FOUR O'CLOCK
1042 Words
The school day felt like it lasted forever.
I couldn't focus on anything.
Not in English.
Not in math.
Not even when the teacher practically stood right in front of me and asked me a question I definitely should have known the answer to.
My mind kept going back to the same things.
Evan.
The flash drive.
The videos.
Cameron.
And that stupid unknown number.
By the time the final bell rang, I was already exhausted.
I grabbed my bag and headed to my car.
For a second, I thought about going home.
I could forget about the diner.
Forget about Cameron.
Forget about everything.
But then I remembered Evan's face in the video.
Ask Cameron Hayes.
I couldn't just ignore that.
I drove to the diner.
It was only about fifteen minutes from school.
When I pulled into the parking lot, I saw Cameron's car immediately.
He was already there.
Of course he was.
I parked a few spaces away and sat in my car for a minute.
I didn't know why I was nervous.
It was just Cameron.
I'd known him for years.
Still, something felt different.
Maybe because I knew he was hiding something.
I finally got out.
The bell above the diner's door rang when I walked inside.
Cameron was sitting in one of the booths in the back.
He looked up.
"You came."
I slid into the seat across from him.
"You told me to."
He gave me a small smile.
"Fair."
I put my bag beside me.
"Okay. Talk."
He looked around the diner.
There were only a few people inside.
An older couple near the window.
A guy sitting at the counter.
A waitress walking between the tables.
Cameron lowered his voice.
"Did you bring it?"
I frowned.
"Bring what?"
"The flash drive."
My stomach dropped.
"How do you know about that?"
He didn't answer.
"Cameron."
"I need to see it."
"No."
He looked at me.
"Riley—"
"No. You knew about it before I even told you I had it. So you need to explain that first."
He leaned back.
For a few seconds, he said nothing.
Then he looked at me.
"Evan gave it to me."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"Not the flash drive itself."
He rubbed his hands together.
"He told me where he hid it."
My heart started beating faster.
"When?"
"Two days before he died."
I didn't say anything.
Two days.
Evan had known something was wrong two days before he died.
"What did he tell you?"
Cameron looked down.
"He said if anything happened to him, I had to make sure you found it."
I stared at him.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I tried."
"When?"
"After the funeral."
I frowned.
"I don't remember that."
"You weren't exactly talking to anyone."
That hurt.
But he wasn't wrong.
After Evan died, I barely spoke to anyone.
I looked down at the table.
"So what was he scared of?"
Cameron didn't answer.
"Cameron."
He finally looked at me.
"He found something."
"Yeah. I know that."
"No, Riley."
His voice got quieter.
"He found something that someone really didn't want him to find."
I felt a chill run through me.
"Who?"
He shook his head.
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"You've known about this for months."
"I knew Evan was scared. That's not the same thing as knowing everything."
I stared at him.
Then I remembered something.
"The video."
Cameron's expression changed.
"What video?"
I froze.
"You don't know about the videos?"
He looked genuinely confused.
"What videos?"
I studied his face.
For the first time, he actually looked surprised.
"Evan made three videos."
Cameron sat up.
"Three?"
"Yeah."
"What did he say?"
I hesitated.
I wasn't sure if I should tell him.
Then I remembered what Evan had said.
You can't trust everyone around you.
I looked at Cameron.
"I don't know if I can trust you."
He didn't get angry.
He just nodded.
"I know."
That answer caught me off guard.
Then he reached into his jacket pocket.
He pulled out a folded piece of paper.
He slid it across the table.
"Evan gave me this."
I looked down at it.
My name was written across the front.
RILEY.
My heart stopped.
I slowly reached for it.
And before I could open it, Cameron said,
"There's something you need to know first."
I looked up.
"What?"
He stared at me.
"Evan wasn't alone the night he died."
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