𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋. 𝙁𝙊𝙍𝙏𝙔 𝙏𝙒𝙊 ─── 𝖲𝖤𝖠𝖲𝖮𝖭 𝟯
❝ 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝖶𝖤𝖭𝖳 𝗪𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗚 ❞
❪ 𝘠𝘌𝘈𝘏, 𝘐'𝘔      𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝙉𝙀𝙒     𝙂𝙄𝙍𝙇 ❫

𝟦𝟤. ╱ ✷ ❝ for 𝗺𝗲, it 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸,
like 𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 ❞
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

"𝙄 𝘿𝙊𝙉'𝙏 really know how far Clay would go...to protect a friend."

"I went up to that little punk kid Cyrus. I was sure he was the one who called." Justin says as he, Jessica, Clay, Scott and Riley sat in Monet's. "And I grabbed him and I started going off and then Zach, like, ran up and was like "it was me. i called the cops. tyler should go to jail", and so I told him if tyler goes to jail now, so does tony, riley, scott and so does clay, at least."

"And you stopped him?" Questioned Clay.

"That's when the cops started coming through the front and they shut the music down and started getting everyone on the ground." Jessica tells them.

"Me and Jess were right by Zach, so I was like, "you get to decide now if you take down clay, riley, scott and tony, and probably me and jess with tyler, and fuck this school up even more, or if we get out of this"." Justin says, Clay's phone buzzing.

"Well." Clay sighed, "Everyone's coming. I'm buying." He stood up, pulling his cousin with him, Scott following behind his girlfriend.

₊˚.༄𖥸

"𝙒𝙀 𝙒𝙀𝙉𝙏 to roll his car into a parking place." Justin spoke as everyone sat around the table in Monet's, "We figured we could hide it with the other cars."

"But the keys were still in it....," Jessica says, "Tyler didn't plan on coming back to it."

"So I drove it away with Riley and Scott." Clay tells them.

"Jesus." Cyrus spoke up, having been invited, "That's balls."

"It was fucking stupid, going out there, stepping in front of a gun like that, acting like a fucking hero or something." Zach tells him.

"You called the cops." Riley spat, "We passed the cops on our way out."

"Think about timing!" Clay says, "If I hadn't done something, kids would be dead."

"We don't know that." Zach tells him, "All you did was give Tyler another chance."

"Exactly." Justin says.

"Another chance to do it again." Zach said to them, "What if no one stops him next time?"

"We made sure there isn't a next time."

"That's insane, Clay! He needs serious help!" Zach said.

"We can get him help. But if we tell anyone what he did, then he's expelled at least and probably in jail, and probably tried as an adult." Riley played with her fingers.

"So, he's in juvie until he's twenty-one, and then they send him to prison and then what happens to him?"

"No...this is bullshit. I'm out."

"Zach--," Jessica tries to say but he cuts her off.

"I won't tell them, I won't say anything." Zach tells the group, "But it's not my job to take care of that psychopath." He stands up and leaves.

₊˚.༄𖥸

"𝘾𝙇𝘼𝙔 𝘼𝙉𝘿 his friends.....they kept it close. I wasn't really part of the group."

"Dude, what the actual fuck? Do they really think something happened to Bryce?" Justin asked.

"I don't think they know." Clay tells him, "I mean, it's possible he's just at some hotel in Vegas, right?"

"I just, I...," Justin scratched his forehead, "If they started looking into that shit, between me and Bryce, between you, me, Riley and Bryce, like that night at his house last Spring."

"Justin." He turned around to find Val looking at the table, "Wanna maybe bus a few tables while you're out there, at least pretend you actually work here? And Riley isn't helping you. It's her day off."

"Yeah, sorry." Justin says, standing up and taking his jacket off, "I gotta start my shift." He looked down at Riley who gave him a smug smile, "Lucky bitch."

Riley blows him a kiss as he walks away.

"What night at his house last Spring?" Ani questioned the two remaining people at the table with her.

"None of your fucking business." Riley mumbled under her breath, earning a jab to the ribs from Clay.

