was worried sick when I noticed you two weren't at home," she looked at Zara with disapproval.

Zara is the baddest bitch in the town, after all, she inherited it from her mother. She did what had to be done and was the most confident person I know. The one thing, though, that could shatter her to pieces was disappointing her mum.

"I'm sorry..." she softly whimpered, not establishing eye contact.

"You're lucky the time of death was confirmed and you two arrived at the murder scene an hour later," she shook her head, glancing at her phone. "I don't know about Orsen, though..."

"He still doesn't remember?" I asked.

"If some sort of a witness doesn't come forward, he'll be charged with murder."

After Mrs. N went to her room, Zara and I sat in pure silence.

God, Orsen. You don't need this. You have so much in front of you, please don't screw it up.

"I don't wanna go to school tomorrow," I whined. "Everyone will know about it."

"You gotta suck it up, babe. You can cry about it and be a little bitch, but nothing is gonna change," she got up from the couch and left, not looking back.

Damn, what's up with her?

I glanced at my phone. It was almost five in the morning.

Was I tired? Yes.

Could I fall asleep if I try? No.

U up?

Well, hello Thunder. What's up?

I can't fall asleep.

Same here. Wanna come over?

Can't do that, Drew. Mrs. N is gonna kill me.

That sucks.

Do u wanna come over?

What do u think? Be there in 10.

I've never tried to sneak someone in my house because Quentin would most likely beat up both of us.

But my house was small and this is literally a castle, so I know nobody will be able to hear Drew.

I opened the doors and he literally ran inside, shaking like a rabid squirrel.

"What's up with you? Did you visit Santa Claus on your way here?" I chuckled, heading upstairs.

"Almost. It's freezing outside," he shivered, breathing at my neck.

I looked at his outfit, almost bursting out laughing. "Of course you're cold, you dumbass! You're wearing a thin leather jacket."

We slid into my room and I turned on all the lights.

"I've never been to your room," he looked around with interest, crashing onto my bed.

"I just moved here," I pointed out, sitting next to him.

"So... do you have anything to drink? Smoke?" his eyes daringly sparkled with mischief.

"We have school in a few hours," I reminded him, although I knew very well that school didn't mean shit for him.

"When did you become a pussy?"

"I didn't! I'm just not in the mood."

"Thunder!" he patted his heart and made a hurtful expression. "Please don't tell me you've never came to school intoxicated."

"What's the point in that? We're just gonna get caught."

"Wrong!" he pointed a finger at me. "We're gonna run around the school and break rules while having the time of our lives. Everyone will be jealous because they are boring and we're fun."

I crossed my arms. "Okay, even if I have alcohol, which I don't, my only condition would be not to get caught. I need to get to college."

He clapped his hands. "Done! Wanna steal tequila from Zara?" he smirked.

"I don't know if you've ever been to Zara's room, but she has a lock on her mini-fridge."

She never let me see inside of it and I couldn't possibly imagine what object lays in that forbidden cave that needed to be under a lock.

"Then we go to the basement. I don't like wine, but it'll do," he already got up, pulling me with him.

"We'll get in trouble," I whined, trying to walk the softest I could.

The mansion had an elevator, but I was afraid it would be too noisy to use.

Walking will have to do.

Drew stopped wandering in the middle of the kitchen and looked at me with crossed arms.

"That's it, Thunder. I've had enough."

"Stop talking! We have to get out of here," I hissed, trying to move his stonelike body.

When it became obvious I wasn't doing shit, I gave up.

"We're not going anywhere until you and I have a little deal," he insisted, the seriousness in his voice shushing the protest in me.

"Fine, I'm listening."

I don't know why I was so skeptical. This mansion is so enormous, they wouldn't wake up even if we blasted music through a speaker.

"If you relax and have fun with me for a couple of days, I'll let you plan the entire Sar's vengeance prank."

I widened my eyes in disbelief. "You didn't!"

He shook his head, scrunching his nose. "I did."

Sar's prank was the top priority for Drew. He wouldn't give it up if this wasn't important to him for some reason.

He's never opened up to me, or to anyone for that matter, but I plan on figuring him out sooner or later.

"It's a deal," we shook hands and ran downstairs.

The basement had two floors - the first one was a cinema room with a popcorn machine and the second floor was a bar.

It had any kind of alcohol you could wish for.

I called it a paradise.

We were back to my room in a second, each with their bottle of wine. If Mrs. N or Zara found out I sneaked in Drew, both of them would lose it.

I'm pretty sure they'd kick me out.

"You can't smoke in my room-"

"Aye, Thunder! Do you remember our deal?" he reminded me and inhaled the smoke with a smirk. "Stop being a party pooper."

I sighed and grabbed one.

He raised his brows. "What? If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

Those two hours passed by quickly. Time flies when you're drunk.

After I showered, alone, we sneaked out and drove away on Drew's bike, which wasn't safe considering we were both drunk.

It was like a life or death situation - if either Zara or her mother found me with a boy, especially Drew, in their home, I'd probably be beaten to death by Zara.

On the other hand, she must've been pretty pissed off because she went to school without me.

I don't know why, but it might be about last night.

Today was a rare day that we arrived on time.

That hasn't happened in a long time.

"Everyone's staring at us," I noticed, sloppily dragging my feet.

Drew snickered and threw an arm around my shoulders.

I know it was probably to make a statement or an act out of rebellion, but I didn't mind.

"No, Thunder. They're looking at you," he eyed me up and down with a satisfied smirk. "I sure do love that outfit."

What outfit? I was wearing a short black dress, Doc Martens and fishnets.

Ooh, I get it.

"That's the only thing you'll be doing, too - looking," I smirked and walked ahead of him, fighting my way through the crowd.

"You'll cave..." he slurred in my ear and traced his finger up my spine. "By noon."

"It's a bet."

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