It had been a week since he found Ashley in Willow’s trunk. Since that day Braxton hadn’t left his house, worried that something else might happen around him if so. It had been all over the news about Ashley’s death. The town is now obviously in fear, a girl goes missing and one ends up dead. As far as anyone could remember, these kinds of things didn’t happen in Ember.

Ashley’s funeral was to be held the next day, it was all Braxton could think about as he had laid in bed mourning her death. In light of Ashley’s death, more people were pushing to have Hayleigh brought home. Braxton had tried to get ahold of the Henderson’s to try and be allowed to come to Ashley’s funeral, but could never get ahold of any of them. He was never going to be able to.

Suddenly there was a knock on his bedroom door. He assumed it was either his mother or Samuel, so he ignored it. The knocks got harder. “Ugh, who is it?” He snarled towards the door. “Jennifer. Can I come in?”

He sat up as quickly as possible, trying to get dressed to be more presentable. “You can come in.” He said as he opened his door. He looked his friend up and down, shocked to see her there. She had never been over at his house before and this confused him.

“Hey Jennifer, what are you doing here?” She crossed her arms, giving the expression that said that he should know why. “I’ve been trying to get ahold of you ever since I called you, but I could never get ahold of you and I had no way of getting ahold of anyone else to get ahold of you. We need to talk.” He nodded. “Sorry, my phone started acting funky, and then it shit itself. I haven’t been able to get a new phone, and I’ve been in too much shock over Willow and finding Ashley’s body like that that I haven’t left the house.”

Before he even looked into her eyes he already knew that Jennifer was looking at him with pity. “That’s why I came to talk to you.”

Their eyes met and he sighed. “What is it?” Jennifer took a seat beside him, looking down at the floor. “They looked more into Ashley’s death. They said that they believe her time of death was a few hours after the night she was last with you. They found that she had ten different stab wounds. She didn’t die right away, she had bled out, and apparently, all of her nails had been ripped off and her lips had been cut off.” Braxton covered his mouth, he felt as if he was going to be sick. “What about Willow then?”

“She has an airtight alibi for that night. She has people that can back up where she had been, as well as video footage of her being out with other people that night. So she’s been ruled out as the killer, but they are still looking into why Ashley’s body had been inside of her trunk.” Jennifer went quiet.

“What does that mean for Willow?” Braxton swallowed a lump in his throat. “She was being released, but she is being followed to see if they could find out who had placed the body in her car if she hadn’t done it herself.” She began rubbing her hands together, she looked almost ready to cry. “The three of us were supposed to have a good fourth of July party in a few days. We were all living somewhat normal lives over a week ago, so why has it all gone to shit now?!” She sobbed. Tears were now freely pouring from her eyes.

Braxton wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. “Jennifer, everything is going to be okay. We’ll find a way to fix this. Whoever is doing this is going to be caught, hopefully, Hayleigh and Ashley will be the only two who had to be this person’s victims.” That word stung his heart. Victims. He never thought he would have to view people he used to care about and currently cared about as victims. It tore him apart inside, but right now, he had to be strong for Jennifer.

Wiping away her tears she met Braxton’s gaze. “Braxton, you need to know something. When the police were questioning when they came out for Ashley’s body, Mrs. Henderson said that you had ties to Hayleigh then she went missing and then you started seeing Ashley, and now she’s dead, and that they need to start looking into you.” Braxton groaned. “Of course she did. She so badly wants to pin Hayleigh’s disappearance on me because I turned down her daughter, ever since she has had it out for me.”

“What do you mean, you turned down her daughter?” Jennifer questioned. ‘Oh, fuck. I forgot about telling her about this.’ “Well, it kind of leads to the whole restraining order thing.” “I want to know.” Her tone sounded demanding, and he felt obligated to tell her. “Let’s go for a drive, and I’ll explain, okay? I need to get out of this stuffy room anyway.” Jennifer gave a slight smile. “Only if you pick me up a coffee as well.” He returned the smile. “I think I can do that for you.” They headed out and grabbed Jennifer’s coffee on the way.

The day after Braxton had walked Hayleigh home from school, Hayleigh began to stick around Braxton at school. Her hanging around led to her befriending Willow as well. The three all got along really well, especially Hayleigh and Braxton. Over time Hayleigh found herself falling for Braxton, and it was obvious that he was beginning to feel the same way towards her.

