seven
teddy bear
FIRST PERSON
I WALKED INTO SCHOOL, stressed as hell. I was worried about Elisia, and if she was okay.
I turned a corner and saw Brandon with some other kids. He gave me a disgusted look and I just looked away and walked past them.
Well, tried.
"Woah, look out," Brandon stood in front of me, stopping me from being able to continue.
"Which teacher are you boning?" One of the girls asked.
"Didn't you hear? They're inside her mom," Brandon answered rhetorically, causing them all to laugh.
My eyebrows furrowed in anger but I decided to let it pass as I replaced it with a sarcastic smile.
Man was he sensitive. All I did was tell him that the things he says has meaning and here he was, proving my exact point. When someone doesn't like him, he has to make sure it's known that he doesn't either.
It was pathetic.
"You're right. You're right," I nodded. "My mom slept with Mr. Tucker— in the science lab, actually," my smirk then dropped and I became expressionless. "But at least, I didn't piss my pants."
That's when his smile faded and mine grew. All his friends around him were now laughing at him. They brought up the pictures and started to make fun of him. He took one last look at me before I rolled my eyes and left.
♡
I got a text from Rowan saying to meet them. I ditched my class and ran to where they were because I was hoping it was about Elisia.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late," I smiled guiltily. "What did I miss?"
I placed my bag on the ground. Hailey then showed me a profile of the name fireeestarteeer once I got situated.
"This is Elisia's second account. She commented on it on accident, I think, on her normal account," Hailey informed me. "She hasn't posted anything for about a year."
I kept looking at it until Hailey took her phone away.
"When her house burnt down," Rowan continued.
"I honestly don't think she burnt her own house down," I told them, defending Elisia.
"Maybe that's what Monkey Man wanted us to figure out," Rowan responded. "Her name is fire starter."
I started to get a little annoyed at Rowan.
"You really can't trust anyone, can you?" Hailey questioned with judgement.
"Wonder why," Rowan said looking at Hailey. "She lied about her parents— she's hiding something."
"Maybe because it's personal?" I questioned rhetorically, earning an eye roll from the girl.
We all stood there staring at each other until Hailey spoke up. "I found this is my locker," pulling out a teddy bear from her backpack.
"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.