It was finally the weekend. I stayed up late Friday binging TV and then slept in on Saturday. Saturday afternoon I finally dragged myself out of bed, got dressed into a pair of sweats, and combed through the birds nest I called I hair.
That evening Kevin came over, as he does every second weekend of the month.  My mom doesn't actually allow me to have friends over, but she has always made an exception for Kevin. She opened the door and their routine began.
"Hey Eve, how have you been?" Kevin sang out.
"I've been fantastic. How are you? How is school?" My mom pulled Kevin in a gentle hug, as if he was her own child.
"Its going well. Thanks for asking. How is the clinic?" Kevin chimed back as he pulled out of her embrace.
"Oh, same old same old, you know."
"Well that's good I suppose."
Their amicable relationship is the only thing I would consider to be a real flaw from Kevin. I might not have told him, or anyone else, about her homicidal nature, but all of my friends know that our relationship isn't the best.
Then me and Kevin sat down on the sofa and we swapped phones, like we do in class when we are bored. I immediately opened his social media so I could start trying to look up Remy's group again, hoping to have some more success.
"WAIT! His dad dies! What?" Kevin screamed, just barely restraining himself from throwing my phone as he read one of my comics.
"I know, I almost screamed when I read that chapter." I laughed, although I realize I wouldn't have laughed if he had followed through with throwing my phone.
"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" Kevin pointed his finger at me!
"Just cause," I teased back.
We laughed. Our conversations always came easily. We didn't worry about diving into deep topics either, we just let ourselves enjoy each others company. We continued in silence a bit more before I finally peeked up my head, "Kevin."
"You want your peach gummy rations don't you?" Kevin said with a smile.
"You know me so well," I held my hand out to receive the bag.
"Wonder why," he joked.
The best part about our visits is definitely the peach gummies. Well aside from the actual visiting part. Kevin always teases me for hogging the gummies, but I can't help it. They are seriously addictive.
We didn't do much other than scroll on our phones and talk, but our visits are nice nonetheless. I must be an introvert because I always feel exhausted after our visits. I'm not entirely sure when I even went to bed.
I woke up and started looking for my phone. It's on the charger, of course. Wait! I'm going to be late for school! I ran to the bathroom to wash my face and put up my hair, then I threw on some clothes before running down for breakfast.
I made some instant oats and ate it burning hot, letting the heat wake me. Then I realized it was Sunday. And that my shirt was on backwards. Well, at least I know now. Oh, and I was supposed to text Remy last night too. I'll do that now.
E: Hej
R: ?
E: Yellow. I gots a glitchy phone keyboardz. Tacos too long to types right so I just leaf it be
R: LMAO
R: What's up?
E: Nothing much. Wbu?
R: Just some stuff around the farm. Our fence broke so I have to make sure the cattle done get away while it gets repaired.
E: Wow. R he cowz actually trys to get awayt or r u just standing guards jus in caze?
R: Just in case.
E: I wiss I could see u blocks a cow fron runnimg away
R: Do you wanna come over? I could pick you up
E: Yea
I gave Remy my address, flipped my shirt around while I waited to be picked up. I had a bit of a headache but I didn't want to miss out on this chance. Besides, It would really be funny if I got to see Remy try to block a cow from running away. He may be athletic, but I doubt he has any chance of beating a cow if push came to shove.
I went outside as soon as I saw Remy's truck, and he got out to open the passenger door for me. Who says chivalry is dead? He also came with a chocolate bar, which made the entire trip worth it even if I didn't get to see him fight a cow.
"Hi," he whispered gently.
"Hi," I spoke back.
We sat in silence for a moment, and fought to open the candy bar. Once it was open I began inhaling it.
"You really like chocolate, huh?" He laughed as I inhaled the bar.
"I love candy in general," I laughed after swallowing my bite.
"Do you eat a lot of candy?" He wondered aloud.
"No. My mom doesn't allow it in the house unless we have guests, so I only get to eat what I'm given," I spoke only after taking another massive bite.
"Wow. Is your mom strict or just health obsessed?" Remy turned to me, his eyes showing genuine shock.
"She is a doctor but I'd say she's more strict than health obsessed." Despite his strange reaction, I couldn't help but reply nonchalant. This was normal for me.
"Oh, so do you have a curfew that I need to get you home by?" Remy asked, wondering just how strict my mother was.
"No. She's never home to know if I would make the curfew anyway. She's lucky we live in the middle of nowhere or I would just walk places."
