Beau and Arrows (A Beau Brooks/Janoskians Story)

Goodbye and Goodwill

The photo had been extremely professionally edited in the space of the minute or so from when it had been taken to when it had been delivered to her phone. The photo showed her, crouched down slightly, arm outstretched to what should have been helping Beau. But in his place, a photo of Sam had been edited in, strangulation marks visible on his neck in thick, messy red marks, some grooves digging into his skin. His face was washed-out-white, his eyes looked gaunt and distance, as if they were watching another world. They were circled by deep, dark bags of deep blacks and purples. She expected this was the photo taken when he had been found in his apartment. As if the photo wasn't enough, the caption was deeply disturbing.

It's sad to see that your helping hand wasn't good enough for poor Sam. This is your fault, Paige Arrows. All YOUR FAULT! Just a quick message to let you know I'm always watching. No matter what you do, I'm two steps ahead of you, and ready to attack. No amount of therapy can erase the fact that you're the cause of Sam's death.

“This is completely sick.” Jai breathed.

“I know.” Paige said, biting her lip to fight back the anger and tears. “I just want to...” She cut herself off. “No, this isn't a killer. This is somebody trying to get back at me. I don't think this person could have killed Sam. Why would he want me, he already took Sam away?”

“Don't even worry about this. This all started when you came to Glenroy, right?” Paige nodded, unsure of what he was trying to stay. “I think, when you get back home, this guy will go away. You haven't gone long left here. Spend it with us instead of some random creep.” Paige nodded, hugging him. She sat back down at the table, with 5 concerned eyes staring at her instantly. She instantly felt warm, they cared about her more then her own family did.

The night flashed back in her mind as she packed her stuff back into her bag. Sadly, she one by one stripped Beau's room of any proof that could have shown she had stayed there. Beau watched her, sat from his bed, watching her longingly but not speaking a word. Every few seconds his mouth would open and close like a fish, but he couldn't conjour up a sentence. He couldn't push out any words to sum up how he felt.

When she had collected her items and placed them neatly into her golden tote bag, she flipped it over her shoulder. She checked her watch, she knew she didn't have long before she had to leave. Just enough time to say goodbye to everyone. She felt the welling up of tears in her eyes, she knew it would be hard. Beau stood up, cleared his throat and held his hand out, which she took. They walked hand in hand together into the lounge room, where Beau summoned his family. Skip, James and Gina jumped up from watching TV and formed a line. Jai ran out from the room, and stood next to Gina.

“Luke'll be here in a second, he's skyping Sally.” Jai informed them.

“Luke!” Beau yelled. “Stop flirting and get out here!”

Luke appeared a few moments later, fixing his hair and laughing.

“Sorry it took a while guys, there's no brakes on the rape train.” He joked with a smile.

“Stop it Luke!” Gina ordered.

“That's funny, mum. That's exactly what she said.” He joked, making even Gina laugh. He stood next to Jai, at the end of the line.

Paige walked over to James first, who held his arms out to give her a warm hug. She tightly hugged him back.

“I'll miss you Paige. Come back and visit us aye?” She nodded as they let go of each other, so she could say her goodbyes to the other boys.

“Paige, I'm going to miss you, and I know your going to miss me too.” He joked, she laughed heartily, pulling him over to her and wrapping her arms around his body. He tightly hugged her back, before slapping her butt. “Hot damn I'm gonna miss that.” He said. She slapping his arm, half playful. “No Paige, jokes aside, I really will miss you.”