Sorry it took kinda long! I was having writers block. But, thanks for all the lovely reviews!
Chapter Three
Satori's P.O.V
"Korra, I really don't think this is a good idea," I tell her, bobbing up and down on my heels nervously.
It's around ten o'clock at night and Korra is putting her plan to sneak off the island and go to the city in action. It's only been a couple days since I agreed to this risky plan and I might have thought positively about it before, but now that the we're actually about to do this, anxiety has override those thoughts completely. I was about to back out but Korra basically dragged me to her room where we are gonna escape through her window. I mean, can you blame me for being so iffy about going through with this? I've never in my life done something like this. But, like Korra continues to tell me, I need to grow a backbone and have some fun.
She glowers at me as she ties on her boots. "I know you don't, Satori. You've told me about a dozen times already," she says with irritation blatantly in her tone.
I sigh heavily. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm just really freaking out."
"And you don't have to be. I've thought this plan through thoroughly and I promise we will not get caught." She slips over to the window, opens it sluggishly, and peeks her head out for a few moments before glancing at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes. I swallow the lump of nerves that forms in my throat.
"Coast clear?" I ask.
"Yep. Now, come on." She grabs my wrist and pulls me to her side. She instructs me to climb out first and press up against the wall until she finishes crawling out herself. I oblige and once we're both out of the house, we sneakily sprint forward. We stop when we're perched on the edge of a cliff side. I look at her, questioning her with my eyes on how we're supposed to get across the water and to the arena. She just grins, takes a tight hold on my arm so I am incapable of freeing myself, and flings us off the cliff. I let out a short shriek before we land in the freezing cold water below. She quickly bends the water around us so we're captivated inside a sphere where we are able to breath. With her skilled bending, we make it to the arena in record time.
We poke our heads up out of the water and gaze up at the arena walls. "Now what?" I ask her.
"We get inside."
"Ho-" but before I can finish asking, she is lifting us up on a small, water tornado before we dive inside one of the windows. As she lands gracefully on her feet, I collide into the tile flooring. I huff and glare at her when she starts snickering at my misfortune. I haul myself up from the ground and punch her arm, but she isn't affected by it at all.
"Ya know, sometimes it's hard to believe we're related," she says, smirking as we start making our way forward.
"Yeah yeah, I know so shut up."
She grins teasingly at me before suddenly stopping in front of an entrance to a large, spacious room. I don't notice her halting until she grips my arm and jerks me back to her, jabbing her finger at the room. I raise my eyebrows at her as she asks, "Do you think this leads to the arena?"
"How the hell would I know?" I question. "I'm just as new to this place as you."
She rolls her eyes and we make our way into the room, both of us glancing around curiously at all the equipment and other instruments of fighting I'm incapable of naming. We're positioned in the middle of the room when a harsh yell catches our attention. We whirl around to see an old, grungy man striding towards us with an angry look on his face.
"Hey, what are you doing in my gym?" he demands.
"Uh," Korra and I both say nervously before she recovers with, "We were just looking for a bathroom and got lost."
"Ah, the old "I had to pee" excuse. Ya know, I'm sick and tired of you kids sneaking in without paying! I'm taking ya both to security!"
Our eyes widen in horror. "No, wait-" I'm about to explain but I'm cut off by a new voice.
"There you are!" All our eyes switch over to see Bolin walking toward us. A delighted yet surprised smile lights up my face and he sends a jolly grin my way. "I've been looking all over for you two," he lies smoothly before glancing at the grumpy man. "It's alright, Toza. They're with me."
Korra, picking up on what he's doing, adds, "Yeah, we're with him."
"Ah, whatever," Toza sighs, flinging the towel in his hand over his shoulder before leaving the room with a scowl still plastered on his face.
Once he's gone, I turn to Bolin excitedly and fling my arms around his neck. "Bolin! It's so good to see you," I greet joyfully.
"It's good to see you, too, Satori," he responds with a chuckle, returning the embrace.
We withdrawal from the hug and I quickly go ahead and start to introduce Korra and him to each other. "Bolin, this is my sister, Korra. Korra, this is Bolin."
A knowing look spreads across Korra's face when she obviously realizes he's the guy I've been crushing on. "Oh, so you're Bolin! Satori told me a lot about you," she says smugly. I blush furiously and resist the urge to tackle my sister to the ground for telling him that.
