At the end of the school day, Mallory sat in her car, idly waiting for the parking lot to clear a little before attempting to leave. The ancient POS that Isaac and the Sams drove was in view, and she stared at it absentmindedly. When she saw them exiting the building, she slumped low in her seat and watched as they got into the vehicle. Had she been waiting for them? She hadn’t consciously thought of it that way, but as they pulled out of their parking spot, she decided to follow them again. She didn’t have a concrete plan in place. But there was something about them that bothered her, and if her best friend was going to get involved with them…

Remembering that she had been spotted following them the other day, she tried to keep farther back this time, cursing each time she thought she lost sight of them. Eventually, their vehicle pulled into the lot of a cheap motel across town, and as Mallory drove by she saw what door they were going into. She frowned, wondering why they had come to this place, and continued past, pulling into the parking lot of a little pizza parlor around the corner. She sat for a moment, contemplating her next move.

Everything had been on a whim, but now she was here. She took a deep breath and got out to walk down to the motel. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she walked, hands in her pocket, wondering how suspicious she looked every step of the way and feeling like a million eyes were watching her, accusing her of being where she wasn’t supposed to be. Eliza was going to get involved with Isaac, she wanted to know… what? She couldn’t say for sure, beyond that she wanted Eliza to be safe.

In no time at all, she found herself standing outside their door. She stared at the little metal six tacked to the front of it, and hesitated, losing her nerve again. Should she knock? Should she leave? She tentatively bent to place her ear against the door. She couldn’t hear anything…

“Can I help you?”

Mallory jumped, straightening and turning to find Sampson was standing behind her, carrying three bottles of soda. She felt her face warm as she tried desperately to think of a reason – any reason – that she would be standing outside of their motel room door, attempting to eavesdrop. She leaned back against the door as he moved closer, and was further shocked when the door opened and she fell backwards into the room. “Mallory? What are you doing here?” Samanda asked, grabbing her by the arm to help her stand and then ushering her over to sit on the bed.

Sampson moved in and closed the door behind himself, and within moments Mallory found herself staring up at them. Her instincts screamed at her for allowing herself to be caught and surrounded, and her mind raced for something, anything, to explain herself. But before she could think of a single thing, Isaac appeared out of thin air.

Mallory gaped in shock.

It wasn’t that Isaac had walked in from another room, and he hadn’t been there the entire time unnoticed. One moment, the spot was unoccupied, and then suddenly he had appeared out of thin air. Isaac looked just as startled to see that she was there, staring at him in slack jawed disbelief. “Oh,” he said as their eyes met,” shit.”