The Anxiety

The party went okay. Luke hung out with Sage for a full hour before he ditched her. After they split, Sage went to look for Wiley to ask her what she thought about the whole "King of Hell" situation, but she seemed to be nowhere in sight. She wished that she could have brought Samantha, but she also knew that she needed to stop leaning on others at social events. She got out of her shell and talked to a few girls, but quickly felt drained. Finally, at 11 she called for an Uber. This meant that she was showered and in bed by midnight, which was just how she liked it. Sage fell asleep quickly, but Wiley didn't come back until 3, and so her drunken stumbling and fumbling woke Sage up. At least Wiley had come back alone. The next day Sage woke up giddy with excitement and thoughts of Luke. He had kissed her… willingly. She couldn't get the feeling of his soft lips against hers out of her head. It was almost obsessive. She wondered if he was thinking of her, too.

Feeling cheery, she went to FaceTime her brother but got no response. She settled on calling her parents, and they seemed happy to hear from her again. Luke texted her around the time she got off from work, and she was quick to text him back. Life was good.

Samantha asked her about her weekend on Monday in class, and Sage told her to meet up with her afterwards to hear the crazy details. She of course would be omitting the hell part until she could figure out how she felt about it, but the romance part felt so good to share. Besides, who knew if she would actually have to be involved in the hell stuff anyways.

Luke asked to come over, but Sage had to decline since she had made plans with Samantha. After school she met up with her at a smoothie place, and they both indulged in a banana kiwi flavor.

"So, what's the tea?" Samantha asked, jumping straight to the point.

Sage couldn't help but smile at the news she was about to share. "Do you know Luke?"

"Luke who?"

"Asmode." Sage replied, triumphant in the fact that she was able to find out his last name. She had followed Wiley on Instagram and scrolled through her likes to find out. His full name was on his page.

"Never heard of him."

"Let me pull up a picture." Sage had also followed him, and he followed her back. This meant he was in her recent notifications and easy to find again. She showed Samantha a picture of him at a park. She studied the picture.

"Oh, I've seen him around."

"We kissed."

Samantha's eyes widened and she leaned in closer. "Really?"

Sage nodded. "I think he likes me."

Samantha laughed. "You think?"'

Sage laughed too, but her expression quickly turned into a frown. "I think he likes Wiley, too."

Samantha gave Sage a puzzled look. "Why?"

"They're always together."

"So?"

Sage shook her head. Samantha didn't understand. "They're super close." She couldn't tell her that Wiley had known about his hell affiliation, and thus had no way to explain the apparent gravity of their bond.

Samantha waved the suggestion off. "I wouldn't worry about it." she said, finishing off her smoothie. "Wiley wouldn't steal your man."

After the smoothie date Sage invited Samantha to come back to the dorm and hangout with Wiley and her, but she declined as she had to study. Sage figured that she had better do that too, as she had a no note test on Thursday.

"You study too much." Wiley had said despite the test she had to face. Wiley had walked into the dorm and found Sage at her desk, headphones on and her face in her notes.

"I already have a B in this class. A B!" she complained without looking up.

"Is that supposed to be a bad thing?" Wiley laughed. Sage laughed too, but didn't agree.

"Relax," Wiley ordered, but Sage still didn't look up. If she had she would've seen the far away look on Wiley's face. Maybe Sage would've realized that she was thinking hard. "Want a little study booster?" she continued.

"Already have a redbull." Sage answered, lifting up her container.

"Yes, but you'll do better after this."

Sage rolled her eyes, although Wiley couldn't see it. "I'll try a Bang when I'm ready to die." She had heard stories about people having heart attacks from them.

Wiley laughed. "Lucky enough for you, it's not a Bang. You need to relax and take a break."

"What is it?" Sage finally turned around, but Wiley was empty handed. She scanned the dresser but didn't see any caffeinated beverages or teas. "I really need to complete this cram," Sage sighed, turning back around. "I said I would hangout with Luke tomorrow, but I won't be able to if I can't finish."

"It's just an edible."

Sage perked up. "Arrangement?"

Wiley snorted. "It's weed."

"Wiley-"

"That's my name. Don't wear it out."

Sages eyebrows furrowed. "All I need is Red Bull."

"What you need is to loosen up." Wiley pushed, and Sage briefly wondered why she wanted her to have it so bad. A new suggestion from Wiley quickly derailed her train of thought. "You'll have a new experience to tell Luke about when you hangout tomorrow."

"Give me it." she held her palm open, and Wiley began digging around in her drawer. A few moments later a cookie was dropped into Sage's hand.

"Don't eat too much," she warned.

