DELICATE / Brandon Darrow

seven

"What is it?" Rowan asked.

"A teddy bear?" I stated more as a question.

Rowan looked at it and then her face lit up like there was a bulb above her head. "Pull out those videos again."

Hailey showed her the profile again. Rowan grabbed her phone and was scanning through until she found the right video.

"This," Rowan said, holding the phone out to us. It was a video of Elisia burning a teddy bear. "Teddy bear."

"That must be clue number two."

"What is that?" Hailey asked.

"More like where?" I questioned.

♡

I was in my room, sitting on my computer until I heard weird sounds outside my window. I was too scared to look so I just sat there until my phone rang, scaring the hell out of me.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hey, it's Hailey," the girl greeted.

"And Rowan," Rowan blurted out.

"Sorry, I wanted to start a group call because I don't wanna be alone," Hailey explained.

"It's okay," I assured her. "Me either."

There was a slight pause.

"Rowan, are you hooking up with some guy?" Hailey asked.

"No, why?" Rowan answered but there was a slight edge to her voice. Hailey wouldn't answer. "Hailey, why?"

"I can't sleep," she changed the subject. "I keep checking the stalker account, see if he posted anything, something about Elisia."

I could hear her clicking her computer. "Did he?"

"No," she answered my question. "Just Rowan making out with some dude."

I went on my computer and checked the account and sure enough, Hailey was right.

"It's so creepy," Hailey said. "You said you weren't seeing anyone."

I continued to listen to their conversation, even if it was awkward for me to be apart of.

"He was following me tonight," Rowan stated, not forwardly mentioning the fact of her rendezvous.

"This happened tonight?" I asked.

"Yeah, maybe 30 minutes ago," she nodded.

"Who is this guy?" Hailey asked.

Rowan took a slight pause. "I know about you and Sean," her voice came out strong. "Sorry, Cyn."

"I already knew too," I replied, not feeling much betrayal over this since Hailey and I weren't close.

"How?" She asked the both of us.

"I saw him reach for you in class," Rowan answered.

"Me too, and I asked him about it, and he told me you guys kissed," I told her after.

"Does Nicki know?" Rowan asked.

"There's nothing to know," Hailey denied answering. "Like Cynthia said: we kissed, just once," but she took a breath. "He said he'll dump her, but...she'd never forgive
me," she then changed the subject. "What's the deal with your guy?"

"His name's Jake," Rowan answered.

Sounds familiar.

"He moved here this summer," she continued. "And he's 20. I told him I'm in college."

"Damn, girl," I let out in disbelief.

"Have you done it yet?"

That made me slightly uncomfortable.

"No, my dad would kill me," Rowan shook her head until her tone got serious. "Wait, he posted something else."

Then I heard gasps.

"Cynthia, you kissed Brandon?" Hailey asked me.

"What?" I felt nauseous.

I went on the page and I saw the same video he sent me.

"Cynthia, really?" Rowan asked, almost like she was disappointed, and after all that has happened, I am too.

"He kissed me," I stated, and it was true. "And it only happened that one time."

"Well, are you guys a thing?" Hailey asked me.

"No," I stated confidently. "Something happened, though."

"What happened?" They both asked.

"Sean told me to stay away from him after he saw us getting close," I decided to let them know the context before I got to the bad part. "And I tried to listen but he kept popping up everywhere I went. Well, I ran into him on my way to the motel and Monkey Man sent me a video of us and told me he would tell Sean," I explained. "But he ended up saying some things about Rowan and it annoyed me so I told him off. Now, he won't talk to me."

"I mean, do you like him?"

"As a friend, sure," I shrugged. "I mean, I never used to get along with him until this summer when my parents got divorced but I don't know. I don't want to go against Sean's wishes— he's my cousin."

"He's not a good person, anyway," Rowan tried her best to console me in her own way.

They continued to chat but I ignored them because there was a new video. I clicked on it and it was a video of Rowan walking to her house.

"Rowan, are you home alone?" I asked her, very seriously, causing them both to silence.

"Yeah, my dads gone, why?" She asked me.

"Lock your windows and doors right now," I instructed, more as a demand. "He was following you."

We heard absolute silence.

Silence.