Eccedentesiast (Brandon Darrow)

#EndingIt

[#EndingIt]
Real love doesn't meet you at your best. It meets you in your mess.
–Js Park
*****

Zoe stood in front of us with a shotgun pointing at us. "I'm not going to take my time this time," she said.
"I feel sorry for you," Rowan said putting herself in front of Elisia and I.
"Excuse me?" Zoe said.
"Because you don't know what it's like to have real friends. You have to hide behind a computer. Because of you we thought we couldn't trust anyone, but that's not true. We trust each other. We'd die for each other. We're family," Rowan said. I walked up beside Rowan.
"Who would die for you?" I asked.
"Dunbar? Dunbar said he wanted to make us pay for being bullies. But you? You became the king of all bullies," Rowan said and anger edged Zoe's facial expression.
"Rowan," Elisia said stepping forward.
"Is that what Dunbar would have wanted?" I asked.
"Haven't you learned? We're all bullies," Zoe said.
"No," I said stepping forward once more. I was done being scared of her, "No, that's not true. It's about intention. We never meant to hurt anyone. You can't stop us from trying to be better."
Zoe never let her expression change or her voice waver as she said, "Yes I can." A bang sounded and I gasped taking a step back. The sound didn't come from Zoe's gun though. Elisia, Rowan, and I held each other as we saw a group of people coming toward us in animal masks. Zoe turned back to us and aimed her gun at me.
     "Drop it!" The person in the blue jacket and mask said, "Drop it Zoe!" He yelled again pointing his gun at Zoe. Zoe looked around in confusion and Rowan quickly grabbed the gun in her confusion. Rowan pointed the gun at Zoe and everybody began to take their masks off. Brandon, Trevor, Jake, Tessa, Jai, and Sean all stood around. I couldn't contain myself when I saw Brandon.
    "Brandon!" I yelled as I rushed forward and clutched onto him. He wrapped his arms around me and I sobbed into him. "I'm so sorry," I whispered.
      "It's over Zoe, the ideas dead," Brandon said turning his head to look at her.
     "On your knees!" A voice yelled, "drop it, put your weapon on the ground!" I looked around seeing the police and everyone dropped their weapons and we all sank into the ground. I was still clutching Brandon as he held up his hands.
    "Rowan!" A voice yelled. Rowan looked up and saw her father before running toward him. After the police put Zoe in handcuffs we began to tell the police what had happened. I was explaining what had happened to one police officer when I heard my dad.
    "Aspen thank god," my dad said as I turned toward him and he enveloped me in a hug. "What happened?" My dad asked staring at my red neck. It was going to leave bruises. Suddenly I realized something.
     "Hawk!" I yelled out. "We have to get to hawk," I said before telling the police where he was. We made our way back to the cabin where police and an ambulance was. The EMT's told us Hawk would make it and I made my way to where Brandon was. "How'd you know we were here?" I asked.
     "We figured out what the VHS tape was. It was a message about camp," Brandon explained.
     "And the masks?" I asked raising an eyebrow.
    "You hide your face no one knows which side you're on. You know I get why you did it, you were protecting the ones you love. I am too. That's why I'm here," Brandon said.
    "I'm so sorry Brandon, I love you so much," I said and hugged him.
     "I love you too Aspen," he said kissing the top of my head. After everything things were going to be hard to get back to normal.
      The next few days were hard and I was currently leaving our house when I saw Trevor walking up the driveway. "Hey I'm going to lunch with the others , do you wanna come?" I asked Trevor.
     "Nah I'm probably just going to take a nap," Trevor shrugged.
    "You sleep all the time Trevor," I said rolling my eyes.
    "It's all good, I'll see you later," Trevor said heading inside. I furrowed my eyebrows before shrugging. I was about to continue on when Zoe's words rung in my head, and the suicide prevention assembly. My eyes widened and I dropped my keys before rushing back inside.
     "Trevor!?" I screamed looking through the house when I heard a commotion in the bathroom. "Trevor!?" I yelled banging on the door. I opened the door and saw a bunch of pills on the floor and Trevor trying to pick them up. "Did you take any?" I asked.
     "No okay leave me alone," he all but yelled.
     "Trevor are you okay?" I asked walking towards him.
     "Yes I'm fine!" He yelled.
      "Trevor?" I asked again.
     "What!?" He screamed so loud I took a step back.
    "Are you okay?" I asked again.
    "I don't...I don't know. I don't think anybody's asked me that before," Trevor said as tears streamed down his face and he slid down the wall. I slid down next to him and put a hand on his arm.
    "Trevor," was all I could manage to get out as I stared at him.
    "I don't know okay. I'm just so scared and angry and alone, and I'm just, I don't know," he cried.
   "Hey Trevor you're not alone okay, you have me, and I'm not going anywhere," I said.
    "Everyone has their shit together but me. Look I'm sorry, okay I'm sorry," Trevor said.
    "Don't be sorry Trevor, hey look at me it's going to be okay, you're going to be okay. I'm here, I'm listening," I said pulling Trevor down as he began to cry on my shoulder. This was the exact moment I realized, none of us were okay, none of us would be going back to the way we once were. We were traumatized teenagers who had went through something horrifying.
    But I knew that we could be there for each other, that we could change us. That we could be better, that we would be better no matter what anyone thought. We were a family, and nobody was going to break our family.

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