Sage ate half of it and gave it back. "Now what?"

"You just hangout until it kicks in." she said, but Sage opted for studying. At first she didn't notice a difference, but she was still satisfied since Wiley was keeping quiet. Seemed like a win-win situation to her. Gradually she found that she started to enjoy the session, too. She kept finding funny hidden messages within her notes.

A few hours in, though, Sage's mouth started to get too dry, so she sifted through the mini fridge. She gulped down a bottle of water and then sent a text to Kale.

Sage decided to watch her Snapchat stories next, but she felt like she could barely process what was going on in most of them. She figured that she better get back to doing her homework anyways. As soon as she shut her phone off, however, she was interrupted with a FaceTime call from Luke. She paused, and her brain seemed to lag some more. It felt like it took her an hour to decide to accept the call.

"Hello?" she asked, honestly kind of confused. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest.

"Hey."

"What's up? Do you need something?"

Luke laughed, causing Sage to feel insecure. Was he making fun of her? Had he noticed that she was acting differently? What would he say about the fact that she was so stoned off of half a cookie? Would he be that high if he had eaten as much as she had?

"I'm just bored. Wanted to see what you were up to," he assured her.

"Oh, well, Wiley's here." Sage turned the camera on her and she waved, stifling a laugh. "She's bothering me while I'm trying to text." Sage shook her head to clear the thought. "I meant study," Sage continued. "I don't know why I said that," but she realized how funny it was and started giggling.

Luke looked at her skeptically. "Oh."

Sage could hear music somewhere in the background. "Yeah. You know who you look like?"

"Are you drunk?" Luke laughed.

Sage flushed bright red.

Wiley came over and kneeled so that she could be in view, and Sage was thankful for the distraction.

"You know, Sage hasn't considered your coronation offer at all." she told Luke.

Sage's eyes widened in surprise. Maybe she wasn't thankful for Wiley's interjection. She had no idea that Luke had told her about it. She honestly hadn't talked to Wiley at all about the whole situation.

Sage turned to look at her. "How would you know?"

She shrugged. "Well, you haven't said anything about it."

Sage's heart was beating so hard. Was that normal? "I'm considering it," she lied.

"It'll be fun!" Luke insisted.

This was news to Sage. "Hell is supposed to be fun?" She wondered what it was like. If Luke was Prince of it it must not be too terrible. Maybe it was room temperature.

"Nothing bad will happen to you. You love the idea, remember?" Luke pushed.

Sage frowned. Did she? Maybe she had been excited about the idea of going. Yeah, now that she thought about it that sounded true. But wasn't the whole point of hell to hurt you? Wasn't that the whole point of demons? To convince you it won't?

Luke saw her face. "I've been so honest with you."

Sage couldn't argue with that. He had told her the truth about his hell affiliation.

"I wouldn't lie or put you in a situation you couldn't handle." he continued.

Sage sighed in defeat. This was very true, even if there was no evidence to support it. "Okay, I'll go."

Wiley shook Sage in congratulations and then retreated back to her bed. Sage kept Luke on the phone for another hour, and finally someone knocked on his door so he had to get off.

Sage texted Kale again. She could really use hearing his voice. Why hadn't he responded to anything yet?

"My heart's beating so fast, Wiley," Sage told her. She opened the phone app and closed it several times, just to double check that she had hung up previously. Maybe he was listening….

"You really like him, huh." Wiley said what felt like an hour later. Sage snapped her head up. She had forgotten that she had spoken.

"No, I'm having a heart attack." Sage's voice echoed in her own ears several times. Her breathing quickened.

"Relax," Wiley laughed, and that echoed too.

Sage shook her head, tears beginning to stream down her face. "Wiley, help me."

"Calm down." Wiley held her hands up as if she were approaching a dog with its teeth barred.

Sage shook her head again, and it felt like it was happening so slow. "I cant!" she screamed.

Wiley shushed her. "You have to be quieter than that." she stared at Sage, the wheels turning in her head. "Lay down," Wiley demanded, and Sage did so.

"I'm going to turn off the lights and play relaxing music, okay?" Wiley's voice sounded deep and low. She was standing over Sage now, although she wasn't too sure of when she had walked over there. When Sage looked at her she saw devil horns. She promptly squeezed her eyes shut, holding back a scream.

"Wiley?" she mumbled hours later. She wasn't sure what time it was, but all of the lights were off. She was still stoned, and her voice shook as she spoke. It sounded like people were whispering in her ear, telling her of what was to come if she carreid on seeing Luke.

"Yeah?"

Sage had not expected her to be awake. "Does the whole hell thing not worry you?"

