"Hey kid, you there"? Taylor asked. Both Taylor and Lincoln were now back in the trunk of a moving car, still with their hand's zip tied behind their backs and bags over their heads.
"Yea, is that you Taylor"? Lincoln responded, slightly relieved to have her beside him.
"Yea...look Lincoln...I'm...sorry about all of this... you may be a loser, but I didn't mean for this to happen" Taylor admitted. Lincoln could hear the sincerity and defeat in her voice, especially since he had never once heard Taylor apologize for her actions. Although it wasn't the time, he needed to know why she would bully him, seeing as this was the first time that both of them were having a normal conversation".
"Why do you always come after me specifically? I mean sure, you're mean to my friends, but you never go after them as you do to me. Even Pablo and Anderson give it a rest once we get off the bus" Lincoln said. An awkward silence filled the space of the tight trunk, before Taylor, for the first time, gave Lincoln a heartfelt explanation.
"Lincoln...I'm just jealous of you. Your life seems so complete. You have a loving family, people who like you, and friends who stick by your side no matter what. I don't have anything like that. My father is a drunk ass hole and my mother is at a rehabilitation center. All of my family hate each other and want nothing to do with one another. Although Pablo and Andreson are really my only friends, they ain't loyal like that. Not in the way Clyde and they are to you. You know, I'm in class with your sister Luan, and she always talks about how awesome you are. I guess these past couple of months I just let my own pathetic bitterness and self-loathing overcome me...and I took that jealousy and frustration out on you. I know I don't deserve your apology...but for what it's worth now, I'm sorry", Taylor explained, finally feeling a sense of relief after getting all of that off her chest. Lincoln just lay there in shock, processing everything she just said.
"If that's the case, Taylor, then why are you worried about the information they have on you? Especially since it seems you're not relatively close to any of your family"? Lincoln asked, genuinely curious. Taylor just sighed, before answering his question.
"I was worried when they said my ten-year-old cousin's name, Danny. He's like my little brother, and really the only person in this world I care about. I would do anything for him. Also, despite what I just said about Pablo and Andreson, just because they're not that loyal doesn't mean they deserve to have them or their families killed on account of my poor decisions", Taylor explained. After a few minutes of silence between the two, Lincoln just sighed a sigh of relief, before giving a light smile from behind the bag covering his face.
"Thank you for telling me Taylor...look, I don't think I can forgive you, but we can still move on. The past is now the past, and whether we like each other or not, we have a hard future ahead of us, and no matter what happens, we're both going to share the same fate. I guess what I'm trying to say now is...friends"? Lincoln asked. Taylor began to get teary-eyed before she gave a small laugh.
"Yea Lincoln..friends" she responded, accepting everything that Lincoln said. Suddenly both could feel the car make an abrupt stop, and they heard the voices of people approaching the trunk. The trunk door swung open, and both Taylor and Lincoln could feel themselves being pulled out of the trunk and thrown onto the pavement. The zip ties around their wrist were cut off with a knife, finally freeing their hands, a feeling that both of the kids welcomed with satisfaction and relief. They could hear the people get back into the car, before driving off.
After hearing that the car was nowhere in sight, both Lincoln and Taylor took the bags off of their heads, relieved to finally be outside. It was still night, and the noises of crickets and owls could be heard echoing from around them. They sitting in the middle of the road in front of a large sign that said: "WELCOME TO ROYAL WOODS". Behind the sign, they could see the town they call home standing right in front of them. Taylor pulled out her personal phone from her back pocket, seeing that it was now 5:50 am on a Thursday.
"looks like we've been out for the past five hours. That's good, at least no one will be suspicious of us". She exclaimed. The two looked at each other, seeing the messy state that they were both in. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school...imma go take a shower and then probably cry for the rest of the morning", Taylor said sheepishly. Lincoln just gave her a light smile, nodding in agreement.
"Yeah, I'll do the same...see you tomorrow Taylor". With that being said, the unlikely pair embraced each other in a tight hug, resisting the urge to break down. Once they let go of one another, they proceeded to walk down their separate paths to their respective houses.
"What a long day", they both thought to themselves. Unbeknownst to them, it would be the first in many long days they would have.
THE NEXT DAY
After a long night, Both Taylor and Lincoln were considering just skipping school, but they had to get their mind off of the events of the previous night, so instead, they went. The bus ride felt surreal to the two. Seeing the kids around them made them feel uneasy. It was crazy how in one night, their lives completely changed, while the world around them continued as if nothing ever happened. Lincoln's friends of course questioned him on why he wasn't on the bus yesterday, and why he was covered in bruises and cuts. He lied and told them that he went to go help his sister Lynn with Taekwondo practice. They of course believed him after telling him to be careful. Lincoln however intended to keep everything that happened yesterday a secret from them. The math test, Chandler, Taylor, and especially the meth house they blew up. Not a soul was going to know about that. As his friends were busy talking to one another about how they did on Mrs. Salter's math test, Lincoln took a glance over to the back seat of the bus. Anderson and Pablo were busy picking on some of the kids that sat in front of them, but Taylor was just staring out the window, lost in thought. Much like Lincoln, she was tired and gloomy. Dark bags were under her one visible eye, and you could faintly see a dark bruise around her other eye from under her hair. She too was covered in cuts and bruises, but no one cared to ask her what had happened since she had a reputation for getting into fights. She shifted her eyes towards Lincoln, gave him a weak and tired smile, and waved her hand. Lincoln did the same, before both turned their gaze out the window, tuning out the world around them.
That's when IT happened. The last thing that either of the two wanted. The thing that they were dreading all night. They didn't expect it to happen so quickly, but it did. The burner phones in their pockets that the mafia man gave them last night buzzed at the same. Their hearts stopped, and the fear that they felt last night began to wash over them. Everything around the two went into slow motion, as they nervously took out their burner phones to read the message that they had received.
"Be at the Royal Woods Mall food court at 10:40 am. Sit at the table closest to Fred's Pizza and wait. Don't be late", the message read. Lincoln turned back around to look at Taylor, and she looked up from her phone and met his gaze. The two stared nervously at each other before nodding their heads in agreement. They knew what they had to do.
