Tide Goes Out (Chapter Four)

Chapter four

Sometimes, he just didn’t know what to do with her. Noah turned around, wondering if she had left yet. There were two figures where she was. He squinted. She was talking to someone. Someone very, very tall. He couldn’t tell who, though. He was too far away to be able to distinguish any unfamiliar faces. He shook his head a bit angrily at how Raine had acted. Sure, he didn’t tell her the truth but this was the entire reason why none of them ever told her these kinds of things. She was a very emotional person and sometimes that could be a problem. Nonetheless, he felt a little guilty for being mad at her. She’d been through a lot and it was understandable that she would react in this manner. He realized how stupid it was of him to just lie to her like that. Hopefully, she wasn’t too mad. Hopefully, Caleb and Riva were all right. Hopefully, the stress would go away. But they would soon find out that the last two things were just a hazy dream.

…

As the afternoon came to an end Raine sat on her front porch contemplating the things that had happened that day. She rubbed the second phone in her pocket indecisively. She wanted to know what had happened, but every time she unlocked the phone, she turned it back off with guilt. She felt bad snooping through all of his private messages. But Noah had given it to her for a reason. Not reading what Caleb had sent him would defeat the entire point of him giving it to her… right? Right? Yeah… no. She groaned exasperatedly. What was she supposed to do? She stopped, looking at the photo he had as his background. It was their friend group the day they graduated from middle school. She sighed. It seemed so far away. The cycle of opening it and shutting the phone off repeated itself as she tried to decide whether or not she was gonna read his texts. Suddenly, her mom came outside. Raine wiped the look of distress off her face and pretended to look through her own phone.

“Ready for dinner?” She asked. Raine nodded, looking up. She got up and went back inside. She would have to decide what to do later. She walked into her house, towards the dinner table. Carter sat in his high chair since their table was still too tall for him. The warm smell of shepherd’s pie wafted through the kitchen as her mom took it out of the oven. Her dad had the news on. Their kitchen was parallel to the living room so they often watched the news as they ate. Raine sat down in one of the small cushioned chairs as her dad took the large tray of potatoes and meat from her mom and placed it on the table for everyone to serve themselves. Raine glanced at the TV as she took the large spoon and put some food on her plate.

“...devastating accident involving two vehicles- a car and a small pickup truck- this morning before eight o’clock. The only details we know about this accident is that four people were injured during the accident, all of them hospitalized…” The reporter went on until several photos of the vehicles were displayed on the screen. Raine put her attention back to her food, not noticing what the vehicles looked like. Her dad clicked his tongue in disappointment.

“That’s awful,” he murmured. Her mom nodded and took the TV remote.

“Perhaps that’s enough bad news for the day,” she said, clicking it off. Boy, was she right.

…

After a long sleepless night for everyone, it was finally Tuesday. Raine got up and did her morningly routine. She still hasn't looked through Noah’s phone. Noah awoke, with dark circles under his eyes, having stayed up all night wondering what had happened to the Lopezs

Caleb and Riva were… adjusting. Caleb looked over at his sister again. How much longer until she woke up? It seemed as if all of them wouldn’t be very happy today.

Cleo got out of bed, particularly happy that she would see Luke today. It had been so long since they’d seen each other since he’d been off doing competitions and training all summer. She sighed dreamily. Cleo and Luke agreed that they wouldn’t be in a relationship the year before but they both know that it hadn’t really been that way. At least Cleo thought that. Luke wasn’t entirely sure as he got up to get ready for school as well. He had his eye on another girl. If Cleo found out about this he was sure that she would flip out. He sighed, rubbing his face. Oh well.

Raine rubbed the black phone in the pocket of her jacket as she biked her way to the campus. It was warmer today so she decided to ride her bike to school instead of waking up earlier so her dad could take her on his way to work. Would she read them at the last minute? What would Noah say if she showed up, still as clueless as before? She had acted pretty harshly to him the day before it would be a surprise if he even said anything. She felt so guilty for snapping at him in that way. Hopefully he would forgive her. She couldn’t handle having no one to talk to during these circumstances.

Noah sat in the car, doing his thinking time while his family was still inside getting ready. He wondered. He just wondered. He wondered when Caleb was going to tell him. He wondered what would happen when he would face Raine today. And above all he wondered if everything was going to be okay. Wondering and wondering he sat there. He was caught so deep in his thought that he didn’t realize that they had arrived at the school campus.

“Noah!” His sister shouted from outside the car as she headed towards the elementary side of the campus. Noah grabbed his things hurriedly and said goodbye to his mom. He walked towards Math class, unsure of what today would bring him.

Cleo sat down at her table in a pretty good mood unlike she had the day before. It seemed as if things were finally going her way. Her mother agreed not to move schools for the moment, she had arrived early to class and turned in her homework on time. And, above all, Luke was sitting there next to her. His minty green eyes stared at the door, seeming to be waiting for someone.

“What’s up?” She asked, schooching her chair a bit closer to him. Luke flinched slightly, leaning away.