"You've been?"

Wiley shook her head, although Sage could only hear the action. "No, but I've seen it. Trust me. No more worrying about Luke, okay?"

Sage sighed and rolled over. "Okay."

Sage felt she needed to get out of the dorm room the next day, and so she went out shopping with Samantha. She got some sweaters and leggings, and after a few hours they settled down with some boba tea, both sitting on the same side of the table. She tried to Facetime Kale, but still got no response. He hadn't replied to any of her texts either. She made a mental note to ask her parents if he was mad at her.

"I don't know about Luke," she told Samantha.

She raised an eyebrow. "I thought you liked him."

"I did, but…" Sage trailed off. How could she explain herself? If she mentioned the hell thing she would sound crazy. But she had no other proof that he was not to be trusted."He just has bad vibes," she concluded.

Samantha laughed. "If you say so." She took a sip of her drink, visibly thinking. "Although, if God is giving you a sign to stay away from someone, then you should follow your intuition."

"I don't know if it's my intuition or not though!" Sage cried, slapping a hand onto her forehead. "When he's around I think I like him, and him being in a good mood makes my day. When he's gone I start cringing at everything he does. And sometimes I remember feeling certain ways about him, but then he says it didn't happen, and I believe him."

Samantha blinked. "Why do you believe him so easily?"

"I don't make very good decisions." Deep down in Sage's subconscious she was replaying the memory of when she had convinced herself that that boy in middle school liked her, although she would never know this.

Samantha frowned but stayed silent, thinking once again. "You want to go to a Halloween party next month?" she asked finally.

Sage shrugged, eyeing her suspiciously. "Could be fun."

"You deserve a break. Let's bring Wiley!" Samantha suggested.

"Obviously!" Sage agreed, but she wasn't so sure that she meant it. Still, she bumped her drink against Samantha's. "And let's all have a matching costume." Feeling grateful about her friend's clear attempt to cheer her up, she continued. "You're going to have so much fun, I promise."

When Sage got home she called her parents about Kale, but they hadn't heard from him in days either. She called Samantha to vent about it. "He's so selfish sometimes," she explained. "Is it that hard to text our parents back?"

Samantha suggested that Sage asked his friends where he was at. This was a brilliant idea. She checked his socials, and he hadn't posted anything. She dmed some people that commented under his pics, and they said that they had assumed he had dropped out and gone back home. They said he seemed depressed.

Sage called Samantha again, almost in tears. She got this feeling that he was going to be missing for a while. Samantha said it was odd that none of his friends had reached out to his family, and Sage realized that she was right. Sage was livid now, obviously. Even if Kale had dropped out, why hadn't they tried to confirm where he had disappeared to? She blocked them in a fit of rage, which Samantha pointed out wasn't solving anything. She needed to call her parents.

A missing persons report was filed that hour, and her parents sent her a picture of the flier they made for him that day. She posted it all over her social media, and people reposted, but there was still no luck.

Eventually it sunk in that Kale probably hadn't just run away. He could be in actual danger. She quickly withdrew from everybody, spending most of her time laying in bed thinking about what she could've done differently. She barely ate and lost ten pounds that month. Samantha came over to her dorm almost everyday, but it didn't seem to lift the funk.

One October morning there was a knock on the door. She ignored it, her eyes glued to her textbook. One good thing that had come out of this was that she had started to drown herself in work and studying during the past few weeks.

She felt someone sit down next to her and jumped.

"Oh, hey." she greeted as she closed her book. It was Luke. She had honestly forgotten about him for the most part. He had reached out to her a lot to send her condolences, but she got this sickly feeling that he would eventually benefit off of whatever had happened to her brother, even though rationally it didn't make sense. Still, Sage tried her best to make sure that she didn't let him in just because she was vulnerable.

"You ready?"

"For what?"

"Your hypnosis?" he said, looking at her expectantly.

"Oh." Sage scratched the back of her neck. Luke had wanted her to test going to Hell before the coronation so that there wouldn't be any last minute hiccups. They had briefly talked about this like a month ago. Sage must've agreed to this at some point, but she couldn't remember doing so.

Wiley sat up, more interested in the exchange than her book. Luke gestured for Sage to sit up as well. She almost refused doing the whole thing, but suddenly she had an idea. She had heard from some wacky person that there were these records in the astral plane that show everything that could and will happen. She wasn't sure how true this would be, but she knew that she would hate herself if she didn't try everything to find out where Kale had gone, especially considering that she hadn't known he was missing sooner.

"Close your eyes."

Sage did.

