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It was settled that I wasn't allowed to leave this house to visit Dakota, no matter how hard I begged. Grandma ran this house with an iron fist and she didn't want me anywhere near Dakota from what Hunter had told her.

I was still questioning the believability to what he'd shared with us during breakfast. The likelihood of that happening wasn't completely swept off the table. I knew if I had a car, I'd most certainly be tempted to run Maven off the road with it. There was no particular reason behind it, simply that I'd want to.

On and off, I texted Ronnie, telling her about the current situation I was in. I knew I had to see what was up with him. He hadn't responded to my calls or texts. My mind recklessly thought of the worst case scenario possible, fearing that he was wandering the lonely streets-or even worse-he had gotten into a car in the inebriated state he was in.

Around noon, my phone began to ring. It was Ronnie on the other end. I explained the situation to her, telling her how my step-mom surprised me with a visit from my grandmother. I was still iffy on if Evelyn hated me or not. My first week there, she tried in numerous way to make me like her. One of those attempts being her lame try at making canjeeros like my Somali mother did. But it only created a situation where I ate horribly made breakfast.

Stealing me from my current thoughts, Ronnie said something that struck me back to my senses.

"Are you a hundred percent sure he was wasted?" She asked, skipping a greeting. "And that he seemed like he was off to do something crazy?"

"Yes, I am."

"Silvia, you have to be sure. Sometimes you get things wrong."

"What are you talking about? I'm never wrong."

"Well, like the time you thought Michael Jordan died, and that was the reason to why Jordan's are so popular. Or when you said Miami was a state. Also, you still think Virginia is in the mid-west."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure about this, Ronnie. I'm not wrong."

"Or that other time where you thought Biggie died because of diabetes. Oh, and when you asked how they made buffalo wings so small when actual buffalos are huge."

"Enough with the examples," I shouted.

"Wait. I have one more. How about that time in English class you said ham wasn't from a pig? I seriously laughed so hard at that one. Your dad's Jewish. Pork isn't in your diet to begin with, how the hell have you been alive for seventeen years and not know where ham comes from? Didn't your mom tell you?"

My eyes dropped. "My mom didn't convert for my dad when they got married. She isn't...close to her spirituality."

"That meaning?"

"She's an atheist, I think," I grumbled, partly not wanting to talk about it. "What is the point of this call, Ronnie?" I inquired, growing impatient with her desire to point out all of my slip ups. English class was one of the first classes I had. Mornings just weren't my thing. "Did you only call to make fun of me?"

"No, loser. I'm outside. I got up and drove here on a weekend when I should be sleeping till five. If that doesn't show how much of a good friend I am, then I don't know what will."

I jumped off the edge of my bed. "You're kidding me. You're here?"

Walking to the window in my room, I saw her car parked outside my grandma's large white gate. Her black jeep was turned off. I could barely make out her figure inside the car. Quickly, I put my shoes on, pulled my hair back into a tight ponytail, and slipped on a jacket.

I brought the phone up to my ear, realizing the obvious. "Shit. How the heck am I supposed to get out of the house? I can't just walk out the front door."

"Why not?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because my grandma is here and she'll see me!"

"Is she even in the living room? Go check."

Sighing heavily, I cracked open my bedroom door and crept down stairs, making sure my footsteps were light as a feather. There was no one in the living room from what I could see. Craning my neck around the room, I spotted my grandma outside in the large garden behind the pool she had. Hunter was passed out with his toes in the pool and his back on a towel over the pavement.

I made sure I didn't make any loud noises while closing the door behind me. Inevitably, the front gate groaned when I pushed it open, and then slammed it shut. I said a quick thank you to Ronnie after I got in, buckling myself in.

. . . .

"I haven't been up here for a long time," Ronnie said when we pulled up to Dakota's house. "I think it's been at least eight or seven years."

"Why were you up here?"

She sighed. "Well a long time ago, I was friends with Beth. Her and her brother had this thing where they would get as close as possible to the house to get a good look at Dakota's mom, Dona Ridgewood. The whole street would be a part of this. About ten kids in all joined in."

"Oh, yeah. I think Beth told me about that once at lunch. You guys got a dollar if you got a good look at her, right? Did you ever get a good look?"

