16. Saved by Kay

As soon as I realised the unfamiliar surrounding I was aware of the fact that I slept at Sam's place. The walls were pale white and too pristine for my liking. My thoughts ran all over the place just thinking about the reaction of my parents. I should have asked someone to drive me back home but it would be a bigger mess considering I was a bit drunk. Okay, a lot drunk.




Folding the note neatly I tucked it in my bag and rushed out of the bed. The throbbing in my headache was intensifying as I took a few more steps towards the door. I couldn't even imagine how much worse it might be for Kay. She really tested herself.




The pills in tray helped me because I didn't have nausea anymore. I softly closed the door behind me when I noticed that the hallways were squeaky clean. It felt like last night was nothing but a huge elaborative dream I conjured up. Taking a deep breath I focused on getting into the living room.




That's when I noticed Kay frowning as she was ruffling through her bag for something. Sam was sitting right across her with one of the biggest coffee mugs I had ever seen. It had his initials engraved on it. Original.





As if Sam realised my stare on him he looked up and set his cup back in his lap, "Aww who look who decided to show up? Had too much fun I suppose?"





I rubbed my temple at his voice. even the slightest rise in the voice was giving me a headache. My eyes moved around the living room in the hope of finding Asher. Where was he? After he basically abandoned me to talk with those cheerleaders and Damon I lost track of him. Maybe if you didn't spend too much time drunk talking with Damon!





"Define fun" I groaned throwing myself on the couch beside him. It still irked me that the place was clean just like before. Did Sam manage to clean up before I wake up? My eyes automatically shifted towards the clock and I noticed that it was 7:00 in the morning. Only an hour before I need to get back to school.





"Kay what are you searching? We need to go back home and get ready for school"



Kay glared at me, "That's what I am trying to do"



I raised my eyebrows dumbly, "Uhh... By searching your purse?"




"I'm trying to find my keys. Ugh, this is too much!" She let out an exasperated sigh, kicking at the foot of the coffee table. Sam jolted at that.




"If you just let me help you this could be easily solved"




Kay scoffed, "I would rather not go to school than take help from you"



I rolled my eyes at that. What was she being so dramatic for? She legit spent the entire night being cuddled up with him and now she is refusing to accept is help? Makes perfect sense.




I took a deep breath, "As much as I like to see how this goes I really want to get back to school. My mum is going to kill me if she doesn't find me back before her office time"




Kay sighed, looking into my direction and dropped her bag. As she approached me, my eyes fell on Sam behind her who was casually leaning of against the couch and sipping his coffee.




"But Anya he's the enemy-"




"Kay we do not have any choice. Besides don't worry I will sacrifice for you and sit beside him in the front seat."




Kay sighed, "If you put it that way... fine. I can just come back later and take my car"




Sam made a noise at that, "Thanks ladies for making me feel special about helping you"





He deliberately emphasized on the last part but I had no interest in debating about it. Sliding my bag over my shoulder I pulled Kay along with me. She threw a snide look in his direction over her shoulder as he turned around. There was some heavy tension going on before I even appeared in the room. I was very well aware that Kay would never tell me about it unless I ask her.




Sam locked up the house behind him and with keys swinging around his finger he unlocked this car for us. Kay scoffed at that and refused to make eye contact with him while I was struggling to adjust my seat belt. It was definitely going to be a fun ride.
***

Explaining to my mother about the last night events was easy because Kay was along with me. We both were partners in crime for pretty much everything and she trusted Kay to keep me in check. Only if she knew the help of things Kay did.




I got ready for school is pretty much 10 minutes and was out of the door. We have to drop Kay back to her house and wait along as she gets dressed up the school. it surprised me that Sam was actually helping us. For someone who always fights with Kay, I thought you would take the opportunity to make fun of both of us. Guess the entire day was full of surprises. I was finding new things about the people I thought I knew.




"So last night was wild?" Sam started as we were the only ones waiting in his car. Kay rushed to her house to get dressed. As her parents were out of town she had no reason to worry about sneaking in or whatsoever.




I snorted, "Tell me about it"




Sam shook his head, "I had no idea that you two were not the nerds I thought you were"




My mouth fell open at that. I mean I had an idea that most of them in our class thought of me and Kay as someone who would knit in our free time or do pottery. Of course, we have no idea to do any of that.





"Wow thanks, I guess"




"Hey no, I don't mean it as an insult. Seriously we should hang out sometimes." He shrugged, a smile playing on his face.




I teasingly raised my eyebrow, "You and me?"




He looked flustered at that and shook his head. His grip on the steering wheel tightened as he nervously laughed. The way his eyes kept shifting towards the door of Kay's house was a clear indication that he did not want her to listen to the conversation.




"I mean everyone you know-"




Before he could finish the sentence Kay barged in. He took a deep breath. Saved by Kay huh.
***

Damon was nowhere to be seen in school. We had English class together but he did not attend. It made me feel unusual and my eyes kept drifting towards the empty seat. I just wanted to thank him for the care package and the note but I couldn't find him. Trying to distract myself to think about him I was surfing through my phone.




Daniel messaged to me to ask about the progress in my article. That day in the library flashed in my head. One thing was for clear that Damon was being set up by someone. I have to find out one way or other who was it and prove it in my article.




With that thought in my mind, I stayed up after school. Kay thought it was a ridiculous idea but I wanted to explore few things on my own and get the deeper knowledge on the topic. If papers were not reliable then some locals who were around at the time would definitely be helpful. I had a glimmer of hope that I could get to the root of it if I started from where it all began.





Arcuri's place was a few kilometres away from the school so I decided to take the bus. The entire time my feet kept tapping against the floor and my nerves were all over the place. No one knew what I was doing but the thought that someone might tell Damon scared me. We were just starting out of friendship and I didn't want anything to run it. Also, I wanted to prove that he was innocent so it had to be done.





The bus soon came to halt and I stepped out. The harsh wind danced around and I wrapped my arms around myself.




"Okay..." I breathed deeply taking in the scene in front of me. The entire area was still not touched. It made me sad. I couldn't imagine the 14-year-old being taken away from his home the same day and accused of being the murder of his own parents. The kind of impact that might have left on his mind scared me.




My eyes automatically shifted around the area and I noticed few houses from the photographs in the paper. The best way to start was from the neighbours who saw the fire and called the police.




"I can do it!" With that, I turned and walked towards the neighbour's house.
***