Minho, Eli, and I have gathered around the table in our living room. Lelia's upstairs. I no longer have the energy to tell her if she wants to help us or at least come down.

"Okay. So what do we know about this guy so far?" Eli takes the pen in his hands. Writes 'Strange Guy' on top of the paper.

"He gave Lils a phone with a camera inside and spread naked pictures of her," Minho begins.

"He beat Thomas up two times and was watching us in multiple occasions," I add.

Eli writes it down in simple words. "I personally haven't heard anything about a guy other than from you two right now, so I don't know."

"He has blonde hair and was old," I say. "Write that down as well. And that he's ready to harm people."

"He harmed my mom, too. That could make him want to damage so many people. I mean, everyone loves my mom and everyone loves Thomas, so it could be a lot of people he's hurting."

"Yes. And we don't know for sure if it was the same guy spreading the pictures around," I say. "But if it was a prank, the person would've needed to get a whole new phone somewhere. So I don't think that's it."

"Weren't there pictures of Eli in there?" Minho asks.

"Yes. Made from the back. I figured out the person who gave her that phone was prepared well. That's why he added the pics to make it more realistic," I explain. "Is that all we know?"

Minho nods. "But, no offense, guys..." he leans closer and speaks quietly, "I think Lelia knows more than we think. I think she knows more about this guy than any of us. She must've made herself his enemy at some point, right?"

"Perhaps before I turn into fucking bait, we get her to speak."

"She won't," I say. "Trust me."

"We could give it a try. Anything can be a hint," Eli says.

"Wait. Write down that someone threw a stone through her window. I forgot about that for a second," Minho interrupts, leaning forward even more.

"Do you have any details on it?"

"No. I saw the stone and ran outside to catch whoever did it, but they were already gone. Lelia was crying when I came back, though."

"Any idea why?"

"She had a cut from the glass, but that can't have been it."

"How are you so sure?"

"Correction, she had been crying, then tried to hide it from me."

"We should look in her room. Like the trash and all."

"No," Minho and I say in unison.

"Yes!" Eli throws his hands in the air. "Come on. How else do you want to do this? This guy is watching all the time. You think he won't notice if we make me bait? Let's just start easily."

"Lelia and I deep cleaned her room not even two weeks ago," Minho says.

"So? New things may be there. And did you specifically feel if her socks contained something that shouldn't be in that drawer?"

"No," I repeat, crossing my arms in defense. "We're not going through her room, period. She'll never forgive us, and it's weird. How is she not gonna notice, by the way?"

Minho bites his lip, then looks up. "Sorry, Lyndon, man, but I think I've got to go with Eli on this one. She's in serious shit. I don't know if it's danger, trouble, or just that she hasn't being doing well mentally, but at some point, there are no other options."

I sigh, long and deep. "Just so you know, I'm not comfortable with this, but fine."

"Okay. I say you distract her, and then we go look," Minho says.

"Hey, excuse you? If we're gonna look, I do want to be there," I respond.

He rolls his eyes. "Fine, alright. Make her a bath or something. Come on."

☀︎︎

"Hotter."

"Lelia, it's already super hot," I say.

She holds her fingers under the running water and shakes her head. "I don't know why you're making me a bath in the first place. Let me do it myself."

"No. You'll burn yourself, apparently."

Ten minutes later, she finally agrees and I'm moodier than before when I follow the two boys into her room.

"Thought you said you deep cleaned." I pull a face.

Clothes are lying spread around the floor. Her bed is the most unmade a bed can be. Multiple drawers are open. Paint is— wait a damn minute.

"That's my paint!" I yelp. Minho elbows me in the side for the loud noise. "That's my paint," I whisper-yell.

"Yeah. Seems like she wanted to make a galaxy on her desk."

"Does she know how expensive that is?" I mumble.

Unstable or not and poor or not, people can't just touch my paint without me expecting them to pay me back. She's going to pay me back for emptying the blue, orange, and pink bottles all over her desk.

"And why would she do that?" I mutter.

Minho and Eli either don't feel like replying, or are too busy looking for them to hear me. Eli's already going through the drawers. Minho looks below the furniture.

"Ha! Fucking told you. In the sock drawer." Eli holds up three plastic bags, one of them almost completely empty, two of them full.

My heart sinks. I can physically feel it pulling the color away from my face as well.

"Drugs," Minho informs. "Take that away."

"Also told you that she was stoned," Eli states. "You guys aren't the best detectives."

"Shut up and continue looking.

I point at her nightstand. "Fifty dollar bill. Is that suspicious?"

"No. Well, a whole fifty dollar bill kind of is, but let's not touch her money," Minho replies.

We spend the next fifteen minutes looking through her room. The drugs is all we find, until we look in the trash can.

"Oh, god." Eli rubs his eyelids. "That's bad."

Lots of pictures and notes. Most of them are only ripped in two pieces, so we're easily able to match them.

JUST A REMINDER, LELIA BLAKE, YOU OWE ME.

I stare at it for a long time, unable to speak. Almost unable to breathe.

YOU PISS ME OFF, says the second last note we find. IT IS MONDAY. I GAVE YOU A CHANCE TO GIVE THE MONEY, AND YOU DID NOT TAKE IT. YOU WON'T EVER GIVE IT, WILL YOU? I GAVE YOU MONTHS AND NOT A SINGLE DOLLAR HAS APPEARED.

She had debts.

Another one, YOU WILL PAY. BUT NOT WITH MONEY, I'VE FIGURED OUT. I'LL MAKE YOU PAY.

I think I'm going to vomit.