"Oh has she?" Bolin says, his tone is surprised at first but then it turns cocky. "What did she tell you?"
"Just that-"
"Okay!" I interrupt them, my cheeks still burning red. "So, Bolin, what are you doing here anyway?" I'm glad they don't continue with the topic of me gossiping about my feelings toward him; I'm already humiliated enough for one night.
"I didn't tell you?" he asks, surprised. "I'm a pro-bender."
"Seriously?" both Korra and I gasp out in unison.
"Yeah, I'm the earth bender for the Fire Ferrets," he announces proudly, his hands on his hips as he puffs his chest out. "I'm shocked you couldn't tell from what I am wearing."
Korra rubs the back of her neck sheepishly. "Well, we've never been to a pro-bending match before so we don't know what anything is supposed to look like," she admits.
He smiles at her and I can't help but notice the different way his eyes linger on her face than they do mine. The corners of my lips twitch downwards slightly but I quickly brush the negative thoughts off. I'm just being overly paranoid when I have no reason to be. He just met Korra so he's probably just studying her a little like everyone does when they come in contact with a new person.
"That's okay," he assures her. "You guys wanna see the arena then?"
"Of course!" we say, once again, at the same time.
He smirks. "Do you guys do that a lot?"
"Only sometimes," I say, shrugging.
He nods, chuckles softly, and motions us forward. We eagerly follow him but since Korra is way more anxious to get to the arena than I am, her pace is just a bit faster than mine. While I am on his trail, Korra is right by his side, chatting casually with him. A pang of jealousy hits me. I know I shouldn't be envying her since all they are doing is talking, but I still wish he would talk to me, too, at least.
A few hallways and a flight of stairs later, Bolin stops us at a regular sized door. Korra is basically jumping up in down in enthusiasm as he opens the door and leads us in. First, we glance around at the tiny room where there's only a bench and a few drawers and cubbyholes on the walls. But, when my gaze drifts forward, my jaw drops and an amazed gasp flies past my lips. The whole arena is in perfect view for us, and let me tell you, I wasn't expecting this place to be as magnificent as it turns out to be.
"What do you think?" Bolin asks. "Best seats in the house, huh?"
We scurry over to the railing and my fascinated stare goes over every detail of the arena. It's unfathomably huge; it takes me many moments to look at everything. Citizens of all sorts are seated in the audience that surrounds what must be where the matches take place. It isn't too big, but all around it is an enormous pool of bright blue water. Two referee stands are attached to either wall and blinding lights shine down on the red and blue fighting circle only.
"Woah, unbelievable," Korra breaths in astonishment. "This place is even more amazing than I imagined."
"Tell me about it," I agree.
Suddenly, I hear whispering coming from behind us and I turn around curiously to find Bolin speaking to a guy that looks very similar to him but just with obvious differences. Huh, they must be brothers. I become concerned when I see the irritated expression on his brothers face as they talk in hushed voices. But, when Bolin comes looks over at me and smiles, the worry washes away.
"Korra, Satori, come here," he orders. Korra reluctantly tears her gaze away from the arena and we oblige. Bolin gestures to his brother, saying, "This is my brother, Mako."
"Mako?" Korra repeats, suddenly grinning even wider than before. "Wow, I-I heard you playing on the radio!"
"Come on, Bolin. We're up," Mako tells him sternly, striding past us without even a glance of acknowledgment. My face scrunches up and I purse my lips at his harshness. For being Bolin's brother his sure is rude...
Korra's face falls while I remark in annoyance, "Or we could meet him later."
"Yeah, sorry about that. My brother just gets real focused before a match," Bolin says sheepishly to us before slipping his helmet on. "Okay, I gotta go! Wish my luck; not that I'll need it." He winks at us and jogs over to the platform where Mako and the other member of the team, who I don't know the name off, are waiting for him. Once he's on, too, the platform takes them down.
"Good luck!" I call after them.
"Knock 'em out!" Korra adds while punching her fist in the air.
For the next thirty minutes, Korra and I intently watch the whole match without ever glancing away. To say it was intense would be the understatement of the century; if I wasn't hollering out, I was biting my fist so I wouldn't holler out. When the match first started, The Fire Ferrets were falling behind majorly. The water bender of the fire ferrets, who I found out is named Hasook, was the fault of this. He wasn't very good, let alone focused enough, unlike Bolin and Mako who were trying their best to make up for his mistakes. I was so terrified that the other team, The Badger Moles, were gonna beat them. Thankfully though, after Hasook caused both him and Bolin to get knocked into the water, Mako astonishingly defeated the whole team all by himself, earning The Fire Ferrets the game by a landslide.
