Chapter Thirteen
But You Have Us

3rd Person POV

val went home that night with rowan and elisia. they had each other close together in fear, they were scared beyond belief and them being scared wasn't something they wanted.

"we should go to stinger about this" rowan said and val nodded

"i know but that doesn't mean we should tonight" elisia stated and val sighed

"did hailey say where she was going? she ran out of there really quickly" val asked and rowan shook her head against val's shoulder

"no but it was obvious that sean was there" rowan spoke and val nodded as elisia sighed

"did you guys recognize anyone else?" elisia asked and val shook her head

"no not at all" rowan exclaimed and they laid there for a while until the sun came up and they got dressed.

"we have school monday but we can see him afterwards alright" val said and they both nodded as they got up and sighed

"be safe val" rowan and elisia said

"i will" she said and rowan kissed her after elisia kissed her and they left the house

-MONDAY-

they all woke up and got dressed as val looked in the mirror and sighed. she stared at herself before she scoffed and grabbed the piercer she had

"this won't hurt" she said and she brought the piercer up to her eyebrow as she pierced it and wiped the blood. she got dressed and looked at nala

"bye baby" she said and she left the house as she walked to school and met up with the girls

"nice hair" elisia said to rowan and then she looked at val

"nice eyebrow" rowan said to val and she ran her finger over the piercing with a smile

"thanks" rowan and val said together

"i needed a change" rowan stated

"tell me about it" elisia exclaimed

"what'd you do this weekend?" rowan asked

"hide under the covers. you?" elisia questioned

"i moved stuff from my dads to my moms. val?" she said and val shrugged

"stayed at home and rearranged my room" she said and they both looked at her

"didn't you move here only 1 month ago?" elisia asked and val sighed as she nodded

"i needed to stay busy" she stated and they both grabbed ahold of one of her hands

" I didn't get any messages. Did you?" rowan asked and val shook her head

"i haven't even been on jt to check" val said and elisia lifted her hand as she kissed the back of it and val smiled

"have you heard from hailey yet?" rowan questioned

" No, she ghosted me, too" elisia exclaimed

" Should we be worried?" rowan asked

" I mean she was so worried after the bonfire, like Shell shocked or some thing" elisia stated

" I've literally never seen her like that. I called but her mom picked up, and said that Hailey was sick. I text her though, and told her to meet us at Haleys locker before Nickis assembly" rowan said

" I mean, clearly, we're all still processing what we saw Friday night, but I'm just gonna say it out loud. Zoe is king cobra, or... Queen cobra" elisia stated

" Are we absolutely 100% sure though? I mean, because she was wearing a mask" rowan asked

"there's not way it wasn't her. i don't need to see a face" val stated

"yeah its zoe" elisia stated

" You know I actually recognize someone else there too" rowan exclaimed

"who"? elisia and val asked

" Sean, I think. Yeah and I was thinking maybe that's why he was so freaked out. Maybe she recognized him too" rowan stated

" What if Zoe had someone shoot val? What if it was Sean? Why would anyone want Val dead?" elisia said

"milo wants me dead, i saw him there" val said and they both turned to her

" you know what I have first period with Zoe I'm just gonna come out and ask her. We're going to end this" rowan said and they all nodded as they kissed each other goodbye and walked to class

val sat down on her seat before the class ended and val met up with elisia and rowan again

" Zoe wasn't in class. I texted her but king cobra texted back" rowan stated

" Well, then, she definitely wants us to know she's KC" elisia said

" She wants us to be scared of her" val said and they grabbed her hands as they walked together

" Yeah, you know, maybe stinger can dig up some more dirt on Zoe. hey, where's mrs.dawson?" rowan asked elisia

" Oh she got called up for deployment. She was shift off this weekend. Yeah, it's weird. I didn't realize how I liked having her Right next-door until she left. No, without Jake, it's..." she led off

"but you have us" val said and they both nodded before they grabbed each other's hand as they walked to gym and sat down next to each other

" This week is suicide prevention week it is tragic and alarming that we have lost two students to suicide this semester: Nicki Sullivan and Dunbar Rakes. We realize that this is a complicated and sensitive subject, so we went to have an open dialogue, starting today. If you were confused or scared, if you need to talk to someone, we have counselors who listen in a safe and private environment. If you're suffering from depression, ask for help. Depression is treatable, and you deserve a chance to find healing. And pay attention to your peers someone close to you might be depressed or thinking about taking their own life, and there are several warning signs for suicide, including increased use of alcohol or drugs, acting recklessly, isolation from family and friends, but if you are concerned that someone is thinking about suicide, it's OK to ask him or her the hard question: are you thinking about taking your own life? And it's important to really listen. A student who suffer the pain for lost wants to speak with you today. This is Tessa Mitchell, Nicki Sullivan's cousin" their guidance counselor said and val leaned her head on rowan's shoulder as rowan leaned hers on elisia and tessa stepped up to the mic

" My cousin Nicki killed herself only a few weeks ago. We didn't hang out all the time. Only on the weekends, when our moms got together. I mean, we barely met paid attention to each other at school, but Nickis my best friend. I wanted to talk to you guys today because right before Nicki took her own life, video was released, and you all saw it. I know you did. I can't imagine how exposed and vulnerable Nicki must've felt that night.

