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Me and Denny went back to maybe' sophomore year at Nichols.
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We weren't roommates. We just kept ending up at the
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same parties or in adjacent booths at waffle House at
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two a m. Denny was absolutely notorious for his April
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Fool's pranks. He treated that day the same way many
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people treat Christmas. He prepared, starting some time in March.
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He would get this look in his eye. You would
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know it was coming, and you still couldn't stop it.
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One year, he plastic wrapped all the toilets as well
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as our friend's cars. The next year he got our
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friend Trey's girlfriend in on it so they could convince
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Trey his car was stolen. They had it moved somehow,
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even convincing him that he'd reported it stolen. When Trey
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found out, he did not talk to Denny for two weeks.
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Then everything was fine. There was something about Denny's commitment
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to it all that made it difficult to stay mad.
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After college, we all scattered a little baton Rouge, New Orleans.
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One dude ended up in Dallas, which God bless him,
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but me and Denny both stayed local and kept up.
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He was working some logistics job and had a small
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apartment off Highway twenty four. We'd get together most weekends.
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Every once in a while we would talk about moving away,
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starting new lives for ourselves. And even though we could
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always find a million reasons to get up and go,
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there were always a million and one why we shouldn't.
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But there were several ights we sat out back with
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a couple of beers, shooting the shit about where we
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could go and what we could do. Alternate versions of
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our lives. How he wanted a dog and I wanted
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a cat, but neither of our leases allowed pets. He
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always said he wanted to see mountains. He had never
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left Louisiana. Said it felt like a shallow pot with
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a lid, to which I replied, wouldn't that be a pan?
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It's funny what moments never leave you. So last March
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rolls around and I'm already on high alert. Denny season
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is upon us. I'm double checking my gas gauge every
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morning and overthinking every text I get, just in case
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it's part of his bullshit. Then around March twenty eighth
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or so, Denny goes quiet. Sometimes he would go dark
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leading to the first but April Fool's Day comes and nothing,
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no texts, no calls. He's nowhere to be found. Honestly,
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it started making me anxious. He must be doing something
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big this year. I figured he was holding out to
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the very end for some kind of fucked up grand finale.
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We were all talking about it in the group chat,
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just waiting to see his bubble pop up that he
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was reading the messages, but it never did. We laughed
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about it at first, then April second, still nothing. By
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the fourth I was starting to feel off. April sixth,
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my phone rings, it's tray, and the way he blurted
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my name immediately made it very clear that this was
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not part of any joke. Apparently, Denny's boss had called
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his emergency contact, which was his cousin Shelby. Denny hadn't
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been to work in over a week, no call, no show.
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Shelby couldn't reach him either, and called Trey because he's
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the only mutual she knew to contact. Then Trey called me.
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We went to his apartment that same afternoon. His truck
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was in the driveway. Shelby had called the landlord to
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explain the situation, so he met us to let us inside.
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When no one answered the door. I don't know why,
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but it gave me chills to see his place because
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it looked so completely normal. It didn't even look like
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he had left. It was more like he would walk
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out of his bedroom at any second. It was clean
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and organized. Nothing seemed to be missing or moved. The
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only thing of note was a puzzle on his call table.
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It was nearly complete, taking up just about half the surface.
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It showed a metal boat disappearing into fog. There were
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only a handful of pieces left to place. I remember
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thinking who walks away from their puzzle with only a
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few more pieces to go? We filed a missing person's
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report that evening. The detective we talked to was nice,
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but I could tell that whatever window there might have
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been had likely already done its closing. Nothing came of it.
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It's been over a year and Denny is just gone.
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But in this day and age, people don't just vanish.
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There are way too many digital footprints and CCTV cameras everywhere.
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I firmly believe that you can only disappear without a
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trace if you or someone else is intentionally cleaning up
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behind you. So someone took him or he took himself,
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and that's the idea that I've chosen to go with that.
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Denny decided to pull his greatest con yet, looked around
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at his apartment and job, and decided to take himself elsewhere.
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I think he's somewhere with a different name, in Colorado
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or New Mexico. He's finally got his dog, definitely a rescue.
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Maybe I'm crossing into tinfoil hat territory here, but part
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of me thinks that all those pranks over the years
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were practice, testing out what it's like to disappear and
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make people believe stuff that isn't true, learning the patience
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of a long con. And that's why I think the
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puzzle was his final bit. He was the boat drifting
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off in the fog, and he was laughing to himself
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at how long it would take us to put the
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final pieces together. So, Denny, I hope you're happy wherever
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you are. I miss you, Bud. You got me good.
