I should've checked up on Lelia way earlier.

She is not okay. Not even a little bit. I could sense it the second she refused to open the bathroom door. Once I saw her, I knew for sure.

"I'm literally going to drown. Praying the ice tea's cold." She runs two hands through her hair.

"You mean you're going to dry out," I say.

She leans back in her chair, humming as she stares at the ceiling.

Minho and I share a glance.

"How's Jen?" She asks. Something about her way of talking is off. So slow yet loud.

"We don't know. She hasn't woken up." Minho looks down. "Can we focus on other things right now? I've been trying to forget about it for today."

"Good idea." I nod. Lelia no longer replies. She's just staring at the ceiling. "Uhm, Lelia," I start carefully, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Literally perfect."

Minho straightens his posture. "Did you drink?"

She laughs. "Yes. I'm sorry. I found the bottle of wine I really... really like. And I just needed everything to be quiet for a while. Sorry."

I squint my eyes at her.

Just like I find it easy to read her, it can also be impossible. I can't tell if she's lying.

"Don't do that again while we're not there, okay?" Minho lies a hand on her arm. We're sitting at a round table, so it's not really possible for him to do anything else. "I suggest Amina and your father come back home instead of that motel they're staying at near the hospital. Dad and I spending all our time in the hospital, so you can't stay with us. Now that Lyndon is no longer in the hospital, he could also stay with you, and Newt, too."

"Why would I need all those people around me?" She scoffs, then chuckles.

Because you're not okay, I want to say. And you're close to hurting yourself, I want to say. You probably haven't slept in days.

But I don't, because she'll either get super pissed, or won't care at all.

Minho and I share another glance, then remain quiet. So does Lelia. I can't take my eyes off her, though.

Minho leans closer to my ear. "I don't think we're going to Asshole until she's somewhere safe. Maybe Teresa's house? Thomas's house is right next to it."

"No. The drive is too long. I don't want her to be that far away," I reply.

That's the problem. Imagine the camp in the middle of the area. Newt lives west from it. Minho and the hospital I was in and Jennifer currently is in, are north. Lelia and I live south. Thomas and Teresa east.

Lelia and I live more than two hours away from the camp in the first place, which makes the drive to Thomas's even longer, as they also live quite a distance from the camp. And with his father around, I don't think I want Lelia to be there.

"Maybe she just needs to come with us to Eli," I suggest.

Minho doesn't reply for a long time. Thoughtful, he rests his cheek on his palm. "I don't know. If she's fucking drunk, she won't speed our project up, and I kind of never want her and Eli to connect again."

I pull a face. "Possessive much."

"Hey, he said some real inappropriate shit, man," Minho defends. "I won't forgive him."

"Whatever you say. So... we call my parents and ask them to stay home with Lili?"

"No." He shakes his head. "She wouldn't want them to see her drunk, or in a bad state in the first place. I'll feel bad for," he makes quotations, "exposing," quotations gone, "her."

"Right. Smart." I nod. "I trust her with Newt, but I don't think he's the happiest with me right now."

"So? You're just not gonna talk to him until things magically get fixed?"

"That was what I was going for, yes. Come on, it's Newt. And it's me. We can't be angry for long."

Minho raises an eyebrow. "The only thing you're right about is that it's you. Newt will stay mad at everyone, but you. You're lucky."

"Speaking out of experience?"

"Yup." Minho looks over at Lelia, who's playing with the menu card, then turns back to me. "So we're gonna take her with? That's gonna be a taxi instead of motorcycle."

"Thank God. I really don't trust you with driving. No offense."

"Offense taken."

☀︎︎

"Visiting Eli? For real?" Lelia leans against the window of the taxi, whining.

"Just for a minute." Minho opens the door once we stop driving and helps Lelia out of there. She's a bit... unstable at this point. And not just physically, I've figured.

I'm worried. The skin around my nails has been ripped off and I'm trying not to bite my nails but it's hard. I manage to stop myself at the thought of having disgusting hands.

We just need Jennifer to help Lelia, if only she hadn't gotten hurt by that stupid guy.

I think, for some reason, Jennifer's the only person Lelia would listen to. I don't know what Jennifer has that convinces my sister, but she clearly doesn't feel like listening to me. Or Dad. Not even to Minho.

Maybe because Jennifer is a woman, but Lelia also doesn't listen to Amina. I'm too confused to think about it even more.