“So, Hayleigh, I’ve been noticing you eyeing my best friend more than usual the past few days, what’s going on?” It was Willow and Hayleigh alone on this day. Braxton had stayed out of school due to being sick. Hayleigh blushed. “I’m sure I can trust you not to say anything,” Hayleigh spoke. “I like Braxton. I want to see if I could have a chance to be with him.” A blush crept onto her cheeks. Willow smirked and patted Hayleigh’s back. “Everything makes sense now. Have you told him how you feel?” She shook her head, putting a strand of her ginger hair behind her ear. “I was planning to do it soon though.” Willow nodded. “If I can help, let me know.” At that moment Hayleigh was thankful that she had befriended Willow.

The next day at lunch, Braxton was there. He sat at the table with Hayleigh, glancing around. “Have you seen Willow? She should have been here by now.” He kept searching the area. It was unusual for Willow to run late meeting them for lunch.

Before Hayleigh could reply, Willow approached the table with a girl following behind her. “Hey guys,” she said, waving a hand. Braxton eyed the girl behind her. “Who is this?” The girl was maybe two or three inches taller than Willow, she had a light tan with long black hair with bright green eyes. “This is Khloe, she just transferred here today and so I volunteered to show her around.” She took a seat at the table and motioned for Khloe to join them. Khloe took the seat beside Braxton. “This is Braxton, my best friend, and this is Hayleigh. We’re a pretty tight-knit group. Braxton and I have one other friend named Jennifer, but our school schedules never line up so we never see her unless it's after school. One day you’ll meet her. Hayleigh still has to meet her too.” “It’s nice to meet you. If you need anything, let me know?” Braxton smiled at Khloe. She returned the smile while Hayleigh glared at her.

Braxton and Khloe didn’t have much in common, but they still enjoyed each other's company regardless. Khloe listened to Braxton’s interest and Braxton did the same for her. They became inseparable, and this caused Hayleigh to get jealous.

One day Hayleigh had seen Khloe and Braxton together, but Khloe was too close to Braxton for Hayleigh’s liking, and she felt her anger boiling inside of her. ‘I need to get her away from Braxton!’ Before she could be noticed, she stormed off in the opposite direction.

From then on, Hayleigh made sure to find a way to keep Braxton’s expression on herself, and it was working. “You don’t like Khloe, do you?” Willow asked one day, the question caught Hayleigh off guard. “You can’t fool me, I see how you look at her when she’s around Braxton.” Hayleigh only hummed in response. “Come on Hayleigh, spill it, it’s just us right now.” Willow and Hayleigh were standing out the front of the school, waiting for Braxton to meet up with them after getting Khloe from her classroom.

Hayleigh huffed. “Has it not seemed to you that she’s been taking Braxton’s attention from us?” Willow caught the anger that had flashed in Hayleigh’s eyes, and for some reason, this made Willow nervous. “I’m sure that’s not true, besides, he spends most of his time with you so why are you so jealous?” She nervously laughed.

“That reminds me, have you told Braxton about how you feel towards him?” Hayleigh shook her head. “You need to! You two would look cute together.” Willow said excitedly. “The only problem is Khloe,” Hayleigh hissed. “I think she has feelings for Braxton as well, but I know that she’ll never love him the way I do.” She clenched her fist as she spoke. Willow placed her hand on top of Hayleigh’s. “What if Khloe takes him from me?” Hayleigh’s voice was now above a whisper. Willow gave her a sympathetic smile. “I also don’t want to cause him any trouble because of my current case.”

Over the past few weeks, legal action had been taken against Lucio and his friends, but the case was currently still ongoing so it was going to take a while before actual charges were pressed against them. “Hun, you could never cause him trouble. If he felt like you would, he wouldn’t let you stay around and he definitely wouldn’t be cheering you on from the side.” Willow spoke in a comforting voice. “So tell him while you still can, okay?” Hayleigh smiled. “I will.”

The week after their conversation took place, Khloe had been found dead in her room, hanging. It was all over the news and the whole school had been talking about it.

