1987 [BoyxBoy]

Chapter 9 - His Name Was Bradley

Billy couldn't seem to form any words. He didn't know what to say to her. His brain was trying to form sentences, but his words wouldn't come out.

"Hello? Who is this?" Sally asked, confused by the sudden silence.

Billy's eyes locked with Sarah's. She could see the stress in his eyes and knew he wasn't going to be able to do it.

"Give me it!" Sarah demanded, in a whisper.

Billy handed the phone off to Sarah and finally exhaled.

"Hi, my name is Sarah. I was a friend of Brenda's."

"Wait, Sarah Stevens?"

"Yes. How do you know my last name?"

"Take a guess. Brenda talked about you a lot. She'd always talk about how much she admired you."

"She said that?" Sarah asked, as a smile crept onto her face.

"Yeah. So, why are you calling me?"

"I don't know if you heard, but Brenda died."

Silence suddenly filled the call. Sarah could hear sniffles coming from Sally's end. It never clicked for her that Sally and Brenda were actually close. Her mind kept living in the idea that Sally was some random girl that Brenda talked to.

"Are you okay?" Sarah wondered, genuinely hoping the girl on the other end was fine.

"Not really, but I will be. How'd she die?"

"She was murdered. We don't know who did it, so that's why we called you."

"I don't know anything about it. The last time I heard from Brenda was two Fridays ago. She told me about this party she went to. She was meeting some boy she'd been seeing there."

"Billy and her haven't gone to a party in months. Are you sure it was a party?"

"It wasn't Billy. His name was Bradley," Sally revealed.

Sarah's eyes widened. She couldn't process the information she was being told. Her eyes immediately shifted to Billy, who looked anxious waiting for Sarah to tell what's being said.

"Did she ever say his last name?"

"No. All I know is that he's a football player and they had been hooking up for two years."

The information flooding in made Sarah's heart sink. She knew Billy and Brenda had been together for only a year. She had been cheating on Billy with his best friend for their whole relationship. Sarah was at a loss for words.

"Are you still there?" Sally queried.

"Yes, sorry. This is just a lot to process."

"I get it. I never really understood Brenda. One minute she's writing to me, talking about her boyfriend, Billy. Next, she's telling me she's been hooking up with a guy named Bradley for two years. Speaking of Billy, do you know him? How's he doing with losing Brenda?"

"Yeah, I know him. He's right next to me. He's not been the best, and he might be worse after I tell him this."

Hearing this caused Billy's eyes to start shooting daggers at Sarah. He had no idea what they were talking about or why he was involved. All he wanted were answers, and Sarah was taking too long to give them to him.

"Well, it was nice talking to you," Sally said, abruptly.

"Yeah, you too."

"If you ever find out what happened to Brenda, let me know."