"Take some deep breaths," he continued, and Sage used the kind a college counselor had shown her the day after the report was filed. She had begun to have really bad anxiety, and would have to exit the class several times to go calm herself down in the bathroom. The anxiety wasn't even about anything specific, but one of her professors demanded that she see someone on campus about it or drop the class, as apparently it was a distraction to the other students when she left almost everyday. She was too depressed to argue, and so decided to give it a go.

"Visualize yourself sitting on the bed. See your shoes, the details in them, your clothes, your hair, everything."

Sage started at the top of her head, and then slowly remembered what everything looked like. She visualized her hair, which was in a messy pony. That was her favorite way to wear it when she wasn't going anywhere. Kale always teased her and said she looked like a wet dog, though. She missed it. Her sweatshirt was maroon and her sweatpants black. She had black socks on.

"I'm going to count back from 10. Listen to the ticking of my watch."

Sage did so, and she didn't necessarily focus on relaxing or not relaxing, part of her hoping it wouldn't work. This way she would've still tried, but if the records weren't even real, then she wouldn't have put herself in a dangerous situation for no reason. Her stomach churned with guilt.

"Open your eyes."

Sage did. Luke was still looking at her, and Wiley had sat down next to him, far too close for Sage's liking. "This is dumb." They looked the same, and all she felt was relaxed. Luke's expression didn't change, and so she repeated herself, this time with more aggression. Still, his eyebrows were furrowed and his hands were on her knees. She looked at Wiley. "You seriously believe this?" But she didn't say anything either.

"You think it's working?" Wiley asked Luke. His face was hard, and he seemed to be concentrating a great deal.

He nodded. "I can tell she's in the astral."

This made the blood drain from Sage's face. They couldn't hear her. And she wasn't on Earth. Or was she?

"Grab the rope."

Sage scanned the room, her palms getting sweaty. She could do this, she told herself. Kale would've done it for her. There was a rope in the corner across from them. It went through the crack in the door and out to the hallway.

Sage tried to stand up, but she felt glued to the bed. Feeling panicked, she tried harder, but her ears rang loudly.

"Get me out of here," she whispered, shaking Luke. There had to be another way to find Kale. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw her arms resting limply in her lap. She was using a separate pair.

"Follow it down the hall."

No going back now. Sage made a second attempt to stand up, and it was successful. Her mouth dropped open when she turned around and saw her body sitting calmly on the bed. Wanting to get this over with, she went to the rope and followed it, not really sure why she should grab it.

"I should be able to feel when she gets to the portal," Luke was saying in the background. Sage figured she better put a rush on her pace. She couldn't afford to be left behind. When she opened the dorm room door she was knocked to the floor by strong winds. She tried to stand up, but it was taking all of her effort to even get to her knees. She used the rope to pull herself up and then to keep her steady as she followed the path, her hair blowing in her face and partially blocking her vision. About a yard down the hall it dipped into a pit, and around it the air was so hot it seemed to vibrate. She figured that crawling backwards into it would help her to not fall, so she got on her hands and knees. The moment her foot hit the free space in the floor, though, everything went black. She reached for the rope, but all she felt was warm flesh.

"Open your eyes." It was Luke's voice. She did, and she realized that she was seated on the bed and everything was back to normal.

"Did I fall asleep?"

"Sitting up?" Wiley was right. She was still sitting upright with nothing against her back to support her. She went to tighten her ponytail and realized that her hands were shaking.

Sage shuttered. "Did it work? Did I go to Hell?"

Luke frowned. "No, your soul was rejected."

That must be a good sign. Sage didn't know how to feel about this. "How will I go to your coronation then?"

"We'll try another way."

"You guys aren't gonna do that here, are you?" Wiley asked, heading back to her bed.

"She has to study." Sage explained.

"No, later." Luke laid down on Sage's bed and rested his hands behind his head. His throat bobbed as he swallowed. "What's your favorite thing to do?"

Sage didn't even have to think. "Watch the sunset." Luke stayed silent for a moment.

"Let's go camping."

Sage looked at Wiley, but she was ignoring them. "Okay..." she wasn't sure about being alone with him. He must know something about the records, though. She technically wouldn't be alone with him anyways, would she? There should be other campers around.

"Let's go now." Luke got up and grabbed his keys. "I'll go buy some camping stuff. Pack for tonight and tomorrow. I'll be back by sunset."

Sage didn't even have a chance to respond before he was out the door. "He's lucky we live somewhere warm."

Wiley still didn't speak.

Sage was done packing everything in thirty minutes and Luke was back in two hours.

"Your friend really doesn't mind you using his truck all the time?" Sage asked, a little amazed at the generosity of whoever this was.

