Remind Me

Chapter Forty-One

"Hey! I'm Drake and they're Ben and Parker," the tan boy with the facial hair growing in says, smiling at the doorway. "And you are...?"

"Uh... Brinley... Um, I'm guessing you're looking for Ian?" I ask, frowning.

"Yes! He invited us over for some football night," Parker, the tall blonde, responds.

"Right," I nod, looking around behind me. "Ian! There are people here." I want to leave this doorway as soon as humanly possible. Now that I think of it, any of these boys could know me or Jonathan. Any of them could be the one sent here to finish me off.

"Ah," Ian rounds the corner. "Hey, guys. Come inside. Where're the others?"

"Others?" I ask, eyes widening. No. No more, I can't watch them all at once.

"Yes, others," Ian smiles at me. "Phill and Jacob? Where are those guys at?"

"They're on their way, don't worry. They'll be here before the game starts," Drake says, walking inside, followed by his two friends.

"Nice to meet you, Brinley," Parker says with a nod as he walks past. I give him a short wave before hurrying off in a different direction. No fraternizing with the enemy. And in this case, all of them are the enemy. Oh my gosh, what have I gotten myself into? I'm avoiding all human contact for heaven's sake!

A hand touches my shoulder and I nearly jump a mile. "Brinley, what are you doing in the laundry room?"

I turn around and come face to face with Owen. Letting myself relax, I shrug. "I'm freaking myself out."

"Over what?" He looks me over as if to make sure I'm completely intact. "Did Ian do something?"

"Only invite over five more possibilities," I reply with a sigh. "He has friends, and I don't have a clue who they are... But one of them, or Ian, probably has a huge idea of who I am."

"Ian invited people over?" Owen looks over my shoulder and towards the living room.

"Yeah," I look over as well, where all of them are copying themselves onto the couches. "And all of them are big enough to snap me right in half."

"None of those guys are going to touch you, okay?" Owen says. "In fact, I want to know a little bit about these guys."

He starts walking over to the living room. I grab his arm to stop him. "Wait! Isn't that kind of dangerous?"

"No. It's to scope out the situation. I'm going to attend a football night," Owen says. "And you're going to join me."

My eyes widen and I shake my head. "What, no! I hate football! And I don't really feel like giving my murderer something to stare at for two hours."

"If you act like you're not scared, you might just scare them enough not to touch you. You did shoot Jonathan, right? I'm sure they heard about that. If you act unafraid, they'll notice," Owen says.

Then he proceeds to drag me towards the couches. I frown, feeling very uneasy. I hope Owen's right about this, that's all I can say. But if he is, I have to act like this is nothing. I'm not scared of these guys. I'll have to look them in the eyes and such.

"Owen! Hey, can you go answer the door for me? Someone knocked, probably Phill and Jake," Ian calls before we can step foot into the living room.

Owen obeys, giving me a reminding nod before opening the front door. Two tall guys stand in the doorway, one looking down at his phone screen and the other smiling at me. I purse my lips, looking the two of them over.

"Hey, Ian," Blondie says to Owen. "Nice hair cut."

"No, sorry, I'm not Ian," Owen says. "I'm his brother, Owen."