He Knew It All

Once Jonathan pulled into a parking space at a small coffee shop thirty minutes later, he turned his car off and all of the guys slowly climbed out. All five of them were still completely shook up, and they only spoke to one another when they were deciding on where to stop to compose themselves. Kyle refused to speak the whole time as he just stared out the window of Jonathan's car. He didn't know what to say, how to say it, or who to say it to, because he still couldn't believe what just happened a half hour ago. It was all so surreal, and he wasn't sure if he would ever get over the feeling of seeing someone die, especially when he could've done something to prevent it.

All of the guys slowly walked towards the coffee shop, all of them looking around as if Alex was, for some reason, following them. When they got into the coffee shop, Kyle trudged over to a table in the corner and sat down. After the rest of the guys joined him, they all looked around at each other, waiting for someone to say something about what happened thirty minutes prior.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Jonathan asked, his voice quiet and low as he set his hands on the table. He looked down at the table top and let out a small sigh, before looking around at his four friends. "We have to do something."

"I don't know," Caleb said, shrugging as he stood up from the table. "I need to get something to drink."

"We just killed a man and you want to get something to drink?" Kyle mumbled as he looked up at his friend. "Are you insane, Caleb?"

"We need to get our juices flowing," Caleb replied, his tone casual. "Anyone else want anything?"

"Just get five coffees," Jonathan said as he looked at Caleb. "Thanks."

Caleb just nodded and walked over to the counter, leaving his four friends at the table. Kyle looked up from where he was staring at the table top, and he looked over at Austin, who looked back over at him. It had never been so awkward--tense, even--when he was with his friends, and this was the first time that Kyle didn't know what to say. There was nothing to say, because there was nothing that could get Kyle's mind off of what happened between Alex and Cory.

He didn't think anything would ever be able to get that off of his mind. Ever.

When Caleb came back a few minutes later, he sat back down at the table and looked over at his friends. "So, what'd I miss?"

"Nothing," Jonathan replied as he grabbed a coffee from the drink carrier that Caleb set on the table. The rest of the guys took a coffee and started to sip on it, besides Kyle, who was just running his finger up and down the warm beverage, wishing that he was somewhere else.

"Okay," Marc said quietly as he looked at all of his friends. "We need to decide what we're going to do."

"What do you think happened to Cory's body?" Kyle asked as he leaned back in his chair, trying to sound at least somewhat casual. "Do you think someone found him?"

"I don't know, Kyle," Jonathan said, a hint of annoyance in his tone. "I don't want to think about Cory's body right now."

"Then what do you want to think about, Jonathan?" Kyle shrugged as he looked over at Jonathan. "How we're going to save ourselves? Are we all just worried about ourselves right now?"

"Yes, considering we're the only ones alive right now," Austin commented, before he let out a sigh. "We need to figure out what we're going to do."

"We can't be caught because of this," Caleb said as he sat up straight. He looked around at all of his friends. "If Alex opens his mouth and says anything about us, I'll kill him."

"He doesn't even know our names, Caleb," Marc said, before taking a sip from his coffee. "And it was dark; he probably doesn't remember what we look like."

"Can we just go back home, please?" Kyle asked (well, most people would call it whining). "I want to just throw up."

"We need to figure out if we're getting a hotel," Jonathan said, ignoring Kyle's question.

Kyle sighed. "I want to just crawl in a hole and die," he said as he put his head down on the table. "Can we please drive back to Dallas?"

"We need to decide how long we're staying here until we go back home," Jonathan said, once again, ignoring Kyle.

"I want to go home," Kyle whined as he squeezed his eyes shut. "Can we please go?"

"We need to promise not to tell anyone," Jonathan said, pointing his index finger at all of his friends.

"Can we just freaking go home?!" Kyle shouted as he picked his head up off the table. He ignored the looks that he was receiving from other customers at the coffee shop and looked over at Jonathan, whose eyes were wide, as if he was surprised that Kyle snapped at him like that.

"Kyle, sh," Jonathan said, hushing his friend. "We'll leave soon enough."

"We should just drive back to Dallas tonight," Austin sighed, leaning back in the chair. "I don't think a hotel would be the best idea."

"I agree with Austin," Marc said, nodding his head. "We need to get home."

"Agreed," Caleb said, putting his hand up in the air. "I vote to go back to Dallas as well."

"We will," Jonathan said, before he casually cleared his throat, as if what he was about to say was extremely important. "But we need to make a pact."

"A pact?" Kyle scoffed as he ran his hands over his hair. "Are we the freaking cast of I Know What You Did Last Summer, Jonathan?"

"I'm serious, Kyle," he said as he let out a sigh. "No one can know about this."

"So, what do you have in mind, Jonathan?" Austin asked as he shrugged one of his shoulders. "Let's hear it."

