A Picture Is Worth

Chapter 2

Brooke's POV

I barely slept last night, his grey eyes were caught in my memory. Every time I closed my eyes, his eyes would appear. Despite them being so cold and full of hatred, they burnt into me. They weren't exactly scary eyes but it's something you don't see everyday.

I did my morning routine, today making sure to drink two cups of coffee instead of my usual one. I threw on a grey t-shirt from Hollister and a pair of black skinny jeans. I put on my plain pink sweater and grey vans. I through my brown hair into a ponytail, today my hair is completely straight. I grab my backpack and start walking to school. I spot Scott's friend immediately. I run towards him.

"Zach!" i call his name, causing him to look up from his phone. He sees me and smiles. Zach is in my AP History class, third period.

"Hey Brooke. What's up?" He asks. His eyes are extremely dark unlike his best friend. I'm out of breath when I try to talk. He smiles and hands me a water bottle from his backpack. I take a sip and hand it back to him.

"Have you seen Scott?" I ask Zach.

"Yes." He says with a small smile. I let out a small breath of relief.

"Where?" I ask. He points to behind me. When I turn around I see Scott, getting off a motorcycle.

"Everything okay?" Zach asks. And I nod, still looking at Scott.

"He has my phone." I say blankly. Scott walks over to us, first giving Zach a bro fist before turning to me.

"Hey Brooke." He says. I smile. He keeps a straight face, his grey eyes burn into me.

"Hi." I say in a small voice. He takes my phone out of his jacket pocket.

"I believe you want this." He says handing me the phone. "I hope you don't mind, I sent the picture to myself." He says. The corners of his mouth raise a little bit before returning to their natural position. I smile at him a little before answering.

"Not a problem. Glad you wanted to keep it." I say. He nods. Zach looks confused from behind him.

"Picture?" Zach asks confused but there is a tint of something else in his voice. Shock?

"Shut up, Zach." Scott growls as he turns around. I almost jump at the sound of his voice at that moment. "Let's go." He said walking towards the school, Zach following close behind him. I decide to shrug it off and walk towards the school myself. I click on the home button to my phone, expecting it to be on low battery. Full battery, nothing broken, case perfectly intact. Piece of paper was coming out of the back of the case, between the phone and the case. I take the case off and take the paper out. It was a Polaroid of the picture I took for Scott with the words "thank you." Written on the bottom of it. I smile and enter the school.

By the time I reached third period my mind was only focused on the polaroid. I took my seat next to Zach without speaking.

"Hey.... Hello?.... Brooke.... Can you even hear me?" My head snaps to the side when a hand waves in front of my face.

"Sorry did you say something?" I ask Zach.

"Yeah. I said hey. What's wrong with you today?" He asks with a small chuckle.

"Why did you sound shocked when Scott mentioned a picture today?" I ask. His smile radiant changed into a subtle frown. Was it really that bad?

"It's not my place to tell you anything personal about Scotty's life. Maybe you should have him tell you himself." He says flatly. We sit through the rest of class in absolute silence.

What could possibly be that bad in Scott's life? And who else knows about this? I had friends besides Scott and Zach so I decided to ask them what happened.

"Do you know what happened with Scott Berner?" I would ask. It was always the same response.

"A lot has happened with him."
"No, who would care anyway?"
"Why are you worried about Berner? He's a bad guy."

Even though I know it should be his decision to tell me any personal facts about his life, and that I should have really waited for him to say something to me, I couldn't resist trying to figure it out.

It puzzled me all day, until somebody told me. His...