Stalker

Hazel

We got back to April's and she immediately went to the room. Something was wrong with her but I could wait to ask her later. Right now I needed to talk to Nick.

"Joey was a good guy. Just not when he was drunk." Nick looked tired and stressed.

I stared off, "Yeah."

He looked at me gently, "I know he was your friend, Hazel."

"Its just," I looked up, "someone killed him. He went into those bushes and someone killed him. If I had stayed outside I could have helped him."

"Hazel, all of his wounds would have been fatel. You would have just been taken in as the main suspect if you-"

"Better me than Jennifer. She must be traumatized."

"If she is then you are too."

"I'm not-"

"You saw a dead body, Hazel. You can't tell me you aren't."

I sighed and my cell phone started ringing loudly. I looked at the name and frowned deeply. It was my mom. She must of been told what happened. If she did, that meant her first thoughts went to me.

I answered, "Hey M-"

"Hazel?! Are you okay?"

"Mom, I'm fine."

"What happened?!" Her voice was panicked.

I sighed, "Mom, we went to a party and Joey was killed..." I went through and explained everything to her.

After I finished she gasped low, "Joey? Joey Bradshaw? All I was told someone was murdered and you were there."

"Jennifer and I found... found his body."

"Jennifer? Joey's girlfriend? Sweet, innocent Jennifer?"

I sighed again, "Yes, Mom."

"How tragic..." Her voice turned sad.

"Yeah.." Images rolled in my head.

She went silent for a moment, "If you need me to come get you or if you need to see a therapist..."

"Mom, your fine... I'm fine..."

"Are you certain?"

I paused and felt myself lie, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay, Hazel, I love you."

"I love you too, Mom. Bye." I hung up.

Nick looked at me and his eyes turned soft. He knew I wasn't fine. He knew there were images of Joey's body in my head and he knew they were haunting me. Anybody could see it. It was painted on my face. I just wanted to close my eyes and sleep, but I was afraid I would see the images. I was afraid I would dream about it. I want Nick to just hold me tightly and make all this go away. Make this whole night go away.

"I got to be getting home. Mom is probably really worried. If you need me, I'm only a call away. You know that." His eyes looked at my lips.

I wanted to lean in and kiss him very badly, "Yeah, Nick, I know."

He leaned in and hugged me, our cheeks brushing softly. I felt the butterflies in my stomach and blushed deeply. He pulled away and stood, pausing before grabbing his keys and leaving. I stood and went to April's room and she was already asleep but I could tell she was upset. Her cheeks were blotched and her eyes were puffy. I climbed into bed and hugged up against her. We needed each other right now...