6. Army of One

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I pounded on the front door of the closest house I could think of to get to.

"Luke!" I called.

I pounded harder on the door. "Mr. Pihlstrom?! Luke!"

The door suddenly swung open to reveal a bewildered looking Luke. "Ricky?"

I hurriedly stepped into his house, closing and locking the door behind me.

"Ricardo!" He demanded my attention, but I went over to the window to look outside. I didn't see the masked person.

"Ricky, what are you doing? It's late."

I turned to face him. What was I supposed to say?

I thought about calling the police, but I didn't want attention drawn to the whole Kevin thing. Kevin's killer was watching me, following me. That had to be it. Kevin told me his attacker wore a mask the night it happened.

What if they knew Kevin wasn't dead? I silently cursed at myself. I had called out Kevin's name back at the cemetery. I could've blown it.

"Dude, what's going on?" Luke pressed.

"I just... I don't know," I said. "The tires of my car are flat, so I came here."

"Flat? All of them? What happened? And why'd you seem so-?"

"Don't worry about it dude, just... Can I stay here tonight?"

"Sure," he nodded, "you know dad and I don't mind."

"Where is your dad?" I asked.

"He should be here soon," he said.

I nodded. "Okay, we can just call a tow for my car in the morning."

"The car that apparently has four flat tires.... Right." Luke retorted.

"Whatever," I said, flopping on the couch. I was beginning to calm down a little.

"Ricky, what's wrong man?" He asked sitting down next to me.

I couldn't tell him. I wanted to. I really wanted to. But I didn't want him to get involved in this. It was getting too serious. Too dangerous. After tonight, that was certain.

But what was I to do? I didn't know how to handle this, I was only eighteen. I was torn between either staying loyal to Kevin, keeping him a secret or blabbing about a killer stalking me, putting myself in danger.

I had to speak with Kevin again, if he even wanted to speak with me after Travis put an end to our little meeting. I just had to hope. We needed to figure it out together.

As for Luke's question I gave him a simple "Don't worry about," to which he looked irritated at.

"Seriously?" He sighed with a frown that said he did not approve of my answer.

"Look, I'm fine," I insisted.

He scoffed. "Sure."

He stood up and began his ascent upstairs. "Guest room is available as usual," he announced as he went.

"Thanks," I said.

Sleep was the last thing on my mind. I got up to look out of the window again. Though, I wasn't as worked up as before, I was still filled with a paranoia that I didn't see coming to an end any time soon.

___

"What did this, again?" The tow truck driver asked in his kneeling position. It was the next morning. He peeled his eyes away from the slashes in the tires to look up at me.

"Uh..." I looked over at Luke who also wanted to know, looking at me with an expectant gaze and arms folded.

"Just... an ex-girlfriend," I said, turning back to the man.

The man chuckled. "Ex-girlfriend, huh?"

I nodded.

"I know how vengeful they can be," the man said as he stood up. "Let me guess, you dumped her and she was upset?"

I nodded again, trying my best to be convincing. Even giving him a fake half smile.

The man shook his head, amused. "Crazy broads," he muttered. "Mine keyed my car. She was a first-class bitch let me tell ya."

"So how long will it take for them to fix the tires?" I asked.

"Really shouldn't take that long," the man said evaluating the situation again. "Given the fact that they may be working on a couple of cars before getting to yours.... Probably would be done by the time you guys get out of school, if not sooner."

"Good," I said.

"Yep. Everything should be fine."

"Okay, thanks."

"No problem."

Luke and I headed back to his truck as the man prepared to hook his tow truck to my car. When we arrived, Luke stopped me from getting it.

"What the hell, Luke?" I frowned.

"Why did you lie to him?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Luke-"

"No!" He interjected. "The only ex-girlfriend you have is Sayora and she'd never do something like that. So what the fuck is going on with you?!"

"It's complicated."

"Last night you looked like you were scared, okay?" He said. "If something's wrong--if someone's harassing you-"

"Just stay out of it, Luke!"

"Why?!"

"Because you don't know what you'd be getting into! I told you everything is fine! Stop trying to butt in."

Luke clenched his jaw. "Ricky, I'm your best friend."

"I know," I said with a sigh. "But can you just trust that I've got this? Please?"

He stayed silent for a moment. Then in a calm voice said "I don't want you to get hurt."

"I won't" I said as confidently as I could, even if I knew there was a possibility that I could be hurt.

"Promise you'll tell me if anything gets too bad? If it escalates beyond this?"

I simply nodded. For his sake. So he'd have some sense of security. He nodded in return and gestured for me to get in the car so we could get to school.

___

Lunch time rolled around. My friends and I gathered at our table in the cafeteria.

"This food looks gross as usual," Danielle complained.

"It's not that bad, babe," Luke tried reassuring her.

She pushed her tray of a rather dry looking hamburger and fries over to him. "You eat it then."

"Hell, I will" Jory said, reaching over and grabbing the burger of off the tray.

"Fat-ass," Danielle said.

Jory shrugged, "No shame in my game." He then proceeded to take a large bite of the burger.

Sayora laughed next to me and I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face.

"You and I will be eating much better food than this on Friday," I said to her.

"Can't wait," she said pinching my cheek. It was something she did often. Well, more so before all the Kevin drama started happening. But I always found it to be endearing. It was like she was an aunt in her fifties teasing her nephew or something. I just found it cute.

"You two are going out on Friday?" Jory asked, arching an eyebrow.

"You could say that," I replied.

"Oh. My. God," Danielle said an excited look crossing her face as her mouth hung open. "Are you two dating again?!"

"Well-"

"I knew it!" Danielle exclaimed. "I always said that one day, you two would get back together. Congratulations!"

"We're not rushing anything," Sayora said. "We're just gonna go to Vinny's, have a good time, and if something more develops then that's that."

"Awww," Jory cooed with a mouth full of fries. Then a disappointed look came over his face. "Wish I had someone to date."

"Don't worry," Luke said, "one day you'll find a girl who's gonna love your quirky, adorkable personality and baby face."

"Honestly, at this point it doesn't even have to be a girl," came Jory's reply.

We all have him a curious gaze.

"What?" He said. "I'm desperate!"

We all laughed, however mine faltered when I noticed Travis seating himself two tables down. He and I made eye-contact and he broke it to focus on his food.

I stood up from my seat and went over to the table where he sat by himself.

"What do you want?" He asked, looking from his food to me.

"I just wanted to say sorry," I said taking a seat across from him. "You know, for cornering you like I did."

"I get it," Travis said. "You're protecting your brother."

"Thank you," I said.

He smiled. "So, what's up with that anyway?"

I narrowed my eyes. "What happened to it not being your business?"

He shrugged. "May not be my business, but I'm curious about it. Plus, I mainly said that because I just wanted you to leave me alone."

I let out a dry laugh. "Well, it's... pretty complicated. I don't even know you, I shouldn't even tell you anything."

"I don't know you, but I know your secret," he said. "One I'm willing to bet you're keeping from your clique over there, right?" He gestured behind me to my table of friends.

"So?"

"So, I already know more than the people you're closest to. I really don't see the harm in telling me the full story."

I considered this for a moment. I didn't know if I could trust him. He seemed sincere. But that wasn't enough.

"Look, the truth is, I love a good mystery," Travis said. "Who knows, maybe I could help you solve this one."

"What would be in it for you to help me?" I inquired.

He shrugged for a second time. "Excitement? Nothing interesting happens in this town. And this story has me very intrigued."

"Excitement can get you killed," I deadpanned. "And I don't want that blood on my hands." I stood up, preparing to get back to my friends. "I'll do this myself."

And with that, I walked away.

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