Chapter 7

It’s been an hour since we got in the car after leaving that hotel. Paige has me lying over her chest, our legs intertwined. She has an arm tightly wrapped around my waist, and her head rests on mine. Our blanket lies over our feet, dropping down on the floor. Paige stretches her legs out further, making both of ours fall over Aubrey’s lap.

“Okay, this is where I draw the line! Get your dogs off of me!” Aubrey shouts. 

“You act like you’re going through eternal suffering right now,” Paige responds to the girl.

“Matter a fact, I am! I have to watch you two be lovey-dovey, and I haven’t seen my girlfriend in an entire day!”  Aubrey says. Paige rolls her eyes at the comment, knowing a day is very little time. “24hrs omg that’s so long.” She mocks, and I hit her in the stomach, making her wince in pain. 

“Sorry,” she says, still in slight pain. 

Aubrey laughs, “Remember when Azzi went out of town for 5 hours and you were crying the entire time?” 

I turn my head to look at Paige, and she shakes her head, signaling that it isn’t true. “You go away all the time, I don’t cry, I just-” Aubrey cuts her off.

“You whine, pout, throw yourself onto the court, or attach yourself to your phone.” 

Paige throws an object. I can’t tell what is at Aubrey, and she catches it, plopping it into her mouth: A granola bar. “Thanks for the free treat,” Aubrey says cockily. Paige goes to respond, but I squeeze her hand, telling her not to, and she groans. 

“Whatever,” she mutters.

Paige pulls out her phone, exiting the conversation. She types something out, a few seconds pass, and she begins laughing. I raise my eyebrow at her for a second, and she shakes her head.

A few minutes of silence, except for the radio playing one of Paige’s playlists, go by. Eventually, I break the silence. “Where are we going now?” I question.

“Where do you want us to go, princess?” She asks me, her voice gentle and soft.

“Home,” I reply, simple and short.  

“Then that’s where we are going.” She tells me, making a smile grow on my face, “Ayanna, we are going back to campus.”

“But shouldn’t we stay on the road for a little longer? We could risk being found again.” She voices her concerns. “I think we’ve been on the road long enough,” Paige replies. 

Ayanna only nods, an afraid expression on her face. “How long should it take us to get there?” I question.

Paige pulls out her phone,  holding it low enough for me to see. After she unlocks it, the phone opens to text messages, which she quickly swipes out of, opening the maps app. “What was that?”

“What was what?”

“Whatever,” I say, annoyance visible on my face.

Paige types in “UCONN dormitories”,  it quickly calculates the time, and a few seconds later, it pops up with a number: “2 hours 57 minutes.” She says, lifting the screen so I can see better.

I just nod, sinking back into my previous position.

“What, you mad?” She asks

I hum, giving her non-verbal confirmation.

“It’s nothing, baby, really.”

“Then show me.” 

“Whatever.”

She says, giving up on convincing me. I sit up, pulling away from her, making her groan in annoyance. She lowers her legs off the seat, giving me space to sit down.

“Trouble in paradise?” Aubrey whispers to me.

“More like trouble in hell,” I say, making her laugh. Paige just glares at her, causing Aubrey to cough awkwardly, stopping her laughter.

“Why can’t you just trust me?” Paige says, grabbing my hand, pulling it closer to her.

KK, being the menace she is, answers for me, “The last two days are why she shouldn’t trust you.”

“Thank you, someone finally understands,” I say, leaning forward to give her a fist bump.

Paige just rolls her eyes, pulling out her phone and returning to texting whoever. “We can switch seats if you want?” Aubrey whispers to me just low enough that Paige can’t hear. I nod, “That would be great.”

We both maneuver around, me sliding over her, and she slides under me. “What the fuck?” Paige says, looking up. “I figured you would want to sit next to me,” Aubrey says playfully.

“I don’t want to sit next to you, I want to sit next to my girlfriend!” 

