x| chapter seven.
' red and blue lights. '

two days had passed since alice had had dinner at the barber residence and all the secrets had been spilled. the two teens kept in touch, swapping numbers for safe keeping. she'd get random texts from him like dumb phrases or random things. but never about the information they shared that night. it was almost as if the thing never even happened.

it was the weekend, meaning no classes and a bit more freedom than usual for students. alice's parents were more lenient, she usually wasn't home all weekend cause there wasn't a need to be. that was at least true now, she was currently staying at ollie's house because tomorrow was her seventeenth birthday. he had insisted she couldn't spend it alone in her house, so he forced her to come stay at his instead.

"so you're telling me you actually went to jacob barber's house? like on purpose?" ollie raised a brow to the girl as he sat on his bed, leaning against the dark green walls. his room was styled very chaotically- old band posters plastered in a sort of collage, vinyl covers tacked on neatly as well. even the ceiling was covered in old newspaper clippings or cool pieces of art he liked. there nearly wasn't anymore green wall paint left to be seen, he liked a covered canvas. it much matched his old school personality.

"well yes, he told me he had some information. i wasn't just going to pass that up." alice shrugged while looking at the boy, she sat on his bed as well, facing him however. "i want to know what happened, i thought he might help."

ollie shook his head at her response, almost still not understanding. "have you seen some of the things people are saying about him?" he asked her, his chill tone sort of wearing off. he had heard all of what derek and all those people had been spreading all over the school, it wasn't something to take lightly.

"what happened to you not listening to rumors, ollie?" alice protested his reply. he was always the kind of kid who sat back in high school and never wanted to get into any drama like that. his demeanor with this however, begged to differ with all that.

oliver rolled his eyes, sitting up a little straighter. "i hate rumors, you know that." he commented, agreeing with her a little bit. "and usually i would be the last person to fall for that shit." he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "but ali, we are talking about murder here. that isn't something to just discard and take lightly. if people are pointing hands at him, i'd stay away."

alice just sat there in response to his explanation. she didn't think it was fair what everyone was saying. they didn't know what she knew about jacob. the both of them had secrets that could either protect them or ruin them and it killed her that she couldn't tell ollie. she took a deep breath, turning and looking away from the boy and towards the walls of his room.

"i just don't want to see your name scrolling across the news screen next, okay?" ollie sighed, putting a hand on her shoulder. "no more memorial assemblies at school." he moved to the edge of his bed, grabbing his shoes from the floor and beginning to lace them up. "deal?"

alice still had a slight frown on her face, while she drowned out all the words he was saying. she could understand his concerns, but she wasn't going to stop talking to jacob. he might be her only way to figure this whole mess. and at this point she'd been making a lot of deals with different people now.

"deal." she sighed while fidgeting with her fingers, though she soon glanced up to see him standing. he was brushing off the wrinkles in his baggy clothes. "what're you doing?"

"we are going to stop talking about this shit. it's too... heavy." he explained, emphasizing the word 'heavy' with his hands. "in a few hours it will be your seventeenth birthday after all, and i'm not going to let you be depressed during it. no freaking way." he shook his head, then holding his hand out for her to grab. "come on loser, we're going to the grocery store."

alice raised a brow as he mentioned the grocery store and was honestly confused by his whole statement. "ollie, that's great and all, but it's eleven thirty at night. it's almost curfew and my mom would kill me if she knew i was out." she replied to him, though in his opinion she was being a drag.

"see this is what i'm talking about, ali. you sound like a fourty year old mother nagging her children about brushing their teeth." oliver whined, doing a dumb motion with his hands. "you're about to be seventeen! if ben rifkin's untimely death has taught you anything, it should be that life is short and you need to live it up before it's too late." he huffed, waving his arms in the air. "so let's live a little,"

alice rolled her eyes, laughing slightly at his dumb antics. "fine, but if i sound like a middle aged woman, you sound like some peppy hallmark card from target." she joked, grabbing his hand and standing up.

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about twenty minutes had passed, they were back in oliver's old 'iconic' car on the highway into town. they were currently going to the local supermart to buy some cake mix, a spur of the moment idea thanks to ollie himself.

the two were quite opposites, but it worked well. ollie loved being spontaneous and random, jumping into his car at late hours for adventures. while alice liked having a schedule and listening to the rules. their friendship worked because alice kept him grounded while oliver brought her out of her shell.

an iconic duo, one might say.

"okay so most important question, are we getting chocolate or funfetti?" ollie raised a brow, his fingers lightly tapping on the steering wheel as he drove. there was light music playing in the background of their conversation. it had started to rain so there was also the faint noise of the windshield wipers fanning the rain off of the glass.

"i'm thinking we get both and do like a swirl with it." alice shrugged, thinking about her options. "i figure if we came all the way out her at night, i may as well live a little." she commented, making slight fun of his little speech from earlier.

oliver rolled his eyes while he glanced at her, but then played along. "wow i'm impressed, who is this maniac sitting in my front seat?" he sarcastically spoke, motioning to her with his hand.

before they could turn off of the highway onto the main street, sirens began sounding in the distance behind them. then red and blue lights could be seen in the reflection of the rain on the mirrors. it rang closer until it was certain who the target was.

"you don't think that's for us, right?" alice quickly turned to ollie, her voice having a hint of concern.

"there's no one else on the road, alice." oliver huffed, clearly annoyed. he began pulling over as the cop car neared their tail end.

"shit, i wasn't even speeding. i was going like two over!" oliver complained as he pulled to the side of the road, the cop stopping behind him. he was more annoyed than concerned considering he did not have enough money to pay for a ticket. alice on the other hand, was very worried.

soon a cop approached the driver's side window, oliver rolling down his window as it happened. "license and registration, please." the cop recited, holding his hand out. oliver complied giving it to him.

"was i speeding? because i don't think i was, but maybe i was.." he asked the officer, nervously rambling. but while he occupied the officer, alice sat in the front seat nervously biting her cheek.

suddenly she heard a knock on the window next to her, the passenger side, and she slowly turned her head to see another officer. the officer was motioning for her to roll down the window as well. her heart sank, but she did as she was asked.

"are you alice reese pike?" the officer questioned the girl, reading it off of a small piece of folded paper. he was shining a flashlight on her face. alice nodded nervously at his question, confused why he'd ask.

after the cop gained confirmation that it was indeed her, he stepped back, opening the door to the car.

"i'm going to have to ask you to step out of the vehicle immediately."

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a/n: finally chapter seven! so sorry it took forever for me to write and publish, i had SEVERE writers block.
but i do like the way it ended up turning out!
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hope you enjoyed this little cliff hanger!
but don't worry i'm writing chapter eight as you are reading this and believe me, it's going to be CRAZY.
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don't forget to vote and comment!

[next chapter: eight!]
[publishing date: 05/19/20]
[word count: 1550!]
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