I shake out of my thoughts when the elevator doors open. Apparently, we've already made it on the floor where Eli is. Minho makes his way to the right door in a fast pace, Lelia wobbling in the middle.

Minho knocks on the door, hard. Three firm knocks before he rings the doorbell. Impatience has been dripping off his voice the second we arrived.

Slowly, the door opens. I hear loud cracks and screeches as it does, though when I can look past the blonde boy, I see a clean place.

"Uhm, hi." His eyes trail over our bodies. "Not the visitors I expected to have."

"Let us in," Minho says.

Eli blocks the doorframe with his body, crossing his arms. "I don't know, dude. You punched me in the face last time I saw you."

"You said something ridiculous about my girlfriend," he snaps back. "Let us in. All we want is answers to our questions."

Eli's eyes linger on me. "And you're Lyndon, right? She talked a lot about you."

Complaining about how annoying it is I'm constantly looking after her or the opposite?

"And she seems fucking stoned." He points at Lelia. She has her arms widened, hair flying in the wind that's rushing through the balcony.

"Drunk," Minho corrects. "But let's stop looking at her and let us in."

Sighing, the boy eventually obeys. He runs a frustrated hand through his blonde curls as I force Lelia inside with us. Minho has already found a place on the couch as if he has been here before. Lelia plops down beside me. I stand awkwardly, rubbing my arm.

"What the hell do you need to ask me? Yes, I know, I've been a dick and I've been trying to apologize for real."

"Did you give her a phone?" I'm surprised I'm the first to ask.

"No, I never did," he says. "Why does everyone keep asking that? Hey, Lelia— can you not touch all my stuff, please? I just cleaned."

I watch her wander around the house, completely oblivious of his words.

"Did you spread those pictures of her?" Minho asks.

"What pictures?"

"What pictures do you think?"

"Man, how would I know? I haven't head from her in a week and a half."

"Oh, wow. You're gonna die." Minho rolls his eyes. "Tell us. How many times have you been at the camp?"

"Twice. Driving her there and bringing her clothes."

"Those clothes sucked, by the way. She didn't like them," Minho says. "Said she found vomit on there."

That's a lie and both of us know it.

"Anyway— where exactly did you meet her? And when?"

"At a bar," he tells us the name of it. "I haven't exactly been keeping track of time. It was weeks ago."

"How did it go?"

"Well, she started taking to me. We went to get drinks. I paid for them. We were talking to the bartender. She convinced him to give us more for free. Then... you know."

"I don't think I know," Minho says, eyes narrowed.

I don't think I want to know.

"You know exactly what I mean," Eli snaps. "It was a one time thing."

"I asked full details."

"You don't need full details of that."

"At least say a few words so I have a good reason to beat the fucking shi—"

I clear my throat as loudly as I can.

"Whatever. We both needed some distraction so yes, there was a one night thingy going on. You already knew that. And you," he turns to me, "I'm sorry for forcing you to hear that."

But I stare at Lelia—who's messing around in the kitchen or something—and bite my lip. Do I rather want her to lock herself in her bedroom and lie in bed all day, or do I want her to go to parties every night and mess with random guys?

No, I want her wearing her favorite kind of clothes and having fun with sports and girl friends at the camp.

"And then?"

"Then we kept in touch. Well, not literally. I swear it was one time. She once spent another night at mine. That's when I dropped her off at the camp. It was two days later when I brought her those clothes. After that, I tried to apologize through texts, but she obviously didn't have her phone, until that one device showed up."

Minho doesn't trust him and would rather not believe him. I can clearly see it. Yet he says, "You are going to help us catch two guys. We suspect one of them is our friend's psychopathic father. We don't know who the other one might be, but he's been bothering Lelia, and has hurt both Lyndon and my mom."

Eli stares at him. "My help?"

"Yes. Your freaking help."

"Thought you had a whole friend group."

"Thought you wanted to feel cool," Minho replies. "You're the best candidate for this type of shit."

"So you're gonna help or not?" I ask.

"He'll help. He doesn't have a choice," Minho says.

Eli mutters something under his breath, then looks back up. "What do you want me to do? What's the first step?"

"You," Minho starts smiling, "will be our bait."

Eli pales a bit. "I'm sorry?"

"You're gonna lock that creep towards you."