The tapes and the next spot on the map took me to an eerily familiar place. I could not shake the feeling that I have been here before, but it was too dark to tell. Lila said that we could only come to this spot at night, and I was not one to not respect her wishes from beyond the grave. Though I was starting to regret it when the all of the streetlights suddenly went out. A midautumn breeze that was innocent enough during the day, sent a shiver down my spine.

Then I heard something.

It was the sound of footsteps crunching on the fallen leaves. And it was heading towards me.

I spun around, but they were still too far to make out in the dark. As the stranger continued to walk toward me, I was paralyzed. I wanted to run or scream or anything that would get me out of this situation.

"Arnold?"

It knew my name. I closed my eyes and prepared myself for the end. This was it. Here I come, Lila.

"Yo Arnold! Arnold! Hello?!"

I was shaken until my eyes opened.

I found myself face to face with Lorenzo, the student body president of our high school. "What the hell, Arnold?" he asked with frown. "You shouldn't be in a place like this at night. You never know what kind of people you'll meet. Even in a small town like Hillwood."

You would think it made sense for Lorenzo to care about me, as a good student body president should. But anyone who actually knew Lorenzo, knew that the only person that Lorenzo actually cared about was himself. Becoming the student body present was easy for a guy who was wealthy enough to promise to buy all the sport teams new uniforms and all the band geeks new instruments. And if it helped him get into an Ivy League college, he was happy to pay the price to buy his candidacy. It was made even more impressive as he was the first sophomore president in Hillwood history and currently "running" for his second re-election.

"Uh... Thanks Lorenzo?" I said, unconvinced by his sudden display of consideration. "What are you doing here then?"

He pulled me closer and whispered, "I know about the tapes." He then motioned me to follow him and he lead me to the next spot in the map. I had too many questions to ask him but he was walking too fast and I struggled just to keep up with him.

"Where is this place?" I asked once we stopped, crouched behind a bush.

"It's Curly's house."

"What?"

I looked at the window that had been broken at least 4 times. No wonder this place seemed familiar. I had been here a couple of times as a kid for Curly's birthday parties. "What's going on? What does Curly have to do with anything?"

"Didn't you finish listening to the tapes yet?"

"Uh... no... I just started the second side of the second tape."

"Well..." Lorenzo looked on the ground and found a rock. He handed it to me and said, "Here you go."

"What is this for?"

"We all came here before you. And we all threw a rock at his window. He deserved it really."

"Who's we? Why did you do that to him? What did he do to deserve this? How do you even know about the tapes?"

Lorenzo rolled his eyes like all of the questions I was asking him were dumb. "We, as in all of us on the tapes. Secondly, Curly is a creep. He did a lot of creepy things and never respected any of our privacy. So this was our chance to take a shot at him. He doesn't fight it either. He knows what he did."

"Wait. So you're on these tapes?" I asked with disbelief. I couldn't recall a time when Lila and Lorenzo even exchanged a few words. "So do you know who else is on these tapes? Do you know what I did to Lila?"

"So many damn questions, dude. And no, I don't know what anyone did. I just listened to the tapes til I heard mine and then the one after so I could pass it down."

"But what about what Lila wanted?"

"Dude, Lila's dead."

The tone of his voice made my blood boil and I almost punched him across the face. Instead, I said nothing.

As if he could sense my anger, he added, "Sorry, man. But it's true. And anyway, you shouldn't take anything she says on the tapes seriously. She was just a girl looking for some attention. Most of it probably isn't true."

"She's freaking dead, Lorenzo. She killed herself because of what happened on those tapes. How could you say that about her?"

He shrugged. "Lila had issues, man. Some deep, serious shit. Anyway, I said what I needed to say to you. Just don't believe everything you hear." He then got up, and pat me on the shoulder. I couldn't help but glare at him. "We're all in the same boat here. And I don't think any one of us is to blame for Lila's death but herself."

I stayed there behind that stupid bush and thought about what Lorenzo had said. I decided to listen to rest of the tape and as Lila's voice filled my mind, I felt as uneasy as ever.

"Curly. Or should I say Thaddeus? That is your real name right?

Yeah, I've done my research. You seem to have your nose in everyone's business so how do you like it now that I know some things about you?

I'm standing out your window right now. Watching you, like you have been watching me. Like how you have been watching everyone. At least, everyone who has any relation to Rhonda Wellington-Lloyd.

Oh yeah. I also know about your crush on my ex-best friend. And now she knows too. Oops, my bad.

But letting out your little secret isn't nearly as bad as what you did to me. Your stupid photo of me ruined my slowly recovering reputation. And it cost me a friend, though you might have done me a favor with that one. We all know how good I am at being stabbed in the back by my 'friends'.

You took pictures of me while I was at school, at Big Al's, and even at home. Every time I heard the slightest sound, I can swear I hear your camera click. Nowhere was safe from you and your camera.

Maybe you did that to everyone. But we all know that you've done the greatest damage to me with your photos. I did what you asked, when you black mailed me. So why did you have to do that to me? What did I do to be so utterly humiliated?

Well, now everyone who listens to these tapes will know about you. And your collection of photos. And you'll never know quite for sure if someone is watching you in your room... right now. "

I looked up at the window. The lights had just turned on. Curly had just come home. I thought about the picture that Lila was talking about. She didn't need to say in the tape which one it was. I already knew.

I glanced down at the rock that Lorenzo had given me earlier. My fingers rubbed against its smooth surface. I took another look at the window that was already broken. It would have been easy to break it again. It wasn't a far throw and no one would know it was me if I ran away.

But I couldn't do it. Even if I knew what he did was wrong... Even if I knew that he played a part in Lila's death. So I put the rock down and went back home. I had listened to enough for the night. All I wanted to do now was sleep.

Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. School has been making me really busy and before that the Christmas holidays were busy too. Thanks for those of you who left me reviews. They encouraged me to keep going! I hope you all the best and thank you guys for reading. Don't worry, I am continuing this story and will continue to do so unless I say otherwise.