Unravelling

Chapter 52 - Brothers and Sister

I got my phone back.

I stare at it with a mixture of trepidation and excitement, not sure whether to power it up or not. Part of me worries about what I will find on it. There will be a lot of unanswered calls and without any doubt my messaging app will have blown up with angry texts by my brothers and confused messages from my friends, too.

This is the first time that I even think of Gracie and Jayden. For some reason, I have been so preoccupied with all that happened that they completely slipped my mind. Which is doubly unfair, since they have been supportive from the start and helped me with my plans.

I am an awful friend.

Almost as awful as I am as a sister.

A new wave of guilt washes over me at the thought of how my disappearing act must have affected my family and friends. I am already expecting the worst without even having found the courage yet to look at my phone.

But I have to admit, Noah and Aidan are geniuses.

I believe that it was Aidan's outstandingly clever idea. It is the sort of thing that he would come up with. I can admit that without envy.

My suspicion that this was not a normal, well-meant gift has been confirmed as soon as I finished reading the note that Noah had written on the first page of the book. It instructed me to open the book in the middle. When I did that, my heartrate immediately picked up.

Like in those old spy movies, they have cut out a phone-sized hole from the pages, just big enough to hide my phone in it. From the outside, with the book closed, you cannot tell that it serves as a hiding place for something. Old-fashioned, but definitely pretty genius and effective.

Apart from telling me that I should not show this to anyone – obviously, since I am certain that the first thing that will be taken off me for weeks if not months to come will be my phone privileges – the note gave me further instructions on what to do. Noah wrote that I have to send him and Aidan a message as soon as I am alone and online.

I am curious about what they are going to do if I contact them, so I eventually put my finger on the power button, squeeze my eyes shut and quickly press on it.

When I finally dare opening my eyes, I am greeted by the familiar pop-up window, demanding that I put in my passcode. I do that and then avert my eyes again, afraid of what will appear on the screen.

Almost immediately, the phone starts to vibrate like crazy and I quickly shove it underneath one of Sean's pillows, worried that it can be heard on the other side of the door. This might be a bit paranoid, but I cannot risk being discovered.

I strain my hearing to find out if Sean and Jordan have already left. I don't remember the front door being shut and I also haven't heard any other sound that would indicate that the coast is clear. I sneak over to the bedroom door and press my ear against it. It is eerily quiet on the other side.

Deciding that it is important to ensure that nobody is going to catch me, I open the door and peek outside. Nobody is out there and I also don't hear any voices from any other parts of the apartment that might not be in my line of vision. The shower is also still running, meaning that Will is out of earshot, too.

Perfect.

I quickly shut the door again and lock it behind me. Better to be safe than sorry.

Then I return to the bed and somewhat reluctantly pull the phone out from under the pillow. At least is has stopped vibrating. I turn it over and my eyes almost pop out of my head when I see the numbers on the top right-hand corner of the phone app and my messaging app.