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I have always been a scaredy cat. This has just
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been how I was since I can remember. Yes, there's
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the basics, like hating scary movies and refusing to go
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through a haunted house even if it is a shady
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one with like children volunteers jumping out in dollar store
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masks don't care. Too scary for me. I make myself
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jump all the time. Shit's over if I see my
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reflection in a dark hallway or something, doesn't matter if
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I put the mirror there myself. So when I started
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dating Ben, who desperately wanted to think of himself as
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every one's favorite comedian, my cowardly ways were very quickly
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taken advantage of. Nothing made him laugh harder than the
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sound of my screaming in terror. He discovered this weakness
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approximately forty eight hours into our relationship and spent the
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next fourteen months inventing increasingly awful ways of scaring me
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to death. At the beginning, he would do things like
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sneak up behind me while I'm doing dishes round the computer,
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or stop and wait around the corner when he knows
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I'm coming. One of his favorite tricks was sneaking back
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into the house without me knowing. He would inch his
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way back through the hallway, across the living room, all
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the way to write behind me in the kitchen or
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office or whatever before he struck. Suddenly, he would shout
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and two hands would grab my shoulders before Ben would
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double over laughing. He only hid behind the shower curtain
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once because my reaction made it clear that he was
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lucky that wasn't his final day on Earth. I don't
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condone violence generally, but a certain amount of physical reaction
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is to be expected when some one is suddenly terrified,
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especially if the offender is already aware of how you are.
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There was the spatula incident, when he came up behind
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me while I was frying eggs. I wheeled around and
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caught him across the forearm with it hard enough to
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leave a red welt and a little grease burn. He
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hissed and grabbed his arm, and even though I felt
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bad because it's not like I actually wanted to hurt him,
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I had a moment of hope that he would finally
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see that this shit was past its expiration, that he
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would say he was sorry and would stop. Instead, he
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looked at the forming welt, then at me, and said
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that one's fair. I'm glad to know you're ready, just
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in case it wasn't me. Another time, I was napping
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on the couch and woke up to find him crouched
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right in front of my face. Before I even knew
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where I was. I crashed my hand against the side
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of his head and he plopped down to the floor,
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laughing so hard he cried. I apologized, but he said
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he deserved it. I couldn't explain why I liked him then,
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and I can't explain it now. When he wasn't lurking
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in doorways waiting to terrify me. He was a great
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guy who was thoughtful and smart, multi talented. I remember
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feeling like the most important person in the world when
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we first started dating. After Halloween, he bought a clearance
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mask that he was very proud to add to the collection.
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It wasn't creepy on its own, It was just a
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silly monster face at the store. It would have made
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me chuckle or roll my eyes, but seeing that shit
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waiting in the shadows was somehow one of the scariest
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things I've ever seen. The first time he waited in
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the bedroom in the dark, I came in to shower,
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flipped the light switch, and he was sitting on the bed.
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My fist traveled on its own and caught him in
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the shoulder hard enough that he toppled sideways. And I
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was already scrambling backward. Before my brain registered anything, I
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ripped the mask off his face. Ben was red faced
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and bleeding from his mouth. Worth it. He used that
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mask two or three more times after that. The night
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it all went wrong, I got home late. Ben had
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texted me around seven to say he was back from
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work and heading to the store. I had stayed late
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for a work thing, and by the time I turned
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on to our street it was dark. I was tired
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and fantasizing in my head about putting on pajamas. I
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stopped walking when I noticed the front door from the sidewalk.
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It was open a few inches. Any normal person would
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take out their phone and call the copse or their
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partner some one, but I just immediately assumed this was
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a set up. He was waiting in there, probably giggling
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to himself, hardly able to wait for me to come inside.
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I took a deep breath and pushed through the door.
