DELICATE / Brandon Darrow

eighteen

eighteen
i think it's a locker combo
FIRST PERSON

I NEEDED TO FIND Rowan. I needed her help with the numbers Brandon written in the notebook. I felt like I was walking around the whole school until I found her and Hailey walking down the halls.

"Hey," I greeted, opening the book for them to see, not wasting time. "What does this look like to you?"

"A locker combo?" Hailey suggested.

"This came out of Brandon's backpack," I informed them, opening up to the page where the newspaper clipping of Dunbar resided.

Hailey's breath hitched. "Leave me out of it."

"Look, Hailey, I really don't want to be apart of this either but this will haunt us forever. At least if we can figure out a solution then it'll all end," I tried to console.

She still looked like she didn't care.

"What ever happened to sticking together?" And she didn't respond so I scoffed and walked away.

Guess I'm doing this alone. Then my phone buzzed.

ROWAN:
i'll help you
ROWAN
text me

CYNTHIA:
okay, i got some plans
CYNTHIA:
meet me later?

♡

I met with Rowan after school to check Brandon's lock with her.

"You think he's Monkey Man 2.0?" She asked me.

"I don't want to," I shook my head. "But I do think he has to be apart of something."

I tried five times and couldn't get it to unlock. I got super frustrated and leaned against the lockers.

"Elisia found out," Rowan broke the silence.

I turned to look at her. "Was she pissed?"

"Very," she let out with a sigh.

We were talking about it until we heard someone. Rowan and I saw Trevor, Brandon and Sean heading into a classroom. Rowan pulled my arm to follow them. We opened the door and saw Trevor hanging a mouse inside a tank with a snake.

"Brandon," Rowan interrupted their boyish actions.

She walked in all the way, while I walked in, standing next to her.

"Oh, look who it is," Trevor smiled sarcastically.

"I didn't know your name was Brandon?" She retorted.

"Oh, is he your boyfriend?" He asked her.

"What do you want?" Brandon interrupted their argument before it escalated.

"The D," Sean commented causing the boys to laugh.

"Seriously?" I gave him a stern look and it managed to wipe the smile off of his face.

"Mrs. Dawson wanted to make sure you were meeting with Cynthia for the project, seeing as she barely returned to school," Rowan lied flawlessly.

Sean looked at me and then to Brandon. "You guys got partnered?"

"Damn, B, get it," Trevor smirked. I just gave Trevor a death stare. I noticed Sean got a little pissed off at that comment too.

"So?" Rowan rose her brows.

"We talked about already," Brandon glared at her, glancing over at me. "Just give me the credit."

"Listen, Brandon, you might be very aliterate but you still can put your stupid, boy sense into something that won't take longer than probably an hour," Rowan snapped.

He gave her a death stare. "Alright," he finally agreed.

"Text me," I rolled my eyes. I really didn't want him to be apart of it but Rowan had to open her mouth and I think it's because she had an idea in mind.

I pushed Rowan out of there but I stayed behind.

"They're both so annoying," Trevor sighed.

"Dude, chill," Brandon surprisingly defended.

"Seriously, Trevor," Sean agreed.

Trevor brushed them off as he spoke, "You guys ready?" He started to lower the mouse in the tank while Sean took his phone out to record it. Then, he dropped it.

Immediately after, Brandon went to reach for it; saving it before it became the snake's lunch. "You guys are such assholes."

"You're such a girl," Trevor insulted.

Brandon turned around and looked at me. I met his eyes and immediately looked away. But before I left, I grabbed Trevor's backpack. I went through it and found a gun scope. I took it, put it in my bag and left his bag there. I ran outside and saw Rowan waiting for me.

"I found something in Trevor's bag," I said. "Also, why did you have to do that in there? I really don't want to interact with Brandon more than I'm already forced to."

"I thought, maybe, going over to his house could give you some insight," Rowan said. I knew it; she had a smart brain attached to her. "You can look around and see if you find anything out of the ordinary."

I nodded. "Smart."

"We'll talk more tomorrow," she was referring to the object that I obtained from Trevor.

She gave me a hug and walked away, the opposite direction of where I needed to head. I started walking to my house. I dragged my feet on the sidewalk as I was so tired. Out of nowhere, I got a text message. Thinking it was from Rowan, I opened my phone. It was someone named Pig Mania.

PIGMANIA:
look behind you

I slowly looked behind me and way down the side walk was someone in a pig mask. I started to run the other way when someone in a monkey mask was there. I kept looking back in forth until I ran across the street and booked it to my house, or really anywhere away from them. Then I got a message.

PIGMANIA:
SCARED IS A GOOD LOOK ON YOU,
YOU BETTER GET USED TO IT

I'm not even scared anymore— I'm annoyed.