5.00 pm - Dinner, two hours until action
SEBASTIAN
I sauntered into the dinner hall, being careful to avoid Rachel. I scan the crowd for Audrey, freezing up when I see her. I see the posters, the red marker scrawled around it.
'SLUT!'
'Failure!'
'Despicable human scum!'
Never, have words been so false and meaningless.
I start for her table where she sits alone, reading, the silver arrow necklace she always wears glinting in the sunlight. I feel my myself burning up, I feel like every eye in the room is on me, I feel-
"Sebastian." A patting on my back wakes me, my body jolting in surprise.
"James?" I ask, turning to face him, them.
"And me. Don't forget me." Libby exclaims loudly, her boyfriend chuckling as she pouts. "Have you found Audrey?"
"Yes, she's over there" I point in her direction, "Shall we go?" I ask, gesturing to the table.
"You okay? You didn't look so good earlier, I mean you're a very dashing lad bu-"
"I'm fine Libby." I cut in, displaying a small smile. "Honestly." In return, she nods.
It felt like an eternity before we got to the table, Libby making a run towards Audrey, Audrey looking up, first in surprise and then in panic, and finally, in pain, as she is embraced, well more tackled by Libby.
"Audrey! I missed you!" Libby squeals, giggling as Audrey winces.
"I saw you like ten minutes ago when you broke into my apartment and stole my snacks, which you owe me money for." She replies emotionless, turning the page in her book.
"Don't be so cold Audrey, I know you love me," Libby teases, watching her through her eyelashes, a bright smile on display.
"Sometimes I seriously doubt that," she comments, throwing her a smirk, "But who wouldn't love a ball of sunshine?" She laughs, ruffling her hair.
"I knew it!" Libby squeals, throwing her arms up in triumph. They both were so close and were very entertaining I must admit. But they weren't what caught my gaze.
It was James who did, he sat there with his head on his palm, staring at Libby, his eyes shone with happiness and the smile he wore was real, unlike the ones I wore, or so I had noticed, Audrey always wore them too, as if she didn't know what a real smile was. He watched her, absorbing every detail about her, noticing everything, her smile, her body language, her flaws that he loves so much but she hates. I often noticed it in my father when he looked at my mother, love. And from what I could see, it was true, reflected by Libby when she glanced at him and smiled; and somehow, his smile grew.
I felt a pang of jealousy, bouncing off each rib and striking the heart without mercy. All of a sudden, it ached to breathe. I stared at my lap, feeling tears on the edge of my eyes. At that moment, every insult that was flung at me in my past came hurling at me with astonishing speed. I couldn't, can't breathe. I was suffocating, I felt petrified. The conversations in the hall dimmed to murmurs, replaced by the insults, hitting me hard. The conference with Rachel from earlier like a knife in my gut, every word she said, every insult scrawled in red maker twisted the knife further.
But then they...stopped? I tore my gaze from my lap, instead, turning it to my hands on the table. One, two...three? I traced the hand back to the source, connecting it to an arm, then a shoulder, a neck and a head. She watched me, her eyes full of concern.
"Are you alright?" Audrey whispers, careful not to disturb the happy couple. "Can you hear me?" Her grip soothing the pain in my chest, and so I nod. "Concentrate on my face, it's a terrible sight, I know, but just focus. Breathe."
And so I do. I notice the way her hair glints, glowing like a halo. Her eyes, so warm and welcoming in this light, the sun making the gold flecks shine and the slight red under eyes, showing she stayed up late. The constellation-like freckles dusted across her cheeks made her look younger than her age. Everything, that makes her Audrey Parkinson. A terrible sight, it's really not, it's beautiful, she is beautiful.
I smile, showing her that I'm alright, receiving a very small one in return. "I'm alright. Don't worry, shall we go over the plan?"
Nodding, she replies, "At seven, we meet up at the side of the school building. My shadows have told me that Rachel uses the library and takes that route out. There she will catch us, We'll figure out what to do when the time comes, but for now, just rest, calm yourself." She gives me a sheepish smile, looking a little shy. "We will be busy tonight, but we have a more busy day tomorrow. Tomorrow is when my work begins. Tonight is when Libby's work ends, but don't worry, she'll be with us the whole time, after all, we are a team."
I nod, feeling determined to make this plan a success.
6.00 pm - One hour until action
AUDREY
I observe him as he turns to look at the happy couple. That's all I ever do, observe, watch, stand on the sidelines of those close to me. I turn to see Libby pinching James' cheeks despite his protests. I hear the chime of the academy clock, six, one hour to go.
"Libby, James, shall we go?" Standing when they nod. "Sebastian, remember what I said and just take it easy okay? After tonight, it won't be easy for a while. I'll see you at seven." I nod and begin for the exit, Libby and James in tow. I walk to the apartment complex with Libby, James leaving to get coffee.
"Is Sebastian okay?" Libby asks, wringing her hands together in worry.
"Yes, he'll be fine," I confirmed, knowing Sebastian would want me to keep this to myself. "Also, can you please tell James to stop looking at you like that, it's making me want to puke."
"H-he was looking at me?" She stuttered, her eyebrows raised.
"Libby, he's your boyfriend, he's madly in love with you, you would have to be completely oblivious to his loving stares," I grimaced, ending it with a retching sound.