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The living room was a mess. Stuff was thrown all
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over the floor, and there was a lamp knocked off
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a table. My laptop bag was open and completely empty
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in the middle of the room. The scared part of
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me had been trained by years of false alarms but
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the smart part of me didn't know what I was
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looking at. I crossed quietly to the kitchen, where the
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chairs were knocked over and some drawers were open. The
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air felt like jello, like I had to push myself
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with every muscle to pass through it. It was starting
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to dawn on me that this would be way too
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much to do for a prank, and if we had
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actually been robbed, how could I be sure that the
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offenders had left. I knew then that it wasn't worth
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checking up stairs or anything else. I just wanted to
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turn back and get to the sidewalk. I took my
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phone out and started for the door. But as soon
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as my eyes hit the shadows of the living room again,
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I could just make out the shape of something that
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wasn't there before. It was the mask. Honestly, this was
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the first time it didn't scare me. I was enraged
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because now I knew that my dumb ass boyfriend actually
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would destroy the house just for kicks, and guess who
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he would expect to help clean up. I crossed the room.
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I was going to tear that ugly fucking mask off
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his ugly fucking face and cut it into pieces or
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burn it or whatever, so i'd never have to see
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it again. But as I moved through the room, my
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phone lit up, buzzing Ben's ugly fucking face looking back
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at me. I don't know what my thought process was,
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maybe just deep denial, but in my head this was
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part of the trick he was trying to confuse me.
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My hand started to shake as I slid my thumb
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across the screen to accept the call. Hello, I asked,
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staring straight ahead at the man in the mask, Hey, babe,
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Ben said, he sounded totally normal. I could hear the
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buzz of Trader Joe's in the background. He told me
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they were out of something on our list, but I
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didn't comprehend it. I suddenly blurted, Ben, help, there's some
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one in the house. I can barely remember what happened next.
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The man in the mask lunged at me, and I
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screamed and ran back to the kitchen, and he followed me.
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I crashed through the door into the backyard and knew
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I couldn't get to the gate and he would easily
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grab me if I tried to hop the fence, so
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I dove into the pool. It was fucking freezing the
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dude actually crashed into the water behind me, and we
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collided in the shallow end. I was able to stand
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while he was still thrashing around, and I grabbed the mask,
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grabbed his whole head, and shoved down. I had a
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flashback to dunking my little sister in the pool as
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a kid, but this was not that. This was life
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or death. I pushed down, down, down, and he fought
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back hard. He shoved me away and rose to his
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but the mask was not only full of water, it
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was sticking to him like a suction cup, probably from
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him gasping for air. I was about to tackle him
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under the water again when I heard Ben scream my name.
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He had arrived at the edge of the pool, and
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he looked absolutely horrified. It's the first time I remember
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ever seeing him scared. He crouched over the water, reaching out,
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and I extended my arms to meet him, but he
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wasn't reaching for me. He was reaching for the man
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in the mask. Ben helped him find balance on his
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feet and remove the mask. He spat out a mouthful
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of water, wretching and coughing, and leaned against the fence.
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It was fucking Marcus, Ben's best friend, gasping for air
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and looking at me with utter hatred. She tried to
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drown me. He choked. Now that Ben knew his friend
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was okay, he allowed himself to laugh. He couldn't hold
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it in any more. I told you she would take
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it seriously. Bro. Marcus shoved Ben back a few feet.
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I almost died. Man, you're fine, Ben laughed. Then he
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looked at me and seemed to recognize right away that
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00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:33.119
he had really crossed a line. I stood in the
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pool and looked at them both. Marcus draped over the sidewall,
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still catching his breath, Ben sitting on the patio in
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wet jeans, looking at me with puppy dog eyes. I
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couldn't think of anything to say. I just kept replaying
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the first minute after I got back in my head,
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00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:59.880
finding the house like that, imagining the version of a
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events where the attack was real. I finally walked back
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to the house without saying a word. I didn't want
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to regret anything. But when I shut the back door,
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I heard both of those assholes burst out laughing. Ben
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00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:22.640
threw the mask away that night, but I still think
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it was more because Marcus was pissed at him than
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because of how I felt. I did love him, and
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I do think he loved me. He just loved his
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jokes more, and they were often at my expense. Thinking
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about that night, I surely could have done a few
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things differently, But I now know for sure that I
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can trust my instincts, especially when it comes to men.
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00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:13.759
But I could tell that whatever window there might have
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00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:18.160
been had likely already done its clothing. Fuck. But I
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00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:21.440
could tell that whatever window there might have been had
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00:20:21.559 --> 00:20:24.920
likely already done its clothing. Fuck. But I could tell
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00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:28.599
that whatever window there might have been had likely already
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done its clothes. For the love of God,
1
00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:15.599
Me and Denny went back to maybe' sophomore year at Nichols.
