Chapter 8

Paige’s POV

I wake up to the feeling of Azzi pulling out of my arms, pulling her back towards me.  

“I have to get up, Paige.” 

Of course she does.

“Where are you going? It’s like 4 am, just wait a few hours.” I mumble sleepily, making her giggle.

“It’s 11 am, and I’m going to the movies with Ines and Aliyah.” She tells me, trying to pull away from me again, only to be met with my arms holding her tighter.

I roll my eyes, “Fine, I’m going with you, though.” I mumble as I unwravel my arms from around her.

“You hate horror movies, you wouldn’t want to. I’ll call you when I get there.”

She climbs out of the bed, walking towards my closet, probably looking for clothes to steal. “I don’t want you going anywhere without me after last night.” I scoff.

“I could say the same thing.” She says sarcastically, taking a jab at me.

“I thought we were past that?”

“We’re not.”

“Fine, but call me when you’re leaving also,” I reply, not wanting to argue. She replies with a smile, pulling one of my button-up shirts, a tube top, and pants out of the closet.

She grabs a towel from a drawer and heads into the bathroom to shower. 

A few minutes later, she returns in her picked-out outfit, walking over to my side of the bed. “I’ll see you later, baby.” She says, planting a kiss on my lips, before walking away.

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Azzi’s POV 

Once I arrived at the movies, I called Paige, but she didn’t answer. I decided she’s most likely busy and will call me back later. I send her a text instead so she doesn’t worry.

“Hey, just made it to the movies. Call you after <3.” 

The message sends, and I put my phone away, noticing Aliyah and Ines walking up. “Hey, guys!”

Aliyah speaks first, “Hey, Az. How are you doing after…?”

“I’ve been holding up. It’s been so stressful avoiding them. Yesterday, they pulled Paige over pretending to be the police.”

Both girls stare at me, their faces full of pity. “Don’t look at me like that, I just want one normal day,” I say, making the girls nod.

We walk into the theatre, grabbing popcorn and slushies before inevitably making our way to our seats.

About two hours have passed, and the movie finally ends. I part ways with Ines and LiLi, walking back to my car. As I sit down in the seat, I pull out my phone, facetiming Paige.

The call rings on for what seems like an eternity before I eventually hang up, realizing she isn’t going to pick up.

I sigh, opening the texts app to let her know I’m on the way. 

“The movie ended, I’m on the way, baby. Call me when you see this.” I quickly type out before sliding my phone into my pocket.

____________________________________

I’m standing outside Her and KK’s dorm room. I’ve knocked several times to no reply. Eventually, KK opens the door, looking at me, confused.

“Paige isn’t here.”

“Where is she?”

“She said she was going to get shots up with Nika; she had invited me, and I declined,” KK informs me.

I nod, “Can I come in? I’ll just hang out in her room,” Kamorea nods, letting me walk past her.

I immediately make my way to her bedroom, plopping down on her bed as soon as I close the door.

I pull my phone out of my pocket, facetiming Nika.

“Hey Azzi, is Paige with you?” She questions. Making me fill with fear.

“No, KK told me she was supposed to be getting shots up with you right now.” 

“She was supposed to be, yeah, but she never showed up. I’ve been waiting for like an hour-” I cut her off with the press of the big red button, tossing my phone to the side of me. 

Collapse backwards onto her unmade bed, letting myself be surrounded by spread out pillows and wrinkled comforters. 

Maybe if I wait long enough, she will come home and explain where she disappeared to all day.

____________________________________

So my plan failed, it’s now 7 pm, and I’ve been waiting for her since 1 pm.

Where could she possibly be?

I slowly climb out of her bed, heading to the living room, seeing a KK spread across the couch.

“Hey girlypop! Did Paige ever get back?” She asks, knowing I’ve been waiting for her.

“No, and Nika said she never showed up. I’m starting to think she is-” I begin to say when Kamorea cuts me off.

“Girl, boo, she is not cheating on you again. Before she left, she was ranting about how much she regretted it. And how she should have realized what was going on, blah blah blah. That girl is down bad for you.” Kamora says, interrupting me.

I chuckle at her interpretation of her conversation with Paige, “Then where could she be?” I question.

She shrugs, “Who knows. Maybe she just needed space.” 

