“It’s for your own good, Bryce.”

That was the last words from her mother, before he got out of the car, and stormed into his house, even though his father shouted, “Bryce!” With his keys already in his hands, he opened the door, and didn’t wait for them, going straight upstairs to his bedroom.

He entered his room, locked it, and took off his hazmat suit costume. He quickly took changed his clothes to pajamas, and then jumped onto his bed, not giving care about whether it would break the bed or not.

“Bryce…” knocked her mom gently.

“Leave me alone!” he grabbed his pillow and used it to cover his head.

“Honey, you have to understand — it gets seriously dangerous, you can’t have a sleepover without adults nearby…”

“Excuses. You never like them…” mumbled Bryce, too angry and indifferent to say it out loud.

“We’ll talk about this tomorrow, okay… just… have some sleep…” sighed his mom eventually. He could hear footsteps of his mother walking away from his door.

Soon as he didn’t hear it anymore, he instinctively took his phone on the table. That was when the phone rang. It was quite loud, so he quickly picked up the video-call.

The moment he picked it up, Terrence, Aaron, and Ryan were already there. The screen were split into four parts. “Dude, you made it home?” asked Aaron.

“Yeah, obviously,” said Bryce, flat. He looked at the backgrounds behind Aaron and Terrence’s faces; they seemed to be already in their own houses. “How is it? Police’s gone?”

“Yeah, they just left. There’s nothing else to ask about, after all. Now they’re out looking for those guys…” said Ryan.

“Are you sure it’s them, Aaron…?” asked Bryce, frowning. “I don’t want them to catch the wrong guys…”

“It’s definitely them. Three guys, sulking all the time in the corners, bullying… you’ve gotta see the resemblances! Remember what he said to you, before Mrs. Green showed up?”

“You’re one pain in the… bla, bla, bla…?”

“I’ve always heard them saying that. Even to the exact same tone.”

“Yeah, me too. Look, even if it’s not them, it’s not like police would just throw them into jail without investigation whatsoever. There’s no harm in it.”

“Fair enough… speaking of Mrs. Green… she’s actually there…?”

“Yeah, she is. She’s even still holding her gun before I went to bed.”

“What about her house? Her family?”

“There’s Mr. Green, isn’t there? I don’t think she would abandon them alone at all.”

“I feel bad calling her joy-killing meanie… she seriously rescued us…” said Terrence.

“Yeah… that was seriously a nick of the time…”

“Young men, do you know what time is already is?”

They all bounced off their bed, especially Ryan, surprised by Mrs. Green behind him. Even though it was through the video-call, Bryce himself could feel how loud her voice is. “S-Sorry, Mrs. Green…”

“Good. Now, shut your phone down, and go to sleep.” replied Mrs. Green, although he didn’t see her face in the screen. “And don’t you worry, kids. I’m staying here.”