Crazy For You (Sequel to TMHTK)

Chapter 8: The Journal

"Don't worry he's okay. Terri is actually here on a date with my friend. I introduced them last week, after she got back from her trip…"

Completely distracted, grading papers, haunted by the thought of Alexandra following us in New York. There were too many coincidences, and so many unwanted reasons for her to become a part of our group. I mean she was 'dating' Terri for starters. Everything about that picture felt wrong.

Shaking the thoughts from my head, for the 5th time, I continued to correct the stack of exams. To top things off, Byrnn's mom had invited us over for dinner. Understanding her weak and nauseous symptoms, coping through her last months of pregnancy, I hoped that was the legitimate reason for not showing up to the barbeque. Seeing as how my gut-wrenching feelings were always on target, brushing this third time off was unlikely.

My mind was slightly relieved by the distinct ringtone of Brynn's call, only to be pushed even further to the ground.

"Hey sweetheart."

"Aaron, I-I'm kind of panicking right now." Her voice trembled.

"What's wrong Brynn?!" The hairs on my body shot up, sensing a danger.

"I-I don't know, I got this weird letter. It has no return address nor does it say who it was from."

"What does the letter say?" My voice grew frantic as I stood up, rubbing my forehead in worry.

"That's the weirdest thing, it just says "He deserves better". What's that supposed to mean? Is this about us? Is it that girl from the past texts?"

Before Brynn could ask the third question, I was already out the door. Shoving the pile of papers in my briefcase, I told her I was on my way. Once we hung up, I speed-dialed my TA and gave him instructions for the following classes. If Brynn was in danger, than that's where I needed to be.

The letter had no further clues. The envelope was blank. The words were typed. Deciding it was time to confess all the details about this suspicious Alexandra "Terri's date" to Brynn, I braced myself for her reaction. The thought of a single student causing this much stress in not only my life but that it was affecting Brynn…the cops had better do something now.

"So you think Alexandra, Alexis, took these pics?" Brynn asked while observing the texts on my phone.

"Who else could it be Brynn? She is the only possible suspect I can think of, and not to mention her persistence in texting me over and over again."

"Does she even realize her obsession with you, how it's crossed the line? Do you think she's just mentally ill and can't take no for an answer? The awful thing is I don't believe we have enough evidence that points to her posing a threat to us. Plus Lilah won't buy it."

"Can't you see? She finds out Lilah is my cousin, becomes best friends with her and bam! Now she knows our friends, our family…she was inside my house! She now knows where you live. I think we have plenty of evidence!"

"Then let's tell the police everything, hopefully they can tell us what to do."

…

As Brynn had foreseen, there wasn't sufficient evidence. The best they could do was look for any suspicious activity from Alexandra and run a background check. Knowing things were still in its first phase, I acted promptly; worried what could happen if it grew into the worse stages. Imagining if something should happen to Brynn while I'm away in San Diego...could I even go back?

My instincts told me different, but Brynn didn't want to mention any of this to her parents, to not cause an alarm. Feeling that she didn't want something to add to the weight of our engagement, her mother would surely see me unfit for her daughter. But now we were finally going to have dinner with her, and while I'm usually a pretty confident guy…I was terrified.