CAMERON HAYES
649 Words
I stared at the screen.
ASK CAMERON HAYES.
Underneath it:
HE KNOWS.
That was it.
No explanation.
No clue about what he knew.
Just his name.
I leaned back against my pillow.
"Cameron Hayes?"
I hadn't talked to him in weeks.
The last time I'd seen him was at school.
He'd barely looked at me.
Now Evan wanted me to ask him something?
About what?
I picked up my phone and opened my contacts.
I found Cameron's name.
My thumb hovered over it.
It was almost three in the morning.
There was absolutely no way I was calling him now.
I opened our messages instead.
The last conversation was from almost a month ago.
Cameron: You coming tomorrow?
Me: No.
Cameron: Why?
Me: Because I don't want to.
That was literally it.
Our friendship had always been weird.
Sometimes we'd talk every day.
Sometimes we wouldn't talk for weeks.
It wasn't like we hated each other.
We just...
I don't know.
We were complicated.
I locked my phone.
Maybe I should wait until morning.
That was the normal thing to do.
But then I remembered Evan's video.
I don't know how much time I have.
I picked up my phone again.
I typed:
Can we talk tomorrow?
I sent it.
Five seconds later, it buzzed.
Cameron: About what?
I stared at his reply.
How was I supposed to explain this?
I typed:
Evan.
I pressed send.
The typing bubble appeared almost immediately.
Then disappeared.
Appeared again.
Then disappeared.
Finally, his reply came.
Cameron: Riley, where are you?
I frowned.
Me: My house. Why?
The typing bubble appeared.
Then his message came through.
Cameron: Lock your door.
I stared at it.
Why was he telling me to lock my door?
I looked toward my bedroom door.
It was already closed.
Me: Why?
No answer.
I waited a few seconds.
Me: Cameron, what's going on?
Nothing.
I stared at the screen.
Then finally, the typing bubble appeared.
Cameron: Just trust me.
I frowned.
Trust him?
After everything that had happened tonight?
I typed:
Cameron, you're freaking me out. What is going on?
This time, his reply took longer.
Then:
Cameron: I can't explain right now.
Another message appeared.
Cameron: Just lock your door and trust me.
I stared at the screen.
I didn't understand anything.
But something about the way he'd said it made me listen.
I got up and walked over to my bedroom door.
I checked the handle.
Locked.
I looked back at my phone.
Me: It's already locked.
His reply came almost immediately.
Cameron: Good.
That was it.
No explanation.
No details.
Just:
Good.
I stood there staring at my phone.
What the hell was going on?
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