Aubrey sighs, “The truth is… I wanted to save myself from the PDA that always comes after you two fight.” She says dramatically, not technically a lie. After a fight, the PDA levels go through the roof, no matter who is there to see it.

______________________________

We are just now arriving in the parking lot of the dorms, finally. The car comes to a halt, and everyone cheers at the sight of home. 

Paige gets out of the car first, and I wait for her to walk around and open my door for me. Instead, I see her grab a bag and walk inside the building before everyone else.

Great.

I open the door myself, letting Aubrey climb out behind me. She hands me the blanket and pillow that Paige and I were previously using. 

I jog up to the building, walking inside, and head to Paige’s dorm, knowing that we typically hang out in hers. I knock on the door, waiting for her to come open it for me.

I wait long enough for KK to come up the stairs. 

“You’re still out here? I thought she would have let you in by now.”

“I thought so also.”

“Here I will let you in.” She tells me, unlocking the door for us both. We walk in and are immediately met with the living room.

 I wave to KK before heading over to Paige’s door, twisting the knob only to realize the door is locked.

“Who is it?” I hear her shout through the wooden door.

“It’s me, baby,” I reply

No response.

At first, I waited, thinking she was just doing something.

After 5 minutes, I finally spoke up again, “Did you hear me? It’s me, Azzi.”

I hear a groan on the other side of the door before it opens up, revealing an annoyed Paige.

“Why did it take so long?” I question curiously. She just rolls her eyes before walking deeper into her room, leaving the door open.

I close the door behind me and slowly walk over to sit down with her. I climb into the bed expecting her to grab my hand, or wrap her arm around my waist, only for her to just stare at her phone.

“What did you need, Az?” She says, looking slightly down at me. “I just wanted to come spend time with my girlfriend,” I reply, reaching for her hand. “Okay.” She replies, returning to her phone, letting me grab her unoccupied hand.

“I know you’re probably mad at me for not trusting you earlier, and I’m sorry for that,” I tell her.

She doesn’t reply, only letting out an acknowledging nod.

“Okay, what the fuck is up with you, Paige?”

“Nothing.” 

“Bullshit, do you want me to leave? You could have just said that.”

She groans, setting her phone down next to her before looking up at me, “I told you nothing is wrong.”

“What fucking ever,” I say angrily, standing from the bed. I walk out of her bedroom as I reach the door of the dorm, I feel a warm, soft hand grab one half of my waist. “Don’t leave.” She says, pulling me back.

“You can’t be cold and have me around. You don’t get both.” I say, pulling out of her grasp, leaving the dorm.

_________________________________

Paige’s POV

As soon as she pulls away from me, I feel a sense of absence. The last words she muttered to me stay in my head the rest of the day. “You can’t be cold and have me around.” Does she think I was purposely being cold towards her?

I was just so annoyed. She thought I was hiding something from her earlier when I wouldn’t show her my texts, and then when she swapped seats with Aubrey. Something just went off in me. 

I’m not cheating on her, I wouldn’t do that. Ever. No matter how many times the issue has come up. I was just talking to a girl on Instagram who DMED me. She’s pretty, looks about 19, and she’s really funny. 

I don’t know why I hid my phone from her. I don’t have anything to hide. Me and Brooke are just friends.

I carefully climb back into my bed, putting my Bose headphones on and turning on music.

My phone beeps and I immediately pull it out, my face automatically unlocks it and opens up immediately to Brooke and I’s chats. She replied to an earlier message, “Maybe we can meet up sometime, cutie. 😉” I smile at the text, quickly typing out a response. “Maybe we can. 😏” 

I click out of our conversation and scroll to Azzi’s, which used to be pinned before I met Brooke.

I quickly find the correct one and click on the button labeled “My girl 😘”. I think to myself before inevitably typing out a message, “I’m sorry, princess, come back. The door is unlocked for you. I promise I won’t be cold.”

The second the message goes through, it pops up as seen, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Paige. I need some space,” she replies.

“Space?”

“Yes, space.” 