2
00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:19.199
We weren't roommates. We just kept ending up at the
3
00:00:19.239 --> 00:00:23.160
same parties or in adjacent booths at waffle House at
4
00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:28.480
two a m. Denny was absolutely notorious for his April
5
00:00:28.519 --> 00:00:32.359
Fool's pranks. He treated that day the same way many
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00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:37.359
people treat Christmas. He prepared, starting some time in March.
7
00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:40.640
He would get this look in his eye. You would
8
00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:43.640
know it was coming, and you still couldn't stop it.
9
00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:49.079
One year, he plastic wrapped all the toilets as well
10
00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:52.719
as our friend's cars. The next year he got our
11
00:00:52.759 --> 00:00:56.159
friend Trey's girlfriend in on it so they could convince
12
00:00:56.280 --> 00:01:00.439
Trey his car was stolen. They had it moved somehow,
13
00:01:00.439 --> 00:01:04.599
even convincing him that he'd reported it stolen. When Trey
14
00:01:04.680 --> 00:01:09.359
found out, he did not talk to Denny for two weeks.
15
00:01:09.719 --> 00:01:14.000
Then everything was fine. There was something about Denny's commitment
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to it all that made it difficult to stay mad.
17
00:01:18.840 --> 00:01:23.879
After college, we all scattered a little baton Rouge, New Orleans.
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One dude ended up in Dallas, which God bless him,
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00:01:28.439 --> 00:01:31.640
but me and Denny both stayed local and kept up.
20
00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:36.680
He was working some logistics job and had a small
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00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:41.719
apartment off Highway twenty four. We'd get together most weekends.
22
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Every once in a while we would talk about moving away,
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00:01:46.640 --> 00:01:50.680
starting new lives for ourselves. And even though we could
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00:01:50.760 --> 00:01:53.760
always find a million reasons to get up and go,
25
00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:58.079
there were always a million and one why we shouldn't.
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But there were several ights we sat out back with
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00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:04.560
a couple of beers, shooting the shit about where we
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00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:08.439
could go and what we could do. Alternate versions of
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00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:12.560
our lives. How he wanted a dog and I wanted
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00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:16.879
a cat, but neither of our leases allowed pets. He
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always said he wanted to see mountains. He had never
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00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:24.759
left Louisiana. Said it felt like a shallow pot with
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00:02:24.840 --> 00:02:29.639
a lid, to which I replied, wouldn't that be a pan?
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00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:37.599
It's funny what moments never leave you. So last March
35
00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:41.879
rolls around and I'm already on high alert. Denny season
36
00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:46.319
is upon us. I'm double checking my gas gauge every
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00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:50.319
morning and overthinking every text I get, just in case
38
00:02:50.360 --> 00:02:54.840
it's part of his bullshit. Then around March twenty eighth
39
00:02:54.919 --> 00:02:59.560
or so, Denny goes quiet. Sometimes he would go dark
40
00:02:59.639 --> 00:03:04.520
leading to the first but April Fool's Day comes and nothing,
41
00:03:05.319 --> 00:03:13.120
no texts, no calls. He's nowhere to be found. Honestly,
42
00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:17.319
it started making me anxious. He must be doing something
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00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:20.599
big this year. I figured he was holding out to
44
00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:25.599
the very end for some kind of fucked up grand finale.
45
00:03:25.639 --> 00:03:27.759
We were all talking about it in the group chat,
46
00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:30.719
just waiting to see his bubble pop up that he
47
00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:36.120
was reading the messages, but it never did. We laughed
48
00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:42.240
about it at first, then April second, still nothing. By
49
00:03:42.280 --> 00:03:46.639
the fourth I was starting to feel off. April sixth,
50
00:03:46.840 --> 00:03:50.840
my phone rings, it's tray, and the way he blurted
51
00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:54.039
my name immediately made it very clear that this was
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00:03:54.120 --> 00:04:00.240
not part of any joke. Apparently, Denny's boss had called
53
00:04:00.280 --> 00:04:05.520
his emergency contact, which was his cousin Shelby. Denny hadn't
54
00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:09.199
been to work in over a week, no call, no show.
55
00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:14.319
Shelby couldn't reach him either, and called Trey because he's
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00:04:14.360 --> 00:04:18.360
the only mutual she knew to contact. Then Trey called me.
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00:04:20.199 --> 00:04:24.000
We went to his apartment that same afternoon. His truck
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00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:28.040
was in the driveway. Shelby had called the landlord to
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00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:31.879
explain the situation, so he met us to let us inside.
