“This is crazy,” Alexis said, staring at the stack of pictures I had strewn out across my desk.

Now, there were gaps on my walls from the pictures I’d taken down—the pictures where I’d found Matthew lurking in the background. I even included the ones where I couldn’t fully identify him but knew in my gut that he was the one watching us.

“He came out of nowhere and now he’s like everywhere.” She glanced up to meet my eyes.

“I’m not crazy, right? That really is him?” I asked.

She nodded. “Most definitely. I just don’t understand. Why is he in these pictures? What about all the times she was hanging out with Candace and me? Was he following us too? If he wanted to remain a secret, why did he then reveal himself to us at the coffee shop?”

“I can’t answer any of those questions,” I said, feeling the frustration rising to the point where I wanted to break something. I wished I could have saved my unsalvageable Honda Civic for something to beat on; it would have been such great aggression therapy.

“Have you shown these to her mother yet?”

“No; you’re the first person,” I said. “I needed a friend’s opinion first and thought you were the best person to ask.”

“I still can’t wrap my mind around this.” Alexis now had a picture in each hand, her attention oscillating between the two. “What’s the timespan of all these pictures?”

“Probably three or four years,” I said.

“Is it just me, or does he look strikingly similar in every picture—at least the ones we can make out.”

“I kinda thought that too, but even when he’s in focus, he’s far enough in the background to obscure some of the detail.”

“Maybe he’s a vampire and doesn’t age,” Alexis said and almost looked serious—that was until she added, “Dun, dun, dun.”

“If we actually had vampires running around during the day, I think we’d all be screwed,” I said, allowing for a slight laugh. “Okay; so, I’ll show the pictures to Fiona’s mother.”

“How about all of the ones on Fiona’s walls?”

“I don’t know if she threw them all away or what, but she took them down.,” I said.

“Oh… guess I haven’t been over there in a while.” She returned the pictures she was holding to my desk, dropping them onto the scattered pile. “When are you going to stop by Fiona’s?”

“You want to come?” I asked. It would be good to have someone there who’d physically met the guy. Alexis agreed, and I drove us in my new Hyundai Sonata my parents had finally helped me buy over the weekend. But we arrived at an empty apartment. I knew Fiona’s mother worked crazy hours, so the chances were high she wouldn’t be there.

“Do you have her mother’s number?” I asked.

Alexis was texting someone—probably Candace. “No. My parents might. I don’t really want to wait here.”

“That’s fine,” I said. “I’ll try again tomorrow.”

“I have to work tomorrow afternoon.”

“I’ll let you know what happens,” I said, starting to head back to the car. “Want to get some coffee before going back to my house?”

“You’re just using me for my caffeine connections,” she complained, still mostly engaged with whom she was talking to on her phone.

“I’d never dare do such a despicable thing,” I laughed.

“Your face is despicable.”

“So, is that a yes?”

“Fine,” Alexis sighed as we both climbed back into the car.