I never knew I'd enjoy watching a pro-bending match so much; but, I think the fact that Bolin was playing helped keep me captivated a lot.
As the crowed roared, Bolin came bouncing up toward us. "Woo-hoo! Yes! One more win and we're in the championship tournament!" he cheers, grinning as he takes his helmet off. "So, what did you girls think? Bolin's got some moves."
I smile softly. "You were great, Bolin," I tell him genuinely and my heart skips a beat when he flashes me yet another flawless grin. Gosh, he has no idea of the effect he has on me.
"Thanks, Satori," he replies and shocks me by pulling me into a bear hug. I smile into his chest as I circle my arms around his torso. We stay like that for a little while, but we're snapped back to reality when the door is slammed shut. Realization that we've been in that same position for way longer than intended hits us and we hurriedly jump away from each other, blush blatantly rising on our cheeks.
I look over to see Mako glowering at the ground and Korra giving me a smug smirk. I cross my arms over my chest, avoiding eye contact with her as I say kindly to Mako, "You were incredible out there! All of you." I note that Hasook is no where to be seen so I conclude that he was the one that slammed the door.
He glances at me shortly before continuing to put his equipment away. "Oh, you two are still here?"
"And you're still a jerk?" Korra retorts, narrowing her eyes at him.
"God lean to take a compliment," I scoff, offended.
He doesn't respond to our remarks and Korra, brushing his cruelness away, turns to Bolin. "Anyway, I've been immersed in bending my entire life, but I never learned to move like that! It's like there's a whole new style here!" she exclaims, her tone still coated with fascination. "Think you can show me a few tricks?"
"Absolutely!" Bolin responds.
Mako, who's back is still facing us in the corner, let's out an aggravated sigh. "Right now? Come on, Bolin," he grumbles.
"Just ignore him," Bolin mutters to Korra. "But, yeah, I can show you the basics. I'm just not sure how my earth bending will translate to your water bending... But, we'll figure it out."
Korra crosses her arms over her chest, a cocky smirk creeping it's way onto her lips. "Won't be a problem - I'm actually an earth bender," she tells him.
I scowl, knowing where this conversation is going. For some reason, I thought I would be able to keep the truth of Korra being the Avatar from Bolin but now I know I can't. Hopefully, he isn't too impressed by her being the Avatar... Even though everyone always is.
"I-I'm sorry," Bolin quickly recovers. "I didn't mean to assume because well, I was just figuring with your water tribe get up, that you are a water tribe gal..."
"No, you're right. I'm a water bender and a fire bender."
Bolin's face twists into skepticism and we all glance at Mako when he says, in a tone of shame, "You're the Avatar and I'm an idiot."
"Both are true," Korra replies, adding a snicker at the end.
Bolin's jaw drops and his eyes practically bulge out of his head. "No. Way," he breaths in disbelief before he breaks out into a full out grin and begins pointing at Korra in excitement. "The Avatar!"
Exasperation bubbles inside of me as Korra just stands there with the most egoistic beam. This is one of the few things that get under my skin about her; whenever she is mentioned being the Avatar in an admiring way she turns over-exaggeratedly self-centered. I mean, I understand why she would be this way, but does she have to turn her selfless attitude around so easily? She's usually always thinking of people other than herself but in situations like this I wish she would be more considerate to people like her non-bending sister who has low self-esteem. Or maybe I'm just being over-dramatic and jealous – seemingly more of the ladder.
"Satori?" I'm shaken out of my trance when Korra calls my name. I glance up to see them all giving me the same quizzical look.
"Yeah?" I ask and when my voice cracks I cough unladylike, which makes me wanna cringe. I'm just giving so many reasons for Bolin to like me, aren't I?
"You come with us?"
"To where?"
"Bolin's gonna show me some moves..." She tells me, cocking an eyebrow in amusement at my obliviousness.
I purse my lips. "Oh, uh... Sure," I say, smiling forcefully.
