"Okay, so we don't have a lot to go off of," Nev and Max take a seat at a table in the back of some local coffee shop. They had got their teas and their muffins and they were ready to jump in, but there was not enough to warrant that there would be any water in which to land in.
"No," Max agrees, taking a small sip of his tea. "We have a username, a possible name made from initials and a phone number."
"Let's just put the username into a search," Nev opens up his laptop and connects it to the coffee shop Wi-Fi. "It is possible that he has used it for other things."
Nev enters ToBeeHoneyst into the search bar and not surprisingly, there is nothing. No results found at all. First dead end has been met.
"Well doing a search for C.J. is going to be pretty pointless," Nev laughs to himself. That ill bring up more pages than they have time for and more than likely, not a single one would have anything to do with the guy they are looking for. "So let's do a reverse number search."
Nev enters the phone number that Dean has given him into the search and … match found.
"Yes," Max cries out, quietly of course, they are still inside of a coffee shop and do not want to completely disturb the customers. Though they are probably already curious or bothered by all of the cameras and crew that are packed inside. "And look the name starts with a C."
"Carver Edlund," Nev reads the name aloud. "So this guy's name is Carver."
"Let's look up Carver on Facebook," Max suggests, though that was going to be their first course of action anyways.
Max enters the name Carver Edlund into Facebook and they have a hit. Carver Edlund of Lawrence, Kansas. This iss not what they were hoping for. This man is definitely not a high school student. He is in his late thirties and a fiction novelist. Not only is he not a high school student, he is married, though it did not list who he is married to.
"This looks like a page for him as a writer and less for him as a person." Max points out, pointing to the number of followers he has. "Two thousand sixty-seven followers. Definitely not a personal page."
"There does not seem to be much more information on him than that. Does not mention who he is married to or much about his life at all." Nev clickes around his profile page. "Let's do a Google search on the name."
Entering his name into Google produces better results. Carver Edlund is the author of a book series called Supernatural. It is about two brothers who travel around the country fighting the monsters that go bump in the night. He has no other works and his books do not seem to be that popular. Nev and Max have never heard of them either.
Outside of his novels, Carver is married to a woman named Becky and together, the two of them have three children. The names and ages of the children are not listed anywhere that they can find.
"I think we have all that we need for now," Nev closes his computer and looks to Max. "I think we need to let Dean know what we found."
The next morning, Nev and Max arrive at Dean's house, dreading the news they are going to have to deliver. They give bad news to people all of the time but that never seems to make it easier. The look of hurt that people get in their eyes is always heart breaking. Though this show is supposed to help people learn the truth and find closure, the biggest emotion this show produces for the percipients is pain.
"Good morning," Nev smiles at Dean as he let them into the house. This time it is only him that is around.
"Morning," Dean smiles at them both, motioning for them to sit down on the couch.
"I am guessing you want us to just get to it," Nev can tell by the look in Dean's eyes. Dean was not even really into all of this from the beginning. Trying to make small talk and drag it out longer than it needed to is not what he wants.
"That is why you are here," Dean throws back at Nev, confirming his suspicion of who Dean is and what he needs from this.
"Well we could not get a lot of information with the username," Max gives him the rundown of what they have done. "Sometimes when people use a username one place, they use it multiple places, but that was a dead end."
"We did however get a hit off of the phone number," Nev tries to sound positive. At least they are not one hundred percent empty handed arriving here today. "Do you happen to know anyone by the name of Carver Edlund?"
"The writer?" Dean sits up quickly but remains on the couch. "Carver Edlund, the writer?"
"So you have heard of him?" Nev gives Max a side glance.
"Yeah," Dean sinks into himself, taking in all of the information that is being given to him. "He subs at our school sometimes for the English teachers. That is who I have been talking to?"
"We don't know for sure," Nev holds out his hand. Though they are not certain Carver is the man on the other end of the line, what information they have seems to point to that conclusion. "But so far, that is where we have been lead."
"Carver is, like, old," Dean seems like he is going to start hyperventilating. "Not like really old but at least old enough to be my dad, old."
"Are you still wanting to go through with this?" Max asks Dean. He can obviously see what Nev is seeing. Dean looks like he is about to go into a full blown panic attack. They do not want to force him into doing anything that is too much for him to do, that is not why they are here.
"Yeah," Dean sits back against the couch. "I need to finish this."
"Okay," Nev gets up from the couch. "I will go make the call."
Nev excuses himself to the front of the house and pulls out his cell phone. There is so much wrong with this picture. Not only is this guy much older than Dean, Dean is no longer a minor, but he was when they had first started chatting. This could get Carver into some serious trouble. It is possible that he will not want to do this. He dials anyway.
Caller: Hello?
Nev: Yeah, is this C.J.?
Caller: Yeah, this is C.J.
Nev: Hey, this is Nev. I am from the MTV show Catfish.
C.J.: Okay.
Nev: Have you heard of the show?
C.J.: Yes, I have.
Nev: So you know why I am calling then?
C.J.: Yes. This is because of Dean.
Nev: So you are aware that Dean wants to meet you?
C.J.: Yes.
Nev: Are you willing to meet him? He really needs this.
C.J.: I am not ready. I have told him that many times but I will do it.
Nev: Great. Why don't you text us the address of where we are going to meet and a time that will work best for you.
C.J.: Okay.
Nev ends the phone call and makes his way back inside. Max is talking to Dean about football. Dean plans to go to college and play football. Though he did not get the scholarship he was hoping for, that did not mean that he is not still going to try. He has decent enough grades and even if football does not work out, he is going to try and make something out of himself.
"So he agreed to meet," Nev sits himself back down on the couch. "I am just waiting for him to tell me when and where."
Like C.J. had read his mind, a text message comes through Nev's phone.
[Thursday 9:53 a.m. | C.J.] Can you meet at 2p.m. at The Roosevelt Fountain in South Park?
"Can we meet at two p.m." Nev reads the text message aloud to Nev and Dean. "He wants to meet at the Roosevelt Fountain at South Park."
"That is not that far from here," Dean confirms that it is in fact a place. "I am available all day."
"So two p.m. it is," Max nods with a smile.
"Yeah," Dean tries to smile but Nev can tell that it is forced. In only a few hours, the last year of Dean's life is either going to come together or fall completely apart. Two p.m. is not a happy time to be looking forward to.