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When no one answered the door. I don't know why,
61
00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:40.839
but it gave me chills to see his place because
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00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:45.439
it looked so completely normal. It didn't even look like
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00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:48.279
he had left. It was more like he would walk
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00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:51.920
out of his bedroom at any second. It was clean
65
00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:57.639
and organized. Nothing seemed to be missing or moved. The
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00:04:57.639 --> 00:05:00.560
only thing of note was a puzzle on his call table.
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00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:05.439
It was nearly complete, taking up just about half the surface.
68
00:05:06.680 --> 00:05:11.279
It showed a metal boat disappearing into fog. There were
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00:05:11.319 --> 00:05:15.600
only a handful of pieces left to place. I remember
70
00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:19.680
thinking who walks away from their puzzle with only a
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00:05:19.720 --> 00:05:24.279
few more pieces to go? We filed a missing person's
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00:05:24.319 --> 00:05:29.000
report that evening. The detective we talked to was nice,
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00:05:29.639 --> 00:05:31.920
but I could tell that whatever window there might have
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00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:39.480
been had likely already done its closing. Nothing came of it.
75
00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:43.199
It's been over a year and Denny is just gone.
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00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:49.519
But in this day and age, people don't just vanish.
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00:05:50.759 --> 00:05:55.639
There are way too many digital footprints and CCTV cameras everywhere.
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00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:00.639
I firmly believe that you can only disappear without a
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00:06:00.680 --> 00:06:05.439
trace if you or someone else is intentionally cleaning up
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00:06:05.560 --> 00:06:11.680
behind you. So someone took him or he took himself,
81
00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:17.399
and that's the idea that I've chosen to go with that.
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00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:22.680
Denny decided to pull his greatest con yet, looked around
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00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:27.120
at his apartment and job, and decided to take himself elsewhere.
84
00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:31.720
I think he's somewhere with a different name, in Colorado
85
00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:37.279
or New Mexico. He's finally got his dog, definitely a rescue.
86
00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:43.920
Maybe I'm crossing into tinfoil hat territory here, but part
87
00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:46.240
of me thinks that all those pranks over the years
88
00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:50.879
were practice, testing out what it's like to disappear and
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00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:55.639
make people believe stuff that isn't true, learning the patience
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00:06:56.000 --> 00:07:00.600
of a long con. And that's why I think the
91
00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:05.439
puzzle was his final bit. He was the boat drifting
92
00:07:05.480 --> 00:07:09.160
off in the fog, and he was laughing to himself
93
00:07:09.240 --> 00:07:11.240
at how long it would take us to put the
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00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:17.920
final pieces together. So, Denny, I hope you're happy wherever
95
00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:23.279
you are. I miss you, Bud. You got me good.
96
00:07:35.160 --> 00:07:39.759
I have always been a scaredy cat. This has just
97
00:07:39.879 --> 00:07:44.040
been how I was since I can remember. Yes, there's
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00:07:44.079 --> 00:07:48.560
the basics, like hating scary movies and refusing to go
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00:07:48.680 --> 00:07:51.560
through a haunted house even if it is a shady
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00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:55.480
one with like children volunteers jumping out in dollar store
101
00:07:55.519 --> 00:08:01.120
masks don't care. Too scary for me. I make myself
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00:08:01.240 --> 00:08:04.759
jump all the time. Shit's over if I see my
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00:08:04.839 --> 00:08:08.600
reflection in a dark hallway or something, doesn't matter if
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00:08:08.600 --> 00:08:12.600
I put the mirror there myself. So when I started
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00:08:12.680 --> 00:08:16.639
dating Ben, who desperately wanted to think of himself as
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00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:21.680
every one's favorite comedian, my cowardly ways were very quickly
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00:08:21.720 --> 00:08:26.079
taken advantage of. Nothing made him laugh harder than the
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00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:30.920
sound of my screaming in terror. He discovered this weakness
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00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:36.000
approximately forty eight hours into our relationship and spent the
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next fourteen months inventing increasingly awful ways of scaring me
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to death. At the beginning, he would do things like
112
00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:49.519
sneak up behind me while I'm doing dishes round the computer,
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00:08:50.840 --> 00:08:53.159
or stop and wait around the corner when he knows
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I'm coming. One of his favorite tricks was sneaking back
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00:08:57.720 --> 00:09:01.120
into the house without me knowing. He would inch his
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00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:05.000
way back through the hallway, across the living room, all
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00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:07.600
the way to write behind me in the kitchen or
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00:09:07.639 --> 00:09:12.919
office or whatever before he struck. Suddenly, he would shout
119
00:09:13.639 --> 00:09:17.679
and two hands would grab my shoulders before Ben would
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00:09:17.720 --> 00:09:22.519
double over laughing. He only hid behind the shower curtain
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00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:26.559
once because my reaction made it clear that he was
122
00:09:26.679 --> 00:09:30.600
lucky that wasn't his final day on Earth. I don't
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00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:35.200
condone violence generally, but a certain amount of physical reaction
124
00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:38.679
is to be expected when some one is suddenly terrified,
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00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:43.279
especially if the offender is already aware of how you are.
