Daniel is back and this time Stacy is with him holding his hand. They decided to hang out with us at lunch today. I want to ask about why he called the bomb threat but we're at Delilah's locker and everyone's talking to each other. I decide I'm going to take a walk around the school to clear my head instead. It's not long till my phone vibrates. I'm thinking it's Delilah wondering where I'm going but instead, it's an unknown caller ID texting me with one word: Judas. I decide to ignore it. But my phone vibrates again. It's the same unknown ID.
Them: I know what's going on Judas.
Probably just another student trying to prank me. I'm about to put my phone back in my pocket when my phone vibrates again. It's the same person.
Them: I was the one that took the picture of you behind Mathew's and spread it on social media.
I stop and take a look around. Almost every student in the halls is either talking amongst themselves or on their phones. It could be any of them. My phone vibrates.
Them: But don't worry. I'm a friend. You can trust me. I'm going to get us out of this mess.
I begin to text back:
Me: Who is this?
Them: Like I said, I'm a friend.
Me: Friends don't spread photos to frame friends of crimes they didn't commit.
Them: The person that's responsible for all of this has me under their thumb. I had no choice. But don't worry. I know who it is. And I'm working on getting us out. I just need you to play along.
Me: You know who it is? Who is it?
Unknown Caller ID: I can't tell you. You'll just fuck things up. Just know it's one of your friends.
Me: I'm guessing you're someone in my group too?
Them: Yes. Think of me as your protector. I got your back. But I can't tell you who I am right now. Just know that one of us is planning something big. They're trying to drag you into it. I'm trying to stop it. With your help, we can stop it together. I'll keep you posted.
I ask more questions but they don't answer. I decide to rename them: "My Protector" and begin to make my way back to my friends.
So one of my friends is pinning these crimes onto me, while the other is fighting back in my name. Which one of them could it be?
I make it back and a crowd is gathered around Lucy. I watch from a distance and listen as Lucy talks about an something.
"Remember, Judas is your friend, not your foe!" Lucy exclaims. Lucy pulls out a punch of flyers from seemingly knowing where and scatters them amongst the crowd. I catch one out of the air and take in the text:
"$10,000 for the first person to expose the one who framed Judas for the bomb threat. Another $10,000 for the person who murdered Matthew. Anything you desire if they're dead."
People begin to gawk at the numbers and talk amongst themselves as Lucy makes her way over to me.
"How'd I do?" she asks.
"Great. As always," I say checking the back side of the flyer, "The dead thing is a little extreme, don't you think?"
"Gotta let them know not to mess with my boy. Can I talk to you for a sec?"
"Sure."
We walk away a few feet and Lucy nudges me with her shoulder.
"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" she says.
"I know."
"Well, then why do I feel like you're hiding something from me?"
I look at her and her crimson eyes gleam.
"I got your back. I'd do anything for you," she tells me.
"I appreciate it, Lucy. Life's just been complicated lately."
Could she be "My Protector"?
"You aren't being forced to do anything you don't want to, are you?" I ask her.
"Me? No, I'm doing what I love. I mean—nah never mind."
"What? What's up?"
"I was just gonna say Delilah's been working me to the bone with her music lately. Making sure everything is perfect on her socials. Plus I had to help Daniel and Stacy get together and that was a challenge and of itself. I still need to help Squid find their fame..."
So it's possible that Lucy could be under either Delilah, Daniel, or Squid's thumb. But what leverage would they have on her?
"What if you just took a break from doing favors?" I ask.
"A good Devil is a diligent Devil? Plus I feel like it's the only reason their friends with me."
That's it. If Lucy's "My Protector", she's under whoever's responsible for framing me's thumb because she doesn't want to stop being their friend.
"By the way," Lucy starts, "Are you sure Delilah has your best interests in mine?"
"Of course she does. Why wouldn't she?"
"Well, Judas—I'm not sure if you're aware of this," she leans into my right ear and the hairs on my neck stand up, "You're hot."
I audibly laugh. But her face is as straight as a nail.
"You're serious?" I ask, "I mean I lost some weight junior to senior year but I'm not—"
"Judas why do you think all the girls aren't bullying you? Everything that's happened to us was a man's or likely a man's fault."
I haven't had any negative interactions with the woman at Hawkins High this year. The opposite actually. But that doesn't mean—
"Daniel even stopped bullying you because peops say you got as hot as he did. I'd say hotter," Lucy continues, "All people ever talk about is Judas and his transformation. Now he has a beautiful girlfriend because of it and everything."
It all hits me like a tsunami. I can't believe I'm saying this but, I might be attractive now. And I'm now just realizing it because of Lucy.
Does that mean Delilah likes me for who I am, or because of my looks? Am I really the one asking this question now?
"Think on it, Judy," Lucy says with a wink, walking into Delilah by accident. They both laugh it off like it was nothing. Delilah then finds her place by my side.
"Everything okay?" She asks.
"I'm attractive," I say, sounding more defeated than I want to be.
"Yeah. I know. I like that about you."
"What was the first thing you noticed about me?"
She thinks about it, "You're forearms."
