Beyond the Reasons || JUSTIN FOLEY

Thirteen

PRESENT TIME
LIBRARY
IMOGEN'S POV

"Okay, if he has it and we get it from him, then what? Do we turn him in?" Justin asked. Me, Clay, Ani, and obviously Justin were all sitting together at the library, discussing what to do about Tyler still having a gun, but I don't think turning him in is the correct answer.

"First we make sure he doesn't hurt himself or anyone else, and then. . we'll figure it out." Clay said.

"Guys. . are you considering that maybe Tyler had the gun for another reason. Just because they revealed that Bryce had been shot doesn't mean that Tyler was the one to do it. There's a multitude of reasons he could've kept one. What if he wanted to hurt himself?" I asked.

"Hurt himself?" Ani asked.

"Yeah. . like shoot himself, in the head, much like Alex did. Did anyone ever consider suicide as an option? When guys commit suicide, they do it in much more violent ways than girls do, like shooting themselves in the head, hanging themselves. And all the shit that Tyler has gotten put through at this school, that option shouldn't be ignored." I said.

"Well. . like I said, we'll figure it out." Clay said.

"Yeah, but do you think you can do that again? Do you think you should?" Justin asked. Ani stupidly turned around and looked back at Tyler, and then when he met her gaze, she turned back around to us, so Tyler probably now knows we're talking about him.

Way to go, new girl.

"Well, let's just pray it's a non-issue." Ani said.

"Okay, but how can we know for sure?" Justin asked.

"Yeah. How can we know?" A new voice asked. We all looked up to see Zach, moving his crutches from under his arm and sitting down next to me. "And, um. . why aren't we calling the police?" He asked. Clay looked over at Justin, and me.

"Seriously? You two told him?" Clay asked.

"I told him nothing. Not like he answers when I call or text him anyway." I said, rolling my eyes, and Zach only looked over at Justin.

"Dude, he's like. . part of this." Justin said.

"He's been pretty clear he doesn't want to be part of it." Clay said, which was true.

"Guys. . we should call the cops." Zach said.

"Do you really think that? Or is this just your chance to do what you wanted to do all along?" Clay asked him, which was a good point. What is the point of calling the police on Tyler now. We don't know for a fact that he was the one who shot Bryce, everyone is only assuming he did because of who we've always known Tyler to be.

A weird kid who kept to himself.

He fits the stereotype of a serial killer, but that doesn't mean he is one. "Look, forget about Spring Fling. Forget about everything, okay? Somebody shot Bryce. Tyler has a gun." Zach said.

"That is not enough evidence to come to the conclusion that it was Tyler who shot Bryce." I said.

"Look, I know. But he didn't have any reason to kill Bryce, did he?" Clay asked, and Zach sighed.

"Actually. . he did." Zach said, and then he explained how he saw Tyler at school over the summer, because Tyler was waiting for Justin to get out of class. Summer school, since Justin missed like 5 months of school last year, and Zach told Tyler that Bryce knew about Spring Fling. When he finished explaining the story, we were all looking at him.