Chapter Thirty Seven

Sammi's Point of View

"Lyla." Elisa whined. "Lyla."

Lyla opened her eyes.

"What is it Elisa?" Lyla looked over at the Feline Asshole.

"What time is it?" Elisa pouted, yawning in the middle of her sentence.

Lyla looked at her phone.

"11 pm."

Nalla widened her eyes.

"We left the zoo late." Lyla explained without Nalla even asking a question.

I glanced down at Peter who was sound asleep on my shoulder.

"Wow, what a weakling." I mumbled to myself, but made sure not to move much.

I closed my eyes for a little while, trying to get the long ride to go faster.

When I opened them again, Nalla and I were the only two awake.

She noticed that I was up, she smiled at me. I noticed that Ben was sound asleep across Nalla's lap.

Peter was still passed out on my shoulder.

"Look at them." Nalla whispered, nodding towards the youngest four, including Lyla in that category.

(Ok, get ready for this description. It'll probably be confusing)

All four of them were sleeping soundly with Jameson closest to the window, across from Nalla, and Nick by the aisle, across from me. Our seats were facing each other so we could see each other directly.

Lyla leaned her head on Jameson's right shoulder, a small smile dancing across her face. Jameson has his head leaning on Lyla's.

Elisa, who is sitting to Lyla's right, is leaning her head on her shoulder. And to top the jumble off, Nick is laying down on Elisa's lap, his arm folded underneath his head.

I smiled when I noticed the cutest thing; they are all holding hands.

Lyla's left hand is clasped with Jameson's right, her hand barely visible with Jameson's larger one covering her own.

Nick has his right arm stretched across Elisa and holding onto Lyla's right hand. Their hands are about the same, but Nick pulling through as the bigger hand.

Elisa was clutching onto Lyla's left arm, because of course he can't sleep without holding onto something.

"How adorable are the kids?" Nalla whispered proudly.

"They're cute." I mumbled, the smile not leaving my lips.

~~~

Ugh, push all of that fluff aside, I'm worried.

Lyla keeps hiding things from us. We're running short on money. As much as Lyla doesn't want to admit it to us, but we are.

I've seen the signs.

We went out to eat a couple of weeks or so ago.

Lyla stayed by the cashier to pay for our food. I noticed the cashier shook her head and handed Lyla her credit card back. We were all screwing around by our table, but I kept my eye on her. Lyla said a few words and the cashier tapped some things into the register. Then she nodded her head.

Lyla handed back her credit card, got the receipt and sat down beside us.

I was confused, until the food came.

Lyla's food didn't come. I spoke up to the waiter and he said that was all of the food he was ordered to give. Lyla jumped in and said she wasn't hungry.

Lie

An hour earlier, she was complaining about how hungry she was. And I know that girl likes food.

Fast forward a week to when we went grocery shopping.

The dumbasses kept putting a bunch of junk and toys into Lyla's cart. She didn't do anything but grimace and cringe at each new item.

I heard her whispering to herself, wondering how much money she had put in her credit card.

Whatever amount it was, it wasn't enough.

When the credit card scanner turned red, Lyla acted as if she was surprised, like she didn't know that she was short of money.

She tried to scan it a few more times, but nothing changed.

We had all stopped goofing off now and we stared at Lyla, watching and waiting on what was going to happen next.

"Is something wrong Lyla?" Jameson speaks up, sliding his hand into Lyla's, scared and trying his best to offer support.

"N-no. Of course not Jamie." Lyla lied, her eyes darting around his face, avoiding his eyes.

"Yes, actually." The cashier spoke up. "You're $80 short."

Lyla sighs, defeated.

Jameson looks up at us with wide, terrified eyes.

We all didn't move for a moment. I guess you could say we all had the same thought on what our next move was.

Walking towards the cart, we all started gathering all of the toy and junk food, leaving only the necessities.

"You guys don't have to-" Lyla started.

"It's alright Lyla." Nalla reassured her, gathering everything in his arms.

He led us to our return of the items. We left Jameson with Lyla so he could help her pay for the other stuff and help her bag the items.

It was silent on the way home.

Elisa opened her mouth to say something, but I grabbed her arm. She looked over at me and shut her mouth. I shook my head no, Elisa nodded slightly and looked down.

Peter asked Lyla what was wrong with her credit card.

She laughed and said it was probably just a mess up at the company. Lyla explained that she would go on their website that night or something to fix it

She never did.

The youngest three don't suspect a thing. Us older four were suspicious, but I'm the only one who knows now.

Now, to present time.

Lyla has been sneaking out lately. She goes out late and comes home late.

I scared.

Not for me, but for her.

I saw her fall asleep as she was trying to eat her cereal. She dropped her coffee cup while she was holding it because she drifted off.

Lyla cant function with only three hours of sleep.

I'm putting an end to this. And I'm doing it tonight.