“N-nothing,” he looked at her, plastering a tight smile on his face, “just nervous and… anxious… to see all the classmates we have this year,” he said. Cleo nodded hesitantly. She forgot that this was technically his first week of school. Luke ruffled back his pitch black hair and stretched back in his chair, trying to take his mind off of a certain someone. He found that Cleo was gazing at him a bit intently. Last year they had dated for a while but he thought they’d agreed to break up and just be friends. Sure, after that they had continued to be in a secretive relationship. But after the end of that school year when he had left to go do his training he had sorta lost interest in her. She would always have her eyes on other boys and that made him feel a bit… strange. She seemed to be playing games with him. He still liked her, of course… just not in that way anymore. She didn’t seem to understand that.

Suddenly, the door creaked open and someone began walking towards their table, a faint jingling sound accompanying the light footsteps. Raine sat down, many, many chairs down from where Cleo and Luke were sitting. She pulled the two chairs next to her out and placed her backpack and binder on them, hoping that they would protect her from any unwanted people sitting next to her. She shuffled around a bit uncomfortably as he stole glances at her every now and then. Cleo glanced at Luke, then Raine, then back again.

“Why are you looking at her?” She asked, whispering.

“J-just can’t get over what she did to you last year,” he replied, intensifying his glances into faux glares. Cleo smiled and took his hand in hers.

“It’s fine, it doesn’t matter now.” Luke gulped and nodded. Raine sighed, glad that his attention had been diverted from her. She rubbed Noah’s phone hidden safely in her pocket again. It was almost 8 o’clock. She wondered where Noah was. The hinges on the door squeaked slowly. She looked up and smiled hesitantly. She moved her binder off the chair she had next to her and moved back a little. Noah stepped into the class, trying not to look at Raine who had seemed to have saved a seat for him.

Suddenly, his eyes met with someone he wished he would’ve never seen again. Flashbacks of middle school went through his mind as the bile rose up in his throat. The electric green eyes stared back at him, unsure how to react. Noah stared at him in utter fury, his face turning red when he recognized that he was who Raine was talking to the day before.

Noah stiffly walked to his seat next to Raine as Luke’s eyes followed. Noah looked at Luke for a moment and realized how much he had changed in the past four months. For one, he had grown at least a foot and a half and muscles lined him practically everywhere. Noah gulped in slight intimidation. Finally, he looked at Raine.

Raine smiled guiltily at him. Noah gave her a tight smile. She tapped his knee with something hard. It was his phone. He sighed. She did read it. He took it and put it back in his backpack. Something about her expression still seemed confused and distressed. Wait… did she read it? Raine shook her head, obviously knowing what he was thinking. She didn’t… why?

I’m sorry, she mouthed.

Me too, he mouthed back. They both sighed with relief, glad that they had made up.

…

Caleb stared at his phone, unsure of what to do. He didn’t want to worry them. He didn’t want to deal with it. He already felt like he was being bombarded with so much sympathy and he hated feeling that way. He wondered how long it would be that they would have to stay here. He never liked the musty smell of hospitals. He never liked going to hospitals and now he had to stay at one for who knows how long. Visits from his mom were often annoying since she kept touching places that were either in a cast or had stitches. He hoped they would be released soon. Everyone seemed like they were a bit better today. Well, everyone except Riva. She was still sleeping for some reason. He tried not to think about it. He sighed, leaning back in the bed. The doctors seemed to be very quiet when it came to speaking about Riva’s condition. They had said she had a concussion in the crash and was just a bit tired. He was skeptical when he came to believing that. She had a cast on her leg as well and several stitches on her scalp where some glass impaled her. Otherwise, she seemed fine. But then again, nothing is as it seems.

…

The rest of the school day passed quietly as the same thought rambled through everyone’s mind. Where were the Lopezs? It seemed as if Caleb wasn’t going to tell Raine or Noah anytime soon. Still, they were worried. Very worried. Luke and Cleo walked out of the building and headed towards the student lounge. Cleo eyed Luke’s hand as they were walking. She reached for it and Luke watched nervously, unsure of how to react. They neared the building, now hand in hand. Luke stopped.

“What’s wrong?” Cleo asked. He had been acting so odd today whenever she tried to show her affection. Why?

“N-nothing it’s just—“ he sighed, taking his hand away, “it’s just that it seems we forgot our agreement from last year,” he said quietly. Cleo gaped at him confusingly.

“What do you mean?” She asked again.

“Well,” he scratched his neck, “remember when we said we were gonna… break up?” He asked nervously. Cleo smiled.

“We never really did after that I just thought it meant that we were… not public…” she said, still smiling.

“Well… we never really saw each other this summer and…” Cleo’s smile faded away. It turned into a distressed frown.

“What are you implying?” She asked nervously.

“I don’t know,” he replied, sighing, “maybe… I- I…” Cleo furrowed her eyebrows.

“You want to break up with me?” She asked, raising her eyebrows.

“It’s not that it’s just…. well… maybe it’s what’s best for us….” He murmured quietly.

“Oh… oh….”

“But we can still be friends of course! I still like you as a friend,” He resounded quickly.

