Sam's eyes slowly opened to the dark room, small pool of light emanating from the TV stand. Blinking the sleep from his eyes he realized the light was being cast from his cell phone that kept vibrating against the wooden surface. Shuffling out of bed, Sam smashed his thumb down on the phone, stopping the vibration, and shot a glance at the other twin bed. A large lump could be seen in the darkness and Sam recognized it as John who hadn't even taken the time to pull the blankets up over him before dozing off to sleep.
Satisfied that he had not woke John, Sam checked the phone to see who wanted to contact him of all people at 2am in the morning. Emily was all the text message header said and Sam sighed, looking around for the backpack John had lugged in while Sam had gone to the store. Sam couldn't find it and didn't want to slip into his wet clothes so he opted to stay in his boxers. Moving to the door he turned the handle when he heard a noise from across the room. Glancing back at John it was apparent that he was only shifting in his sleep, and Sam opened the door and retreated outside.
It was still raining out but Sam stayed under the roof overhang as he investigated if anyone was outside that could see him, however because of the late hour he was reasonably sure that everyone was asleep already. Turning his attention back to his phone he opened the message and read the contents.
Sam where have you been, I went to your place but your mom says she doesn't know where you are! Text me back! Kiss! The message read and Sam found himself smiling and blushing slightly as he finished it. Emily was the first girl that ever kissed him and that's a hard thing for a guy to just shake off. Running his hand through his hair, Sam automatically glanced over at Six's room, but shook off his feeling of unease. She doesn't like you so just let it go. He thought to himself as he started to reply in kind to Emily, I'm out with John, don't worry, thinking of you! Be back in a few days hopefully. He typed out and was about to send it when he looked up at Six's door again and sighed. Sure he liked Emily, but nothing like what he felt about Six. Remembering back to the party where she had kissed him and set his mind racing, it was nothing compared to the quickened pulse and butterflies he felt whenever Six just locked eyes with him, even if it was to give him scathing looks.
Sam slowly deleted the message and started making his way across the parking lot, rain lightly wetting his skin and sharp gravel digging holes into his bare feet, but he ignored it. I need to take a drive and clear my head, Sam thought to himself but quickly realized that he had left his keys back in the room. Turning abruptly on his heel he started back towards his door when he noticed something very strange, the rain a few feet away didn't seem to be hitting the ground but hitting a large invisible shape just in front of him.
"Uhhh...Six? Is that you?"
Six couldn't sleep, she had tossed and turned, cranked up the A/C then turned it down again and even tried watching TV to put her to sleep but none of it worked. Her mind kept racing and would not calm down. Where the Mogs on their trail now? Where were the other Numbers? How were they going to get there? And every once in a while, when she was in the middle of worrying over another detail or two of their journey, an ash and blood covered face of a boy with black hair would bubble up into her mind, causing her to have to stop her train of thought and squash the image way down into her sub-conscious.
Six was sick of this. She was sick of always having to stop what she was doing and mentally beat her own mind into submission about a boy she hardly knew. I clearly have too much time on my hands, she thought to herself and the only idea she could come up with to solve her time dilemma was to wake John's ass up and find out what their next move was. If she knew what they were doing she could spend her time planning and not...whatever it is I'm doing now with my stupid imagination, she thought harshly, once more banishing the memory of Sam's hand on her cheek from her mind.
Roughly putting on her clothes and slipping into her jacket, Six snagged her room key and exited into the rainy night. Careful to stay underneath the overhang to avoid the rain, Six swiftly made her way to John and Sam's room where she stood outside for several moments, collecting her thoughts. After several mental tries, she couldn't think of a good excuse as to why at 2am she was so interested in finding out the plan instead of just waiting till a decent hour. Electing to just burst in and be her usual brash self, Six turned to bang on the door when the handle turned. Staring at it in shock for only a moment, she immediately went invisible and flattened herself against the wall next to the door. Six held her breath as the door opened a few seconds later and Sam exited into the night air, in nothing but his boxers.
Six instantly bit her tongue to force herself not to burst out laughing, Sam would DIE from embarrassment if he let her see him like this. Six knew she should just slowly make her way back to her room and slip back inside when Sam wasn't looking but as hard as she tried to make her feet start moving, they felt like they were cemented to the walkway. That's when she noticed that she had not stopped staring at his exposed chest and she was slightly laboring for breath, her face ablaze. She was sure she was as red as his truck. Oh my God what is wrong with me? She thought furiously as she mentally berated herself, I mean his body is anything BUT impressive. She was right, he couldn't have weighed more than a buck twenty and you could see his ribcage poking out of the very sides of his upper body, his pale skin looking even lighter in this bad lighting.
Six finally got her feet moving but in the wrong direction as Sam had just started looking at his cell phone and curiosity got the better of her. Gliding up behind Sam silently, Six looked over his shoulder at what he was reading on his phone. Sam where have you been, I went to your place but your mom says she doesn't know where you are! Text me back! Kiss! And Six had to fight a very strong urge to rip the phone out of Sam's hands and hurl it into the night. Who the hell was Emily, and why was she going to Sam's house? Or texting him Kiss? Kiss? KISS? This Emily girl was going to learn a few things real fast if she even THOUGHT that...Six stopped and relaxed the fists she hadn't even realized she clenched. He is just going to get attached to this pathetic girl and slow us down, yeah that's it, that's why you're upset she said to herself, and that's when she read Sam's reply and once again had to physically stop herself again, this time from assaulting Sam.