Yeah, how embarrassed and scared she must've been, knowing that everybody was talking about that video, watching it. they're all the signs that somebody may be thinking about hurting themselves, but today, I want to talk to you guys about the connection between suicide and bullying. Releasing someone's private video is hateful, and anyone who commented on the video, or watch the video, is a bully. But look, I made some mistakes, too , but we all have to be more careful about what we put online and who's life it may ruin. Because either, I can't imagine how Nicki must've felt that night. Her parents were out of town and she was all alone. And she didn't leave a note. I don't know why she" tessa said and she started to cry as they all watched before she was led away

" And Tessa is absolutely right. Bullying is one of the wrist factors were going to be discussing this week, so after this, we're going to split you up in the groups and we're gonna be talking" she led off before they all got into groups and left

she walked to class and sat down as she noticed the stares but she ignored them until someone tapped her shoulder and she shrugged them off until class ended and she met up with rowan and elisia again

they walked out to the patio and found tessa

"hey, tessa? look, I just wanted to say I'm so sorry" rowan said

"thanks, rowan" she said back

" you know my name?" rowan asked in surprise

" Nicki talked about you a lot. Yeah, she was really glad that you guys were getting close. I just want to ask, since you were hanging out with her before, did you notice anything?" she asked

"what do you mean?" rowan questioned

" I just still can't believe that she did it. You know, I'm just trying to understand it" tessa said

" Oh Tessa I really didn't know her that well. We'll see you around" rowan said and she walked off with rowan and elisia.

they went to stingers new place and looked around

"cool place" val spoke and he leaned against the wall

" The feds were trailing my up , so I split. I only live in bars and churches. Pretty much the same thing" he said and val laughed

"you're not wrong" she said and rowan smiled with her giggle with elisia

" So where did you find?" rowan asked him

" Nothing. It's like Zoe desaul doesn't exist. No address , no Social Security number, no birth certificate" he stated

" Well, then, it's a really good thing it's easy to swipe personal files from the admin office. Oh, she has a flash account. Her last post said, camp" rowan stated

" Is that came terrerro, what If Zoe went to camp with Brandon, Sean, and Trevor. Haley said they all went to camp together, even dunbar" elisia stated

"where is hailey?" stinger asked

" She was acting really weird after the bonfire. She didn't go to school today. She won't return our calls. I'm positive that Sean was there, and he was wearing a mask, so... Maybe that really messed Hailey up" rowan said

" OK so people standing around a bonfire, wearing masks, and then what?" stinger asked

" And then we just turned and ran" rowan said and val nodded as she rubbed rowan's arm

" They didn't even chase us, which is even creepier. We are also tents and Haley's car on the way home. She didn't even say a word the whole time. We all got a text at the bonfire" elisia said

"yeah, mine said, Welcome to the emptiness. We're here to Hollow you out" rowan said and val shivered

"mine said , warning we're watching and we're listening" elisia said and they looked at val

"mine said we know more then you think. welcome to the beginning of the end" val said

" And Hailey said be afraid. Be very afraid. he's coming. She showed us her phone, but she didn't say anything. She didn't say a word when she dropped us off. You know, her mom said she's sick but I'm wondering... I should check on her" rowan said and then her phone made a noise

"hey Zoe posted a couple seconds ago. Look. I texted her in class, saying where are you look at the caption" rowan said and she showed them her phone

"here i am" elisia read

"it's geo-tagged. that studio is downtown" stinger stated

" I'll go, val come with me" elisia said and val sighed

"i can't i have school work and should make sure that my house isn't fucked up" val said

"alright then i'll go with you elisia" rowan exclaimed

" No, go make sure Hailey is okay" elisia stated

"okay. I'll go get Zoe's address from school, and then I'll go to Hailey's house. I'll meet you at the ditch after" rowan said and she left with val but val walked home

if only she had gone with elisia , then maybe she could've saved her from what happened

-ABBYS NOTES-
BABIES JUST BABIES