She nods and continues her conversation with Bolin as the four of us exit the room and venture down the hall. Mako and I fall behind as Bolin babbles off to Korra and I frown when the pang of jealously in me grows even stronger.
"So, you a bender?" I raise my head to find Mako looking down at me expectantly.
"Er... n-no..." I answer, casting my eyes away. "No, I'm not."
"Oh."
"Uh huh."
"That must suck," he states, sorta thoughtfully in a strange way. "Being related to the Avatar can get pretty downgrading, can't it?"
I laugh darkly. "You don't even know the half of it," I mumble as I stare down at my moving feet.
"Hey." He jerks me to a gentle stop by grabbing a hold of my shoulder and halting himself. My gaze floats up to him, curious about what he has to say. "Just because she's the Avatar and you're not doesn't mean you can't be looked up to, too. There are and have been plenty of non-benders in this world that have accomplished incredible things. Don't feel like you're not needed, alright? Because I'm sure you are," he advises, a hint of a smile gracing his lips.
I'm sure my expression is utterly surprised at first, but soon it slips into appreciation and I smile tinnily. "Thank you," I say quietly.
"Don't mention it." And with that, he quickens his pace to catch up with Korra and Bolin.
I just stand there for a few moments, a little taken aback, before jogging back to Mako's side, my mood lightened up quite a lot.
xxxxxx
I honestly feel kinda guilty for ever thinking Mako's a narcissistic jerk who is cruel to everyone but his little brother. He's actually kinda sweet, if he chooses to be, and I can tell he just uses his tough, intimidating exterior to hide his true caring self. Sure, he hasn't showed the caring side to me, but from the few small yet meaningful things he's said or done in the past hour or so I've known him I figure he really does have a great side to him.
Mako and I create small talk as Bolin shows Korra the tricks he promised, and even with our irrelevant conversations, I still can't help but pay attention to how focused Bolin is on Korra as she obviously is only caring about the lessons. He's spoke to me a couple times just not as much as I hoped.
"Not bad," Mako compliments simply at Korra's very impressing attempt at the pro-bending style of earth bending.
Korra turns around, glowering slightly at him. "What's it take to impress this guy?" she remarks.
"What? I said not bad."
I chuckle slightly as Korra just continues giving him a dry look. "That was fantastic, Kor," I tell her, winking. She shoots me the same look she was giving Mako but with an obvious teasing glint in her eyes.
"Ya know what, it's getting late; I think I'm gonna turn in. You kids have fun." Mako informs, striding away from the staircase he was leaning on and the one I am currently resting on. He stops in his tracks to glance over his shoulder at us and says kindly, to me at least. "Nice meeting you, Satori – and same to you, Avatar Korra."
I give him a small wave and a smile which he returns. "See you around, Mako," I farewell casually.
"Yeah, been a real pleasure," Korra retorts sarcastically.
"See ya upstairs, bro," Mako directs toward Bolin as he exits the gym, obviously ignoring Korra's bitter goodbye.
Before Bolin can shout a reply, Korra asks in interest, "Upstairs? You guys live here?"
"Yep! In the attic. It's nothing fancy, but we've got some great views," Bolin says. "Okay, back to bending. How about you do that combo again?"
Therefore, for the next thirty minutes, they drill multiple earth bending tricks without hardly acknowledging me while I sit there with my chin perched on my hand and my annoyed gaze fixed on the ground. Finally, I get fed up with it and hop to my feet, stating, "I'm gonna for a walk."
They instantly face me with confused expressions. "Why?" Bolin asks.
"I'm just getting kinda stiff from sitting here for so long," I lie, surprisingly convincing, before shining him a strained smile. "I'll be back soon."
Korra's expression turns concerned. "Alright... But, please be careful, Tor," she tells me almost pleadingly.
"Yeah yeah, I always am."
I'm about to make my way out of the back door when Bolin grips my arm and pulls me to a stop – and I swear my hear skipped a beat from his touch. I hesitatingly meet his intense gaze by shyly shifting my eyes upwards at the same gorgeous face that I can't seem to get out of my mind.
"It can be really dangerous out there, Satori. Don't take "be careful" so lightly, okay?" he says seriously. "Especially right now since it's night."
My eyes bore into his for what seems like forever until I cast my eyes away and mumble an "okay" before rushing out the door.
