A Night To Remember

Four: Explain Yourself

I nervously paced around a room that wasn't my own. The Pokemon poster on the door was a subtle reminder I wasn't supposed to be in here... in Raymond's room. But it was necessary, I needed answers. I needed to know about that text.

Raymond tended to leave their phone in their room when they went out; so I hoped today was no different. They left to go to the store with our parents. The only reason I didn't come was because I used some after-school activities as an excuse. It wasn't a lie, per se, but I did fib about how long the club lasted. Which bought me enough time to violate my sibling's privacy once again. Yeah, I'm going to hell for sure.

Flipping through several drawers and cabinets, I was still left with nothing. I looked under their bed, and still, nothing. I was willing to give up when I remembered the obvious solution.

Grabbing my own phone from my pocket, I called Raymond and silently prayed that this would work. I was expecting them to answer from the store, and for me to be out of luck, but to my surprise there was a soft ringing sound nearby. I scoured the room to find the source and finally found the device under their dresser. How did it get there? Hell if I know.

I finally found the courage to unlock it. I purposely was careful not to read or look into anything other than what I needed to. I'm not a total asshole. Finally, I found Raymond and Anne's conversations. But, It wasn't the same as yesterday... There was something new.

Yesterday at 10:03 AM

Raymond: Hey, Where are you? Indiana texted you earlier.
Raymond: Hello?
Raymond: Anne?

Count your blessings.

Raymond: What the fuck does that mean?
Raymond: Anne?

Today at 3:54 AM

Anne: I told you so.
Anne: You've only yourself to blame.

A chill went down my spine upon reading it. This wasn't Anne, that much I was confident of. If not her, then who? I considered confronting Raymond, but do they even know? They're probably just as freaked out as I am, considering how they acted at lunch yesterday.

But still, I couldn't just ignore it... could I?

~~~

The door grated open, and Raymond walked in after their parents. Setting some bags onto the table, they glanced around the kitchen. Where is Indiana? They thought. They were tempted to stay and help their parents with the bags but decided to be sure they weren't just panicking over nothing. They did that sometimes.

"Indiana?" they said irritably, knocking on the door of her bedroom. When there wasn't a response they paused. They never really did this, they prided themself on privacy. But, then again, they were concerned. "Hello? A response would be nice, you know," opening the door, Raymond was greeted by absolutely no one. The room was quiet, aside from the wind through the slightly ajar window above her desk. Yeah, that wasn't normal.

Closing the door, they glanced towards their bedroom, frowning. Part of them was praying she was in there since that meant she was safe at home. And part of them was pissed at the thought of her being in there... and a little confused. She had no reason to be in their room. Unless...

Raymond checked if they had their phone, and upon realizing that they didn't, they panicked. They sighed irritably. They'd told Indiana multiple times not to mess with their shit. They quickly walked towards their room and opened the door.

"Indiana Lynn Vivere!" they said sharply.

~~~

I heard the door open downstairs, tensing a little. I started to question if this was really a good idea or not. It wasn't like Raymond would kill me for being in their room, but they might kill me for snooping through their texts.....twice.

I peeked out their bedroom door, watching as they checked my own room for me. Shit, did I worry them? I hoped not, they didn't need that extra stress. They opened the door and glanced inside, visibly concerned at the lack of an Indiana. Ah, jeez, I did worry them. As they turned my direction I ducked back into their room. After just barely calming myself down, the door swung open.

Raymond's angered voice spoke out loudly, a distinct contrast from how quiet the room was prior. "INDIANA LYNN VIVERE!"

Oh shit, that's full name, I'm screwed.

I glanced towards them as they entered the room. They crossed their arms expectantly, and I was sure they were gonna scold me for messing with their stuff. But I needed answers.

Raymond glared at me, speaking in a prosecuting tone, "Indiana. Care to explain what you're-"

"No, do you care to explain this!?" I interrupted them quickly, holding up their phone. It was open to the text conversation between them and Anne. I immediately regretted my tone of voice. I didn't want to come off as angry, because I wasn't. If anything, I was freaked; scared. But their shouting put me on edge and gave me a need to be defensive. I didn't like shouting; much less shouting at Raymond.

They were clearly caught off guard by my tone, to be honest, I was too. They glanced at the phone in my hands. I wish I could tell what they were thinking, but of course, that wasn't the case. They were quiet for a second, before taking the phone out of my hand and glancing at it.

"Sorry," I instinctively said, "I didn't mean to pry, I just..." I trailed off. How could I even justify this? I felt really bad. I knew that.

"No, you have a right to know," they finally said, glancing at me. "I was suspiciously quiet about it yesterday, I suppose?" I nodded, looking at them. I was glad they at least understood where I was coming from.

Before they could get a word in, our mother shouted from downstairs. She seemed a little distressed. We quickly ran downstairs, noticing our parents in the living room. They stood in front of the TV. Our mother's hands were over her mouth in shock, and our father looked anxious. We peered over at the TV, just as our mother noticed us and spoke.

"One of your classmates was just found dead," she said, her voice cracking slightly with emotion and worry.

Suddenly, Raymond being mad at me was the least of my worries.