"Yeah."

Sage stared at him. "How did you afford all this camping stuff?"

"My dad's a lawyer."

This made her laugh. "Is he a celebrity lawyer or something?"

"Or something."

It was afternoon when they got to the camping site, and so the first thing they did was set up the tent. "It's so hot I don't want to live anymore," she said dramatically, to which Luke suggested a break. He jogged to the car and came back with sandwiches and grapes. In highschool Sage probably would've made fun of the choice in dinner, but now she ate stuff like that in the evening all of the time.

"Aren't you supposed to pray first?" Luke had asked when she was halfway done with the sandwich.

Sage's eyes watered with shame. She could hear her mother's voice in her head. "Kale prayed before he started his lunch," she remembered her saying. She bet her mother wished that she had gone missing.

"Hey," Luke turned to her. "I'm sure God isn't offended."

"No, I know," was all she said.

"My dad…"

Sage perked up. His dad must know something about hell, right? She wondered how he felt about it.

"He's really crazy about religion," Luke finished.

Sage laughed, and Luke joined.

"What do you know about hell?" she asked.

Luke was receptive. "Well, what do you wanna know?"

"Hmm…" she pretended to think about it. "Is it true that people in those realms have access to all information?"

"Yeah, it's pretty cool. We have this big bookcase with tons of maps and records."

"I'd love to see that." Sage pretended to be casual.

"I thought that you only read fiction."

"No," Sage lied. She figured that she better change the subject. "So, do you have super powers?" she asked.

Luke gave her a confused look.

"Like, can you make it snow right now?"

Luke laughed. "You think we're in Charmed?"

"What?"

Luke looked back at the sky. "Nothing."

"Well, what can you do then? Quickly."

"That's for me to know and you to find out." He turned to her and winked, and Sage closed her eyes against the sun. This was going surprisingly well. Maybe Luke wasn't so scary after all. She couldn't believe that at one point she thought he was evil. It was pretty quiet out, and all she could hear was some kids yelling in the distance and the rustle of leaves.

Luke fell asleep while they were stargazing, but Sage waited a bit to wake him up so they could go back in the tent. She was too lost in the sound of the crickets chirping and her feeling of serendipity. Eventually she did, though, and Luke groggily crawled in after her. They had laid a blanket on the ground inside earlier, and so all they needed to do was grab their own blankets out of their bags to use. They did, and Luke fell back asleep within minutes.

Sage drifted off about an hour later. She dreamt that it was so hot out that she felt she was boiling in the tent. She stepped outside to get some fresh air and saw that the leaves on the trees were beginning to shrivel up. They were black, and they fell in a powder like form to the ground. Her heart was racing. The sweat sticking to her shirt began to evaporate. A stench floated through the forest.

Sage sat up, her eyes still heavy with sleep. She felt her shirt stick to her skin as she yawned and stretched. It was sunny out, but it was only warm instead of being extremely hot. She turned her head to the left to look at Luke for comfort, but he wasn't there. His blankets were still on the ground and his bag was set on top of them, though, and so Sage figured that he must've gone out to brush his teeth. She turned her head to the right to grab her phone, and there he was. His muscles were more pronounced, and he was standing on his tip toes. His black eyes stared at her.

Sage gasped awake. She must've been dreaming that she woke up before. Still feeling uneasy, she turned to look at Luke. He looked the same as he had when she last looked at him. Some of his hair had fallen into his open mouth, and his blanket had been shoved off of him. He looked so adorable that Sage wanted to take a picture, but she thought that that might be creepy. Light was seeping into the tent, so she knew it was day time. She looked at her phone. It was 8:37. She had a few missed calls from Wiley, and a text from Samantha and Kale. Samantha was talking about what they should be for Halloween. Kale had texted her a single word. It was "HELP."

Sage's eyes flew open, tears streaming down her face. She felt like she couldn't breathe. She sat up to give her chest more access to air, but it still didn't help. Luke was stirring now, but she was too afraid to look at him. Despite this, he immediately came over and put an arm around her, but Sage shrugged it off.

"I'm fine," she mumbled, pulling her scalp with her hands. None of this was real. In a moment she would be opening her eyes again, mistaking her dream for reality another time. She was just waiting for something bad to happen.

"Hey, are you okay? Let me get you some water." Sage tearned to watch as Luke dug through his backpack. She gasped at what she saw. It was Kale.

Sage gasped awake again, her breathing slower than the last time she had. Was she actually awake? She looked around the tent wildly. Everything looked fine, but she was still suspicious. She looked to Luke's bed. It was empty. Taking a deep breath, she got up and opened the tent. Outside looked all normal, which was a good sign. Luke was sitting outside, sketching in a notebook she didn't know he had even brought.