"Oh shut up!" She exclaims, hitting me lightly. "Stop being -"
"What did I miss?" James butts in, opening the door.
"Nothing!" Libby squeaks suddenly. Running and diving into the sofa, burying her face into the pillows.
Taking a quick glance at the clock, we go to join her. James sitting directly beside her and letting her head rest on his lap, and I sit on the chair adjacent to them.
"Do we all know the plan?" I ask, taking out my laptop and connecting it to the TV. A few seconds pass before a room appears on the screen, a desk full of familiar faces. "Hello, crew." I greet, waving along with Libby (who is frantically waving) and James (who gives them a slight nod).
"Hello Audrey, Libby and James." Andrea, the head of the red team, greets.
"I assume everything is in place, yes? I want to make sure this is perfect and successful." Libby, asks, her professional side taking over.
The room is full of nods, yeses and thumbs ups. "Everything is in place. The shadows have updated the current location of Rachel which will be on the GPS app. Make sure you have your headsets and earpieces with you as we will need to communicate throughout." Jamie, head of the blue team, pipes up.
With a nod and a goodbye, the connection is cut. We spend the next fifteen minutes preparing gadgets, backup plans and occasional chats over snacks.
Eventually, the time comes to leave.
7.00 pm- Action time
AUDREY
The night is cold and dark, with only the dim lights of the used classrooms to illuminate the surroundings. I pull my leather jacket closer to me, lifting my head to gaze at the moon, amazed at how bright and big it is at the moment.
After a few minutes of waiting, he comes around the corner. He is still wearing the same clothes from earlier, everything is the same except he seems calmer.
"Hey, you ready?" I ask, breathing out a puff of hot air.
"Yeah. I'm just, well, I'm sorry." He apologizes with a sigh. "I'm sorry for bringing you into this, for bringing everyone into this, I didn't mean for it to happen and I screwed up in the heat of the moment and-"
"Woah, calm down. It's alright. It's our job to help, however, even though it's our job we chose to help you. Just focus on the task ahead, we don't have time to worry about this. Tell you what, do you want to come to my apartment later with Libby and James, we were going to watch a movie." I give him an assuring smile, hoping to calm him in his panicked state.
He breathes a sigh of relief and nods, "Yeah, I would like that." He smiles, a real one too.
"She's coming around in ten seconds." Andrea's voice whispers through my earpiece.
"Ten seconds. Ten, Nine, eight." I begin the countdown. It's at this point he begins to panic again. The countdown reaches the last three seconds, he begins to hyperventilate.
"Oh for-" I stop there, pulling his head towards mine.
SEBASTIAN
Her lips were soft and warm, despite the freezing temperature. It soon becomes heated, as intended I guess.
Three, two, one. A couple of seconds later I hear a loud gasp, but we don't stop. Frantic footsteps echo, bouncing off the walls as they grow further away. Only then do we stop, both of us panting, our cheeks aflame; either from the cold or the moment, none of us knows.
"Plan complete, success." We hear, whispered above us. We look up to see Libby with a walkie-talkie, giving us a thumbs up. I see Audrey look off to the distance, following her gaze I see James and another guy come out from behind the cluster of trees.
"Good work. You feeling okay?" Audrey asks, eventually turning to me. I nod in response, too breathless to respond.
"Woah, that was amazing. You both looked like a real couple, it was so heated, it was amazing!" The guy laughs, "Oh, I'm Harry Butler, one of the grey shadows." He puts out his hand for me to shake.
"Sebastian King, nice to meet you. I didn't even notice you were there." I reply, shaking his hand.
"That's the job of a shadow, we have to stay in the background and blend in." He explains, letting out a small chuckle.
"Alright, thank you Harry, you can leave now, make sure to tell the others to leave as well, the plan is complete." With a nod, he leaves. I turn to the source of the voice, she turns and smiles at me. "You did such a great job! You both are so cute, I hope you get together, aww I can see it-"
"Calm down Libby. I'm glad your plan went so smoothly. Shall we go?" Audrey asks her cheeks a faint shade of pink. Libby squeals again in excitement and begins walking away from us.
"Sebastian," Audrey begins, her voice is quiet and her cheeks were still dusted with pink, "thank you, for what you did in the dining hall earlier. You didn't need to though."
"You heard?"
"No, I was there." It was my turn to blush, causing her to chuckle. "Really, don't bother. I'm not really something you should waste your time to stick up for."
"Audrey, I wanted to. I'm not just going to let her hurt you." I objected.
"Well, anyway, don't do it again." She drags me with her before I can protest, joining us up with Libby and James (who are currently holding hands and talking about the movie.)
I took in my surroundings as we walked to the apartment complex victoriously. The trees glistened under the moonlight with evening dew from the night's icy grasp. The night sky was pitch black, making the stars seem brighter, livelier, a glowing torch in the darkness. The moon was a glowing maiden of silver, in a kingdom of lights. Our voices were the only sounds, echoing off the buildings, the silence making them louder than before. But it wasn't the picturesque serene scene before me that lulled my nerves into a peaceful slumber, but rather the warm comforting hand that grasped mine.
It was a comforting warmth, just as inviting as the warmth of her lips. At this the memory of the moment I lived a few minutes ago caused my face to boil with embarrassment. I nervously glanced at Audrey, hoping she didn't see, but she beat me to it.
"I hope that wasn't your first kiss Sebastian."
But it was.