“Goodmorning Braxton, good morning Willow!” Hayleigh said in a chipper voice. Braxton stared at her blankly. The news of Khloe’s death was hitting him hard. Hayleigh frowned at the lack of a response. “What’s going on?” She questioned. Willow gave her a bewildered look. “Did you not hear about Khloe?” Hayleigh’s expression went blank. “Are you talking about the rumors I’ve been hearing about all morning?” The way she spoke angered Braxton, and he snapped. “They aren’t rumors! Khloe is DEAD Hayleigh!” Hayleigh’s eyes begin to fill with tears. “I know you hated her! Don’t think that I haven’t noticed how you treat each other. If you don’t care then just FUCK OFF!!!” At this point he was yelling at her, everyone around was staring.

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“Okay, Braxton.” The tears were streaming down her cheeks, and he instantly regretted what he said. Before he could open his mouth to apologize, Hayleigh was already walking off. “Come on Brax, let’s head to class.” Willow placed her hand on his shoulder as she walked him in the other direction.

Two whole weeks passed since his blow-up on Hayleigh, and she went out of her way to avoid the both of them. On this day, Braxton and Willow stood outside of Hayleigh’s classroom before the bell was supposed to ring.

“I hope we catch her in time.” He muttered under his breath. As soon as he muttered those words, she stood before them. “What are you two doing here?” Her hands were on her hips and she was scowling, mainly at Braxton.

“Hayleigh, I wanted to know why you’re avoiding me.” She crossed her arms. “You told me to ‘fuck off,’ so I am.” He took a step towards her and before she could react he pulled her into a hug. “Hayleigh, I didn’t mean it. I was just overly emotional because of Khloe.” She sighed. “Just because I didn’t like her doesn’t mean I didn’t care.” She hugged him back. “I want you around Hayleigh.” With that, they made up, and it was like it never happened.

Khloe’s funeral eventually came and passed. Braxton and Willow had attended, and to their surprise, Hayleigh did as well to give her condolences.

“Do you guys know if they’ll be burying her in the city cemetery or their hometown?” Hayleigh questioned. Braxton paused for a second. “I think here. I could be wrong though.” The three walked in silence.

Now that the funeral was over, they were going to go grab some lunch.

“Hey, Braxton, can we talk for a second?” The three of them stopped walking, and Braxton stared at Hayleigh in concern. “What is it?” She looked down at her feet, rubbing her hands together.

“Well, seeing how this happened with Khloe, it had me thinking about something, and I want to say it now.” Willow looked shocked and started shaking her head as if she was trying to say something without having to say it out loud.

“I’m tired of waiting. I never know when something might happen to any of us, so Braxton, I want you to know, I’m in love with you!” She blurted out. Willow frowned, clearly disagreeing with the situation. Braxton just stared at her, dumbstruck.

Hayleigh’s face was bright red, and she looked up at Braxton. She took a step towards him and placed her hands on his cheeks, and pressed her lips against his. “Well, what do you say?” Her voice was barely above a whisper as she backed away.

“I… Hayleigh, I’m sorry, but I can’t be with you.” He looked around them as if worried that someone might be listening. “You probably should have never told me how you felt, I… I just can’t.” He was shaking. “Hayleigh, we can’t be friends anymore. I can’t be around you knowing that you feel this way towards me.”

Her pained expression hurt him, but it was for the best, at least it kept his guilty conscience from eating at him. Hayleigh’s eyes filled with tears as she stormed off, Willow placed her hand on Braxton’s shoulders. “Let’s get out of here.”

A month had passed since Braxton stopped talking to Hayleigh, but for some reason, rumors were starting to spread that he was now in a relationship with Hayleigh. “Hey, have you heard about Braxton? He and Hayleigh are now dating!” A girl behind him said to the girl next to her in class one day. Luckily, the second girl was smart. “How can they be dating? Hayleigh hasn’t been around Braxton in over a month. If anything it seems like they aren’t talking.” ‘Finally, someone who isn’t so stupid!’ Braxton thought.

This took the first girl by surprise. “Well, yeah, but it seems that someone has a pic of the two of them kissing and sent it to Hayleigh’s parents. Since the Lucio thing happened they aren’t allowed to be together so they are staying apart in public so that her parents don’t find out.” She whispered excitedly. The other girl sighed.

“Who told you all of this? Is there even proof?” The second girl sounded annoyed. “Then look at this!” There was a brief moment of silence. “It’s hard to refute if you have a picture, but for now let’s stop talking about it, okay?” The second girl sounded nervous. If it wasn’t for the fact that they were in the middle of class, Braxton would have turned around and snatched her phone to see this so-called “proof.” His blood was boiling.