"Look who's awake," he laughed. Sage sat down next to him. He had been drawing a man walking on water.

"Thinking about converting to Christianity?" she teased.She looked closer. She could see the side profile, and she thought that it looked a lot like Kale.

Luke slammed the notebook shut. "It's nothing, just an idea I wanted to draw."

Sage shuttered, but quickly fake smiled. "It's awesome. Can you take me home? I have to study."

When Sage got back she spotted Wiley in her bed in pajamas.

"How was the camping trip?"

Sage sat down next to her. "Good."

"Samantha's coming over soon."

"And you're not getting ready?" Sage was surprised. Wiley loved to plan her outfits.

"No, I feel sick."

"And you're laying in my bed?"

"You actually make yours."

Sage laughed. That was true. She climbed in next to Wiley, and they napped until they were awoken by a knock on the door. Samantha was also in pajamas. In her hands was a sparkling water, an iced green tea, and a milkshake. She handed Sage the sparkling water and Wiley the green tea. They both thanked her, and Samantha laid down next to Wiley.

The girls had a fun day together. Sage was surprised to only find herself mildly annoyed with Wiley. Halloween was next week, and in Sage's first class her and Samantha wondered where they'd get the stuff for their costumes. Samantha had suggested they go as angels the day prior, but that wasn't creative enough to Sage. Finally, Wiley brought up going as the weird sisters from Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Sage didn't know who they were, but Wiley seemed pretty happy about being able to be someone that people wouldn't call her "the black version of", so she agreed.

Sage saw Luke that day too. She had those weird dreams about him all night on Sunday, but she hid her skepticism of him. Something told her that following along with his plans would help her find Kale.

That weekend Luke invited Sage out, but seeing as she still felt slightly uneasy around him, she lied and said she had plans. Technically she did, because she decided to join Samantha's church. She also had work on Friday and Saturday. Her coworkers kept pushing her to take time off, but she liked the distraction.

On Sunday morning she was up bright and early. She showered and put on a yellow sun dress. It was Kale's favorite color. She straightened her hair so it would be extra smooth and put on bronzer and mascara. She met Samantha at the church, and they walked in together and sat down towards the front. It smelled like books, and the seats were hard. A family sat next to Sage in the row.

The service started with a group of choir kids, and when they dispersed the preacher went up to the stand. They prayed, got scripture repeated to them, and then prayed again. At the end they all stood up and sang a song.

"So, how was that for you?" Samantha asked Sage afterwards.

"Everyone is so nice." Her church back home could do a lot of gatekeeping, and so she was relieved to find herself welcomed with open arms.

"There's a Halloween event the day after, wanna help?"

Sage nodded. "I'd love to." She could use some extra church involvement.

A few hours after she got home, Sage got a facetime call from Luke. She ignored it. She could always say that she was in the shower or something and missed it. Instead, she decided to open up her bible. In her dreams, she'd read it to determine if she had really woken up or was still asleep. When she wasn't actually awake, the text would all be in Latin. She was disappointed to see that it was in English when she flipped to where she had left off.

Her, Samantha, and Wiley met up to go shopping for their costume on Monday. Sage was Agatha, Samantha Dorcas, and Wiley Prudence. For the matching portion, they bought black lipstick and buttoned up dresses. They all had some kind of black shoes at home, and so they decided that they'd just wear those. Sage had to buy some temporary black hair dye on top of the rest of their costume, while Samantha chose to buy a wig, and Wiley decided to leave her hair as it was. After, they treated themselves to boba tea and Netflix in Samantha's dorm bedroom.

During class on Monday Luke asked to hangout with her after school, but Sage said she had to do some work. She wasn't lying, as she still had to do some stuff for her classes. She lied when she replied that maybe they could hangout the next day, though.

On Tuesday she said she had plans with Wiley. She didn't, but she was hoping that Wiley would come back to the dorm room in the afternoon so she'd know that her lie didn't have holes. Sage spent her time scrolling through Kale's instagrams and comments. She tried several times to guess his password, but it didn't work. Wiley didn't come back until 9 p.m, so Sage just hoped that she hadn't run in to Luke anywhere.

"Luke's been asking about you."

Sage rolled her eyes. She thought he'd be easier to shake than this.

"You've been avoiding him, haven't you?" she inferred.

"No, I've just been busy.

Wiley laughed. "Doing what?"

"Church stuff." Sage shrugged. She had been spending a lot of time texting Samantha about the set up for the Halloween party. Not that much time, though.

