Loser II || WlW

Twenty-Four

     I pull my phone from my pocket and check for a new message. I've been sitting on the bench near the frozen lake for over twenty minutes and the cold is starting to settle in my bones. I stand up, hoping if I move around, it will bring the heat back to my body but instead I come face to face with Clementine.

"How long have you been standing there?" I ask, wrapping my arms around myself.

"A little while," she answers. The moon glints against her Hazel eyes but they seem darker than usual. Like she's planning something.

I shake the thought off. She's not planning something. She's grieving. They just found her boyfriend's dead body nailed to a shooting target.

She takes a step closer. "Where's Brittany?"

"She drove into town with Donna and Grace to see if she could get a refill on my medication," I answer.

Clementine nods slowly, her eyes focused on the ground.

"You really shouldn't be out here, Clementine. It's not—"

Her eyes snap to my face. "Call me Clem," she orders.

I watch her curiously. "Okay, well you really shouldn't be out here, Clem."

Her lips pull into a small satisfied grin before her eyes lock with mine. "Why? Are you going to kill me too?"

My eyes go wide. She's the one behind the anonymous text. Or maybe she's assuming I'm the one responsible for Jeremy's death.

I swallow the lump in my throat. "What are you talking about?"

She raises an eyebrow at me, crosses her arms over her chest. "I saw you push that guy over the railing in the barn."

Shit.

"You were following me?" I try to push all my anger into my words. Erase the guilty shaking in my tone.

She shrugs a shoulder. "I needed your help, Joey. And you kept telling me no. I wanted to know what you care about so much more than me."

"Clementine." I pause, attempt to unclench my jaw. "I was trying to find Brittany."

She looks at me, "You really care about her?"

My answer is immediate. "Yes."

"More than me?" she tries.

"Yes."

We stare at each other. Let the silence consume us.

"Break up with her," she orders.

I roll my eyes and turn to start back toward the cabins. What a joke.

"Break up with her or... Or I'll tell everyone that you killed that kid."

I stop walking, clench my fists. "Clementine," I groan. "I'm not even getting into this with you."

"Fine," she snaps. "I'll tell everyone that you killed an innocent kid then."

I face her. "He was attacking me. He was hardly innocent."

Her forehead wrinkles as she walks toward me. "Weird. I didn't see him attack you?"

"Don't," I inhale through my nose, out through my mouth. "He had a knife. I'm sure they'll believe my physical evidence over your word." I start in the opposite direction once more, but as she clears her throat, I freeze.