Book 3: Chapter 64: Seth
Book 3: Chapter 64: Seth
Seth
Time passed excoriatingly slowly. Everyday Annabeth and I would go together to check her tent, and in that time, we came to the hard realization that we hardly knew her anymore. The kids she had taken in knew her better than we did. And every day that passed made me think that she wasn't coming back.
I awoke suddenly as someone shook me, and I looked at the clock next to my bed. It was 4 am.
“What do you want?” I growled, rolling away from him. There was no reason for Matt to be there, and that thought woke me up. If Matt was here, something was wrong.
I rolled back over. He was dressed in a white button up and khakis.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He put his finger to his lips, and I remembered that the kids were a asleep on the other side of the tent. They spent every night in the tent for me and my mom just as Lexy had instructed.
I furrowed my brows, and he beckoned me to follow him.
So, I grabbed my coat and pulled it tightly around myself before following him out into the dimly lit night, not even the sun was rising yet.
Matt was leaning against one of the wooden posts of the kitchen area but still didn’t say anything.
“Okay, I’m here,” I stated in irritation. “What is it that you had to wake me up for?”
He furrowed his brows at me and looked upset. He shook his head no and just walked away.
“Matt!” I called after him, but I didn’t follow.
Something inside me told me to go the other way and not follow Matt and not go back inside. So, I walked in the direction that he had been staring, and I saw her.
Her blonde hair was pulled up in a ponytail, with a braid tucked in it. She had a fleece blanket wrapped around her, but her feet were bare, and her face was flushed as though she had a fever. And as I moved closer, it wasn’t hard to see that she looked like hell as she was bent over papers upon papers. And the sight brought upon a thousand words I wished to vocalize, but I only had one chance at this. And I needed answers.
But before I could approach her, Annabeth was there, and I froze.
"Lexy?" She called out from the other direction.
Lexy looked up, looking completely startled before turning back to her papers.
"Annabeth," She said finally, and I couldn't help but notice how tired she sounded. "What are you doing up?"
“I heard you were back,” Annabeth answered simply. “Where have you been?” Annabeth questioned when Lexy didn’t say anything.
Lexy shrugged defiantly. I could tell she wasn’t really trying to pick a fight, but I could also tell that she didn’t feel like telling her story after everything that had happened.
“Places.” She finally answered when Annabeth gave her a cold stare.
I knew I should walk away. She was back, and they had shit to work out, but I couldn't make myself move. I couldn't help but notice the dark circles under her eyes or how pale her face was. I couldn't help but stare at her.
Annabeth grabbed a chair from under the other tent, and pulled it up to Lexy's makeshift desk, and sat down across from her, crossing her arms in a stubborn move.
“Lexy, it’s 4:30 am, and you’re out here in the cold doing who knows what, after just arriving back after days. We had an agreement. You aren't supposed to go off on your own anymore.”
“Yea, and then you guys didn’t have my back.” Lexy snapped bitterly.
Annabeth's face flushed, and I knew Lexy had struck a nerve, but Annabeth's anger surprised me.
“Well, you haven’t exactly been honest with us Lexy.” Annabeth retorted.
“I was protecting you!” Lexy raised her voice, but it didn't have nearly as much bite as it usually had.
“I don’t need protecting, Lex! I can fend for myself!”
“I wouldn’t have ended up in prison if you hadn’t needed protecting!” Lexy shouted in anger and frustration. “I wouldn’t have agreed to everything if you didn’t absolutely need it! I wouldn’t have left you if it would have been safe, and I wouldn’t have to put my body on the line every single day! If you didn’t need protection, I wouldn’t be paying the price for it…” And the sentence hung between them like a rope ready to be cut. For the first time in forever, I could tell exactly what Lexy was feeling.
I could see Annabeth’s mind wheeling, and I could see Lexy breathing hard in the cold as her breaths came out in little puffs.
They were both silent for a few moments. Both afraid to move. I was afraid to move
“I’m sorry,” Lexy said after a moment. “It’s not your fault. None of this is. It’s just…” She let the sentence hang, like she couldn't think of the right word.
"It's just hard." Annabeth finished her sentence with a look of understanding passing between the two of them.
Lexy nodded. A temporary truce. I turned on my heels, unable to stand the sight of them any longer. Their friendship had always been something special. It was clear by how much they had tried to protect each other even during banishment. Lexy might not know that Annabeth had tried, but I saw. She never talked bad about her friend, despite her anger. She hadn't understood Lexy's choices, but she didn't completely bash her either. It could have been so much worse than it was. I was grateful Lexy had made it through hell to come back to us. And as much as I wanted to, I couldn't take that moment from them. She was alive, and she was back, and that was enough for me. At least, I kept telling myself it was. I headed back into her tent, and crawled into her bed, desperate for a couple more hours of sleep - knowing that she was back - before I was forced to confront all the ways I had failed the girl I loved.