What was that? Bolin's barely spoken to me all night and then he randomly is all worried about my well-being? To be completely honest, that kinda pisses me off... I've been trying to get his attention for hours but he's just been all wrapped up in Korra. He can't just suddenly care after spending a whole night like I don't even fucking exist! His own brother interacted with me more and I just met him! He doesn't have the right to worry about me.
I quit my angry walking abruptly when I realize what I've just been thinking, and I feel like literally slapping myself. I'm basically acting like Bolin's my boyfriend, when he's not even close to that. We hung out one night and I am getting this upset about how he treats me?
Why am I so damn pathetic? Oh, that's right, it's because for some reason I am so hopelessly into Bolin that even the tiniest of things that he does affects me.
I hang my head sorrowfully and mutter to myself, "Why must he be so cute?"
Suddenly, when I am about to venture forward again, my ears perk up when grouped, obnoxious voices fill my hearing. I whirl around to see three intimidating men - one fire bender, one earth bender, and one water bender – approaching me with twisted grins plastered on their, to say it bluntly, ugly faces. My heart drops into the pit of my stomach in fear when I realize who they are.
Triads.
The same type of people that Korra and I got arrested with the first day we arrived here. From what I managed to find out about this gang of thugs, is that they're dirty, greedy, and a just plain horrible bunch of scum bags. They harm innocent people and their shops just because they are so desperate for money; they don't have one selfless bone in their bodies. Now, what would they want with me?
"Well, hello there, lovely," the fire bender greets when they're just about a foot away from me. "What's a pretty little thing like you strolling around alone at night?"
"And, in this area?" the earth bender adds before shaking his head back and forth. "That's not very smart of ya."
I gulp. "W-what do you want?" I stutter out nervously.
I feel my hands begin to shake at my sides as they all smirk maliciously. They start to slowly advance toward me and I stumble backwards, but I am stopped by my back colliding into a brick wall. Before I can escape to the side, the fire bender grips my wrists and pins me against it roughly. My breathing becomes shallow from the overwhelming terror surrounding me.
I press my lips in a thin line when the fire bender's mouth lingers near my ear, his warm, unsettling breath tickling my skin, before he whispers, "You got any doe in those pockets for me, honey?"
"N-no," I mumble, my voice quivery.
He leans his head back to cock his eyebrows at me and I can tell by the way he clenches his jaw that my answer bothered him. "None? Somehow I find that hard to believe." He glances back at the other two that have been standing guard so no one can sneak up on them. "Strip her, guys. I have a feeling she isn't telling us the truth."
My eyes widen when the men sneer at me and, as the fire bender keeps my struggling form restrained, begin to tear off my coat and dig through my pants pockets. When the come up with nothing, like I said, each one of them narrow their eyes resentfully at me.
"Ya know, I don't like it very much when I am let down," the fire bender spits, a speck of saliva landing on my cheek disgustingly.
"I-I'm so sorry! I don't usually carry any yuans with me," I tell him panicky, terrified of what they're going to do to me now that they're in rage. "You c-can have my c-coat... It has t-to be worth something."
"I don't want your damn coat!" he shouts callously.
I let out a shriek when he jerks me forward and throws me brutally to the side. My body skids against the rough pavement and I groan in pain. A tear streaks down my cheek as they begin to stalk forward, but before they make it to me, the ground under them rumbles and they are hit by three cylindrical rocks rocketing from the earth. They are all tangled together on the ground when Korra comes sprinting over, her face beating with outrage.
"You made a huge mistake!" she yells dangerously. "Next time you plan on messing with someone, make sure it isn't the Avatar's sister!"
I am about to struggle to my feet when she begins to roughen them up but two hands are suddenly stopping me to continue. My eyes confusingly cast upwards and I am bewildered to discover that the hands belong to Bolin – even more so when I catch his concerning gaze.
"Bolin?" I croak.
"Yeah, it's me, Satori," he assures softly, his hand inching up to rest on one of my cheeks. "And I'm here."
I let my eyelids slip closed and unconsciousness takes me over from either the impact of my fall or just my body being too exhausted to function any more for the night, I'm not sure. But, all I do know is that Bolin's last two words are a comforting gateway to a peaceful darkness.
xxxxxx
Whenever I think about my future, I instantly imagine myself having children and them being the most important people in my life.