I almost choke at her suggestion, “She definitely didn’t need space. Last night she showed up at my door because I told her I needed space, saying, ‘We don’t ever need space from each other.'”

KK laughs at my comment before returning to her previous activities.

“I’m going out for a walk, I’ll text you if I decide to stay the night,” I say, making the girl nod, knowing I sleep in Paige’s dorm even when she’s not there.

As soon as I exit the dorm and head down the stairs, eventually ending up outside, I am met with the feeling of rain hitting my head. I walk down to the sidewalk, walking around for a while before eventually spotting Paige’s car. She never left.

I take a long stride over to the car, closer examining it. I immediately notice a note left on her windshield stuck between the windshield wipers. I pull it out, ripping it slightly but not terribly damaging the paper. 

“We apologize for the abrupt removal of: Paige Bueckers. We hope you can forgive the randomness. Sincerely – The Hunger Games.” The note read out.

They fucking took her. 

Just like that.

I let the paper drop to my feet, being taken over by the rain as my tears cover my face. I run back to the dormitory’s door, running up the steps, eventually arriving at her and KK’s dorm. 

I don’t bother knocking; using my spare key to walk in unannounced. I run in tears, still streaming down my face, heading straight to Paige’s room, slamming the door behind me. I walk over to her closet, immediately grabbing one of her bags and throwing various outfits into it.

KK walks into the room shortly after, confused at the sight. “What are you doing?” she questions, walking towards me.

“They took her,” I whisper, barely able to speak through my sobs.

“Who did?”

“You know who.” 

She walks closer to me, pulling me into a hug, letting my tears run down my face onto her shirt.

“We have to get her back,” I mumble, and she just nods. “We will, but first you need to rest.”

I shake my head, “Rest!? I can’t rest knowing she was just kidnapped.” I say, throwing even more clothes into the bag.

“We have to be smart about this; they have highly advanced technology. We don’t have anything. Tomorrow we can gather up some people to take with us, figure out a plan get some weapons. But we can’t go into this blindly.”

I nod slowly, realizing more people will get hurt if we just blindly charge into this. She hugs me before leaving the room, returning to whatever she had previously been doing. 

I let myself sink into Paige’s bed once again. Just taking in as much of her smell a possible.

____________________________________

Azzi’s dreams

I wake up to the sight of Paige sitting next to me with her feet hanging over the edge of the bed next to me, rubbing my back to wake me up gently.

“Good morning, princess.” She says softly, knowing I’m not quite ready for any loud noises.

“Morning, baby. Where are you going?” I mumble sleepily, staring up at her.

She shakes her head, “No where important, Az. I’ll be back soon, don’t worry.” She says, leaning down to kiss me, letting it linger for a moment before slowly pulling away.

“Okay,” I say, smiling at the blonde girl.

 “Make me a promise.” She whispers, “Don’t cry.” 

I stare at her, confused, “Why would I cry? You’re going to be back in a couple of hours.”

“You know why, baby.” 

“What?”

“I’ll be back, I promise.” She says, standing from the bed. “Don’t come looking for me.”

It finally all clicks, all my memories from before come flooding back.

“How are you here? And why don’t you want me to come looking for you?”

“Just don’t, okay? You can’t come here.” She begins walking towards the door. I hop from the bed, running towards her. “Wait, no, not yet, I have more questions, Paige.”

She doesn’t reply, she just opens the door, revealing a white light in it, and walks closer towards it. “Stop it! What building are you in? What room? Just tell me something!”

The door slams in my face.

____________________________________

Azzi Reality

I jolt up, waking up from my previous state, tears rolling down my face. It was a dream? 

It felt so real, like she was actually warning me.

This was a clear sign from her clearly, that I needed to get to her immediately. 

I run out of her bedroom immediately, heading to KK’s, opening the door to a sleeping KK.

“KK, we need to get to her right now!” I shout, shaking her aggressively.

“It’s 3 am Azzi, we are not going anywhere at this hour,” she grumbles half annoyed half sleepy.

I shake my head, “This is important, KK, KK. She came to me in my dream. She told me not to go there and that she doesn’t want me to cry. Which obviously means she wants us to save her!”

She laughs an unnecessary amount. “She’s warning us not to go there, and you took that as come save me?” 

“If you don’t want to come with me, fine, but I’m going.” 

She groans dramatically, climbing from the bed. I smile, satisfied.