A week had passed since the party. An intense week. Cops had been conducting interviews and asking questions, questions that not everyone could answer. "Who were you with?" "What were you doing?" Some people had alibis. Some had alibis that they didn't want to give. There was too many secrets that went unspoken, that even the cops couldn't be trusted with. Everyone had a secret, something they were hiding.
And the secrets weren't going anywhere either. They didn't disappear when they weren't an active problem. They were always there. Lurking in the background. Even if they weren't active problems, sometimes they still needed to be dealt with or covered up... or ignored.
---
Alex had a rare free afternoon to himself. His shifts had aligned in such a way that he finished after the lunch rush, and wasn't starting at the bar until 8. Part of him knew that he should go home, check on his parents, make sure they didn't have any more bills to pay. Or maybe he should answer some of his clients, arrange to meet them, earn the money to pay those bills. But after the week he'd just had, he just wanted to have some time to himself. And, well, to meet up with his friends. He was constantly on edge, waiting for that knock on the door, for him to be called aside at work, for somebody to stop him in the street. He'd thought about walking away from it all, changing his number, refusing to answer any calls from clients. Lie low. But he couldn't afford that. He didn't want to go back to taking every shift he could, running on four hours sleep every single night.
He sighed and sipped his iced coffee, running a hand through his still-damp hair. He'd gone to the pool for the first time in what felt like an age. It had felt so good to stretch those muscles again. And surprisingly, his many, many shifts at the coffee shop hadn't put him off coffee. Especially not iced coffee. Things weren't as good as they could be, but he was going to enjoy a rare afternoon off no matter what.
He picked up his phone and sent a few texts.
To: Derrick
Yo, man, I actually have an afternoon off work! Crazy, right? You around?
To: Elijah
Hey, dude, I'm off this afternoon if you want to come grab a coffee!
His thumb hovered over one contact name in particular, hesitating. He knew he shouldn't. He knew that their relationship wasn't healthy, that it messed with his head too much. But that didn't stop him from wanting to. Goddamn, having two sets of genes that increased his potential for addiction really messed him up. Honestly, it was surprising he wasn't more of a mess. He figured that not having time to breathe or think probably helped. He put down his phone and sighed, leaning back and looking around. It was then he spotted the cop across the street. His heart stopped for a moment as he swore the cop was looking at him. But then the cop moved on. He couldn't keep going like this. He wanted to scream, wanted to tell someone so they could help him. But how? How could he trust them, know they wouldn't go tell the police?
He picked up his phone again and had the text half written before he knew what he was doing. But when he realised, he didn't exactly try and stop himself.
To: Blu
You around?
--
There was always one way that Lyn dealt with frustration. But no matter how much her body and brain wanted it, she sure as hell wasn't giving in to it. Instead, she went to the gym, trying to sweat it out as much as she could. After the night of the party, she'd been on edge. Everyone had. But now she felt like she couldn't ever relax, like she always had to glance over her shoulder. And more than ever, she just wanted to stop thinking, stop... worrying. It was getting harder than ever to stay sober.
She could see the guy on the treadmill beside her was trying to show off, so she ramped up the speed and turned up the sound on her headphones. She didn't want to have to think about anything besides the pounding of her feet, the beat of her favourite workout playlist. And when her lungs were screaming at her to stop, she slowed to a walk and got off the treadmill. She retrieved her bag and pulled on her hoodie. When she got out, she pulled out her phone and sent a few texts.
To: Riley
Hey, you around, babes?
She wanted to text Karin as well, but remembering exactly what had happened at the party, she hesitated. She wasn't entirely sure she could face her. She sighed and shoved her phone back in her bag, pulling her hair out of her pony tail and downing most of her water bottle. This was all too much for her to handle.