House of the Bakers
I let Davis sleep for a few more hours before I knocked on his door, then entered when there was no response. He lay in bed, his arm across his face to ward off the sunbeams shining through the window. Carefully, I approached him. "Hey! Don't you want to wake up? It's nearly noon." He grunted something indistinct, turned on his side and pulled the covers over his head. I snatched the blanket away, he immediately sat up and glared at me furiously.
"Can't you just leave me alone!"
Relieved, I realized that he was apparently sober again, for he managed to phrase a coherent sentence. "Is that your way to say 'thank you' that I picked you up at the Scott's and carried you up the stairs?" I said reproachfully.
"Thanks. Can you leave now?"
When he pulled the blanket over his head again and wanted to lie down, I grabbed his arm. "We need to talk!" I said urgently.
"About what?" He mumbled.
"About what happened yesterday," I replied dryly, waiting for his reaction.
Groaning, he ruffled his hair. "I don't want to talk about it," he said defensively. "Besides, what do you care?"
Gradually I lost patience with him. "Seriously? Without me you would have drowned in the pool, as wasted as you were!" I saw him straightening up and looking at me with wide eyes.
"The pool..." he breathed. "How is Lydia?"
I slowly took the note from my pocket with the address and held it firmly in my hand. As anxious and confused as he looked at me right now, it would be a shock for him to learn that she had to leave Tree Hill. "That's why I wanted to talk to you," I said hesitantly.
"Is she okay? All I can remember is that I pulled her out of the pool and then brought her up to her room. After that, her mom..."
As he stopped and lowered his head, I touched his arm. "What did Lydia's mom say?" I urged cautiously, though I suspected what he was going to say to me. I'd seen how furious she had been, and she'd probably threatened him that she wouldn't tolerate a relationship between him and her daughter.
"Fine," he gave in. "What do you want to talk to me about?"
I unfolded the note and put it in front of him. "I can imagine what Lydia's mom said to you," I began hesitantly. "And apparently she was serious, because she ordered Lydia to go to her aunt's place in Santa Barbara for a while. "
"She did... what?!" he exclaimed in shock.
I tapped on the names. "Quinn and Clay Evans are Lydia's aunt and uncle. She's with them in California." I gently put my hand on his shoulder. "Lydia's mom blames you that her daughter got drunk and fell into the pool. I suppose she sent her away because she doesn't want the two of you to meet again."
"Lydia didn't fall into the pool..." he mumbled lost in thought. "She jumped."
"What are you saying?" I asked in disbelief.
"She didn't slip, as Sawyer said," he repeated hesitantly. "She deliberately jumped. Sawyer and I were there, we saw it with our very own eyes."
"But why would she do that? This is super dangerous when you're drunk." I looked at him questioningly but realized from his blank look on his face that he didn't know the answer. "All right." I said, turning to the door. "I'm going for a run now. You'll get up, take a shower and get dressed. We'll talk about it later, okay?" When he didn't respond and just stared at the address in front of him, I spoke to him again. "Davis? Did you hear what I just said?"
"Yes, I should get up, take a shower, put my clothes on," he repeated mechanically. "I will do it."
Satisfied with the answer, I went to my room, changed my clothes and left the house. When I came back from jogging after about an hour, I noticed first that Davis' car was not in the driveway, as usual. With a bad feeling in my stomach I entered the house and met my grandmother. "Hi, Grandma! Do you know where Davis is?" I asked her.
"I think he said something about going to the fitness studio," she recalled. "In any case, I saw him leaving the house with a bag."
I took two steps at once as I sprinted up the stairs and then pushed open the door to Davis's room. His bed was carefully made, and his gym bag was next to his bed. My heart began to pound nervously as I slowly opened his wardrobe. It took me just a moment to confirm my uneasy feeling. Davis hadn't gone to the fitness studio, he had packed his things and was on the way to California – to Lydia! "That idiot!" I groaned loudly and wasn't sure if I meant him or me. If I hadn't given him the address, he wouldn't have come up with the stupid idea of following Lydia. And I had promised my parents that I would take care of everyone, especially him. It was all my fault! I ran out of his room and knocked at the doors of Jude and Izzy. It wasn't long before they appeared and stared at me with a confused look.
"What's wrong?" Jude asked, pulling his headphones off his ears.
"Did Davis say anything where he wanted to go?"
"No." He shrugged. "I didn't even know he left."
"Did he say something to you?" I turned to my sister.
"I don't know where he is either. But why do you want to know where Davis is? Isn't he old enough to decide where he wants to go?"
I ran a hand through my hair and moaned. "Normally, yes. But this time I'm afraid he's going to do something very, very stupid!" As the two looked at me questioningly, I felt compelled to enlighten them about everything. When I had finished my report, Izzy pulled her phone out of her pocket.
"What are you doing?" I asked suspiciously.
"I'm calling Mom and Dad," she said firmly. "It's time for them to come home."
Jude nodded in agreement. "Izzy is right. If he really went to California then they should know that. Is there something we can do in the meantime?"
I nodded. "I'm going to Sawyer, she's the only one who can help us. Not a word to Lydia's parents! Are we clear?"
"Crystal clear," Izzy agreed. "And if you drive to Sawyer, I'll come with you." She closed her phone again. "Maybe we can do it alone without informing Mom and Dad," she said.
I nodded, sighing. "Fine, let's go then. Not a word to grandmother either," I said to Jude. "We have to come up with something, that doesn't make her suspicious. Try to call Davis again, say something to him on the AM. Tell him what a complete idiot he is and how disappointed I am that he betrayed my trust!" I rolled my eyes.
"Let's go already!" Izzy urged.
I nodded to Jude once again then left the house with my sister.
