Two Can Play At That Game

18.

As soon as Brooklyn was inside the car, she locked the doors and whipped her phone out. Unlocking it, she clutched it and waited for her search to go through. After she waited for a good minute and her search still stayed in the same place she let out a frustrated groan and tossed her phone in the passenger seat. She held onto the steering wheel and let her head rest against it.

For a solid few minutes she stayed in that position until she realized how idiotic she looked, sitting in front of a dorm house with her head down. So Brooklyn started up the car and started driving back to Windsor where she could get better service.

When she got there, she raced to her room to get out her laptop and complete the search. But as she entered the room, she stopped in her tracks when she saw Elena, Lacie, and Serena sitting on her bed with a familiar plastic bag between them.

"What are you doing?" Brooklyn demanded, snatching the bag away from her friends. She ripped it open and relaxed when she saw that the gun was still in there.

Elena narrowed her eyes and stood up. "We should be asking you that question, Brooklyn. Why the hell do you have a gun?"

Brooklyn stared at her friend as if she had just switched to a foreign language. "I have a gun because X tried to fucking kill me," she replied, still bewildered at why her friends were acting like she was the bad guy.

"Or," Lacie said, standing up and crossing her arms. "Are you trying to kill us?"

"Kill you?" Brooklyn gasped. The theory was so off, Brooklyn almost wanted to laugh. She had been working so hard for the past few weeks to keep herself and her friends safe and here they were suddenly accusing her of being the villain!

Lacie didn't seem to buy her truth. "We know you haven't been stable," she continued. "And we're the only one's who were there that night. Maybe you're going to kill us to ensure your own safety."

With her mouth open, Brooklyn glanced at the gun in her hand, which was still wrapped in the plastic bag. "If I wanted to kill you, I would've done it a long time ago," she replied, feeling that familiar sense of panic start to rise in her chest. She wanted to bolt out of the room or start screaming. Anything to convince her friends that she was the good one. "This is what X wants us to do. X wants to drive us all apart."

Serena, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke up. "I think Brooke's right."

"How can you say that?" Lacie scoffed.

Ignoring her, Serena continued. "I mean, Brooke had so many opportunities to kill us. She could have. Plus, I highly doubt she would use a gun. Guns are loud and aren't inconspicuous at all."

Brooklyn wanted to wrap her arms around Serena in a giant hug, but she managed stayed where she was, trying to look as calm as possible, even though she knew that her face was probably giving away how terrified she was.

As Brooklyn prepared to speak, Elena started talking. "I mean that's true. We can't keep accusing each other. That's what X wants."

Lacie narrowed her eyes, but decided to go with it. "Fine. But I have my eye on you, Brooke," she hissed, crossing her arms.

"Fine. Watch me all you want," Brooklyn replied, surprised at how steady and srong her voice was. "But we have more important things to worry about. Like this address," she continued, holding her phone up to her face and wiggling it. She unlocked it and let her shoulders slump when her search finally went through.

Her friends huddled around the phone as Brooklyn read the results out loud.

"Warren's Deli."