CHAPTER 18 LENA. Gina's home was quite far from school. She lives with her father on the outskirts of Willow Town. They had moved two years ago after the death of her mother. She had died of a fast spreading blood cancer that wasn't detected on time. It had been hard on Beta Reinhardt and Gina. Really hard that they had to sell off their large beautiful house for a smaller one and ever since they moved, Gina, who used to be a social butterfly, suddenly stopped attending events. We thought it was only going to last for a while. I mean, she was grieving her mother's death. But it's been a year since she attended any social gatherings. She came to school and missed some days off, calling in sick. It was strange. This sickness that she couldn't tell us about. Also how her father who was nice and open to everyone suddenly shut everyone out. We rarely visited and whenever we were lucky to, we were always timed. After trying a few more times, we stopped. I am still worried
CHAPTER 19 LENA. Fortunately and surprisingly, the gates to their home were open. I exchanged shocked looks with Leah. "They never open their gates," Leah said. "Unless he's starting to see the meaning of life again," "If that's true, then I am happy for them. At least, Gina can get to hang out with us again," She's in our friend group but a loner. Aloof. She's not close with anyone which makes her the person we go to whenever there's something we have to settle. For her, there's no sides to take. Leah drove into the surprisingly large parking lot. We didn't even take up so much space. "That car parked in front of us looks familiar," "It's a Lincoln Navigator, Luke," I said. "Which is why I said it looks familiar," He pointed out. "That's Dylan's car," "I thought he went to his grandmother's burial?" Leah said as she killed the engine. The doors were unlocked and we all climbed out of Leah's car. And there he is, pushing his car door open and taking ou
CHAPTER 20 LENA. Gina spiked up our curiosity. Everyone in the room sat up immediately. Luke left his position. He had been seated right before her monitor. He drew close to her bed, where I and Leah sat along with Dylan whose arm was draped across her chest. "You know something? What is it?" She leaned away from him and he followed her movement. "Uhm," She blinked. Something flashed in her eyes but it was gone as soon as it came, right before I was able to decipher what it was. "I was there when Henshaw died. Not there per se. I was close and I witnessed his death" There was an edge to her voice. Like she was about to cry. She fluttered her eyes and masked her sniffle with a cough. Dylan rubbed her back soothingly. "That's..." Leah began but I placed a hand on her leg. I knew what she was about to say. Better not let the cat out of the bag yet. Dylan was already starting to frown in confusion. "Uhm," She continued. "I was just coming into the gym. I went to ge
CHAPTER 21 LENA. Shit. Leah's mouth opened slightly in surprise, I acted like I wasn't surprised by what she said. I mean, I was. And as for Luke, his eyes remained on his friend who's expression was filled with anger. "Dylan," Gina began. She looked really nervous. She climbed out of her bed and went to meet him. She tried to touch his arm but he moved away from her. "I just need a fucking explanation, Gina. Why are you in a relationship with Henshaw and me too. You said you cared about me, didn't you? So why the fuck would you lie to someone you care about and go behind their backs to be with someone else? That's bitchy!" Gina sank her fingers into her hair and pulled at it. She looked really frustrated, like she was trying to hold back from saying something. "You don't get it, Dy!" Gina said. Her voice broke again. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she spoke. "I cared about you. I care about you and when I told us how I felt, I wasn't lying or trying to deceive y
CHAPTER 22 LENA. "You don't seem like you're alright, Lena," Leah said. The girl could see through me. "So spill it now if your head is working Mach five." "I heard a voice. Did you hear it, too?" "No, I did not." Leah negated. Gina's reply was the same. "What did it say?" Gina asked. I shook my head immediately. "Nothing important. My ears are probably playing tricks on me," I said with a nervous laugh. Both girls looked at me with looks of confusion on their faces. "Well, we have to go now," I said and pushed to my feet. Leah followed suit after patting Gina on the shoulder. "Thanks for having us," Gina nodded with a smile. "It feels good to see some of my friends after a long time of being cooped up at home," Leah cocked her head to the side. "I don't think we're sure about that," Gina sighed. "Fine. I've been sneaking out. Cut me some slack, you both," We both raised our hands in the air in surrender. "We don't mean to judge you, Gina. I really fee
CHAPTER 23 LENA. Slipping my hands into the pocket of my hoodie, I slipped into the house and shut the door behind me. "What the hell..." I muttered as I crossed the hallway into the living room. Even with the hoodie I had on, it felt like I was about to freeze. I began to shiver, my muscle spasmed as I tried to create more heat for my body but it did nothing. "Oh... Fuck..." Speaking was hard for me and my speech was starting to slur. I slid my phone out of my pocket and painfully dialed my father's number. My fingers tapped haphazardly against my phone and dialed my father's number. He picked up after three rings. "Hey, cupcake," "D-dad. I don't know what's wrong," I began to ramble. "The house. It's— it's really cold and I— I just feel cold!" Just after saying that sentence, I felt a wave of weakness hit me as I tried to breathe. It was nearly impossible to breathe properly and when I got the idea of the possibility of experiencing hyperthermia, I slid to the
CHAPTER 24 LENA. "gods," I muttered as I climbed out of the bed, trying hard not to hit his frozen hand. If I made one mistake, his hand could break out of his wrist. I couldn't imagine something terrible happening again, all because I couldn't control whatever was going on inside of me. Finally, I was out of the bed. I stared at my father's frozen body in shock. My mouth was agape and just as a sob escaped my throat, I clamped a hand over my mouth. I had to do something. Standing and staring at him wasn't going to do a damn thing. I knew what could happen to him if he stayed frozen for one hour and as I rushed to the window to push it open with the hopes of bringing in some warmth from outside, Mr Finn's words from AP Chemistry came to my mind. If a person is frozen with ice, which is one of the rarest things to ever happen to man, their body goes into a state of suspended animation, causing all biological processes to slow down to the point of stopping. Though, fre
CHAPTER 25 LENA. "Don't come close," I whimpered as I moved farther away from him. I had been traumatized by just that tiny moment of watching his frozen body. The panic that had overcome me while I watched the flecks of ice fall off his skin as it faded into nothingness reminded me of being alone with Jason with no parents. I wasn't ready to become an orphan, not ready to experience the intense grief that came with losing two parents within the space of one week. He was staring at me with both hands on his hips. That was the stance he made whenever he was confused. He took off his glasses, reminding me of how hard it had been for me to take it off while he was still frozen. I shuddered. "Why don't you want me to come close?" He asked as he drew close. "Scoot over, Lena. You're making me worried. I want to know if it's a fever. You're shivering so you are probably expelling heat and feeling cold on the inside," "No! Don't come close! Don't you get it?! I don't want you