Hey everyone. Disclaimer: blah blah Covenant, blah blah not owned my me. Sorry, this chapter's kind of… bad. Couldn't think of anything. Review!
"Stupid idiot doesn't get a goodbye now," I muttered and Reid got it. Tyler smirked but I don't think he understood the subtitles.
I didn't care. I was going home for the first time in thirteen months.
Shit.
I boarded the Simms' private jet without looking back, mainly because I knew if I did look back, I'd see five very pissed off teenagers.
Sure, they were happy I was coming home, but the five am wake up call may have been just a little too much. I felt deja-vu for what had to be the seventh time this week when my phone started buzzing outrageously in my pocket. I looked at the caller-ID, already knowing two things.
1. It was Marcus
2. I wasn't picking up.
Reid gave me a disappointed look and I shrugged,
"Your fault," I said and flopped down on the couch at the back of the plane. Michael came and at across from me but didn't say anything. I was so distracted with the awkward situation that when my phone started ringing again I reflexively picked up, regretting it the second his voice filled the silence.
"Alex? Where are you? I've been calling all morning,"
"I'm going back to Ipswich Mark," I said, there was a long silence. I quickly stood up and almost fell over trying to get to the bathroom.
"Are you sure that's what you want to do?" he asked and I knew from his tone of voice he wanted the negative, I sighed,
"No..." I admitted and there was a relieved sigh on the other end, "But I'm not really sure about anything." I said and sat down on the toilet seat.
"Oh, okay. Well. Make sure you call me if you come back to Italy. What about your Vespa?" he asked and I stood up so fast I almost fell over. I opened the door and marched into the area the six of us were dominating.
"Reid, I'm buying a bike," I said, causing Pogue's eyes light up with excitement. Then I marched back into the bathroom, phone still at my ear.
"You can keep it."
"Can I have your address just in case you left something here?"
"No… I think… I need a clean break. I'm so sorry Mark," I whispered and there was another silence, when he did speak I almost jumped off the plane.
"Okay, well… um, have a nice life," he said, his voice wavering, I squeezed my eyes shut. "But if you ever decide to come back…" he said and I let out a weak laugh,
"Yeah, I know, I'll miss you Mark," I said quietly and he hung up. I ran my hands through my hair, there were a lot of things I wanted to do over. But this definitely made top 3. I leaned my head on the door and whacked it against the wood or plastic or whatever it was.
What was I doing?
There was a knock on the other side and I continued to bash my head against the door until it opened, revealing what looked like a very concerned Michael. I knew my eyes weren't red, slightly pink at most so I wasn't too embarrassed, but the thought of what I'd done was humiliating enough in itself.
"Why am I such a bitch?" I asked and he grinned,
"Your brother's reason enough," he mumbled and I cracked a smile.
"I just wish I'd done all this differently, I just had to be the drama queen," I muttered and Michael agreed heartily.
"It's in your blood Garwin, I mean, look at Reid,"
"Okay, enough with the sibling jokes," I warned and he smirked,
"They're good though, you've got to admit,"
"Yeah whatever," I grinned,
"Whatever," he mimicked and I shook my head in amusement,
"Thanks for bringing me back Mike," I said and he nodded,
"No problem really, I figured you must've needed some help managing your amazingly complicated and idiotic life," he shrugged and I rolled my eyes,
"It's not that complicated," he raised an eyebrow, "Okay fine," I pouted and he held out a hand, I grabbed it and stood up, following him back into the main area. Plugging my iPod into my ears as I did,
Dirty Little Secret played through the earphones and I smirked. Stupid song. Good, but stupid. I sat down on the furthest couch from the others and tucked my feet under me, leaning my back against the window. I caught Reid looking at me with a frown on his face and forced a smile. He raised his eyebrows and I shook my head. We continued our silent conversation until Tyler intercepted a glance and went,
"Okay, not that it's any of my business,"
"It's not," I told him, but he continued anyway,
"Would you mind sharing with the rest of us?"
"I'd rather not know." Pogue admitted and I raised an eyebrow, "If the twins are conversing silently again I'm going into hiding," I snorted and Reid let out a short laugh.
"Aw Pogue, I missed you too," I grinned and he shook his head.
Caleb continued to sit silently in the corner, to everyone else it probably seemed like he was sulking. And to be honest, it did look a lot like a two year old not getting his own way, but I knew there was something else he wasn't saying out loud. I gathered Pogue felt the same because when I asked him about it he just shrugged and said it had something to do with Sarah. Hearing her name put me on edge again, did they still think I did it? I shook my head and returned to my position on the over sized couch. Within the next half an hour I was lying down with my eyes closed. One ear-bud hanging out of my ear, the other pumping sound waves loudly through my brain; I wasn't anywhere near sleep, I was far from it in fact. But from what I was hearing, the boy's didn't know that.
"We still haven't told her we know," Tyler said, breaking the silence that repeatedly echoed through the plane.
"Wonder why?" Reid asked accusingly and I knew without looking, that he was glaring at Caleb.
"Leave it alone Reid," Pogue said quietly and surprisingly, he did. Michael hadn't said anything yet and I was wondering if he was back to his normal self. I loved old Michael, but I thought this Michael was awesome. He spoke up more than usual, didn't follow Caleb around like a puppy and relied solely on himself. I was marvelling at the reason behind it but wasn't planning on asking anytime soon.
"I just think we should tell her soon," Tyler said and Caleb snorted,
"She'll kick our asses," he cried,
"No she won't. She'll just never let us forget it," Pogue told him and Caleb sighed,
"Actually people, you're wrong again, I know my sister and she'll never let Caleb forget it," Reid said triumphantly and I held back the knowing grin that was inches from my mouth. I decided it was time to announce my consciousness and was about to sit up when Caleb went,
"If we tell her; she'll hate me, and I really don't want her to hate me," he admitted and everyone was silent. My heart was thumping double time in my chest, if he didn't want me to hate him that meant he didn't still hate me. Caleb didn't hate me anymore! I was inwardly celebrating until he ruined it all by adding, "…because then the group would be screwed up, you know, because—"
"Jesus Caleb, just give it up already!" Tyler sighed loudly and I sat up,
"What's who giving up?" I asked, my voice was dry and croaky from not talking for that long, I celebrated my fantastic acting skills inwardly, Reid looked at me and smirked, he knew I'd been awake for the whole thing. But none of the others needed that very valuable piece of information. I was just going to lay low for the rest of the flight.
And by that I mean literally and figuratively.