“Y-yeah,” Cleo muttered quietly, trying not to let the anger rise up in her. She wanted to slap him. She walked quickly ahead towards the student lounge, leaving Luke just standing there.

“Cleo! Wait up!” He shouted. Cleo stopped, stiffly as Luke jogged to catch up with her. “Why are you so mad?” He asked. Cleo inhaled sharply and turned around and kicked him in the shin as hard as she could. Luke grunted a little bit and rubbed his leg. It ached, but he was used to it, being trained in a sport where you’re supposed to beat people up. “Alright,” he responded sharply, “if that’s how you feel.” Luke turned around and walked away. He couldn’t believe it. They had agreed to this the year before and for her to act that way was totally childish. He wanted to go back there so badly and teach her what he learned that summer but he knew that she wasn’t worth the fight.

…

Raine and Noah gaped at each other and back out the window of the student lounge. Cleo and Luke had a fight? They stared at Luke’s figure getting farther away and Cleo standing there, her fists trembling. Raine bit her lip, looking back at Noah again. Raine wrinkled her nose.

“Karma?” he asked, smiling a bit, trying to lighten the mood. She laughed, shaking her head. His cheeks felt warm as soon as he heard it. He realized with embarrassment that he loved her laugh. Perhaps it was because recently she rarely ever did so.

“Well, guess that just happened,” she replied, her eyes shining with humor, “anyways, back to Math,” she said, seemingly divulging something. Her eyes turned back towards our papers. Why did she dismiss it so quickly? Oh well. He figured that she just didn’t want to talk about it. Raine sighed in exasperation, “Something happened after school yesterday…” she mumbled, looking down, “…with Luke…” Noah’s eyes narrowed, remembering seeing them conversing after he had walked off. He tried not to act too bothered by it. He swallowed back the bile rising in his throat. Raine looked back up at him, “It wasn’t really that much though… but he seemed…” she sighed, shaking her head, “...I don’t know… he seemed off,” she said. Her mind rolled back to what he had told her the previous year.

“You don’t think…” Noah murmured quietly, “that…” Raine’s hands trembled nervously.

“I hope not…” she gulped. Noah sighed, trying to hide his anger. Why was this getting on his nerves so much? Sure, it was something to get mad about, but still…

“What exactly did happen?” He asked nervously.

“Well… basically, after you left I had forgotten my backpack and stuff in here and he… brought them to me? Like I said, it was… off. He acted as if nothing had happened last year. It was so strange,” she mused, scratching her neck. He acted as if nothing happened last year… the words echoed through Noah’s mind. His knuckles turned white. He looked down at his hands to realize that they were in tight fists. “Noah? Are you okay?” Raine asked, a bit tentatively. Noah nodded, trying to relax.

“Yeah, like you said, it’s very strange.” To put nicely, he added silently. Raine nodded back awkwardly. They sat there in silence for a few moments. “So…” he murmured, “I’m guessing you didn’t snoop through my phone?” Noah asked. Raine sighed, conceding.

“Yeah… I felt bad… so I didn’t do anything…” she replied, grimacing a bit, “what did Caleb tell you?” Noah rubbed his face in annoyment.

“Basically absolutely nothing,” he stated, “Literally all he told me was that he wasn’t at home or at school. He didn’t even want to tell me the entire story so it must’ve been something…” Noah trailed off as Raine’s grimace turned into a distressed frown, “…something that he doesn’t want us to know yet,” he finished, not wanting to make Raine feel any worse.

Why wouldn’t Caleb want us to know? Her stomach began to feel like it was turning into a deep dark pit. And what about Riva? Was she involved in whatever happened as well? She leaned back in her chair as Noah gazed at her intently.

What could she be thinking? He asked silently as more troubling thoughts went on through her mind.

What if they’re not okay? What if they’re dying? What if… she went on and on. Worry sickened her stomach. Noah could tell. What should he do? Raine tried to desperately drown out her negative thoughts. It’s fine you’re just overreacting about it… right? They’re probably just… busy… yeah… no. Why would they miss school if they were busy? She hoped with all her heart that they really were okay. That she really was just overreacting about it. That Riva and Caleb would be sitting here with them again by next week. Caleb. Her heart fluttered. No, don’t think about it, Raine. He’s probably fine, she thought, shaking her head.Noah was still looking at her awkwardly trying to decide what to do. Finally, he sat up straight in his chair.

“Y’know what?” Raine looked up, “I’m just gonna shoot Caleb a text. There’s no hurt in doing that… right?” he asked, mostly to himself.

“I mean… we have nothing to lose,” Raine agreed, pulling her chair closer to Noah who was already pulling out his phone. Noah’s heart rate picked up as he felt Raine’s dark hair whift by his shoulder. He sat there tensely. “Well?” she asked, “do I have to put the code in for you?” she asked again, smiling as she tapped the numbers to open his phone. He watched as her elbow leaned against his arm as she reached out to unlock his phone. Chill, Noah. It’s just Raine, stop acting like this, he thought, trying to pull himself back together. He inhaled sharply as he finally pulled up his messages. Raine watched over his shoulder.

“Alright, let’s see if Mr. Lopez is feeling well enough to give us some information today.”