Dylan
Even with Kaitlyn's threats lingering in my mind, I slept better last night than the night before. With Andrew and Hazel next to me, it felt like somehow everything's going to be okay.
My head is pounding from clenching my jaw over and over again for hours on end. I wrap my arms around Hazel's middle and bury my face into her collar bone. She smells so good, even with sleep lingering all over our bodies. I feel Andrew’s arm slip next to mine as he kisses Hazel’s cheek.
Good, they’re awake.
Seeing them crack their eyes open and come back to the world reminds me of our situation, and I instantly find my phone and light it up.
Thank God. No notifications. Kaitlyn must not have said anything yet. That’s a good sign. She might have been bluffing last night.
“Anything?”
Andrew’s voice crackles with its first use. I really like it.
“No, you?”
“Nothing. Hazel?”
She shakes her head after reaching for her phone and checking every inbox she can.
“We need to come up with a plan. I can’t keep doing this.”
“Agreed,” Hazel and Andrew say at the same time.
“I’ll get the coffee, Dylan, you get the toast. Andrew, you start brainstorming.”
Hazel pops out of bed and before we can even blink, we hear shuffling around in the kitchen. Andrew and I follow with enormous grins.
“Hazel, how is it that you can put a smile on our faces even in this completely awful situation?”
Andrew grabs a pen and paper and sits at her breakfast bar as I make toast for us all. The smell of breakfast is the oil on our brains hinges, making our cogs turn faster and faster.
“Hmm, you’re just lucky to have me, I guess.”
“We are.”
Andrew’s scribbling furiously as Hazel pours coffee into our mugs. The black mug with the Eiffel Tower is always mine. The white, vintageNapolimug is Andrews. Hazel always uses a mug decorated with vintage planes all over like little stickers.
Her thick, long blonde hair spills over her shoulders as she sips it with both hands. I swear, her hair has got to weigh just as much as she does.
“Got anything good on there?” Hazel says with a giggle.
“Um…” Andrew’s eyes are moving furiously over his notes.
“No.”
“That sounds promising.”
My tone is dripping with sarcasm, but it’s the only way I know how to be calm right now.
“It’s not like we have a lot of options.”
“We’ve got to do something, and we’ve got to do it before Kaitlyn from hell finishes the job for us.”
Silence comes over the kitchen and I can see the blondes thinking hard and fast. I feel useless. I can’t imagine anything happening other than our lives being ruined.
“Maybe we should think of what to say if Mr. Burgess decides to talk with us instead of just firing us point-blank.”