The New Order(7): Koner and Maxie

Reminder this is my Reedsycast. The brain power of the characters, and a few plot details, come from my dear friends Skylar, Jasey, Ethan, and Akatsuki(Avi). 

Johnson's P.O.V

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I intertwined my fingers and applied force, cracking a few knuckles before raising my arms up high. Only one elbow popped but that didn't stop my routine. I leaned backwards making sure to keep my balance. Slowly, seconds by seconds my back popped as well. I made a small relaxed sigh before gently falling to the floor. It's been so tiring. I haven't been home since us seniors got out of high school. 

I bit the inside of my lip. Can I even call myself a senior now? I'm an adult citizen of this stupid town. "Tsk.. How stupid." I mutter. 

"I hope you're not talking to me, Maxlynn." I glanced at him, seeing him wipe his damp hands onto his pants. Does no one dry off their hands in the bathroom?

"Not currently." I reply, sitting up. I rubbed my eyes, massaged beneath them. Sleep hasn't been easy. K.D's been giving me some money here and there so everyone thinks I haven't done anything stupid, but.. That's not going to work forever. I need money. My own money. 

"Oh wow.. You're tired." K.D says, plopping down next to me. I look at him. 

"Almost like I've been hiding, eh?" I ask with a slight laugh. He chuckled, but just like me that humor didn't last long. A few moments, or minutes, of silence past.

"Why do you think this Marc guy wants me?" He asks seriously. He was plucking at the strands of carpet. I gulp.

"I don't know." I let out a long sigh, straightening my spine. 

"You don't know?" I close my eyes.

"I don't even know why they wanted information on Eli." I whisper. He makes a low whistle sound.

"That's mildly terrifying." 

"Considering they paid my bills, bought me food, gave me education-"

"Forced you into confined spaces-" I gave him a sharp look. He quickly rose his hands. "Hey! I'm only speaking the truth!" 

"Unneeded." K.D drops his hands with a huff.  "It's more than terrifying.." I say a bit later. "It's paralyzing." He blinks. 

"I get that." I tilt my head.

"Do you though?" K.D's shoulders drooped. 

"Er.. Not really.. But it makes sense." I sigh. "Hey.. Your friend, Inferna, right? At least he's lettin' us stay over."

"Us pretending to be together isn't gonna fool Fern much longer.." I tug my hands into my hair. "He's going to figure out something is wrong.." He grabbed my wrists, rubbing them with his thumbs. A pitiful attempt to calm me. "What am I going to say then?" I ask looking at him. "What am I going to say? Oh hey, Inferna, I work for a group of maniacs who would torture you in legal ways so you gather information for them. At least they give you everything you want though, yeah?!" 

"Hey, hey, no crying." He says hurriedly. K.D scooted closer, pulling me close. I clenched my jaw, ripping my arms away from him. He didn't try to get ahold. "Maxlynn, look at me." I didn't. "Look at me." He hissed, grabbing ahold. I did. "Deep breaths here. In, hold- hey. In. There we go.. And now out.. Again. In, hold. Out." 

Rose's P.O.V

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I jumped up from my bed, the sound of my alarm clock bashing into my ears. "Sweet heck!" I bark, smacking the top of it. I shake my head. Why must it be so loud? It's so unnecessary. Then again, if I didn't have such a fear of not waking up before noon… So was having an alarm clock during the summer time.. I bit my lip before shaking it off. 

No time for that. I thought to myself. It's time to get ready. 

I grabbed a hoodie, some slacks putting those on and shoving my phone into the hoodie's pocket. I put in my contacts before proceeding to walk out of my room. I rose a brow seeing Koner and Maxie sitting down near the entrance of the hallway. Koner was holding Maxie's wrists, seeming to try to calm them down. 

While I don't necessarily like K.D, he and Maxie seemed to get along well, to actually like each other, so I don't completely mind the two couch surfing. 

 "Deep breaths here. In, hold- hey. In." I paused, eyes widening a bit. "There we go.. And now out.. Again." What happened? I wondered, quickening my pace a little. "In, hold. Out." 

"Hey.. Is everything okay here?" I ask with a slight laugh. "What're you two love birds doing?" I ask with a grin, crouching next to them. Maxie scoffs, standing up. I blink, glancing at Koner who held an awkward smile.

He and I both stood up, looking at Maxie. "Maxlynn.. What's wrong?" 

"Nothing, Fern." They replied sharply. I take a step back, confused.

"Maxie, what is it?" I ask again, putting a hand on their shoulder. Their eyes narrow and before I knew it, my forearm stinged. 

"Holy shit.." K.D whispered. I looked between him and Maxie, him and Maxie, him and Maxie. 

They hit me. Maxie. Hit me.. 

"Not now, Inferna.." They whisper. I gulp. I just noticed the strain in their voice. Maxlynn was close to tears. "I.." Maxie groaned, shaking their head. "I need to go." They turned around, quickly heading towards the door. 

"Maxlynn!" I bark, jogging after them. I let out a small yelp as something held me back. I looked down to see it was K.D's arms. 

"I'd leave them be.." He said softly, letting go as Maxie slammed the door shut. I turned to face him, confused. 

"What- what happened?" His face scrunched up, surprised. "Koner." 

"I.. I don't think Maxlynn would approve of me telling you, Inferna. No matter how close the two of you are." My eye twitched. 

"Oh, but they can tell a guy none of their friends knew til now?" He gulped, avoiding eye contact. I blink. "You have to do with what's going on don't you?" I took a step forward.

K.D winced. "Not directly.. But yes." He says. 

"What is it?"

"I can't tell-"

"Koner Reed! Tell me!" I bark. "No matter how messed up things are, Maxlynn has never hit someone. So what happened?!" He stared at the floor. Moments, or minutes past. "Koner." I hissed. More moments past.

"...They ran off from those who looked after them.. That's why they haven't moved.." He said quietly. "That's why they asked if we could stay here." I blink. 

"Wh- what does that have to do with you?" Koner continued to stare at the floor. "Koner?" He let out a long sigh before looking at me.

"I don't know how much of the situation I can give away, Inferna." He folds his arms. "So knock it off." He barks. I clench my jaw. "Maxlynn will tell you when their ready so for now.. Leave it." 

"Who in the world are yo-" K.D's eyes narrowed and before I knew it I yelped, pushed against the wall. "Hey- what the-"

"Damn it Inferna! Leave it!" He hissed. I flinched. Koner reeled back. 

"Fine, I get it." I say calmly. I shove my hands into my hoodie's pocket. 

"Shit- Inferna-"

"Leave, Koner. Don't come back." His eyes widen. I felt my chest clench. He looked afraid. 

"Inferna-"

"You heard me. Leave. Now, or I'll call the cops." And with that, he did leave.