Her Normal

Chapter 4

I woke up the following day with a splitting headache. I shouldn't have drank. I remembered everything though. Especially Spencer humming to me. I sat up and took the Advil and water he left next to my bed. He came out of the bathroom, buttoning up his shirt.

"Morning. How you feeling?" He asked.

"Like someone ran me over with a truck."

He chuckled and sat next to me. I looked at him.

"Spence, will you please tell me why those texts were significant?" I pleaded. He nodded and turned to me.

"All of the murders that have taken place started with weird jokes like you received. He does that and murders them 4 days later."

"So he was killed on Saturday?" I asked. He nodded and added, "It was probably around 7 a.m." I sat for a second, shocked at the news. If I had been 2 hours earlier he might still be here.

"Don't dwell on that. You'll never move on if you do. I have some good news, Morgan called this morning and said someone had been taken into custody by the police this morning around 2. His name is Darnell Baxter."

"That's Joseph's friend." I said. He nodded and told me to go get dressed, because if he was their guy they'd leave today and he wanted me to fly home with them.

I showered and braided my hair, not wanting to do much with it. I put on some eyeliner and foundation and slipped into a sun dress and sandals. I walked out and Spencer smiled at me.

"You look nice," he said. "Apparently that was the guy we needed, so they're finishing up and we should leave in about an hour. Do you want to grab lunch before we go?"

"That sounds good, I'm starving."

"Do you have a preference? There's tons of options around here."

"Can we go to IHOP?" I asked. He chuckled and said yes, and we went on our way. We got there and sat down, ordering our food.

"So tell me more about yourself," Spencer requested. "I'm interested to know about you."

"There's not much. I grew up in Kansas, good childhood. I lost my best friend in a car accident when I was 14, and that's why I take January 13 off every year. I was a straight A student, still am, valedictorian of my high school class. I told you about my college. And now this happened so I can add this to my life story, woo." I looked up at him to see him staring at me like I was crazy.

"That's why you take that day off... I spent a lot of time wondering about that." He said quietly.

"Is that all you gathered from that?" I teased.

"No," he paused. "But you've lost 2 best friends in your lifetime, isn't that hard for you?"

I took my time answering, because he had a point. "Yes, but no," I said slowly. "They're in a better place, and that makes it easier. But losing the only friends you have is a little rough on the heart." I said, I was staring at the floor now, not wanting to face him while I cried.

"Well," he started, "you have me, if you want to be best friends." He chuckled to himself.

"You're so cheesy, Spence. We can be best friends."

You sat in silence for a second, taking in the moment. Spencer spoke up, "Do you have siblings?"

"I have a brother, Mike and a sister, Melanie," I said, "My brother is still in Kansas but my sister moved to Washington. I have more family up there, they're great people. I might just drive up there and stay for a few days from here." I mused.