Why would she need space? I get I was an asshole earlier, but we’ve never needed space from each other, not in the 8 years we’ve been together, not now. Especially after this whole being hunted down by the Hunger Games thing, we shouldn’t be taking space from each other right now.

_____________________________

I’m outside of her dorm, realizing her message was her telling me to come to her. I knock on the door, and I’m greeted by Nika.

“Hey, twin,” I say, greeting her.

“Hey… you’re not supposed to be here,” she replies.

“Can you just let me in, please?” I say, making her eventually sigh, moving out of my way.

I walk straight to Azzi’s door, knocking on it, and immediately met with “Come on in, Nika.”

I open the door, and she frowns when it’s my face she sees walking over to her. I sit down on her bed, and she makes a face. “Hey, princess.” I say, grabbing her hand. She pulls it away.

“I told you I needed space, Paige.”

“I thought something was wrong. We don’t take space from each other, never have!” I try to explain.

She rolls her eyes.

“Unless you are here to show me your texts with that girl, I need you to leave.”

I groan at her constant insistence on seeing my conversation with her. “Fine here, I don’t have anything to hide, you can go through the whole thing if you want to,” I say while handing her my phone.

She types in my password and immediately goes to Instagram, she opens my DMs, and sees a girl pinned to the top. “Who the fuck is Brooke? Why is she pinned? And why does she have a heart next to her name?” 

I roll my eyes at her questions, “She’s just a random girl that dmed me, she’s pinned because I talk to her a lot.” I reply.

“And the heart?” She questions. 

I don’t have an answer for that. The truth is, I don’t know why I have a heart next to her name.

“Baby, I promise you she’s just a friend, the heart means nothing,” I say.

She clicks into the conversation and immediately sees the last text I sent her. I can see her try to calm herself down before reacting. She sets the phone down, throwing it towards me, before standing from her bed.

“Where are you going, princess?” I ask her, and she doesn’t acknowledge me. She grabs her coat and puts her shoes on, then retrieves her phone and keys. “Are you leaving? I can go with you if you want.”

She just shoots me a glare, and I take that as my ‘no’.

“Do yourself a favor and don’t be here when I get back.” She says harshly before walking out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

__________________________________

Azzi’s POV

I pull up outside a diner, getting out of the car. I walk inside the building, immediately spotting the girl, Brooke. 

After I went through Paige’s phone, I sent the girl a message from her account telling her to meet up.

She immediately agreed and is expecting Paige to arrive. As I walk into the dinner I see her spot me, and a look of fear grows on her face. She tries to hide her head, but it’s too late.

I walk over to the table and sit down across from her. “Hello, Brooke,” I say with fake kindness.

“Hey,” she says, blushing with embarrassment.

“So, you came here expecting to meet her, didn’t you?”

She nods, trying to avoid eye contact.

“And did you know that she has, or now had a girlfriend?”

Her eyes dart to mine, “You two broke up?”

“Not yet, but we will be. Now answer the question.”

“Yes, I knew, I’m so sorry, Azzi. I’m a big fan of both of you, and I saw an opportunity with her and took it.”

I nod, listening, “It’s fine, I don’t blame you. She shouldn’t have entertained you in the first place.” I stood from the table. I placed 100 dollars down on it. 

“Buy yourself a nice meal, hmm?” 

____________________________________

I drive for a while, on an empty road, before eventually finding a spot to pull over with no people around. I just needed some time to myself.  

As soon as the car cuts off, tears begin slowly dripping down my face. I let my head go limp and fall against the steering wheel, causing my tears to drip down onto it.

I eventually lift my head, wiping my tears away before pulling my phone out of my pocket and clicking call on the button next to my pinned contact.

The phone doesn’t have time to ring; her face immediately appears on the screen. “Hey, baby- what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” 

“What do you think?” I reply to the girl.

“Is this about Brooke again? You saw for yourself we are just friends.” 

She says, making me scoff, “You literally were flirting with her! And agreed to a date with her!”

