Hide and Secret (Wattys2015)

(24) Taylor's POV

The iPhone was still in my purse. Once I had stormed off with it in an angry flurry, I'd quickly realized that I had no clue what I wanted to do with it. Yes, I wanted to destroy the phone and all fake evidence that I started the fire, but I wasn't quite sure of how I wanted to destroy it. Now, I was sitting at home after a long day of solitude and contemplating.

Would I burn it?

Would I drop it in dry ice?

Would I drop it in a lake?

Would I smash it with a hammer?

How did you destroy a phone, anyway? I'd never tried to before. Because, you know, I've never needed to know how to destroy a phone.

Suddenly, my purse vibrated. Or, rather, the phone inside of it did. I was expecting it to be my phone that was vibrating, but it wasn't. The vibrating was coming from the other phone.

The sender's phone.

I see you have something of mine. I want it back.

The message came from a blocked number. God, how many phones did this weirdo have?

My fingers stood poised over the phone's keyboard, ready to type a response. But should I? Why poke the lion when it could easily devour me for breakfast?

But on the other hand... I had something the sender wanted. Needed, even. I could use this as bait to lure the sender out into the open and unmasking him or her. This would also hopefully get Serena and Jill to be my friends again, because as much as I hated to admit it, I missed their company, especially Serena.

Yes. That's what I would do. I typed rapidly, creating a reply, and then sending it.

Then come and fetch, bitch.

As my message sent, I stood there in my room, phone in hand, waiting for a response. When none came instantly, I started to give up. Maybe this phone wasn't as valuable to the sender as I thought it was.

"Well, I guess it was worth a shot," I muttered. I started to put the phone in my drawer, under a bunch of clothes. I'd figure out what to do with it later, but for now I needed to hide it.

Then, it vibrated.

113th Street in Manhattan. Meet me there at 6 PM tonight. Bring the phone.

I stared down at it for a second. The sender hadn't mentioned a house number. Did that mean we were meeting out in the open? Just on a street? It was possible, but unlikely. What did the sender have planned?

Maybe I should bring backup.

But who? I didn't have any friends to bring anymore.

I'd have to go alone, no matter how scary it was.

Carefully, I placed the phone in my bag, also placing my own phone in my bag as well. If the sender did something to me, I'd be able to call for help.

A few hours later, I made up some story to my mother about how I was going out to eat with Jill and Serena, being vague on purpose as to where we were eating out. I hadn't told Mom about our fight, because if I told her, I'd need to explain why we were fighting.

I decided to take the subway to 113th Street. I hadn't ever been down in that area of Manhattan before, so I wasn't very sure how to get there. In case there was someone I knew on the subway, I decided to get off at 110th Street. I could easily walk to 113th from there.

When I got off, I quickly discovered an issue: There was no 113th Street in Manhattan. Had I read the text message incorrectly? I double checked: Nope, it said 113th Street. I checked down at the end of the block again. The street sign said 116th Street at the end of the block. Then, something else caught my eye.