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There was the spatula incident, when he came up behind
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me while I was frying eggs. I wheeled around and
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00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:54.759
caught him across the forearm with it hard enough to
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00:09:54.840 --> 00:09:58.960
leave a red welt and a little grease burn. He
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00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:02.559
hissed and grabbed his arm, and even though I felt
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00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:05.879
bad because it's not like I actually wanted to hurt him,
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I had a moment of hope that he would finally
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see that this shit was past its expiration, that he
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would say he was sorry and would stop. Instead, he
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00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:22.320
looked at the forming welt, then at me, and said
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00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:26.759
that one's fair. I'm glad to know you're ready, just
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00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:31.200
in case it wasn't me. Another time, I was napping
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on the couch and woke up to find him crouched
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00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:37.720
right in front of my face. Before I even knew
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where I was. I crashed my hand against the side
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of his head and he plopped down to the floor,
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laughing so hard he cried. I apologized, but he said
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he deserved it. I couldn't explain why I liked him then,
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and I can't explain it now. When he wasn't lurking
145
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in doorways waiting to terrify me. He was a great
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00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:08.960
guy who was thoughtful and smart, multi talented. I remember
147
00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:12.799
feeling like the most important person in the world when
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00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:18.840
we first started dating. After Halloween, he bought a clearance
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mask that he was very proud to add to the collection.
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00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:26.399
It wasn't creepy on its own, It was just a
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00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:29.879
silly monster face at the store. It would have made
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00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:34.279
me chuckle or roll my eyes, but seeing that shit
153
00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:37.480
waiting in the shadows was somehow one of the scariest
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things I've ever seen. The first time he waited in
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the bedroom in the dark, I came in to shower,
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00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:49.480
flipped the light switch, and he was sitting on the bed.
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My fist traveled on its own and caught him in
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the shoulder hard enough that he toppled sideways. And I
159
00:11:57.679 --> 00:12:02.759
was already scrambling backward. Before my brain registered anything, I
160
00:12:02.919 --> 00:12:07.279
ripped the mask off his face. Ben was red faced
161
00:12:07.559 --> 00:12:12.799
and bleeding from his mouth. Worth it. He used that
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00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:16.960
mask two or three more times after that. The night
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00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:21.440
it all went wrong, I got home late. Ben had
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texted me around seven to say he was back from
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work and heading to the store. I had stayed late
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for a work thing, and by the time I turned
167
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on to our street it was dark. I was tired
168
00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:41.080
and fantasizing in my head about putting on pajamas. I
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stopped walking when I noticed the front door from the sidewalk.
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It was open a few inches. Any normal person would
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take out their phone and call the copse or their
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partner some one, but I just immediately assumed this was
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a set up. He was waiting in there, probably giggling
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to himself, hardly able to wait for me to come inside.
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I took a deep breath and pushed through the door.
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The living room was a mess. Stuff was thrown all
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over the floor, and there was a lamp knocked off
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a table. My laptop bag was open and completely empty
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in the middle of the room. The scared part of
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00:13:27.159 --> 00:13:31.080
me had been trained by years of false alarms but
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00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:33.679
the smart part of me didn't know what I was
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00:13:33.720 --> 00:13:38.200
looking at. I crossed quietly to the kitchen, where the
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00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:42.879
chairs were knocked over and some drawers were open. The
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00:13:42.919 --> 00:13:46.360
air felt like jello, like I had to push myself
185
00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:50.600
with every muscle to pass through it. It was starting
186
00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:52.679
to dawn on me that this would be way too
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much to do for a prank, and if we had
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00:13:56.039 --> 00:13:59.399
actually been robbed, how could I be sure that the
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00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:05.039
offenders had left. I knew then that it wasn't worth
190
00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:09.000
checking up stairs or anything else. I just wanted to
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00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:12.360
turn back and get to the sidewalk. I took my
192
00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:16.039
phone out and started for the door. But as soon
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00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:19.000
as my eyes hit the shadows of the living room again,
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00:14:20.120 --> 00:14:23.120
I could just make out the shape of something that
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00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:30.559
wasn't there before. It was the mask. Honestly, this was
196
00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:35.240
the first time it didn't scare me. I was enraged
197
00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:39.720
because now I knew that my dumb ass boyfriend actually
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00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:44.440
would destroy the house just for kicks, and guess who
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00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:49.440
he would expect to help clean up. I crossed the room.