"Does Justin seem...freaked out?" Clay ignored Ani's question.

"Aren't you?" Ani asked.

"You don't have to worry about me, okay?" Clay tells the girl, "I can take care of myself."

"When Bryce went missing, at first, we all figured he'd show up in time. We weren't really worried about it."

₊˚.༄𖥸

"𝙒𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝙒𝘼𝙎 Bryce? Had something happened? Did it have anything to do with the secrets Clay Jensen had kept since that day last Spring?"

"Yeah, it was a whole thing." Clay says as Riley comes into the kitchen with Scott trailing behind her.

"At least you're all safe." Lainie says to the teens.

"Sounds like it was an overreaction." Matt said, passing a plate across the table.

"Okay, here you go, Justin." Lainie passed an IPad over to the boy, "So, the social worker visits a few times. They process the paperwork, then they'll schedule the custody hearing once everything's been filled and they've confirmed that they can't contact your mother." She tells him as Clay gets a text.

"Okay. Got it." Justin says, spreading butter onto his pancakes.

"Paperwork? Custody hearing?" Scott looked down at his girlfriend, confused.

"I am hurt, Lee." Justin puts a hand to his chest, "You didn't tell your boyfriend about the new addition to your family?"

"I've been busy helping him pack and hanging out with Jessica. Uncle Matt and Aunt Lainie are adopting Justin. And dumbass." She turned back to Justin, "You're heart is on the other side of your chest."

"Hey, I think we should clear out the workshop." Matt says, sitting down at the table, "Turn it into a bedroom."

"For Justin?" Riley asked.

"So, we bring him into the house and send him into a different building?" Lainie questioned her husband.

"For both boys." Matt tells her, "They're going to be Seniors next year. They need their own space."

"Oh, so they get their own space and I end up staying in the house with nosy adults." Riley scoffed.

"Apparently, they don't need their own space, as they manage all kind of miscreant behavior without us knowing and dragging Riley, and now Scott, into it." Lainie said, "Right, Clay? Clay?"

Riley nudged her cousin to bring him back from whatever he was thinking about.

"Uh, right."

₊˚.༄𖥸

"𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙉 𝙆𝙉𝙊𝙒𝙄𝙉𝙂 nothing, I could tell Clay had a lot going on. A lot to take care of."

"Hey, Tyler. What's up?" Monty walked by, making a kissy face towards him as he walked by the group of teen boys and Riley.

"I can't - I can't do this." Tyler stuttered out, bumping into Riley who had been standing behind him with Justin, "I've got to go."

"Fuck that guy. He's not gonna hurt you." Tony tells him, "No one's gonna push you around anymore."

"I can't."

"Tyler, it's okay." Clay says, going to put a hand on his shoulder but Tyler jerked himself away from the Jensen boy.

"Okay. Tyler, I need you to listen to me, okay?" Riley spoke, putting a hand on his arm as a form of comfort seeing as for the last few months she's been the only one he'd really allow to touch him, "Focus on your breathing. Breath as deep as you can, Ty."

Tyler listened to her, breathing in deeply before exhaling.

"Look, you have first with Alex, right?" Clay asked, pointing at Alex who was walking out of the classroom since Clay had texted him, "Stick with Alex, he'll walk you to second. Riley will walk you to third. Me and Justin will meet the two of you at lunch."

"Okay. Okay." Tyler clutched onto his backpack, walking toward Alex.

"Something happened to that kid. He's not right." Tony tells the three.

"You don't think Monty--,"

Justin cuts Riley off, "Well, Monty, Bryce, Jamie Garrison, the kid gets it from fucking everywhere."

"There's no way this is gonna work." Riley shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest with a frown on her face.

Justin, noticing the sad look on her face, wraps his arm around her shoulders bringing her into a hug.

"It has to."

"Are you guys sure you got all his guns?" Justin questioned Tony and Clay.

"The whole school was weird, on edge."

₊˚.༄𖥸

"𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝙒𝙄𝙇𝙇 an active shooter drill some time in the next two weeks." The teacher reads off the announcements, "We will not be told in advance. We don't want to add to anyone's anxiety after Saturday's false alarm. Clay Jensen, Principal Bolan."