Thinking of her huh? Six scathingly said to herself as she started to follow him towards his truck. Where was he going, why hadn't he sent that message to Emily, instead deleting it? He's probably going to call her and tell her ALL the reasons he- Six cut herself off mid thought as Sam had suddenly whirled around and was staring right at her. Six glanced at her hand and saw she was still invisible but instantly realized why Sam was looking right at her. The rain she groaned to herself as she heard Sam's voice.
"Uhhh...Six? Is that you?"
Six's mind raced! What could she possibly say that could get her out of this situation she had found herself in?
"Six?" came Sam's voice again and Six decided that the only way to get out of this was to be herself, her normal, mean, spiteful self. Shedding her invisibility, Six light the fireworks off like only she could.
"Yes it's me you miserable idiot! Don't you think we have better things to be doing than walking around outside in our boxers? Like getting sleep for our weak human body so we can keep up and form a plan tomorrow! Oh but you know what, obviously your love life is more important, why don't you call little Emily up and tell her how much you miss her and wah wah wah. I'll tell you what, you had better hit a gym before you let her see you again though because from here you look like you're what, twelve?" Six practically exploded as she slowly advanced on Sam, jabbing a finger into his chest. Sam had looked dumbstruck when she first started hollering but had quickly recovered, but at the mention of his body Sam looked like he had been slapped in the face and his forehead darkend to a shade of red she had never seen on his face before. She mentally winced, she knew she was being incredibly mean, and went to apologize, but instead just continued on her tear. "I know if I were her and I saw you take off your shirt, I wouldn't be able to stop laughing! Girls don't like guys that are weaker than them and let me tell you, I'm pretty sure you're weaker than all other girls. If I catch you out here drawing attention to yourself one more friggin time while I'm on watch out here, I'll beat you till you are black and blue now get back inside your damn room and at least put on some clothes you scrawny freak!" Six finished, nose pressed against Sam's, she hadn't even noticed she had been backing him up and was now towering over him as his back was pressed against the truck.
Sam looked terrified and Six realized she may have made a terrible mistake. Her mind raced on how to backtrack on everything she had just said, she couldn't believe all those words had come out of her mouth! And about her Sam! Her mouth silently worked, but no words came out and Sam's eyes began to lightly water. He wanted to cry but she could tell he was fighting it, hard, so that she wouldn't see. I made him cry she thought as a sick feeling slammed into her stomach. She wanted to throw up, she wanted to run away, and she suddenly had an overwhelming desire to pick him up in a crushing hug and make him feel better. None of these things happened though.
"I'm sorry Six." Sam mumbled as he pushed her off him and practically sprinted back to his room, shutting the door quickly behind him.
Six stood their in shock, staring at the door Sam had just closed as rain quickly soaked through her clothes and matted her hair. She couldn't really believe what events had just transpired in the last couple of minutes, she just found herself silently pleading for Sam to come back out that door and let her apologize for all the horrible things she just said to him. After several grueling moments, Six tore her eyes away from Sam's room and shuffled back to her own, leaning against the door as she closed it, slowly sliding down until she was sitting on the floor against the door, head resting on her knees. I hate him, she thought to herself as she simply dropped her keys to the floor and slowly hugged her knees, and I hate Emily! This is all their fault.
This is your fault her little voice said bitterly, Six didn't even bother trying to shut it up this time, This is all your fault for being a bitch and he hates us now, I hope your happy. He's probably talking to whoever Emily is right now, I bet she isn't telling him how weak and pathetic he is.
"Enough," Six mumbled miserably to herself but her mind wouldn't relent.
You don't deserve him anyways. The voice finished and was silent. The sick feeling in her stomach got worse as she pictured Sam's crushed face as he heard her insult him again and again. Except these weren't just insults, they were personal, deep, hurtful. Six lifted her head and was surprised to feel a few drops of water spill down her cheeks, was she crying? You made him cry, you deserve it. She thought bitterly again as her head sank back into her knees.
Sam closed the door and angrily threw his key onto his bed, how could he have been so stupid? Not bothering to watch his noise level for a sleeping John, Sam crossed the room and slammed the bathroom door shut, twisting on the hot water in the shower. She hates me, of course she hates me, why did I even begin to fool myself? Sam thought angrily as he quickly brushed the water from his eyes, he shouldn't be crying over a few lousy insults, it was nothing much worse than what the guys back at school would say to him. But it wasn't what was said, but who was saying it that cut him deepest. A soft knock at the door made him immediately picture a rain soaked Six come to apologize but Sam shook his heard ruefully, he had to just accept she despised him.
"Hey," came Johns voice from the other side and the door creaked open enough for John to look in.
A tear rolled down Sam's cheek but he quickly wiped it away as he turned away from John, not wanting him to see him in such a pitiful condition. After a few more moments of silence, John spoke again.
"I'll leave you be man, but if you want to talk about her once you get out of the shower, I'm here for you." John said as he closed the door again and Sam smiled to himself, John always knew what was going on with Sam, even if he had just woken up in the middle of the night to a slamming door. Getting in the shower, Sam felt the chill slowly ebb out of his body, but it did nothing to fill the hole that had suddenly opened up in his chest.