Page 59 of Organized Chaos
I was being overly paranoid, but it couldn’t be helped. If Brandon weren’t grieving and didn’t try to deliberately trap me, I wouldn’t be covering my bases in this manner.
“Still, what if he took a photo of me while I wasn’t looking? All he has to do is show it to one person. And these hotels have security cameras in the lobby. If he thinks of pulling the footage, how hard would it be—”
“Mia, calm down,” Gabby cut off my escalating voice. “Take a breath.”
“It could happen,” I said in a small voice. Farfetched, yes. But not out of the realm of possibilities.
She sighed. “How about this? Julien told me that the hotel security tapes malfunctioned the other day, and two days’ worth of footage got accidentally wiped out. What if it were to happen again?”
“You’d ask him to do that for me?” I hated the idea of putting Julien’s job in jeopardy, but I couldn’t trample my relief over Gabby’s latest fling working in hotel security.
Gabby laughed. “At least something good should come out of one of us hooking up with a cute boy.”
Despite Gabby’s assurances, I remained unconvinced of getting away with it so easily. “But what about Tasha? She looked right at me that night.”
“Tasha is trickier,” she slowly admitted. “Have you guys officially met?”
I shook my head before realizing Gabby couldn’t see me. “No. I’ve only seen her at Milo’s parties.” And the times I stalked Brandon. “I have no idea if she recognized me.”
“Alright, let me see what I can do.”
Gabby was a mastermind, and I was eternally grateful for it. By the time I found the train station and booked a ticket to the next transfer point, Gabby texted to assure me that she had cornered Tasha at the hotel. Tasha wouldn’t say a word about me or anyone else matching my description. And all the security footage was history.
With a final sigh of relief, I let the rocking train lull me into slumber. I had barely evaded disaster and vowed to myself that I had been scared straight and was done stalking Brandon Cooper.
I had always presumed he was misunderstood like the Wicked Witch of the West. Wished I had preservedthatimage of him.
Instead, I met him in person and ruined the memories of Brandon, my friend. If I could go back in time, I would have never followed him to begin with. Would have turned around long before setting foot in that bar and reminded myself of the snippets of dark traits I had borne witness to over the years.
***
“WHAT THE HELL, BRANDON?” Liz screamed as soon as she walked through the door. She looked pretty in her long dress. Really pretty.
It was prom night, and something called an after-party was being held at the split-level apartment. Milo would be angry if he found me here, but he was busy arguing with Reid outside. So, once the nanny fell asleep on the couch, I snuck in because I wanted to tell Brandon what I had learned about climate change today. He told me not to look at the internet anymore.
Brandon and I sat side by side on the couch as Liz charged toward us. She was one of Milo’s friends and really nice. But I could tell she was different tonight. There were tear stains on her cheeks, and she was upset.
When she neared, I balled myself to the opposite end of the sofa.
Brandon glanced at her. “Nice to see you too, Liz.”
“NICE TO SEE YOU?” she screamed. “That’s all you have to say after you ditched me and didn’t respond to any of my calls or texts? You’re such an asshole.”
Brandon nodded at me. “We have an eight-year-old in our mix tonight. Might want to watch the language.”
I was nine, but of course, Brandon forgot. Again.
Not to mention, he cursed in front of me all the time.
Liz’s eyes met mine and softened. “Oh, hi, Mia.”
I gave her a meek wave in response.
Maybe, I should have left, but I had developed a terrible habit of listening to other people’s conversations. I knew it was bad, but no one ever told me things. It was the only way to find out what was happening around me.
That’s how I overheard Raven warning Liz against asking Brandon to prom. She said Brandon wasn’t the kind of guy who called girls or made plans, and he only showed up if he felt like it. Liz didn’t take the advice, and now her prom was ruined.
She turned back to Brandon and whispered, “Why? What did I do wrong?”