“We weren’t flirting, princess, and that’s not a date. It’s just supposed to be a hangout between two friends, I only even told her maybe. Where are you right now? I can drive there, I don’t want you to be alone out in public.”

“Whatever, fine. I’m on the street over from ****** Street.”

“Okay, stay there. I’m on my way. We can talk about this when I get there.”

The screen goes black, and I slump back into my seat, still crying. I unlock my phone and immediately go to my and Paige’s texts, scrolling up looking for voice messages. I click on the first one I see. 

“Hey, pretty girl, I’ll see you after class, okay? I’ll pick you up from the airport, just wait for me. Love you.” It’s from the day I got back from Washington a few weeks ago.

I scroll up looking for the next one, October 22nd. “Okay, I have two options for couple costumes for us, we could be You – Poison Ivy, and me – Harley Quinn. It totally works, you’re my smart, hot girlfriend, and I’m  hot.” She says laughing, “The other option is, and hear me out on this, a black cat and a golden retriever. Let me know when you decide.” The audio clip goes off, making me laugh.

The next one I found is from summer break, when I flew to Miami for a couple of weeks. “I miss you so much, princess. How long are you out of town for? I can’t go any longer than a week at this point.” 

The audio clip cuts off as I hear footsteps approaching my car. The person walks up to the window, sticking their face up close to it, Paige.

I sit up straight and open the door, climbing out of the car. 

“You look horrible.”

“Thanks, that makes me feel so much better.”

She shrugs, walking over to the car sitting in the driver’s seat, legs dangling out.

“I want you to know, I never considered what I did with Brooke as flirting, and I’m so sorry it came across as flirting, Princess. I won’t ever talk to her again if you want. Just please don’t break up with me.” She says, practically pleading with me.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”  I ask, she replies by reaching her arm around my waist, pulling me closer to her, holding the phone up high enough for me to see, and hitting the red block button. She also long-presses on the conversation and hits delete.

“Is that enough evidence?” she asks.

“Okay, Fine. I believe you.” I say, making her smile.

“I would offer to drive you home, but one of our cars would be left behind.” She says, sighing dramatically. “I’ll drive behind you,” I tell her, making her nod. She walks back to her car, getting in. A few minutes later, her car pulls off, and I follow behind her slowly. 

Eventually, we reach a stoplight, the light turns green, and we both take off. As soon as we get around 1000 feet away from it, a siren goes off behind us, a police car. We both stop our cars, unsure of who is being pulled over.

The police officer gets out of the car and walks over to her vehicle. They talk for a while.

This whole situation feels off.

Like pre-planned.

The police officer walks away from her car and walks to a 2nd vehicle behind us. Then the whole situation clicks in my brain.

I quickly jump out of my car, running to hers.

“Baby drive, now.” 

“I can’t just drive away from the police, Az.”

I shake my head, not sure how to explain. I turn my head to see the police officer walking back over towards us.

“Just trust me, you have to drive right now.”

“Okay, fine, but what about you?” 

I shake my head again, “Just leave me, it’s you they want.”

She scoffs, pulling me by my waist closer to her. I fall onto her lap, and she repositions the seat belt over both of us.

The car pulls off once she has secured our safety. She has an arm around my waist, holding me in place. “This is so unsafe.”

She nods, “I know,” she replies, making me chuckle.

“What about my car?” I question making her shrug. 

“Who is after me, baby? That’s the real question.” 

“The people, from the Hunger Games. I saw them talking to the police officer.”

She laughs, making me confused by her reaction, “Why are you laughing?”

“Because we never can just have a happy moment, as soon as we were on the verge of breaking up, we made up, and then they appear. It’s like intentional.  Like someone is trying to force us to be unhappy. But it never works, we are meant for each other, so we always come running back.” She says.

“I’ve been telling you that ever since we got selected!” I say, laughing along with her.

“Eventually, they will realize, the more they drive us apart, the closer we become,” she whispers.