(Un)Covering the Truth

Fifteen || The Hidden Cellphone

Sadly expected, there was a passcode on the phone. James and I had been trying to guess the code, but so far no luck.

He tried Andrew's birthday, basic patterns, even the numbers that spelled LOVE on the keypad.

Nothing.

At this point, we were locked out for 10 minutes. I groaned.

Whoever Love was, she or he kept texting.

Love: I see that you're active, but you're not bothering to text me.

Love: It's been months, where are you?

Love: Please answer, I am worried.

The phone unlocked itself, so we were staring at the passcode board again. I sighed.

"Ugh this is so stupid!" I yell, losing my temper.

"Hey, hey," James said, wrapping an arm around me, "It's okay." 

"I have tried everything I thought of, you thought of, to get into this phone. It's not okay, this is a big clue to finding your brother," I say.

James didn't say anything, he didn't want to risk making me madder. And that was probably for the best.

Instead, he just held me with his arms wrapped around mine. But I wasn't done being mad.

"And who is this freaking 'Love'?" I ranted, "She keeps texting and won't stop. She needs to calm down, Jesus!"

"Well, don't forget, she's probably worried that my brother is on but not texting her," James said.

"Yeah, well, she's clingy. And it's annoying, and I can't freaking concentrate on unlocking this godforsaken phone!" I say.

"Can I see it?" He asks.

I hand it over to him. He keeps one arm around me to ensure I probably don't explode more.

I can hear the phone buzz from getting the code wrong.

I sighed and looked around the room. There was basketball posters hanging around. On the dresser and wall, there were pictures. One of them was Andrew and, I assumed, James when they were little. Really little.

James was missing a front tooth, but he was smiling more than I've ever seen from him. I smiled a little at the innocent picture.

Andrew had a few pictures of himself, either from middle school graduation or him and his brother over the years.

Andrew was handsome. He had very structured facial features and definitely had the build for basketball. Contrasting to James' dark hair, Andrew had light brown hair.

He was a jock, but seemed to be the kind of guy who was nice to everyone, regardless of who they were. That's the kind of picture James always painted of him.

My mind wondered a bit, thinking about Love. Whoever that was, was there a chance she'd know the password?

"Okay, I have an idea," I say, the sudden outburst causing James to jump.

I gave a small laugh as he struggled to not look scared.

"Jesus Christ, Red," he said, placing a hand on his chest, "Are you trying to kill me?"