PERHAPS I'LL VISIT YOUR FRIEND STEPHEN.

A picture of a house that must be Thomas's.

Absolutely sick.

And then BEAUTIFUL below a picture of our mother's grave.

"I think you were right when you said she knows more than we think," Eli whispers to Minho.

"Officially, this is no longer a crime project," he replies. "I say we make this a murder project."

I really can no longer breathe. My heartbeat's racing. Hot flushes run through my body, but I'm shivering. I feel like I'm choking. Something blocks my windpipe and black dots are making its way into my vision.

"I think we should get Newt to help," I choke out.

I think we should get Newt to help me first.

He knows more about this than any of us. I have no clue what's happening to me but I want it to be over as soon as possible.

"Let's go outside for a second." Minho helps me up. With his hand on my back, he starts guiding us there. "Eli, stay close to Lelia. And give me the drugs. I'll throw it away in a can outside, where she won't find it."

"And then what? Have her flip on us?" He whisper-screams. "I know junkies. They're not happy when you take the things they paid for."

"Do not call her a junkie." Minho spins around. "She's not immediately a fucking junkie only because she was high once. Careful with your words."

"Fine, man." Eli holds his hands in the air.

I rush outside, so fast that I bump straight into someth—

"Oh, bloody hell, Lynn." The arms of the thing—sorry, human, apparently—wrap around me. "I was literally just about to knock."

"I'm so sorry for upsetting you and not agreeing," my voice comes out as fast as my breaths are. "I'm sorry for arguing—"

He interrupts me with a kiss, cupping my face so hard that I'm unable to pull away. Not that I want to, though. "It's okay, Lynn. I'm not angry. We're okay."

"No- no. Nothing's okay." I think I'm hyperventilating. "Lelia has been taking drugs and some guy has been threatening her and it must be the same guy who hurt me and Jennifer and he'll probably hurt more people because there is no way Lelia suddenly has all that money unless she stole and I really hope she didn't I just wish she would've told me—"

"Lyndon. Stop it." Newt shakes my shoulders a bit. "We'll talk inside. Calmly, okay? Everything will be okay. Just take deep breaths."

I can't I can't I can't I can't— but I try to. As slow and deeply as possible while we walk inside, Newt's arm around me.

☀︎︎

"Lyndon and I once found you and Lelia high together. Minho, who brought those drugs? Right, Lelia. So obviously things have been going on for way longer."

"That's what I'm saying," I say. "Well, not specifically about drugs, but you know."

"We actually don't know." Newt tilts his head to the side with a frown. "Explain, love."

"Well, you know..." I shrug, cheeks red at both all the eyes on me and the nickname. "The reason we went to the camp is because Lelia misbehaved. When she wasn't misbehaving, she was in her room. Doing absolutely nothing. I've realized what's going on right now is exactly what kept on happening before the camp."

Newt mutters something to himself before he takes a sip of his drink.

"What? What are you thinking?" Minho urges.

"Depression." Newt puts his glass down.

We stare at him for a while.

"What?" He shrugs awkwardly. "I have some experience and the thought isn't even that weird, right?"

Now that I think about it, no, not really.

I just like to deny things, as if that would make them less true.

"Then it's time for my mom to wake up and help her," Minho comments.

I'm about to reply that is not the right thing to say right now, but then I remember it's Minho. When does he say the right thing in serious situations?

Not that I do.

Even more accurate, I don't say anything at all in serious situations.

Okay, not the point—

"It feels weird discussing all of this without Tommy," Newt says. He looks down, swallowing. "I'm scared for him. And for all of us, basically."

"That's it." I nearly clap in my hands. "We bring her to Thomas! He'll cheer her up and talk her out of the drug situations."

"Thomas would take drugs with her," Minho corrects.

"No." Newt shakes his head. "He's highly against drugs. Remember that one time in a club?"

"I don't," Eli and I mumble.

I wish I hadn't missed out on so much— what if I would've passed that homeless woman earlier?

Wow, that feels so long ago now.

"What happened?" Eli asked.

"He got drugged. Someone put something in his drink. Made him kiss a girl that had been lingering around him for a while before he even got drugged. Boy was devastated for weeks once he remembered he kissed a girl who wasn't Teresa."

"Oh, no, I cheated," Minho mimics. "He literally said that."

"I say we take her to Thomas." I lie my hands down on the table. "We all go there. Give him some support, too."

"What does it mean that it takes Thomas to cheer her up, and not her boyfriend?" Minho sighs out.

"I don't know, man," Newt says. "But I agree with Lynn."

"If Thomas wouldn't have been in love Teresa, what would that—"

"Would you shut up?" I blurt out, and then the words flood out of me before I can stop them. "You're constantly jealous of anyone and everything around her who's not family, in love with someone else, or gay, and you're pissing me off. I think that instead of wondering what would've happened if Thomas hadn't been in love with Teresa, you should be in love with my sister like Thomas is with Teresa. You're not exactly showing the greatest love or worry towards her."

God, what is wrong with me? "Sorry. Don't listen to what that was—"

His mother is in the hospital. He was the one who found her. He just found out his girlfriend is taking drugs, and there's a dozen more reasons for him to act like this.

"No, you're probably right." Minho's Adam's apple moves. "I'll do better."

"No. No— never mind," I say. "I didn't mean it."

"Yes, you did it. But also yes, I am in love with her like Thomas is with Teresa. He just doesn't care about showing it. I do, and I don't know why."

"It's okay," I respond.

"Oh, by the way, please snap more often at people. You manage to make it pretty intimate."

Yeah, no.