He was so close she could hit him if she wanted. So close she could hug him if she needed. “I saw the flowers. I saw them. They were in my car on Sunday, in my locker on Monday, and delivered to my house this morning. I know no one else has seen them, but…”
Aaron took her by the shoulders, firm but gentle. He bent down to look right at her eyes. “I don’t think you’re crazy. I think… I think you need help. I think maybe you’ve bitten off more than you can chew.”
“With the drugs?” she barely said over a whisper. He couldn’t really believe that, could he?
“Just tell me what you’re taking, Sloan. I can help you.”
“Why do you keep thinking I’m taking drugs?” she yelled. This was getting nowhere fast. How could he have jumped to such a wrong conclusion so quickly?
He wiped his mouth with his hand in a sign of frustration. At least that’s how she took it. He could be wiping away crumbs for all she knew. “Your eyes are bloodshot and you have black circles under them like you haven’t slept for days, but you say you sleep a lot. You’re frustrated, upset easily…”
She cut him off. “Anyone would be frustrated and upset easily. You all are jumping to conclusions. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Paranoid.” He kept right on going. “I’ve seen it before, remember? I know how these things look.”
“You think I’m hallucinating. You think none of this is real.”
“I think you think it’s real. I think it’s very real to you, and you convinced Ray it’s real because he went to talk to Boyd and his mother. I’m not a fan of Boyd’s, by any means, but he’s one hundred percent in a wheelchair. He’s not getting out anytime soon. He can’t be stalking you. Didn’t you freak out yesterday and call the police because you thought you saw someone watching you from across the road?”
She nodded, not liking where this was going.
“Okay. They didn’t find anyone, did they? No sign of anyone, right?”
She shook her head, getting very sick to her stomach.
“See. No one was there. No one is stalking you. It’s whatever you’re taking making you see these things. Honey, it’s alright. We can help you. My mom did the same thing.”
It felt like he’d punched her in the stomach. His mother, Susan, had been a known drug user, and to be compared to her hurt worse than she could ever have imagined.
“I don’t know what’s going on with me,” she said, fighting not to let her voice quiver. “I have no idea, but I know that I’m not taking drugs. I know that, and you have to believe me. I’ve just been taking some aspirin.”
“And whatever Darcy gave you yesterday,” he added.
“Just a pain pill. And I saw the flowers on Sunday before I took anything from her. I swear to you, I haven’t taken anything else.”
Her legs started shaking, and she knew what it had to mean. “So either whoever this is can get into my house whenever he or she wants, or I had a worse head injury than I thought when Boyd attacked me… or I’m crazy.”
Aaron did something she would never have seen coming in a million years. He pulled her to his chest and kissed the top of her head. “I don’t think you’re crazy. I don’t know what’s going on, but I promise I’ll get to the bottom of it. You don’t have to go through this alone.”
She settled down in his arms, furious at him, but happy to be held, because, frankly, she felt like she was falling apart. From the corner of her eye, she saw Ray peeking out the window. When he noticed she’d seen him, he averted his eyes and walked away.
“The flower shop!” She jumped out of Aaron’s arms, making him jump as well.
“The what?”
“The flower shop! They should have a record of who sent the flowers to me this morning. That would prove I’m not crazy, right? Do you think they are still open?”
“I doubt it. It’s already after seven. You know this town rolls up before the sun goes down.”
She knew it all too well. “We can call them in the morning.”
Aaron nodded. “In the morning. Think your mom will let you stay home from school?”
“I think I don’t care if she does. I’m going.”
“Sloan…”
She was determined with this. “No. This is important to me. I missed way too much after Boyd attacked me, and I’m not missing it now. Mrs. Knight got all snooty with me for missing Biology today and next week is pig dissection, and I’d like to actually be there for that, strange as it sounds, and…”
“Okay!” He held his hands up, defeated. She could swear he had a hint of amusement in his eyes. It was nice to see him going back to his old self instead of the intense, slightly jerky guy he had been. “Go to school. Do what you want. Just be careful, okay?”
“So you think I’m not crazy or making it up or it’s all in my head?”
“I think we don’t know what’s going on, and it’s best to be safe.”
It was as good of a plan as any.