I'm not fond of talking about my mom, but I got lost in conversation. Which is odd considering that Remy isn't the best conversationalist. Although maybe that's what is so comforting about him. I don't have to try hard to impress someone with more charisma than me.
Remy started pulling into a long paved driveway which seemed to span over the distance of a mile. Trees lined the way so I couldn't see anything until he reached the end. There was a large parking lot with an even larger house. If I wasn't told this was a house, I would have believed it was a hotel.
Past the house appeared to be a clear field of cattle on nearby endless acreage with the entire property lined with dense trees. I knew Remy's family was rich, but this was a whole new level. If this was the medieval period, it would have been the castle standing at the top of the village.
"My parking is near the front left next to the Lee's, that's Justin's family. The Claire's family, the Sharps, and Nolan's family the Gray's park at the front right." Remy began pointing out all the different places in the parking lot.
"Wait, you live with Justin, Claire, AND Nolan's family? Are you all related?" I couldn't hold back my own curiosity.
Remy chuckled, "We live with about 20 families, and no, we aren't all related."
"So do you like, all share the farm?" Was this some sort of company with dorms, or something more sinister?
"We all work on it, but my family owns the pack house and the land."
"I can tell it's a packed house. 20 FAMILIES? I can't imagine how busy it must be." I laughed.
"Yeah. Super busy."
Before I got to meet anyone inside, Remy continued his tours of the land outside through the fields and the barn. The fresh air was nice, and with so few buildings around the air was especially clear. I felt my headache start to ease up little by little as I walked around listening to everything that goes into running a farm.
Eventually we did make it inside, and I ended up eating dinner with Remy's family. His mother, Linda, pulled me into a hug as soon as I came into her line of sight, while his father, Christopher, simply shook my hand awkwardly. Overall, the Smiths proved themselves to be the utmost hosts throughout the evening while Roman and his girlfriend kept teasing Remy about his "girlfriend" coming over; the "girlfriend" being me. I have play devil's advocate and admit that watching Remy turn red as a tomato for half the dinner and whine at them to stop was quite entertaining.
After dinner Remy decided to take me out into the fields to watch the sun set before taking me home. I'm sure it was meant to be a romantic gesture, but I was too distracted to feel anything from it.
"Remy," I said, not breaking my stare from the sky.
"Yeah."
"Me and my Eleanor are in journalism class, and work on the school newspaper together. We went to the creek near Gnawville earlier this week to see if there was anything juicy there that we could put into the column."
Remy turned to face me. His eyes were wide and he started to lean towards me giving me his full attention. After taking a gulp, I continued talking.
"We found an unconscious boy there. There was something off about him. Really off. We thought he might have been a victim of something so we took him home. But then he heard his dad yelling at him about—"
"France 1500?" Remy interrupted.
"Yeah. I wanted to know whatever you know. My mom runs a clinic in Gnawville so I want to know what's going on." I replied, trying not to ask how he knew what Bennett's dad was yelling.
"Some sort of topical drug epidemic. The boy you saw probably bought some by the creek and got high." Remy spoke, noticing my obvious suspicions.
"I don't think he bought them at the creek." I replied confidently.
"Why?"
"Because he was naked and there were no clothes nearby. He had to have bought them somewhere else and ended up at the creek somehow." While it was obvious Remy knew something, he must not have been at the creek watching us that day.
"Wow. Was there anything else you were able to find out?" Remy continued.
"Yea. His dad works with my mom at her clinic, and he knows my mom."
"Do you think your mom is in danger? I'm sure we could always house her here at the farm for a bit if you two feel unsafe." Remy looked worried, I couldn't help but spill the real truth.
"My mom is danger. That's funny. My mom is the danger."
"What do you mean?" Remy looked insulted.
"My mom is probably the one who sold the drugs to Bennett in the first place. She probably killed my uncle too."
There was a moment of silence before I realized what I had done. I tried to salvage the situation, "Oh my gosh! I don't know why I just said that. You. You can't tell anyone about what I just said. Promise me! I'll do anything. Please just keep it a secret. Please!"
"I'll keep you safe, Elora. Don't worry. You can tell me anything, and you won't have to worry about me betraying you."
He reached out and grabbed my hand, and for the first time since my uncle died I felt comfort from someone's touch. He didn't promise to keep my secret, but he promised to stay on my side which is more than I could have asked from him.
"I've never told anyone about my mom. I'm still trying to find proof of what she did. Would you help me?"
"Promise."