Take Me Tomorrow

Chapter 19: Stop This Now

Broden wasn't wrong. Not completely, anyway.

In the first year I had met him, he had ended up in the hospital. When I visited him, he said it was nothing. Even though I knew he was lying, I didn't question it, and I didn't question it when he returned to school and the twins acted like someone had died. Now, I knew the Tomery's had fled, and Broden had helped them. Miles and Lily did, too.

Although I was friends with the twins since I was seven, the fact that the twins hadn't introduced me to Broden until high school should've been warning enough. They even spoke about his military school, but I had believed he was enrolled due to fighting. Lots of boys were. But if I had thought about it then, I would've seen the contradiction the day at the hospital. He had obviously been in a fight, but he returned to our school without a warning. His parents had gotten him out. The same parents that helped create tomo. How they hadn't been arrested was still a mystery. Everything was. Whenever I learned more, I questioned more. And I had so many more angles to study.

For one, no one had mentioned Noah's cousin. No one explained why Anthony had been arrested. No one clarified why he worked for Phelps, but I doubted anyone could. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one who was oblivious.

"What do you mean, he's back?" Noah's voice tore against his throat as he interrogated Broden. "The kid is supposed to be dead."

"Well, he's not," Broden said, watching Noah as he paced. "He's here, and he's convinced you are too."

"Fantastic." Noah cursed. When he grabbed his hair, I expected him to pull it out. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" After all, Anthony had beaten Broden, and he hadn't said anything, which meant even Broden kept secrets.

"I wasn't positive," Broden muttered, explaining how the fight had happened. He was attacked from behind. He only heard the voice, the questions about Noah's return. Miles had found him on his front lawn.

"We're going to kill him, right?" Broden asked.

My stomach practically dropped through the floor. "What?"

Noah remained quiet. His cheeks pale, his eyes empty. He was considering it.

"What are you boys thinking?" Lyn asked as she crossed her arms. She had listened to the entire story with her back pressed against the far wall. "You can't kill someone. A body isn't going to do anyone good."

"I didn't say we were," Noah snapped. Lyn quieted, and he blew his hair out of his eyes. It'd gotten longer since he arrived. "I don't know what we're going to do." For once, he didn't have a plan.

"You can't do anything until you have to do something," Lyn said.

"Cause that helps us." Broden rolled his eyes. "Where'd you get that, anyway? A fortune cookie?"

Lyn's eyes turned to slits. "Don't come to me next time you need stitches."

"Sorry," he grumbled.

"That's more like it." Lyn pursed her lips and placed her hands on her hips. Her black scrubs turned her tattoos into shadows. "What you need to be concerned about is your next step. Anthony—"

"Tony," Broden corrected. Noah shuddered.

"Whatever." Lyn shook her head. "Tony will be too busy with the ramifications of the dance to come after you right now, but you need a plan for when he will. Which he will," she added, even though she didn't have to, "and you have to make sure he doesn't do it through my Sophia."