Nervous. He was, too. Sean relaxed on his back on the bed, holding the phone on his stomach. He stared at the ceiling, trying to come up with something to ease her mind.
He needed to call her. To hear her voice. He remembered how Kota had looked after just talking to her. He knew she wasn’t as strong right now.
Probably a bad idea to do it from the guest room. Maybe not even tonight. His mother was near, and she could come calling for him any minute, wondering what was going on.
He sent another message.
Sean: Your dad wants any chance of the past being brought up squashed, most likely. This is something he’d want. We’ll give it to him.
Sang: He won’t even look at me right now.
Sean: He’s scared, like you. But don’t worry. We’ll keep an eye on what he does. Most likely he’d leap at the chance to send you to a private school. It would help solidify your records, in his mind.
Sang: What about school? With Hendricks? What about Marie? Even if I left the house with the premise I’d be at a private school, Marie might notice if I was walking around Ashley Waters.
She was right. Marie, or even Jimmy, would notice this. Before he could respond, more messages were coming in.
Sang: And she’s planning on moving soon. What then?
Sang: And that doesn’t stop my stepmother from saying something in the future when she gets back. Marie will tell them everything if she thinks it will get Carol fed up enough to leave.
Sang: Jimmy, the boy that came here, he went through the attic. He may do it again. The guys can’t hang out in here forever. They’ll get caught.
Sang: I don’t want to be alone here.
The words broke through him. She echoed the same concerns and questions they all had about this situation. This wasn’t good. The ice starting in his heart worked over his whole chest, and nerves shook through him as he replied.
Sean: Let me call you. Hang up on me if you need. You don’t need to talk. Maybe hide where that beanbag chair is.
It took a few minutes before she replied.
Sang: Okay.
He leapt off the guest bed and rushed down the hall as quietly as he could in bare feet.
He went to his bedroom and shut the door, turning the lock. It wouldn’t stop Owen, but his mother wouldn’t walk in on him at least.
The bedroom was tidy, with fresh sheets on the bed, something Sean hadn’t done. He stood near the bed, away from the door, gazing down at the light purple comforter without really focusing on it. He tapped her pink heart icon and then the green button to call her. The phone rang once before she picked up.
She was silent, except for the lightest sound of her breathing.
“Don’t talk if you can’t,” Sean said quietly.
He tried to picture her in the attic, and reminded himself that North was there, too. Hopefully not on speaker...
“Sang,” he said and then when she didn’t reply at all, he didn’t know what to say. Eventually, everything he was thinking started coming out of his mouth. “I don’t know how we’re going to do this, but we’re doing it. We’ll get you out of that house. I hate that you’re there. One way or another, as soon as we can, you’ll be out. I know you’re not happy right now...”
There was the slightest swallowing noise, her breath becoming a little heavier.
Sean held the phone with both hands, listening to every little noise she made. Nervous breath. Shaking, perhaps. “It’s too much, isn’t it?” he asked, feeling his resolve melting. “Is it? We can get you out now if we need to. I know this isn’t what you want. Do you need me to come get you?”
A slight intake of breath. “We can’t...” she whispered.
His heart surged, and he grasped the phone tighter. “We can,” he seethed. “It’s all wrong. Isn’t it? It’s not supposed to be like this. We can’t hide you in an attic for months until they agree to a school. There’s too many variables.”
“I’m fine,” she whispered slowly, with a crack at the end, the way she did when she wasn’t being honest.
He tilted his head forward, closing his eyes. A loud sigh escaped his mouth. “Kota’s right, you are a horrible liar.”
She swallowed and then blew out a soft breath, too, and her breathing was heavier.
Sean listened. If North was there, he was ignoring this, or she was being careful enough with what she said around him.
He’d bulldoze her out of there in a heartbeat if Sean said the word or pushed Sang enough that she agreed to leave now, despite any consequences in the moment.
With the silence that lingered, and her breathing into the phone deepening, like she was forcing herself to be calm, he knew he was right. After the calamity at the camp, after her breakdown, and then fainting... coming back to this...
Sean sat down hard on his bed. He leaned forward, pressing the phone to his face, resting his elbows on his knees and staring at the floor. “Sang, you’re hanging in there, I know. I wish I was like Owen, to tell you everything is going to be okay...”
He heard the click of the doorknob. The door opened.
He didn’t even bother to look up. He knew it was Owen. Who knew how much he’d heard, but Sean really didn’t care now.
He sniffed slowly through his nose and redirected. “I’ll be here for you,” he said quietly, closing his eyes. “We don’t have to go through with anything you don’t want. We can work this out.”
“Okay,” she whispered and then started to say something else but stopped.
The bed shifted as Owen sat next to him on the bed. Sean remained still, straining to hear any little thing she might want, or if she asked him to get her out of there...
“Let her sleep,” Owen whispered.
Sean pressed a palm over his own eyes and said what he needed to say. “I’ll be there tomorrow morning. Listen to North. Get some sleep. That’s the first step. Nothing will happen tonight, and we’re watching to make sure nothing ever will. Oh, and skip breakfast for me. Don’t eat or drink anything except water after midnight tonight. I’ll do some bloodwork tomorrow.” What a horrible thing to bring up now. Needed to be done, but ugh.
“Okay.”
Sean waited, wanting to say more, wishing she were here so she could really be honest and not have to be so quiet.
Owen placed a palm on his back, warming the spot between his shoulder blades.
Sean bit his lip to stop himself from begging her to say what she was thinking. Owen was trying to be supportive, but it was only making things worse. Sean didn’t need comfort. Sang did. She was the one sleeping in an attic, her world possibly exploding if Carol pushed anyone in that house too far.
And God help that lady if she did anything to Sang right now. Or that boy, for that matter...
“Get some sleep, sweetheart,” Sean forced himself to say. “Sleep and then come see me. That’s all you need do. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
She said a soft goodnight and hung up.
He had it as bad as Kota. As the screen went dark, he dropped the phone, like Kota had done. The phone smacked flat against the rug and stilled.
Little satisfaction. He didn’t want to be so angry and frustrated. He wanted her out.
Like she wanted to be.