At lunch, he was finally able to meet up with Willow. “Willow! We need to talk.” She stared him in the eyes, almost as if she already knew what was about to be said.

Willow placed a stray of strand hair behind her ear as she looked off thoughtfully. He still waited for a response. “Honestly Braxton, I heard people talking about it already. It seems like everyone has seen this picture except us, it seems like it’s being kept from the both of us.” He shook his head in disbelief. “Do you believe that?” Willow only nodded her head. “I do. We’ll figure out who started this though, okay?” Braxton only nodded.

The rest of the day he couldn’t concentrate. His mind was still a blur even when he and Willow had started their usual walk home “Are you even listening to me, Braxton?” Willow’s voice brought him back to reality. “Oh, sorry, no. I wasn’t listening.” She frowned at him and stopped walking, and he stopped as well.

Another sound of steps stopping caught Braxton’s attention. He looked around quickly trying to find if someone was following, but there was no one.

“Hey, Willow, did you hear that?” She looked at him with confusion. “Hear what?” He shook his head. “I might just be imagining things. What were you saying?”

On the walk home, Braxton felt like he was being followed, and sometimes I thought he could hear faint footsteps following behind him, and this kept happening for days on end. It got to the point that as he laid in bed at night he could hear knocks on his window, and sometimes he thought he saw a figure but was too scared to check.

The rumor about him and Hayleigh was beginning to get out of control, and one day he finally got the ‘picture’ he kept hearing everyone talk about. It was a picture of her kissing him from when she confessed that she loved him. ‘How the hell did anyone get this?’ He asked people who sent them the picture, but some wouldn’t talk, and others just straight up didn’t know who the original sender was.

However, the picture was the least of his worries. He had to focus more on who was stalking him. “I know that the rumors matter, but I’m more worried about finding out why someone is following me, only then will I confront the rumors and get the facts straightened out.” He sighed as he laid his head in his arms at the lunch table, Willow was mindless scrolling her phone as he spoke. For lunch that day the two decided they would sit out in the courtyard, where they wouldn’t have to hear the whispers of the other students.

“Why don’t I just stay the night then?” Willow asked. “If you have someone following you then they’ll see me going home with you and they might not bother you tonight. That way you can get some better sleep because a Braxton without proper sleep is a Braxton that can be hard to handle.” She gave him a slight smile and he returned it. “We can also go buy you a camera to set up outside in a place that it can be hidden so you can find out who is doing this.” “You think of everything Willow.” She beamed at the compliment. “Thanks.”

A few minutes passed before Willow spoke once again. “Are you sure Hayleigh isn’t the one who started the rumor?” Braxton glanced up. Willow turned her phone towards him. Hayleigh’s social media accounts all had it put that she was in a relationship dating back to when the rumors began, but none of it said with who.

“I… I’m not sure. It does seem very likely though with seeing that, but we’ll just have to wait and see.” He hoped that it wasn’t her.

On the way back to Braxton’s place, the two friends stopped by a store and bought a camera to set up outside of his bedroom window. Once they got to his place, they set it up and Braxton sat on his bed and let out a sigh of relief. “Hopefully we catch them tonight.” He said, Willow nodded.

During the night a loud bang woke the two up from their slumber. “Braxton! Are you okay?” Willow shot up. Braxton rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, it sounded like it came from outside.” Another bang. Usually, it was just knocking, but tonight the bangs caught Braxton off guard. Maybe his stalker was angry that he had someone over?

Every few minutes there would be another bang until after roughly twenty minutes, it stopped.

“Why didn’t you go out there and check it out, Braxton?” Braxton looked at his terrified friend. “I’m just as scared, plus we have no idea who it is or how many people are here. What if I went out there and they attacked me, got inside, and hurt you or anyone else in the house?” He snapped. She looked down.

“Why not call the police then?” Braxton sighed. “By the time the police would get here, they would be gone. Also, I usually get too scared to call them.” He looked down in disappointment. “In the morning I’ll check the camera, then we’ll see who it is.”

That’s exactly what they did when they got up the next morning.

“I can’t believe it…” Braxton muttered to himself. Willow had her arms crossed, the expression she wore made it obvious to anyone around that she was pissed. The one that was behind all the knocking was Hayleigh. It made Braxton feel sick to his stomach.