"Let's get out and take a break."

"It's dark out," Sage said, gesturing to the window. The curtains were closed, but no light seeped in.

"So?"

"I have to study." She didn't.

"It can wait," Wiley insisted.

"So can whatever you have in mind."

Wiley sighed in exasperation. "It's just going to the park."

Seeing that Wiley wasn't going to let up, Sage finally gave in. "Fine."

Wiley ordered the Uber, and it arrived in ten minutes. They both sat in the back, although Wiley mostly talked to the driver while Sage absentmindedly stared out the window.

Twenty minutes later the driver came to a stop outside of a building.

"This isn't the park." Sage said as she stepped out. She looked up at the sky and was happy to be greeted by stars.

"I know."

Sage looked around. There was a tree by the entrance to the brick building, and the doors had gold handles. She knew exactly where they were. "What are we doing here?"

"Picking up Luke."

Sage rolled her eyes. "I thought we were going to the park."

"We are." Wiley said, and then she walked up to the big doors.

It took a lot to get Luke out of bed. Wiley tried knocking, and then Sage. They even tried knocking at the same time. Finally, Wiley just called him on speaker.

"Hello?" he answered, sounding kind of confused. There was chattering behind him, and a crunching sound echoed through the phone.

"Where are you?"

Luke paused, and the noise died down. "At my place."

"Well, we're here and you're not answering the door."

Luke hung up, and Sage gave Wiley a confused expression. Moments later, though, the door swung open. Luke's face was flushed and his hair was messy. He wore a mustard yellow sweatshirt and grey sweatpants. His eyes were a light brown color and had red bags under them.

"What's up?" he asked, leaning against the door frame. He looked so casual. Sage searched his face for any sign of mischief.

"We're going to go fuck around and thought we'd see if you wanna come."

Luke looked at Sage. "Is there weed involved?"

"I can buy some." Wiley offered.

A smile spread on Luke's face. "Okay, let me change."

When Luke returned he was wearing a white sweatshirt that made his returned green eyes pop with a black jacket and light blue jeans. Sage noticed that his white shoes were stainless as he stepped outside of the door to his apartment.

"I see you've finally got some free time," Luke greeted Sage as he stepped out of the room. She held back the urge to roll her eyes.

"I've been super busy," Sage replied, her breathing getting harder as she struggled to keep up with them going down the stairs. She wondered why his apartment complex couldn't seem to afford an elevator.

"So you've told me."

Sage shrugged and kept it pushing. Luke waited until they had gotten to the ground floor and Wiley walked ahead and out to stop Sage and speak again.

"Is everything okay with us?" he asked, looking into her eyes. Sage looked to the door.

"Yeah," she felt his eyes searching his face, but she still didn't make contact. Her hands began to sweat.

"I know you're lying."

Sage went to look at him, and his dark eyes bored into hers. Feeling uncomfortable, she sped up to catch up with Wiley. Luke followed, and they all began to walk away from the apartment with Luke trailing behind Sage and Wiley.

"We're probably gonna get kidnapped," Sage complained, and Wiley hit her while Luke laughed. It was extremely dark out and none of them had weapons.

"You're so pessimistic." Wiley noted.

"Let's go on the swings when we get there." Luke chimed in from behind.

"I hate swings." Wiley said.

"You hate swings?" Luke exclaimed.

"Are you mentally okay?" Sage added.

"Whatever," Wiley laughed, and she began to slow as they approached the park. It had green swings on one end and a red slide on the other. There were monkey bars in the middle, along with a seesaw and one of those small structures with a pole running down the side and steering wheel attached to one of the walls. The gravel crunched under Wiley's feet as she ran to the monkey bars. Once she got to them, she jumped up and then swung across them. Luke laughed and followed while Sage sat down on the seesaw. Seeing this, Luke promptly jumped down from the bar and sat on the opposite end from Sage, flinging her upwards. Wiley was distracted as she attempted a flip.

"What did I do?" Luke pressed. Sage caught his expression and instantly felt bad about her behavior. She had no proof that he had done anything. His eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes wide with questions. His lips settled into a small frown.

"I can't just know what you want me to do for you. You have to tell me. It's called communication." he continued. Sage's face began to heat up, but she pushed her anger down. She needed to get into hell and get her hands on those records.

"If I go to hell will I be damned there?"

Luke raised an eyebrow. "No."

"What is the process of getting into hell?"

"Depends which one works."

Sage pursed her lips in annoyance.

Luke rolled his eyes, and as he was doing so Wiley approached.

"What are you two love birds talking about?"

