The Little Town of Lillston

Bullies and Confessions

Bryson returned to school the following Monday. His energy was fueled by a determination to find the culprit behind the clown mask. Luckily, Bryson hadn't seen any more monsters after his breakdown in front of his mother, but he knew they weren't gone. Hunter and Sophia were a little more quiet around Bryson, but he knew they'd get over it. They were quiet after the incident, but they got over that.

Bryson met with Callie during his second hour science class, and luckily, they had moved on to studying scientific processes of plants (though it wasn't very lucky for Bryson). Callie was quiet around Bryson, too. Bryson felt guilty about going off on her over the weekend, but he couldn't worry about that now.

Kyle and Jack were sitting in front of him, mumbling to each other and scribbling on their papers. They hadn't talked to Bryson, either, and Bryson was glad; it saved him some embarrassment.

During lunch, Bryson started to get anxious. He was sitting in a corner by himself (Callie was in the lunch line), and Kyle and Jack were sitting at the other side of the room. Bryson hoped Hunter and Sophia weren't this lonely during their lunch. At least they had each other. But Bryson wasn't anxious for his siblings. He was wondering whether the writing on the bathroom stall was still there. Before Callie could sit down and talk his ears off, he stood, and left the lunchroom at a casual pace. The halls were much more empty, which brought Bryson relief from the chatty lunchroom. He had to pass the principal's office to get to the same bathroom as before. But it was a Monday. Hopefully Kindell was stuck dealing with misbehaving students, or she was just too busy to give Bryson any nuisance. Nevertheless, Bryson walked very quickly past her office, taking long, quick strides. He paused just for a second on the other side, listening. It was quiet. Kindell was not coming. He'd have heard her tapping heels.

Bryson found the bathroom as before and entered. It was also empty, but Bryson did not find solace in the bathroom. It smelled horrendous, as if his vomit had never left. He wrinkled his nose and pushed the stall door open with the tips of his fingers. The toilet was a mess. Bryson almost felt sorry for the poor kid who'd messed it up in the first place. Maybe it was a joint collaboration.

He scanned the stall. The writing that Bryson had seen the previous week had been scribbled over in black marker so that it looked as if someone colored a large black cloud on the stall. Bryson's heart fluttered. Someone knew that he was on to them. The clown knew. The only person he had told was Callie. Could it be her? he thought. She has been obsessed with him since the day she laid eyes on him. She was always trying to talk to him, to see him, even if he were sick. The clown could be Callie. Creepy Callie. Maybe Kyle and Jack knew some rumors about her.

The bathroom door opened. Bryson turned around and left the stall to find Jack standing there. He looked at first surprised to see Bryson, then his eyes flickered to the stall which he had just left, and then Jack seemed to put on a mask of his own, hiding his emotions.

"Hi," Bryson said awkwardly. He immediately started criticizing himself. He could do better than an awkward 'hi.'

"Hey," said Jack. His eyes darted around the room.

Bryson was about to suffocate from embarrassment. He had to say something to make up for the excuse of staring at Jack. "Sorry for accusing you of... Callie got in my head."

Jack broke his expressionless face with a small smile. "Callie does like to talk."

"Yeah," said Bryson. "Well, sorry about that..." He began to move toward the door.

Jack stopped him. "Hey, I'm sorry about Kyle. He isn't a bad person, but he just... he has a lot going on."

Callie's words flashed in Bryson's mind. Jack was alone. Without Kyle, Bryson could get information out of him. Stop, he thought. You're not using him.