Trigger

twenty two • memory

Clayton looks completely and utterly freaked out.

I don't really blame him; Hannah and I are both teenage girls with long nails and angry expressions on our face, and we have been cornering him ever since he opened the door. But I have no intention of letting him slip past us this time. Clayton's mouth opens and closes, sort of like a fish, but when nothing slips past his lips, Hannah impatiently snaps, "Are you going to let us in?"

Clayton's thin eyebrows furrow. "Um, how do you know where I live?"

"I have my ways," Hannah says. That only seems to freak out Clayton even more- really, all we did was search it up on Hannah's phone- but I suppose that the more intimidating we are the better, so I don't say anything.

Hannah repeats, "Are you going to let us in?"

"I don't even know who you are-"

"Hannah and Kinsley," I explain quickly. "We've met before."

"I don't remember-"

"Then hello, I'm Hannah and this is my friend Kinsley, nice to meet you. Will you let us in now?"

Clayton doesn't reply, just looks at us with wide eyes, so eventually Hannah gets fed up and pushes past him, her patience obviously at its end. After what we found out about Richard mine is too, so I simply follow her and push past him to make myself. Clayton doesn't even put up a fight- just stands at the door, flabbergasted.

Finally, he snaps out of it. Turning to us, he stutters out, "Uh- what, what do you need? Like, what you want?" Clayton groans, seeming frustrated with his own awkwardness. "What do you want, goddamn it?"

"We need to talk to you," Hannah claims. Clayton looks confused, but eventually sighs- seemingly accepting the fact that we're not going anywhere- and closes the door.

"About what?"

"Did Richard come visit you this morning?" I ask, getting right to it.

Clayton furrows his eyebrows, looking even more confused than before. "Richard? I don't know a Richard. But no, no one came to visit me this morning."

Hannah and I share a look. Of course Richard lied about that; he didn't want us possibly going to Clayton and actually getting the information we need, so he lied and said that he had already done so. However, the whole 'I've never met a so-and-so' before is something that we've already heard before, so Hannah decides to continue questioning, "Are you sure you don't know a Richard? He's tall and lanky, with blonde hair and blue eyes."

Clayton rubs his collarbone, where his 'x' tattoo lays, frowning. "Does he live on Duffer Circle?"

"No, he's from an orphanage."

Clayton just looks even more hopelessly confused. "No, I'm sorry. I've never met someone from the orphanage. Well, I mean, besides..."

Clayton trails off, so I finish for him. "Levi."

He nods. "Yeah. Levi." Clayton rubs his temple, sighing agitatedly. "Is there anything else you wanted?"

Hannah looks to me, just a bit of uncertainty sparking in her eyes before they flood with determination again. She rolls her shoulders back. "We need to talk to you about the night of the accident."

"What about it?"

I ask, "Did Finn seem... kind of strange that night?"

Clayton shrugs, "Nah, not really. We got a little drunk so he was stumbling around a bit but other than that, he was totally fine. Why?"