“We have to do something about this. We need to confront her.” Willow said sternly. Braxton only nodded. “Let’s do it today during lunch, in the courtyard, that way there won’t be much of a crowd to see what’s going on.” Willow hummed in agreement.

“I told her this morning to meet us out here for lunch, but I’m not fully sure if she’s going to come.” Willow was pacing back and forth, clearly frustrated.

Suddenly he felt arms wrap around him from behind. “Hi, Braxton! I’ve missed you.” He instantly felt sick to his stomach just like he had earlier that morning. He tried to turn to face her to push her away but she just held on tighter. “Hayleigh, I had told you to stay away from me. Just because Willow asked you to meet us doesn’t mean we’re suddenly friends again and that you can go clinging on to me.” He snapped at her. Hayleigh’s eyes sparkled, but her smile was menacing. “Why would I stay away from my boyfriend?” She mockingly asked. ‘So it was her who started the rumors.’

His eyes met hers, but her eyes seemed different, deranged in some way. This was a Hayleigh he didn’t recognize. “Hayleigh, we aren’t dating.” Anger flashed in her eyes and Braxton was able to push her away, stepping a few feet back. “I know you’re the one who has been following me recently.” She tilted her head, locks of her ginger hair fell on her face. From the corner of his eye, he saw Willow come to his side.

“You can be so paranoid sometimes, baby, but it’s okay!” She took a step towards him. “I have footage that shows you outside of my bedroom window banging on it.” Her expression changed to one of annoyance. “Then delete it. Why would you care so much about your girlfriend coming to check on you in the middle of the night?” She sounded angry and the look in her eyes made it obvious that she wasn’t in her right mind. Like she had snapped.

“For the last time Hayleigh, WE ARE NOT DATING!” He yelled. Willow grabbed his hand. “She doesn’t seem like she’ll be able to understand, so let’s go.” Hayleigh glanced at their hands, biting hard on her lap at the sight of Willow holding Braxton’s hand. Before he could realize what happened, Hayleigh reached into her pocket and brandished a pocket knife. She lunged towards Willow with it. Braxton quickly grabbed Willow out of the way and ran back into the building.

The commotion had drawn a crowd, and teachers were already outside trying to apprehend Hayleigh, but she only stood there and watched Braxton as he ran away. “You can’t run forever.”

Even with them outside of the school, he kept running, dragging Willow along with him until he stopped when he felt safe. “Are you okay Willow?” He asked, trying to catch his breath. Willow could only nod, still shocked at what had just taken place. Without thinking, he started laughing. Willow eventually joined in.

“You saved my life Braxton!” Willow said through her laughs. Braxton smiled. “I’m glad I did. I need you around.” Once they calmed down Willow got serious. “Braxton, you need to go get a restraining order. She put both of our lives in danger today on top of the fact she’s been stalking you.” “I agree. Better get it done sooner than later.”

That same day the restraining order had been taken out on Hayleigh. The next day Braxton received a call from the Henderson’s. They begged him to drop the restraining order, telling him they would transfer their daughter to another school and that he would never have to see her again. It was agreed upon that he would keep his restraining order and that she would transfer, but that there should be no talk of it to not ruin the Henderson family reputation. Braxton was fine with that, and after that, they had kept their word. Hayleigh had been transferred out to another school, and Braxton never saw her again until the week before her disappearance.

Jennifer sat there in silence. Braxton stayed silent as well, he wasn’t wanting to force conversation unless Jennifer felt comfortable enough.

“So,” She started. “How did you feel about Hayleigh before she confessed to you?” Braxton glanced at her from the side and sighed. “I loved her. I wanted to be with her. It was just hard because of Khloe. I felt as if I wasn’t allowed to be with someone I wanted to be with since Khloe was dead.” Jennifer gave him a sympathetic smile. “Why is that?” “Because Khloe deserved to live her life, not for her life to end so shortly. Things got weird between us before she died.” There was a pause. “You said Willow was proven to not have been the one who killed Ashley, right?” Jennifer nodded. “Have you spoken to her?” She nodded again. “She wants to talk to you because the last time she had seen you, you believed she had killed Ashley.” “Call her, see if she’s home. If so, we’ll go see her.”

Jennifer called Willow like she was told, and luckily enough, she was home, and Braxton had to apologize, as well as mule over who could have possibly wanted to shove Ashley’s body into Willow’s trunk.

Little did Braxton know, there was a figure standing off in the background, watching him as he got out at Willow’s house.