Average Joe (2018)

30

A map of Quebec was sprawled across my desk, red dots showing the Chronicle's murders. The blue dots were the unconfirmed kills. The orange dots were the reported cases of domestic violence. The problem was, a lot of domestic victims didn't come forward. Still, I marked the ones I could. There were three specific ones centered around all the murder sites. One of them, I noted, was Bryan's old address, and the other two addresses were never officially confirmed.

I sipped my fifth cup of coffee.

"This is a lot easier on those detective shows," I yawned.

I tried texting Bryan again - Hey, Bryan... text me back when you can. We need to talk!!

I yawned again and put my phone down, Tori texted me just as my phone died.

"Damn," I mumbled, as I remembered my charger was broken. I had an idea. It was still dark out and my Dad wasn't home. I pressed my finger against the charging port. "Please work," I mumbled, as I produced a small shock.

My phone's screen lit up, signifying it was fully charged. I read Tori's text in confusion.

___

I rolled my neck to the side and it cracked. Tori's text had been cryptic, to say the least. Of course, I was always glad to see her, but she sounded odd. A little conflicted maybe. Since the fourth grade I had been to Tori's house many times, but this time I was pretty eager. It was 3:30 at night, but luckily I was able to sneak out without alerting Ross.

As I walked down Tori's street, I wondered what Bryan would say if he knew I was there. Tori and I weren't doing anything wrong, but I still felt guilty. Even if we were, they weren't together anymore, but still, there was that kiss with Cora to think about. I mean... it wasn't a kiss, it was a distraction.

As I jogged up Tori's porch steps I pulled out my phone and texted her.

I'm here. Should I ring the doorbell?

No, Tori answered. Come around back to my window.

Alright.

I walked from the front porch to the large backyard.

I tapped on Tori's window. The white blinds behind it pulled up and the yellow curtains separated. Tori looked like she was about to go to sleep, as she had her hair up, wore a t-shirt several sizes too large, and a pair of ratty jeans. She lifted the window, a wide smile planted on her lips.

"Hey!" She said.

"Hi. So, uh, your text was pretty mysterious, you wanna tell me what...?" Her hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, pulling me forward. I yelled as I tripped over the window frame and fell onto Tori's carpet. Tori laughed and helped me up.

"C'mon! We have a lot to do!"

"We do?" I replied, very confused.

"Of course!" Tori pulled a stack of board games from her dresser and tossed them on her bed.

"First," she continued. "We can play some board games. I was thinking, maybe Monopoly or Candy Land, whichever you prefer. Then if Darwin's not asleep we can call him over and we can watch scary movies."

"Um, okay."

"Or we can play that old game, Simon said, like when we were in middle school."

"Tori, I thought I was the one who drank." Tori laughed.

"Good one. Now let's start with monopoly." She reached for the game and I grabbed her wrists.

"Tori. Slow down. What's wrong?" She frowned.