Beached

22-Methods

Not long after he realized she wasn't with Brevity, he simply left. He just said bye and left.

My legs are itching to propel me towards him, but Luca is still here somewhere. 

Where could Sebastian have gone? To look for her, I'd guess. Our mental connection faded a while ago. That must mean he's farther away.

"I should probably follow my cousin." I awkwardly nod toward the floor.

Luca strolls into the room, swinging his arms casually.

"Heyy."

I stand. "Sorry, Brev. He's kind of...emotionally unstable right now. His friend just....died."

"Wait, who?" Luca looks at the bare spot beside me. "Where's Sebastian?"

"God, that's horrible!" Brevity stands with me. "No wonder he was so quite."

"Yeah, I know." I inch toward the door. "But we really should go. Thanks again for having us over. I had fun."

She stands up too. "Yeah, go ahead. I hope he's okay."

I wrap my fingers around Luca's wrist and pull him out the door with me.

"I don't think she's here,"  he whispers on the way out.

"Yeah," I open the door.  "I know.  Sorry about that."

"You knew?" 

As we close the door, we see Mandy clicking down the walkway in her flip-flops, hunched over her phone screen, fingers tapping furiously.

She looks up.

"Hey Mandy," Luca greets amiably, "sorry, you just missed us. We're heading out."

She scrunches her mascaraed eyes as if saying,"In your dreams, dork."

She stops walking, with an expression that says she just remembered something.

"Oh, Julia." She calls after me, "is your cousin still here?" She subtly tugs at the hem of her tank top.

"Seeya!"

Once we round the curb, Luca leans in. "Where'd he go?"

My eyes frantically probe the street, searching for a unbrushed, auburn above a speeding wheelchair.

"He doesn't like our method. We're taking too long," I look at Luca worriedly. "I think he's going to search on his own."

He squints. "But this island's pretty big. He'll have no idea how to find us again."

"That's why we can't let him get far."