"We can never, never tell anyone about this," Jonathan said as he lowered his voice and looked around at his friends, as if he was telling a horror story. "We can't tell our parents, our friends, our girlfriends, our siblings. No one. They can't know anything. We have to act totally casual."

"How are we supposed to ask casual?!" Kyle asked as he threw his arms up. "We killed someone!"

"And we can't always say that!" Jonathan continued as he pointed at Kyle. "We didn't kill Cory; Alex killed Cory, and we were in no way involved. We didn't have anything to do with the drugs, and we didn't have anything to do with the deal that obviously fell through. None of us are to blame. We were just innocent bystanders."

"And, Kyle, man, you gotta quit freaking out," Caleb said as he turned to look at his friend. "Just, please, be casual."

Kyle sighed to himself and rubbed his face, before he let out a loud sigh. He was horrible at acting casual; he was horrible at acting in general. Cory getting shot would be in his mind for the rest of his life, and there was no way that he could act natural. He saw someone die; how was he supposed to act?

"I agree to the pact," Austin said, putting his hand in the middle of the table as if they were going to chant as a team.

"So do I," Caleb nodded, sticking his hand in the middle of the table. Jonathan and Marc both put their hands in the middle of the table, leaving Kyle to be the only one out of the circle. The four of his friends looked over at him and waited for him to say that he agreed, their hands stacked upon one another's in the middle of the table. Kyle looked back at all of them, before he let out a quiet sigh and put his hand on top of Jonathan's.

"I'll never tell."

+++

After Ellery left the bathroom, once she was finished with her shower, she went into her bedroom and looked over at her phone that was vibrating on her nightstand. She tossed her towel that she used to dry her hair onto her bed, before walking over to her phone and looking at the screen, to see Jonathan's name and picture flashing on the screen. She looked over at the clock, wondering why he was calling at such a late hour, and after she took a seat on her bed, she answered her phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ellery," Jonathan said, his tone chirpy and casual. "What's up?"

"I just finished taking a shower, and I'm about to go to bed," she replied slowly, confused as to why he was calling. "How's the roadtrip so far?"

"Good, good," he said, heaving a sigh. "But we're heading home soon. We're...bored."

"Bored?" Ellery asked as she raised an eyebrow. "Okay. When are you guys going to be back home?"

"We'll be home tomorrow around noon; maybe a little later than that. But make sure you're home, so you can greet me and the rest of the guys!"

"I will be," Ellery said laughing slightly as she stood up from her bed and walked over to her dresser. She pulled open one of the drawers and took out the box of money that the girls made from the lemonade stand and bake sale. If the guys were coming home tomorrow, Ellery and the girls had less than twelve hours to get snacks, drinks, and decorations for the guys' welcome home party, so they had to get to work.

"Okay. Sounds great. Well, the guys and I are going to finish our coffees and then start driving home. Make sure you let mom and dad know we're coming home."

"I'll let them know tomorrow morning," Ellery replied as she left the box of money out and went back to her bed. "I'll talk to you tomorrow then?"

"That you will," Jonathan sighed. "Bye, Ellery."

"Bye, Jonathan," she said, before hanging up her phone and going through her contacts, until she found Lila's number. She pushed send and put the phone to her ear, and once Lila picked up, Ellery told her that the guys were going to be coming home tomorrow and that they would need to get the decorations, food, and drinks for their welcome home party. After she ended the call with Lila, she called Kylin and put the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Kylin," Ellery sighed as she sat Indian-style on her bed. "There's been a change of plans."

"Is that good or bad?"

"Good, I guess," she replied. "The guys are coming home early, and they'll be back tomorrow around noon or so. So, tomorrow morning we'll have to go to the store, set everything up, and make sure we have everything done before the guys get to my house."

"Why are they coming home so early?" Kylin asked. "Weren't they supposed to come home in, like, three or four days?"

"Something like that," Ellery said, shrugging her shoulders, even though Kylin couldn't see her. "But make sure you're here at, like, nine tomorrow morning. Lila already said she'll be able to make it."

"I'll be there, love. Don't worry."

"Okay," Ellery said with a small smile, before she said goodbye to her friend and hung up her phone. After she plugged her phone into her charger, she set it on her nightstand and went over to her light. She turned her bedroom light off and walked over to her bed, before climbing under the covers and letting out a quiet sigh.

Even though she had only been away from her brother and best friend for less than a week, she still missed them, and she still wanted them to come back home. She was somewhat happy that they were going to be coming home tomorrow, because she was excited to see them, and she was excited to see their reactions when they walked into their welcome home party. And even though Cory wouldn't be back for another four days, Jonathan and the rest of the guys coming home would make her week so much better.

She was sure of that.