brothers.

45~ Decline

Tommy

It was already way past 3 and that woman hadn't brought Diana back. Were tryouts really that long?

I tried to be optimistic. Maybe she made some friends and decided to go out with them. But there was an underlying feeling, a nagging itch in my gut that told me something was wrong.

My phone started ringing, scaring me. Shirley's ringtone always made me anxious. I let it ring for a few moments, not wanting to answer, but eventually did anyway. She'd call me over and over again until I gave in.

"What took you so long?" she snapped.

"I was in the bathroom," I lied.

"I just wanted to check on you. I figured little psycho twin would give you trouble today," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, with her panic attacks and all that 'stuff', she probably had a whole meltdown, right? Can't say I really blame her. Then again, that's what she gets for 'messing' around in the locker rooms."

My brain split in half from confusion. "What?" Harry, lying on his bed, looked up from the book he was reading.

"Don't tell me you don't know. Lucas didn't send you anything?"

"I..." I logged into FamiliarFaces on my computer. My inbox was, once again, full of messages. "I didn't check."

"I think it was pretty harmless, all things considered, but yeah... pretty mean. Well. She wanted to come back to school knowing no one liked her, so she walked into it. Lucas was just kidding around. It's pretty funny when he tells the story."

"Shirley, what are you-" I paused. "Wait, why were you talking to Lucas?"

"Just check our chat. I'm sending you a video." Her chat moved to the top of the list when the video loaded. I clicked on it and opened the file.

Diana was being dragged by Lucas, her body limp. She had a bra and leggings on. The video continued into the men's locker room. There were black markings all over her face and arms. My jaw dropped as Lucas dropped her on the floor. She curled up into a ball, her arms covering her head. The camera zoomed in on her as people taunted her.

"Did she do dope?" someone laughed.

"Come on, ghost girl, don't be shy! Say hi to the camera." The girl recording leaned in, trying to get Diana's face. Her voice screeched with laughter.

The camera spun to the left, where a girl was trying to get through the crowd. More than ten people surrounded Lucas and Diana. "Lucas! Stop it, you sick piece of-"

"Roberta, chill, it's just a joke."

Rick appeared, pushing through the crowd and facing Lucas. His eyes widened at Diana, then traveled to Lucas, who laughed.

"Thatcher! We found your-" Rick slammed into him before he could finish. They collided against the lockers harshly. Rick punched Lucas a few times before he retaliated, busting his lip. He reared back, licking off the blood, then grabbed Lucas again and threw him on the floor.

"Wh-who sent you that?" Harry asked. I gasped slightly, not expecting him to be next to me.

"Lucas didn't say anything? That's weird," Shirley said, now on speaker. "Doreen sent me that. She's the one recording."

"What the heck is this?"

"I dunno. I guess they were trying to mess with her. Pretty sick, right? Although, Rick's a little sus for playing Prince Charming, if you know what I mean."