catch the talk||OPEN

[Brooke Lynn]

The sun beat down hot on Oakwood, Indiana. But it always did, the people were used to such. So nobody stayed inside, and all were out. The Carnival was filled as usual. All the visitors to the town roamed the Carnival, and even some townsfolk, though most teens, as many townsfolk were wary of the place. The things that happened there. But that's the reason that some - the teens for one - went. One of the visitors to the town, and at the Carnival that time, wasn't just a visitor. Once, long ago, she'd lived in the town, though no longer she called the place home.

This girl was Brooke Lynn.

Brooke walked into the Carnival after having visited the wall, her notebook hitting against her hand. Leo had been right, it had come as much interest to her. His name had been all over it (as well as many others - some people named Danny and Lily, but she didn't care of those two). People suspected him of getting rid of Sophia - because they'd seen him with another girl. Just because they didn't know her name meant her to be a visitor. A blond they'd written. Brooke would have to keep her eyes out for blond's in the Carnival. She wanted to get Leo back. But, for then, her story on the Carnival. She knew where to go.

Brooke headed to the stage, where many hung out. That was the only place any stood still, and that was where everybody talked. Even if they were visitors they still gossiped. Not the towns gossip though, other gossip. And, being in Oakwood, the rumors about the Carnival would be a large topic. The stage would be a perfect place to catch the talk. Maybe she'd even talk to somebody herself. Maybe she'd find the blond they were talking about on the wall (around Leo's age, of course).

Brooke walked in her chunky flip flops across the grass, her mini skirt showing her well tanned legs, her top hanging off her shoulders. Her ponytail bounced behind her as her eyes scanned the crowd behind her large sunglasses. She tapped her long French manicured finger nails against her notebook, finally spotting the stage. Her gold bracelets clicked together as she twirled her pen in her fingers while she walked towards it.

Brooke stopped in the crowd in front of the stage, flipping open the notebook. She saw the numbers Leo had given her the other day and wondered if any of those had been some one she had known. She shook her head to get those thoughts out of her head. She didn't care. Plus, townspeople had long since learned to avoid the Carnival, it was a fact of life. But the numbers had increased. 5 years, and that many. Almost a death a year.

Brooke shook herself, trying to get into her normal stature - eavesdropping. She stood in the middle of the crowd, catching snatches of conversation, trying to find one that would help her, while looking for a person that might be interested in talking to her - or even better, a blond that could be Leo's mystery woman.