The rest of the night actually went pretty well. Wiley and Luke managed to convince Sage to go to the nearby basketball court and sit with them while they smoked, and in her revved up state she even agreed to take a hit. She felt nowhere near the way she had when she ate that edible, thankfully, and instead felt smart and giggly.

The next day Luke wasn't in class, but in the next afternoon he FaceTimed Sage.

"How was your day?" he asked, although he wasn't in sight. Sage could hear shuffling.

"Good." she said, drawing it out in suspicion. He came back into frame. He was sitting on his bed in a sweatshirt and sweatpants. In his lap was a sketchbook. He loosely began to shape something.

"How was yours?" she continued.

"I was out smoking with friends all day, so great," he laughed, glancing up. Sage eyed him suspiciously, although she couldn't see him super well through the phone. His lids did seem to hang lower over his eyes, but he was also squinting at the page. When he looked up at the phone they didn't seem red on top of this. She knew Wiley wouldn't care enough to try and see whether or not he was stoned.

"Who was all there?" Sage asked, trying to keep her tone light. She looked at her fingernails, but Luke wasn't paying attention anyways.

"Just a few of the guys and Wiley."

Sage squinted.

"You're jealous, aren't you?"

Sage relaxed her expression, although she wasn't sure how he had caught it. She didn't even see him look up.

"Of your guy friends I've never even met?" Sage scoffed.

"Of Wiley."

Sage's cheeks burned red. She didn't even know why she disliked her so much.

"She's my-"

Before Sage could even finish he held up his book to the phone. "Look, it's you!" he said, his cheeks slightly rosey. Sage studied the drawing. It was her, and in striking detail. Not only did she not even know that he was drawing her, but she also didn't know that it was possible to make such a realistic drawing so fast. She was sitting on a throne, her hair long and falling down her back in curls. She had a smile on her face.

"Do you like it?" he asked, shifting a little.

"Duh!" Sage replied, her face breaking out in a grin. She was kind of touched at the fact that he had even wanted to make the drawing. The anger was fading again.

The rest of the week sped by for Sage, and she was in agony the whole time.What if this whole thing didn't work? How could she even begin to process never seeing her brother again? Before she knew it it was Friday and time for the halloween party. The girls met up in Sage and Wiley's dorm and slipped into their dresses and miscellaneous.

"I still don't know who we're supposed to be." Sage said, turning around to see how she looked from the back in Wiley's mirror.

"I know enough to know that we should try to steer away from anyone from our church on our way out."

Sage laughed. "It's that bad?"

"It's just from a show," Wiley explained. "And stop looking in the mirror, Sage. You look fine."

Sage huffed. "I have like no butt."

"I have no boobs." Samantha chimed in.

"Enough you two!" Wiley scolded. "All that matters is whether or not we have fun tonight." Wiley picked up her things, and then they all headed out to wait for the uber.

"Is Luke going to be there?" Wiley asked.

Sage frowned. "I don't know, he didn't say."

"You don't even know where your boyfriend is going to be tonight?" Samantha pressed, and Sage laughed.

"That's something my brother would've said." He probably would've begged her to stay away from him. He was probably going to scold her for how she found him when she did.

The uber took forever to get to the girls, and when they got there the party was starting to build up. It was in a huge rented ballroom, and the flier had said that no alcohol was allowed. Despite this, the smell of it loomed in the air along with the smell of weed. Wiley quickly found someone to buy Svedka off of.

"Want some?" she offered after taking a swig.

Samantha made a face. "Gross."

Wiley shrugged. "You should try some Sage."

Sage thought about it. She needed to stop thinking for a few minutes. Guilt and anger had been following her like angry bees. She would be no use to Kale if she had killed herself by the time she found him. Besides, everyone was drinking, dancing, and laughing, and here they were standing and talking in a corner. She could be smiling and having fun like everyone else if she drank, she figured. She grabbed the bottle from Wiley and took a gulp, which caused her to almost cough all of it up. Her throat burned and the taste was enough to make her want to vomit.

"I invited Luke," Wiley smiled.

"Shouldn't he be at some other party?"

"He was at another party, but it got shut down and he was looking for somewhere else to go."

Sage shivered as she handed the bottle to Wiley. Parties were getting shut down? She couldn't afford to be caught by the police, and with how heavy her body was starting to feel she didn't know how fast she would be able to run. She really should've eaten something that day. She'd probably throw up if she had to try to move quickly. She could see the officers dragging her now, her dyed black hair sticking to the vomit on her cheeks. The last thing that her mother needed was extra stress. She pictured her parents finding out, and that image in of itself caused her strain. She needed to stop thinking so much.

"Give me the bottle."