Josh hadn’t sent anything yet, which only served to aggravate her further, so she but her lip and send Elide a “Hey, you up?”
l e s b i a n s (closed)
Elide winced at the flash for the text but soon relaxed when she saw who it was from.
”Yeah, can’t sleep. You okay?”
Phoebe smiled a tiny bit.
“Worried about Josh, he hasn’t texted yet. Better now that you’re here. You?”
”Same. Tired too but sleep isn’t cooperating with me.” Elide rolled over onto her side.
“Aw sorry. How are you feeling other than tired? How was Damien?”
”Damien was… fine. He still grounded me for lying to him in the first place but it’s only for a week.”
“Any way I can get you out of trouble? This is sort of my fault.. I’m sorry.
”Phoebe stop. It wasn’t your fault and no, there’s nothing you can do but I don’t care, it’s only a week.”
“If you say so….. I guess.
Just then, a new text popped up on her screen. Josh. She hurried to open it, heart just about leaping from her chest when she read its contents.
“Phoebe, I’m scared. My parents are fighting in the room over, they just finished yelling at me, my mom had a knife and I don’t know what to do”
When Phoebe didn't respond for a while, Elide became worried.
"Phoebe? What's happened? Are you okay?"
Phoebe clicked on Elide's text, sending a hasty reply. "Give me a second. Sorry."
Then, heart racing, she returned to John's text. "What???? Did she threaten you with it? What happened??"
The answer came fast.
"No, she was just waving it around. She's screaming her head off at my dad, what do I do??"
"Is there any way you can get out??"
"No."
"I'm calling the police."
"NO. DO NOT."
”Phoebe what the hell is happening?!” Elide sat up in her bed, running a shaky hand through her hair.
"It's Josh, one second, I'm going to make a group chat."
Phoebe's hands flew across the screen, adding Elide, Josh, and Jane, who was presumably asleep, to a chat.
”Josh? What’s happening? Are you okay?” Elide frantically sent the text titbit he group once Phoebe had created it.
Josh took a moment to respond.
"Not really."
Phoebe jumped in. "Josh, you have to let me call 911."
This time, his response was immediate. "NO."
”Josh, you need to call someone.” Elide bit her lip.
"I can't. It's complicated," came the reply. Phoebe's fingers danced over the keys.
"Complicated, my ass. You're in literal danger. Where is the knife right now??"
”Knife!! Seriously, Josh you need to get out of there.”
"She didn't threaten me with it. Only waved it around a bit, she was mad at me about something. Long story. Now she's fighting with my dad about something. Again. I'll be fine."
"Josh I swear to god."
"Do not call the police. DO NOT. I'll end up with my aunt or my grandparents and they're even worse."
”What would happen if you had a lawyer? They’d be able to present your case and you could explain about your aunt and uncle. Right?”
"NO. That is not happening, period. It's not usually this bad. Calling will just make everything worse for me."
”Not if you have a damned LAWYER!”
Josh didn't reply for another few minutes. "Please. You don't understand."
Elide sighed. ”Sorry…”
”It’s fine. I just……. I can’t do that to them”
Phoebe gritted her teeth. “Josh, you’d be saving yourself. Getting yourself out of harms way. Not hurting them.”
”You need to do what’s best for you, even if it mean leaving.”
”I’m fine here. Don’t worry about me.”
“Too late.”
"We're going to worry about you no matter what, Josh. Staying there is only going to cause you more problems. I know you don't want to deal with your grandparents, aunts or uncles or whatever but… maybe there is something we can do… please let us help…"
Phoebe could see that Josh was hesitating. ”I can’t end up in some foster home. Right now, you guys and Jane are the only thing keeping me sane, I don’t know where they’d send me. And it’s not that bad here. I’m just scared because my parents are fighting.”
“We’re right here for as long as you need. If things get worse, tell us, okay?
"Yeah, no matter what happens, we'll be here for you."