"My forearms?"
"Yeah," She giggles, "You have nice forearms. They're veiny. And eyes. And face. And body."
This is the first time I've heard her talk about me like this. I kind of like it.
"What about me?" She asks.
"I guess it was just how you carried yourself. With complete confidence. Elegance. Like an angel."
"Well, now I feel like a pervert."
We laugh and our eyes meet at the end of it all. Could Delilah be "My Protector"? If so, which one of my friends has her under their thumb?
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Delilah and I had plans so I dropped her off at her house. My mom is out of town which means we would have the house to myself. Then I got another text from "My Protector".
Them: Heads up! Someone's gonna come over to your house. Do not tell them anything about what's going on.
Me: Why? Who's coming?
Them: Just trust me. The less people know the better.
Not shortly after there's a knock at my door. When I go to open it, I was expecting either Delilah, Lucy, Squid or even Daniel. But instead, it's Detective Nick.
"Evening Judas," he says, "Your mother home?"
"No. She's out."
"Oh well, mind if I come in? I just got a few questions."
"Sure. Come right in."
I move aside and Nick steps inside my home.
"Do you want anything to drink?" I ask.
"I'm fine," he says, taking a seat at the dining room table. I take a seat right next to him.
"So, how are things?" he asks.
I've been meaning to get a hold of Nick forever now, but things have just been piling on. But now he's in my house and it's just the two of us.
But what "My Protector" said; to not tell anyone anything. Is that wise? He is a detective after all.
"Things are... challenging," I finally say, "But I'm breathing."
"No kidding. I saw the photo of you at the scene of the crime with the Mathew kid. Everyone at school must think you did it."
"Yeah, actually. That's exactly what everyone thinks. Well except for my friends."
"You got good friends?"
"Oh, the best. Wouldn't trade them for anything. Wait. Why didn't anybody come to question me about it if you saw that?"
"I pulled some strings. I know you aren't responsible for this, Judas. I'm just tryna figure out who is."
"Why me? Why am I so special? Why am I the center of all of this?"
"I don't know Judas. But I don't believe in coincidences. Is there anything, anything at all you can tell me that can aid me in my investigation?"
I unload on him. Everything from when I first met Delilah to Squid, Jack, and Lucy. All the information I know. Even "My Protector".
He doesn't blink for a bit. Then he ruffles his mustache.
"That's a lot of hearsay. But if all of it is true, Judas, you've told the right person."
He looks down at his golden wristwatch. Being a detective in a small town must pay a lot.
"Lucy was with you the night you were at Matthew's?" Nick asks. I nod, "What did she do?"
"She just said she roughed him up. But left him alive."
Nick ponders on this information.
"Matthew died from blunt force trauma," Nick states, "We believe they were brass knuckles of some kind. Do you know anybody that has a pair of those?"
I didn't see Lucy with a pair of brass knuckles. Her knuckles were a little bloody but that was it.
Is someone pinning this on Lucy too?
"Well, it's time for me to leave," Nick says, standing up, "Thank you for talking to me, God bless you."
I smile and he winks at me. He then shows himself out and I hear him bump into Delilah.
"Oop, sorry," she says.
"My bad sweetie," Nick says.
Delilah then enters my house and approaches me.
"Who's that guy?"
"Detective Nick. I've known him since I was eight. He's a good guy. I've been meaning to tell him about what's going on and I finally did. So that's good."
She nods, "He seemed sweet. In a sixty-year-old man's way."
Our eyes meet and God, she's magnificent. Her eyes draw me in like a whirlpool; cycling water down a drain.
"So. What do Christian teenage couples do when they have the house all to themselves?" she asks.
I know it's a joke but I have to cross my legs because of how she said it.
"We can watch Netflix?" I say.
"You know what usually happens when two hot people watch Netflix together, right?"
"Fuck—um, we can go for a walk?"
"Eh. That sounds boring."
"Then we could—uh—"
"Let's go up to your room and see where that takes us."
Is this it? Am I going to do this? God knows I want to. Like, I really want to. And I love her. But should I wait for marriage?
She starts making her way to my room. I follow her. My heart is beginning to pound.
But then I see it. At first. I don't want to believe it. I have to squint and rub my eyes to get a grasp of it. But that doesn't make it any clearer. Through the fabric of Delilah's thin see-through blue backpack is a pair of brass knuckles. I stop following her, frozen. I don't know what to do. What to say.
Did Delilah kill Matthew? Her Jacket was wet that night I came to her. And now there's a pair of brass knuckles in her backpack. Why would she have a pair of brass knuckles? Is she going to kill me?
She makes it to the top of the stairs and turns around. My eyes meet hers and I can hear the stair creaking from myself shaking.
"Is everything okay?" she asks.
"I—uh—I just remembered I have a thing. I gotta go."
I spin around and begin sprinting for the door.
"Judas!" I hear her cry out, but I don't turn around. I just keep running until I fling my front door open. Then I'm out onto the front lawn and then the streets running for my life.
"Judas, wait!" Delilah screams. I turn and she's on the driveway watching me run as far away as possible from her.
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