However, now that I have an overly hyper, erratic little boy soaring his way onto my bed and bouncing energetically on my stomach, thrusting me awake from an incredibly satisfying slumber, I'm highly considering changing my mind.
"Meelo," I groan out drowsily, stretching my arms up to rub my eyes. "Why are you hoping on me?"
Without halting his irritating movements, he answers, "You've been sleeping for so long! You even missed breakfast! Daddy says you should be out of bed soon so I told him I would wake you up for him!"
I sigh exasperatingly, quickly grip his sides, and and raise his wiggling form in the air so his surprising heavy weight is no longer crushing my stomach. What Tenzin and Pema are feeding him, or how much for the matter, is beyond me. When my arms start to get tired from holding him, I call out for Korra, who comes rushing into the room.
"Hey, sis," I greet, gesturing to the squealing Meelo with my chin. "Mind taking him for me? I might drop him and it won't be on accident either."
She obliges and sets him on the floor. "Go and find Ikki, Meelo. She's been searching for you so you two can play," she says and I am not sure if she is lying or not.
"But, I wanna play with Satori!" he whines, pouting.
"You can later."
He huffs, which causes a puff of over-exaggerated air to fly out and blow both Korra and I's hair back, before he stomps out of the room.
Korra twists around to face me with a pointed expression and as a response to it I just give her a pleading stare. "Please don't start," I beg. "I know I should have been more careful so I really don't need to hear a lecture from you."
"I wasn't gonna lecture you," she denies, crossing her arms over her chest. "I just want you know to know what could have happened if Bolin and I hadn't decided to come and look for you."
I purse my lips and reply, "I know. I... I was just bored from doing absolutely nothing but sitting there and watching you and him earth bend for like three hours!" Okay, so that was a lie; boredom wasn't necessarily the main problem but I am not about to explain to her that I was jealous of her because Bolin was paying so much damn attention to her. She would feel horribly and I know she didn't mean to do catch my crush's attention so telling her is pointless. Anyway, I was most likely over-reacting over the whole situation.
Hopefully...
"It was only around thirty minutes," she corrects.
"Well still, that's thirty minutes too long."
She sighs heavily. "I'm sorry about that. But, instead of going off on your own at night, you should have just told us how you were feeling."
I sit up and cross my legs under the blankets. "Okay, I agree with you, but I still wish I could be able to go out on my own without my older sister freaking out," I say, hinting.
"You can't in the city, Tor. It's not safe, just like Bolin said."
I laugh humorlessly. "Yeah, I defiantly found that out." Something suddenly pops into my mind and I start to panic. "Did Tenzin catch us?"
"No," she replies, smirking. "Thankfully you're light enough for me to carry through the water and onto the island without him ever waking up."
I let out a breath of relief. "Thank gosh." We're silent for a few moments and when I glance her way I find her staring at me smugly. I give her a weird look. "What?"
"You acted to so cute around Bolin," she laughs out. "You really do like him a lot."
I flush, shocked by the sudden subject change. "Korra! Can we not talk about him right now, please?"
"Why not?"
"I'm just not in the mood to gossip," I bluff. The truth is, I am afraid I'll blurt out the topic of me envying her and becoming nervous that Bolin might be into her and not me. I've never been very good at keeping things from her, so if we are close to the subject, then I am pretty sure I would spill.
"Okay," she says, shrugging, before lowering her voice into a whisper. "Anyway, after air bending training, I am sneaking off to the arena to see another match with The Fire Ferrets."
"What? Korra I thought that was a one time thing!"
"I am just going to wish Mako and Bolin some luck,"she assures, smiling sheepishly. "And, I wanna see if they win or not."
"What if I wanna go, too?" I ask her.
"No, you're still kinda hurt from last night. You need to take the day off for your own good."
"But Korra -"
"Korra!" We quit our arguing when Tenzin's loud call sounds off from what sounds like the end of the hall.
She bites her bottom lip. "Coming!" she responds before giving me a please-cover-for-me-and-don't-say-a-thing-to-anyone look as she backs up toward the door.
We stare each other down for a few seconds, but when Tenzin yells again, I clench my fists and hiss out, "Fine! But, you owe me!"
She mouths a thank you, hurries out the door, and bolts down the hall. Once she's gone, I fall back onto the bed, rip a pillow out from under me, and bury my face into it frustratingly. "She better be back soon," I murmur to myself. "Or this is all gonna end horribly."