₊˚.༄𖥸

"𝙃𝙀𝙔, 𝘾𝙇𝘼𝙔." Courtney spoke as he walked into the office.

"Hey, Courtney." Clay greeted her.

"Sorry to pull you out of class."

He gives her a look of confusion, "I thought it was Principal Bolan."

"I used one of his slips." Courtney waves him off, "It's our turn for the new student tour. I have an appointment in the careers center and Wellesley Recruiter's only her for a day. So, can you take it? Thank you! Thank you. Ani, it was nice to meet you."

"you too, bye."

"Goodbye." Courtney turns to Clay as she walks out, "Thank you."

"You gotta be fucking kidding me?" Clay curses.

"I don't really need a tour." Ani tells him.

₊˚.༄𖥸

"𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝙄𝙎 the trophy case. And we actually have more academic decathlon and robotic trophies, but they're kept in the math and science wing, which is in a different building to keep the main student body from being infected or something like actual knowledge." Clay tells Ani as he shows her around, "To your left, is the classroom of the ironically named Mr. Champion, who stares at girls' breasts while he's talking to them." He spots Riley and Scott walking into the building, holding hands as he waves them over.

"Hey, Clay." Riley grinned, wrapping her arms around Scott's waist as he moves one of his arms up to wrap around her shoulders.

"And this is Riley and Scott. Riley is my cousin and Scott is her soon-to-be-college-boyfriend so she thinks she's better than the rest of us." Clay introduced the three, "Riley, Scott, this is Ani. She's new."

"Nice to meet you." Ani held her hand out for the two to shake.

"I gotta get to class since someone made me late for school." Scott threw a look at his girlfriend who gasped at him.

"I didn't make you late to school! I was here on time!" Riley tells him, hands on her hips. "It is not my fault that you slept through all ten alarms and three phone calls!"

Scott smiled, leaning down to peck her lips a couple of times before pulling away. "I know, baby. I'm just messing with you. I love you. See you at lunch. I love you."

"I love you."

"Gross." Clay pretends to gag as Scott walks away.

"Shut up."

"These are posters for the drama club. We actually have the most low-key drama club anywhere." Clay continued on with the tour, "They're totally not annoying people at all."

"The drawback being their plays are super boring, but really nice people." Riley tells Ani.

"Library's out that way." Clay points, "It's a pretty typical library as high school libraries go, which means underfunded and thoroughly devoid of any book that could be remotely controversial. This is my locker, which I sometimes use to stick my head into and scream. What the fuck? Hey, leave him alone!"

"Clay! Clay!" Riley runs to her cousin where he was pushing Luke Holliday from the boy he had against the lockers, "That's his brother! It's his brother."

"Oh. Um...well, so what the fuck? You should still leave him alone." Clay says to the football player, "Brothers should take care of each other."

"I'm so sorry, Luke." Riley tells the blonde.

"It's okay, Lee."

₊˚.༄𖥸

"𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙔 𝘾𝘼𝙇𝙇 this the back quad, even though there's no front quad, and back quad sound like "backwad" which sounds either like a wedgie or a roll of fat that shows when your shirt rides up." Clay says as the three are now outside.

"Football and soccer fields down there, baseball field out there." Riley points, having joined the tour since she didn't want to go to class.

"Clearly the nicest parts of the school, because athletes are our heroes and deserving of everything they want, including the ability to sexually assault girls and never suffer from any sort of consequences, because why should they? Ummm. Sorry. Cafeteria food, that's just a nugget from my life."

"Wow. I've been to, like, five high schools in three years, and that is by far the worst tour I've ever been given." Ani says, "The absolute worst."

Clay sighed, "I'm sorry. It's kind of a weird time here."

"I'll meet you at lunch. Bell's about to ring and I gotta get Tyler." Riley tells her cousin before kissing him on the cheek and walking away.

"He gave me a tour. Just a boring tour. I didn't really talk to him after."

