Sebastian woke up with a jolt. His eyes flashed open, and he stared at the illuminated ceiling. Slowly, he gazed down at his slumped form, his empty glass still in hand. With a low grunt, he reached out and placed the cup on the coffee table. He sat up and twisted his shoulders left, and right, his back popping and his spine loosening.
He stood and yawned. The welcome view of nature was the first thing he saw as he walked to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. At first, he was confused to have woken up on the couch instead of in his warm bed with Sadie.
But then the memories slowly come back; Sadie’s leaving, the drive home after receiving her text, (Breaking up through text message—cliche. And just something Sadie would do when she didn’t want to deal with things like an adult.) the girl in the woods.
He slowly swallowed and placed the glass on the counter. He nearly forgot about her! Suddenly remembering she was sleeping in the guest room, he went to check on her. He knocked gently on the door twice and waited before he twisted the knob and entered. The room was empty, the bed unused. No sign of anyone’s presence. Sebastian’s brows furrowed and he questioned if any of last night’s events even happened. Had he made her up in his mind? Was it all a dream? He was confused until he heard gentle snoring coming from the closet.
He opened the door and found her sleeping, curled up on the floor. She looked so small and fragile. Sebastian couldn’t believe she was left alone in the woods for as long as she was.
He crouched down and found himself watching her sleep. All while he tried to figure out what her story was. Everything about her seemed to throw him off. She wasn’t like most girls, this much he knew. But he couldn’t accurately pinpoint what it was that made her feel so different. He found himself feeling compelled to brush the single strand of her long amber hair out of her calm, angelic face.
He was pulled out of his mind consuming thoughts at the low sound of her stomach growling. In her sleep, her brows knitted tightly together and she coiled with a small grunt. Sebastian decided he too was a bit hungry himself.
He could faintly hear the sound of his phone ringing in his room suddenly. He knew this by the familiar ringtone he had set for Sadie. As quickly and quietly as possible, he left the room and went down the hall into his. He grabbed the phone off the charger from his nightstand and answered in a rush.
“Hello?” he breathed into the speaker.
“You’ve been calling,” Sadie’s familiar raspy voice echoed through the line. He could tell just from the sound of her voice she was still angry. Why was she angry? If anyone should be upset, it should be him!
Sebastian glanced at the bedroom door. “What?”
Sadie sighed heavily. “Seb, I don’t understand why you’re doing this to yourself. It’s over. I don’t know how many times I have to say this.” Neither did he.
“Yeah, um, right,” Sebastian murmured as he glanced out the hallway. He didn’t know how much longer she’d be asleep. “Actually, I can’t really talk right now.”
“What?”
“I’m a bit . . . Busy at the moment.”
Sadie snorted on the other end of the line and Sebastian could almost hear her smirk. “Yeah right, Seb. Busy doing what exactly?” She was mocking him. He knew that condescending tone of hers anywhere. But his mind was too preoccupied to care at the moment. “Just—busy,” he murmured and cupped his hand over his mouth and the speaker. “Look, I got to go.”
“Wait—are you kidding me? You’ve been calling nonstop all night; you’ve been leaving me voicemails and text messages begging me to talk and now that I’m actually giving you a chance you’re blowing me off?” she demanded in a scoffing tone. “Are you serious right now?”
“No! I’m not. I am not blowing you off,” Sebastian rushed desperately. He just didn’t know how long he had until the strange girl woke up. And he couldn’t necessarily see Sadie being too happy to know he not only let a stranger into their home but that she was also wearing some of Sadie’s clothes. Sadie tended to get very territorial toward her things. “I do want to talk. I do, because I know there’s still a lot to be said—”
“No, Sebastian, I don’t think there is.”
Sebastian raised a clenched fist and tried to stay calm. She wasn’t listening! He couldn’t blow it with Sadie. She was his only chance at true happiness. “Look just, please. I’ll call you as soon as I can, and I’ll explain everything to you then, I promise. But for right now just, trust me. Please.” He needed to deal with one issue before he could even think of the next, the more important one—Sadie.
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