Following Brent

Chapter 8

Hey guys!! I changed some things in the last chapter. I'm sorry this took sooooo long to update!! So many things going on in my life right now, you have no idea. Sorry! This chapter and the next are really short but the 10th chapter will be posted soon! That one will hopefully be longer :)

Stalker song of the day: "Shiver" by Coldplay

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Brenton O'Keith

"Thanks for agreeing to this, Jay," I spoke as I drove to Madison's loft building. 

Sunday mornings were apparently extra cold, and Jay's car heater was broken. Even with three layers of clothes, I was still shivering. It was the curse of growing up in the heat of LA. 

Jay, who was only wearing a plain t-shirt because he was used to the cold, continued to eat his french fries. "I'm just doing this 'cause you bought be chips, mate."

I cracked a smile. He reminded me of Tyler. You could get Ty to do anything if you threw in a burger and some fries in the deal. 

"I don't understand why you can't just give this to her yourself," he continued, picking the notebook up from the space between my seat and his. "Do you like this girl?"

I scoffed. "That's your great assumption?"

Jay shrugged, turning his attention back to his fries. "Just a theory. If not, why do you need me at all? You could just give it to her and be done with it."

"I just want to avoid having to explain how I got her notebook in the first place."

He crossed his arms over his chest, pursed his lips and slumped in his chair. "So just a run-through. I go in there, tell her I sat behind her on the plane ride going here, give her the notebook, come back here, and then what?"

"Then we never speak of this again." After a few seconds of silence, I took my attention off the road to sneak a peak at him. He was eyeing me suspiciously, making me feel slightly uncomfortable. "What?" I said. 

He dropped the suspicious look, sat up straight and sighed. "Well, you kept your end of the bargain," he said, gesturing to the large fries I bought him on the way. "And we're already on our way there, so might as well, yeah?"

I smiled.

"But make no mistake, O'Keith," he warned, "I'm on to you. I smell something fishy."

"I don't like her," I pointed out again, just to be clear.

Laughing, he shrugged a shoulder and said, "Sure, Brent. Sure." He rolled his eyes, unconvinced. 

I decided to ignore him. It wasn't worth the argument, anyway. He didn't know how Madison Vaughn followed me around throughout my childhood and made me subject to the endless tormenting of our classmates. I mean, I didn't hate her. I think, based on what people had told me about her, that she might be a pretty nice person. But, I didn't like her either. Truth is, I didn't know her enough to feel anything for her. All I knew about Madison was that she consistently stalked me. That was all she let me know about her. It's not like she's ever tried to actually talk to me. Well, except for that one time in sophomore year when she wanted to ask me to the Sadie Hawkins Dance. 

I parked Jay's car two blocks away so I could watch without being seen. She was already waiting by the main entrance of her loft building, standing beside another girl who had dark brown hair. Madison looked like she was freezing. Her hands ran up and down her arms as she searched the road with her watery blue eyes. She looked down, beyond the end of her coat at her brown UGG boots, and lightly jumped from one foot to the other, trying to make her probably numbing toes warmer. Her long wavy blond hair fell around her pink cheeks as she rubbed her red, runny nose and sniffled. She could've just waited inside the building.