What Happened To Robbie Clay

Chapter 3

Before**

"I love the winter," Robbie says with a bright smile before shaking the snow out of his hair. I look at him as if he is crazy.

"You are aware that you almost died on the ice out there, right?" I ask him with wide and skeptical eyes. He laughs at me with a bright smile.

'That's the danger in the beauty. All Beautiful things can be dangerous."

After**

I come out of Daniel's bathroom in one of his huge sweaters and a rolled up pair of sweats and go into his room. He is sitting on his bed scrolling through TV channels when he looks over at me.

"There is literally nothing to watch, but we have pizza on the way here and my mom made you some hot chocolate. She also told me to tell you that you are 'very beautiful.' and 'way out of my league.' Whatever those two things mean about me just being nice of whatever." I smile at him and lean on his bedroom door frame as I scan his room.

It's huge, but clean. If it weren't for the pictures of him with his friends and teammates, you wouldn't even be able to tell that the room had anyone living in it. I look at last year's football team picture and see Robbie four people over from Daniel, holding a football and grinning. Below the picture reads 'Champions of the Year. Go Vikings!' I feel a cold chill wash over me before looking down at my feet.

"How well did you know Robbie?" I ask him as I play with his carpet with the toes on my right foot.

"We played sports together and sometimes our friend groups ran into one another. Other than that I never really knew anything about him. Expect like the fact that you two were like best friends and everyone thought that you were dating." I nod and push my hair behind my ear and out of my face.

"I-" the doorbell cuts me off and then Daniel gets up and heads towards the front door.

"Pizza's here!" Daniel calls before opening the door to a younger kid from out school slightly shivering in the cold with three pizza boxes in his arms.

"That'll be $35.79," the kid chatters out an then Daniel hands him two twenty dollar bills as he grabs the pizza's from him.

"Keep the change," Daniel tell the kid before closing the door and then putting the pizzas on the table near the door and turning towards me. "Let's dig in."

Before**

"No! Absolutely not! Pineapple does not belong on pizza! I don't care what anyone says!" Robbie shouts at me as I suggest trying the topping.

"Oh, you're such a baby! It's only food, Robbie." I give him a pointed look and he pouts at me.

"A very disgusting food, that we will never, ever be trying. Ever." He gives me a very serious and dark look before stealing my phone and completely the online order.

"What the heck man?! You can't just steal my stuff!"

After**

"Annabeth? Earth to Annabeth?" I snap out of the memory and look at Daniel with the half raised pizza in my hand.

"Sorry?" I ask him before taking a bite.

"I didn't say anything. You were just sitting there, staring off into space with your pizza half raised for a really long time. I started thinking you were having a seizure or something." I lightly blush in embarrassment.

"I haven't had a seizure since Freshman year."

"You can never be too careful. My older brother, Devon, he..."

"He what?"

"Nothing," Daniel clears his throat before taking a drink of his water and then taking another bite of pizza.

"I didn't think you had any older brother," I try again. Daniel just simply nods before standing up and throwing away his paper plate and plastic cup.

"I'll take you home once you're done eating. I'm sure your foster parents are wondering where you are, and it's getting late. My mom will start thinking bad things if you stay much longer." I nod in understanding before finishing off my pizza and throwing away my trash.

"Okay. Sounds like a plan." I watch as Daniel picks up my bag and has me follow him back out to his car.

"You live next to the Clay's, right?" Daniel asks without thinking much. I go stiff and suddenly Daniel does so as well.

"You said you didn't know that much about Robbie, but you know where he lived?" I ask in a whisper.

"I know the Clay house." I look over at Daniel in confusion and anger.

"Are you just being nice to me to hear what actually happened that night?" I ask him in slight anger. Daniel's head falls back and he huffs out a breath.

"No, Annabeth. I am being nice to you because that's what a semi-decent person does. I know where the Clay's lived because Devon and Emmanuel were friends." I look at him in even more confusion.

"The Clay's never had anyone named Emmanuel live with them." Daniel looks over at me in confusion.

"Emmanuel is their oldest son, and he went to rehab for heroin after he overdosed his Senior year of high school and Robert found him near death in his bedroom as a kid." I sit back in my seat and let his words roll over me.

"Robbie never told me he had any siblings, and the Clay's acted as if Robbie was an only child." Daniel looks at me like the second part isn't surprising.

"Robert was the do-over child. After Emmanuel started showing signs of being problematic around twelve, they tried and had another kid. The Super Star kid, just like my parents did with me after Devon... Anyways. Once Emmanuel overdosed, everyone stopped talking about him. The newspaper, school articles, neighbors, everyone. Manny was sent to rehab and no one has heard anything from him since."

"But why wasn't he at Robbie's funeral then?" I whisper. Daniel looks at me strangely.

"He was."