200
00:14:49.879 --> 00:14:52.919
I was going to tear that ugly fucking mask off
201
00:14:52.919 --> 00:14:56.679
his ugly fucking face and cut it into pieces or
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00:14:56.720 --> 00:14:59.200
burn it or whatever, so i'd never have to see
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00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:03.840
it again. But as I moved through the room, my
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phone lit up, buzzing Ben's ugly fucking face looking back
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at me. I don't know what my thought process was,
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maybe just deep denial, but in my head this was
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part of the trick he was trying to confuse me.
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My hand started to shake as I slid my thumb
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across the screen to accept the call. Hello, I asked,
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staring straight ahead at the man in the mask, Hey, babe,
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Ben said, he sounded totally normal. I could hear the
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buzz of Trader Joe's in the background. He told me
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they were out of something on our list, but I
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didn't comprehend it. I suddenly blurted, Ben, help, there's some
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one in the house. I can barely remember what happened next.
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The man in the mask lunged at me, and I
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screamed and ran back to the kitchen, and he followed me.
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I crashed through the door into the backyard and knew
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I couldn't get to the gate and he would easily
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grab me if I tried to hop the fence, so
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I dove into the pool. It was fucking freezing the
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dude actually crashed into the water behind me, and we
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collided in the shallow end. I was able to stand
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while he was still thrashing around, and I grabbed the mask,
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grabbed his whole head, and shoved down. I had a
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flashback to dunking my little sister in the pool as
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a kid, but this was not that. This was life
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or death. I pushed down, down, down, and he fought
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back hard. He shoved me away and rose to his
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but the mask was not only full of water, it
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was sticking to him like a suction cup, probably from
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him gasping for air. I was about to tackle him
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under the water again when I heard Ben scream my name.
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He had arrived at the edge of the pool, and
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he looked absolutely horrified. It's the first time I remember
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ever seeing him scared. He crouched over the water, reaching out,
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and I extended my arms to meet him, but he
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wasn't reaching for me. He was reaching for the man
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in the mask. Ben helped him find balance on his
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feet and remove the mask. He spat out a mouthful
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of water, wretching and coughing, and leaned against the fence.
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It was fucking Marcus, Ben's best friend, gasping for air
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and looking at me with utter hatred. She tried to
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drown me. He choked. Now that Ben knew his friend
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was okay, he allowed himself to laugh. He couldn't hold
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it in any more. I told you she would take
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it seriously. Bro. Marcus shoved Ben back a few feet.
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I almost died. Man, you're fine, Ben laughed. Then he
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looked at me and seemed to recognize right away that
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he had really crossed a line. I stood in the
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pool and looked at them both. Marcus draped over the sidewall,
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still catching his breath, Ben sitting on the patio in
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wet jeans, looking at me with puppy dog eyes. I
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couldn't think of anything to say. I just kept replaying
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the first minute after I got back in my head,
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finding the house like that, imagining the version of a
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events where the attack was real. I finally walked back
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to the house without saying a word. I didn't want
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to regret anything. But when I shut the back door,
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I heard both of those assholes burst out laughing. Ben
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threw the mask away that night, but I still think
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it was more because Marcus was pissed at him than
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because of how I felt. I did love him, and
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I do think he loved me. He just loved his
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jokes more, and they were often at my expense. Thinking
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about that night, I surely could have done a few
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things differently, But I now know for sure that I
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can trust my instincts, especially when it comes to men.
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But I could tell that whatever window there might have
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been had likely already done its clothing. Fuck. But I
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could tell that whatever window there might have been had
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likely already done its clothing. Fuck. But I could tell
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that whatever window there might have been had likely already
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done its clothes. For the love of God,
