Me: You gave it to me dumbass.
You and half the school my first week. Everyone wanted to be my best friend back then. Now I’m just the party house. I have no real friends which was fine, until Piper.
Logan: No. What happened.
Me: I asked the wrong question and she flipp
ed. Disappeared.
Logan: Shit.
Twenty minutes later there’s a knock at my door. I run to it, hoping to God it’s Piper. It’s not.
“What the hell did you do to her?” Cooper demands pushing his way inside before I finish opening the door. “Piper!?”
“She’s not here.” I slam the door shut and follow him into my kitchen. “Did Logan not tell you anything?”
Cooper whirls around. “He told me you set her off.”
My head falls. “Yeah.
His expression softens. We may not be friends, but we want the same thing—for Piper to be safe. “What happened?”
“I tried to talk to her about that night.”
“What night?”
“You know...that night.”
“Oh,” he pauses. “Well, that at least gives us somewhere to start.”
I could live my whole life without coming back to this shitty apartment. Cooper knocks on the door, still stained red with blood streaks from a night I’d prefer to forget. There's a pause, then some sliding and clicking of locks until finally the door opens.
“What the hell are you guys doing here?” Bane steps back opening the door wider. “Get in before someone recognizes you two.”
We walk inside but neither Cooper nor I sit.
“Do you have any idea how much you stick out dressed like that?” Bane says to both of us.
I changed into a pair of boardshorts and a grey t-shirt. Cooper’s still in his school uniform—black slacks, white button down, but no tie. Compared to Bane’s tattered jeans and plain black shirt, I can definitely see what he’s talking about. “Next time I’ll be sure to slum it up.”
Cooper chuckles.
Bane flips me the bird. “There shouldn’t be a next time. What the fuck are ya’ll doing here?”
“Piper’s missing,” Cooper says, his voice hard and demanding.
“And you think she’s here?” He looks at us like we’ve got two heads. I don’t get it; Bane and Piper are friends. Why wouldn’t she come here? Especially if she feels like he can keep her safe. What am I missing?
“She disappeared because of something this dimwitt said bout that night.”
Something clicks in Bane’s head. He runs a hand through his already messy hair and mumbles, “Fuck.”
I get the feeling there’s something more than both of them are telling me. “What do you know that I don’t?”
Cooper eyes Bane, who is frantically searching through his phone, then exhales. “How much do you know about that night?”
“Only what I overheard in the stairwell.”