₊˚.༄𖥸

"𝙃𝙀𝙔." 𝘼𝙉𝙄 walked over to the table where she saw Clay and Riley sitting. "You don't mind if I join, do you? I feel like you're obligated to be nice to me, at least for the rest of the day."

"Because you're new?" Clay asked.

"Or because on my tour, you almost assaulted a guy." She said, making Tyler send him a questioning look.

"Total misunderstanding." Riley tells the boy with a shake of her head.

"Ah..sure, have a seat." Clay motioned for her to sit next to Riley, who slid over just a bit for her to have room, but making sure she saved enough space for Justin and Scott."

"Hi. Ani." She looked over at Tyler.

"Tyler."

"So, tell me about Clay." Ani says, "He internalizes, doesn't he?"

"Oh. I mean, I don't--,"

"You literally just met me. How would you know that?" Clay asked the girl.

"Hey." Justin spoke as he and Scott came over to the table, both of them sitting on either side of Riley.

"Justin, Ani. Ani, Justin."

"Pleasure." She looked back at Clay, "You know, for a sour puss, you have loads of friends."

"Tyler and Scott are my friends." Clay tells her, "Riley and Justin live with me and my family."

"I've been there for almost seven years."

"They're adopting me." Justin says, throwing his arm around Riley's shoulder.

"Hands off my woman, Foley." Scott jokes, playfully knocking the boys arm off his girlfriend's shoulder and wrapped his own around her waist.

"Oh, that's fantastic." Ani looked at Clay with a smile, "Clay believes brothers should take care of each other."

"He tried to fight Luke." Riley smirked, taking a fire from Scott's plate.

"I need...ketchup." Clay stands up, "Riley, need anything?"

"I'm good." She tells him before walking off.

"So, he might seem like an uptight asshole at first, maybe even for a while, but...he's a really good guy, so just give him some time." Justin tells her, "He's worth it."

"How much time?" Ani asked.

"Hmm." Justin glanced at Riley with a smirk before looking at Ani, "For me, it took, like, eight years, but...,"

"I thought Clay was funny, but not much beyond that. His friend Jessica was more interesting. I met a few friends at school, well Riley was more of an acquaintance. I don't think she likes me all too much. And then, Bryce Walker came into my life."

"Bryce Walker came into my life, and my life got complicated. ANd here's the thing, I know the Bryce that no one else knows."

₊˚.༄𖥸

"𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗔𝗥𝗘 you obsessing over?" Justin asked Clay as he walked to the refrigerator, Riley making her way inside their bedroom in the shed out back.

"Homecoming." Clay answers, "Like, everyone posted pictures of it. Do you two remember anything....from the game or anything that happened after? Anything that might tell us where Bryce went?"

"You don't wanna know what I did after the homecoming game." Riley tells her cousin with a smirk.

"No, I sure don't."

"Not really. We talked some shit during the game, but I didn't really see him once shit got crazy." Justin said, coming over to look at the pictures along with Riley, "Where'd you get those?"

"I got them from Tyler. He had his camera that night." Clay tells them, going through the pictures.

"Wait. Zoom in on that one." Justin tells him.

Riley squints her eye to get a better look at the screen, "That's Zach."

"And that's Bryce tackling him."

"But he said it was number eighty-two who did it, the big-ass defensive end on Hillcrest." Justin tells them, "When we were helping Zach off the field, he said it was eighty-two."

"This morning, he told me he didn't know who did it." Clay says.

"Why would he lie about that?" Riley wondered.

"So, yes...I know all the players. I know all the secrets. The stories that you know...and the ones that have yet to be told, I know how they all connect. We can all go through it together."

"And I bet we can figure out exactly what happened. Where it all went wrong. And I'll tell you everything. Settle in. This could take a while."

₊˚.༄𖥸

𝗥𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗬 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗗 down at the screen of her phone with a frown on her face as she looked down at her text messages.

𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘓𝘦𝘦. 𝘍𝘰𝘳
𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 - 𝘽𝙧𝙮𝙘𝙚

"Where the hell are you, Bryce?" The blond whispers quietly through her dark bedroom, the only light being provided being the light from the phone screen.