I let Aaron drive to Nicole's since he has his car right there in my front yard. Sya looks a little uncertain about getting in the car with us. I don't want her to, so I open the door for her and give her a reassuring smile.
She stays silent the whole five minutes it takes to get to Nicole's house. I glance back at her a few times. Aaron tries to hit on her a few times, but she just gives him a hard stare. It makes me wonder just how much I know about her. She could be a murderer. The man last night said she was dangerous, but she didn't look dangerous. She looked scared.
Aaron walks right into the house without knocking, shouting our arrival. I walk in with Sya just as Nicole pokes her head out from a hallway.
"Hey. You must be Sya. I'm Nicole." She smiles.
"Hello." Sya gives her a small smile back.
"So you need clothes?"
"Yeah... Um..." I try to think of a believable lie. "They lost her suitcase at the airport or something."
"Where did you fly from?" Nicole asks Sya.
I decide to let her come up with some far-away state, but she stays silent, looking at me.
"Nashville, remember, Sya?" I prompt.
"Yes, sorry. My mind went blank for a second."
Nicole laughs. "Happens to me all the time, especially during tests. Well then, you'll need clothes for a few days so let's go find some for you." She beckons Sya back into the hallway.
"Thanks, Nicole."
"I tried to explain to Wren that she didn't really need clothes, but he just wouldn't understand." Aaron shrugs.
"You're a pervert, and Wren is a nice person," Nicole calls before she closes her bedroom door behind Sya.
Aaron walks into the kitchen. I follow him.
"You are a pervert, you know."
"I know you were thinking the same thing." He rolls his eyes and reaches into the fridge.
"You should ask before you take anything."
"She has a million of these in here." He takes out two cans of soda and tosses me one.
"Whatever."
"But really, you have a hot cousin."
"Don't even go there. She has no interest in you." I open my can over the sink.
"How do you know? We just met."
"Did you see those looks she gave you in the car?"
"The first rule to attraction is unattraction." He shrugs.
"That makes no sense. You're such an idiot."
"Then why are we friends?"
"No idea. Do you think they're done yet?"
"Girls take forever to get dressed, so no." He walks out of the kitchen and sits on the couch.
"She just needs a few shirts and things."
He smiles. "And things."
I hit him on the back of the head. "You need to tone down your thoughts."
"What? You were thinking the exact same thing. I've known you for a long time. I can read your mind. I also saw you looking at her when she came down the stairs."
"So?"
"She was hot, right?"
"She's my cousin." I avoid the question. But she was hot. I just don't want Aaron thinking I see her that way. I barely know who she is. I just want to get back home and make her tell me everything. Who she is, why those people were looking for her, and where she's from. A prison? She's still a minor, like me. She can't have done something bad enough for an organization no one has heard of to be after her. United Service Association?
"How distant? I thought your parents didn't have any siblings."
"Step-cousin, technically."
"So you could marry her."
"I'm not going to marry my cousin."
"Fine."
I roll my eyes and walk to Nicole's room. I knock on the door.
"Almost done! Be patient!" Nicole says.
I walk back to Aaron.
"They're going to take at least another half hour."
I hear the door open. Both of us turn to see Sya walk out. She's wearing some dark jeans and a blue v-neck shirt. She's also carrying a bag, which probably holds more clothes.
"Thanks, Nicole. We should probably be going now." I say.
"Thief." She snatches the can of soda from Aaron's hands.
"Hey!" Aaron looks surprised. "Wren took one too." He points at me and I just roll my eyes again.
"Wren can keep it." She takes a drink. "But you don't want to stay any more?"
"No, we should go. Thanks for the clothes though."
"You're welcome. It was nice meeting you, Sya."
"It was nice meeting you too." She smiles, but I think she still feels awkward. We're all strangers to her.
I start walking out. Sya follows me. We get back into Aaron's car. I turn around to offer her some soda, but she says no. She stays silent, but Aaron talks about water polo and complains it's ruining his knees. I tell him he could always just quit.
When we get back to my house, I thank Aaron for driving us, and then unlock my front door. I let Sya in first, then follow her.
"Sya, can I ask you some questions?"
"Yes."
"Okay... um. Come here." I lead her to the living room and sit down on a couch. She sits a few feet away and faces me. "You need to tell me who you are. I can't just have a random strange girl living in my house. My parents are going to be back in two days, and they definitely wouldn't let you stay unless they knew why."
"What do you want to know?"
I hesitate, wondering what to ask her first. "Why were you running from those people?" Hopefully she's not a murderer or anything.
"They tried to take me."
"Like they tried to kidnap you?"
"Yes."
They looked like those government agents they always have in movies, except without the sunglasses. And they seemed like an official organization. "Why?"
She looks at me, not saying anything.
"Sya, I need to know if I have... a murderer or some criminal in my house. What did you do?"
Her expression turns slightly sad. "I'm not a murderer."
"Okay, good." I trust her for some reason.
"But... I killed three of them."
My eyes widen.
She starts to defend herself. "They were trying to take me, and one of them was about to inject me with something. I didn't want to." I feel like she's trying to console herself more than defend herself to me.
"Why would they want to take you?"
She takes a deep breath. "I don't know."
I completely believe her. She's just an innocent girl trying not to be taken by some mysterious people you only see in movies. "So do you want to go home?"
She looks like she's choosing her words carefully. "Yes, but I can't."
"What, do you think those guys will just go to your home and try to take you again?"
"I don't know anything about them, but I know I shouldn't go home."
"Alright." She killed three people. I stare at her hands. Do they seem like the kind of hands that could kill? No, but that makes it even more tragic. She's just a normal girl who got caught up in something, and she has to pay the price. That has to be hard, knowing you killed someone. "Wait... So this all happened last night?"
"Yes."
"You killed them last night?" I immediately regret saying that because her expression looks so pained. I know for certain she wouldn't want to kill anyone. The remorseful look in her eyes makes me want very badly to make it go away. Before I can think, I lean forward and hug her.
A/N
Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait for this update. School work has been consuming my soul as well as Syre's. This is update is from her so I hope you enjoy!
~Cyra