"No. I know none of us did. The purpose behind it was less on if we saw her or not and more on if we could tell a scarier recollection of what we saw. It was a bunch of bullshit. I only did it once or twice, but then my mom found out what we were doing and she told me how messed up I was to do that to Dakota's mom. It was at that point when I knew Beth wasn't the kind of person I wanted to hang out with. I mean, if she could do that to some poor old lady who did literally nothing to her, then imagine what she could do to someone who pissed her off?"

"I don't want to think about that." I shook my head and unbuckled my seatbelt. "Do you think she's twisted enough to be behind Diana's death?"

"I don't know. There could've been a lot of things connected to that girl's suicide. She wasn't showing up a lot at the end of second semester, hardly bothering to even dress to impress anymore. Which was so different to how she was during most of her life. I think she even went to court once because of the amount of absences she'd piled up. I barely saw her around. When I found out about her suicide I think she'd missed a week of classes before." She revealed. "Any who, do you want me to stay?"

"I'd really appreciation if you could stay with your car."

"Sure thing. If you want to head back home, just text me and I'll leave you two hormonal love birds alone to bump uglies all night."

"We are not going to be bumping uglies." I jokingly nudged her. "Thank you though. Honestly. No one was going to drive me, let alone let me come here."

"It's no problem."

I leaped out of her tall car and hit the ground, landing on my feet. Carefully, I scoped the untrimmed grass for his demon of a dog. I made it to the front porch alive and went to knock the door. But it creaked open after one single touch.

This was the part of the movie where most people would start telling the protagonist to turn back around and to not enter the house. Everything about that kind of scene matched what you saw in a scary movie. It was almost too perfect with the low hanging clouds, slight wind that rushed through the trees, and a creepy house that was conveniently left unlocked.

Like the movies, I stepped into the house. I moved slowly with hesitation in my step, questioning my own choice. My foot kicked the side of a doll, causing it to roll over to the fireplace.

"I'm fucking done, Dakota," someone said from up the stairs. The stairs cried out as their weight shifted down the steps. It was a guy's voice. "You guys can deal with him, but I can't do this anymore."

With wide eyes, I hid behind the long drapes, waiting for the figure to pass by and reach the front door. He slammed it. Breathing a sigh in relief, I left my hiding position and went in the direction the boy had appeared from up the stairs.

"You're going to wake up the baby if you keep up this bitching and moaning." Someone said from one of the rooms. I walked along the walls, pressing my back against it. I got a slight view of who was speaking. He looked very similar to Dakota. And I wasn't just saying that because he had visible tattoos.

His nose, sharp cheekbones, and full lips mirrored Dakota's. I decided that it might've been Dion. They had two different eye colors. Where Dakota's were bright blue, Dion's were stark. He was meant to be the responsible, more likable Ridgewood from what I'd heard.

"I just want to see Silvia. Take me to Maine."

His words were crammed together, connecting as one. I knew he was still drunk from the sound of it.

"I told you already. I don't know who Silvia is," Dion said. "I don't have that kind of money to just send you to Maine."

"We can get you a new Silvia. A hot one." A different voice said. I strained my neck a little and saw Heath, leaning on a closet with his hands folded on his chest and a toothpick in his mouth. "I know like ten Silvia's that'll be a hell of a lot more fun." He winked.

Something went crashing down, breaking as it hit the wood.

"I swear if you wake up that baby, you'll have another thing coming for you." Dion went on to say.

"Why do you care so much? It's not your kid. You're not her father-I don't even know who the father is." Dakota slurred. "Diana didn't want to take care of her and she's her goddamn mother."

Had I heard him right?

Diana had a kid...a kid Dion was taking care of for her. My grandmother had thought it was his, which must mean he was telling people he had a kid...he was taking claim for a child that wasn't his own just to shield the truth of what his sister had left behind.

Was that why Ronnie had said she was missing classes? I wasn't all that sure. I was still reeling on the fact that she had a child. Dakota didn't know the father. I was wondering who the father was and if he was a member of the Lacrosse team.

"What if it's Maven's..." I trailed off, not able to finish my own assumption. It would make sense if Maven was the father. He only just started dating Faye this summer. Dakota had a deep hate for him, a hate I didn't quite understand.

Who knew? Maybe that was his kid.

"Who's there?" a new voice called out and opened the door, shining light in my face.

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Song: Jet Black Heart by Five Seconds of Summer

Lyrics:

❝But now that I'm broken. And now that you know it. Caught up in a moment. Can you see inside?❞

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