Rare

Chapter four

Jordin waited until night, when even the shadows couldn't be seen in the thick blackness that cloaked the town. Jordin pulled on a sweater, the lounge empty as she crept down the hall. She could hear her sister muttering to herself over a textbook, a pen between her lips. Her mum was in the bath, so she didn't foresee any interruptions.

     Jordin slipped out the apartment and down the hall. The ding from the elevator caused her ears to ring. Once the elevator stopped on the ground floor, Jordin flipped off the metal doors as she passed through, which only responded with another ding. 

     Jordin rushed through the silent lobby and out into the cold air. She made a beeline for a large fenced-off courtyard down the street. The courtyard could only be accessed during the day, but it had been forever since the wired fence underwent any construction. It was easy to slip under a tear in the fence. Something she had actually been responsible for a few years ago.

     Trees with low-hanging branches lined the stone paths that cut through the courtyard. A small pond sat in the centre, the water thick with fallen leaves. Jordin sat down beside the pond, her fingers trailing over the brick wall that surrounded it.

     She tilted her head back, her thick locks tumbling down her back in smooth waves. Her senses pulsed outwards, and after a pause, she felt herself relax slightly.

     Jordin was alone. No one else in the courtyard. Just what she wanted.

     Jordin slipped off her shoes, yanked off her socks and swung her legs over the edge of the pond. The bricks beneath her were even more uncomfortable than they appeared, but as her toes sank into the water, it was worth it.

     Jordin didn't like water. Anything that came to her knees, sent her into a frenzied panic, but a small pond like this one, she could handle with ease. Her aversion towards water came from her drowning as a child. Bad memories.

     Her toe brushed against the stones at the bottom of the pond. A moment later, her phone started chirping. With pursed lips and wondering who would call her at such a late hour, Jordin pulled her phone from her pocket, her eyebrows raising as Cameron's name flashed across the screen.

     Knowing she'd get hell tomorrow if she didn't answer the phone soon, Jordin reluctantly answered the call. "Howdy." She faked a yawn. "You know what time it is?"

     Cameron snorted through the phone. "Save it, Jordin. I know you're not home."

     Jordin shifted off a particularly uneven brick. "Not true. Just tucked into bed right now."

     "You're a terrible liar."

     "I doubt that. I'm rather good at lying." Jordin was going for wounded sarcasm.

     She could almost hear Cameron rolling his eyes through the phone. "Whatever. Why are you at the courtyard, anyway?"

     Jordin grew suspicious. "How you know –" She broke off with a gasp. "You're using that phone tracker thingy, aren't you?"      

     "Find My Friend," Cameron corrected, "And yes, I am."

     "That's an invasion of my privacy."

     "I'm your best friend, Jordin. I'll track you like a dog if I wanted."

     Not very comforting, but Jordin let it slide, but she made a mental notice to deactivate the Find My Friend app. And soon. "I just needed some air," Jordin finally answered his previous question.

     "You want company?"

     Jordin was already shaking her head. If she wanted company, she'd have already brought Cameron along, like she usually did, but sometimes, she just wanted to be completely and utterly alone. Cut off from the world. "No thanks. I'm gonna head in soon anyway."