DELICATE / Brandon Darrow

fourteen

fourteen
i hate parties
FIRST PERSON

WE WENT TO ELISIA'S and started banging on her door until she answered. We were reasonably worried about her and when we were greeted by her solemn face, it brought us relief.

"You guys need to leave me alone," she told us.

"We know who Monkey Man is," Hailey offered her the truth and it caught her attention.

"What?" Her voice was small.

"It's Ash," Rowan stated, not giving her much time to comprehend it.

Elisia shook her head. "No, it's not."

"Someone sent this video to my dad. They wanted the cops to see it," Rowan began to explain, handing her phone over to the girl.

Then his voice echoed the empty room. "Elisia?"

Even if I wasn't entirely sure about the accusation, I still felt the need to protect Elisia from someone who was still capable of murder. So, I grabbed her and pulled her behind the three of us as we built a shield around her.

"What is he doing here?" Hailey asked.

"What are you talking about?" Ash was clearly confused.

"We saw the video. The video of you killing someone," Rowan gave him a nasty glare.

"You're Monkey Man," Hailey finished.

"No," Elisia exclaimed, getting out of our grasps. "It's not like that. I was there. That was- that was the night at the motel at South U."

"The night she was attacked," Ash stated, offended by how quick they were to point fingers at him.

We all looked at each other until Rowan broke the silence. "You shot the guy?"

"In the leg. He didn't kill anybody," Elisia answered for him. "That's why he went to juvie," handing Rowan back her phone.

"Monkey Man made this video," I realized, my brows furrowing in sadness as I looked at Elisia. "He was following you. He was just going to let it happen," I couldn't believe that.

"Monkey Man wants the cops to think Ash shot Raven," Rowan told us, circling us back to the original topic.

Then we all got a notification.

"That's Nicki's house," Hailey observed the video. "He better not hurt her."

I shut my phone off, not wanting it to replay again.

"We have to tell my dad," Rowan declared.

"You're right," Hailey agreed with a nod.

They looked at me and I just nodded in agreement. But I was afraid of the consequences that soon would happen once we revealed the truth.

"Yeah, you're right. We have to tell him," Elisia added.

We all ran out the door, sure of our plan until we were greeted by Jake. He greeted us with a worried look of his own until he showed Elisia a text about how if we told the cops that he'll make him spend his life behind bars.

"We have to go to that party," I confessed, defeated.

"How much time do we have left?"

♡

We arrived at the party but before entering, Hailey stopped us to show us the boys who auditioned for the play as 'Romeo'. It seemed one name in particular sparked a bulb in Elisia's head as she confirmed he was the one she had stolen the teddy bear from.

Dunbar Rakes.

We couldn't find him so Rowan grabbed Hailey and I's hand and dragged us into the party. We walked in and saw Nicki and Sean. Nicki came and gave Hailey a hug and while they were hugging, I gave Sean one to make us look less suspicious.

"Why are you here?" Sean asked me, genuinely curious as I was never one for parties.

"I didn't want Hailey to go alone," which wasn't a lie.

"Don't do anything stupid, alright?" He told me, acting like a big brother to me.

"I think you should be taking your own advice," I responded honestly. He returned me with an impressed nod.

Rowan went somewhere else, leaving me as Sean left me too. I stood like an idiot until I saw Brandon enter with a huge duffel bag around his shoulder. It gave me bad vibes so, as any curious person would, I followed after him.

I watched him walk inside a room and there I entered, giving him a furrowed look. "What's in the bag, Brandon?"

He turned to face me, not entirely surprised my presence which probably meant he saw me following him. His stare became more threatening which caused me to back up but he blocked the entrance to the door before I could leave.

"Why do you care?" Was he mimicking me?

"I'm curious," I replied monotonously.

He looked at me, up and down. "It's nothing. I mean, for you to worry about."

Staring at me made me remember about my attempt all day today trying to contact him. While I had him here in front of him, I might as well confront him about his involvement with what Ash told us.

"You were at the Grotto with that Raven chick last week, right?" I tried to sound less rude, but it didn't seem to work as his expression only made me more riled up.

"Raven? Oh, that bitch," he remembered.

I crossed my arms. "Did she make fun of you? Maybe about pissing your pants?"

"Yeah, she did," his face got closer to mine. "Just like you did. When is that gonna get old?"

"You tell me," I narrowed my eyes. "It seems your attitude never gets old either but no one complains about that."

He knew there was no fighting his way to be right so he moved away from me, rolling his eyes.

"So, what did you do?" I interrogated.

Brandon looked at me before looking away. "I didn't have to," going back to his duffel bag. "Raven was talking some crap and some kid stepped in and told her to shut her mouth. She went off on him. Bitch was ruthless."

That kid had to be Dunbar.

"What kid? Who was it?" I asked a little more softly seeing as I was in need for the answers.

"I don't know. I've never seen him before," he shrugged.

"Did you stop her?" I continued to pester him.

He turned to look at me, shaking his head with an annoying grin on his face.

"Of course you didn't," I scoffed, more to myself.

Then with that, he left, bottles in hand.