CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT:
58: ~Marina's Pov~
The atmosphere in Silver Lake the next morning was pretty sus in vivid contrast to the bright sky and windy weather. I had just walked out of chemistry class but the student clusters, whispers, murmurs and obnoxious stares in the hallway was biting at my nerves.
Something was up.
Did a rumor spread or did a student do something crazy? I mean the last time a student put up a show was when Daneley and Jason became a thing. Since then SLake students have been lowkey. I wasn't trying to be a hypocrite so I was going to acknowledge the fact that my winter formal dilemma was a good show as well but it was totally unplanned.
Speaking of which... I halted in my tracks, did all the whispers and suspicious behavior have to do with my article?
I had finished it up late last night and sent it to Cosma. It hasn't been published yet, well I don't think so because I mean I would have been told right? Besides the Scoop was meeting after school to decide on what article was making the cover story. I adjusted my bag straps on my shoulder and kept on my journey to my next class, I wish I brought my headphones to school so I could pretend I was lost in the sixth dimension, a place where no other human exists asides me.
"Marietta!" Bodie intercepted me out of nowhere.
"Not now, KB." I muttered and kept walking.
"There's something you should see." He said and pulled my hand, I followed, unwillingly.
We marched to the garden.
Bodie typed away on his phone screen then he handed me his phone.
My insides felt twisted as I saw the screen displaying a relatively long message from the SLake student forum. I sighed and calmly read it.
tripletrouble: Everyone tries to act perfect even though they are not. Even our favorite girl– Marina Hunter. We all hold her in a certain esteem but I'm behind my cellphone wondering, would you and I still hold her in such high esteem if we knew her parents are divorced because her dad cheated on her mom, lmao, pathetic (ps; that's why she was absent from school for a few days last semester). Second, Marina is a talentless priss, she keeps jumping from thing to thing, and playing with boys feelings is her favorite sport after basketball; Jason, Darnell and let's not forget the reserved guy, Curtis. She acts like she has no feelings and is better than everyone else– you should have seen her bawl her eyes out at the winter formal when she made hot boys Darnell and Curtis fight over her. It's funny how she has no actual talent, I mean she tried with basketball and when that failed she decided on writing *scoffs* we'll see how that's gonna turn out. Third, she's just a robot who only exists for high grades because what kind of doofus can't pass their driver's test? *rolls eyes* The thing about faking perfection is that it's like a veil, it's still see-through and Marina? She's just one on the long list of students acting like gods in SLake. Silver Lake has to be purged.
My mouth went dry.
I cautiously took a seat on the bench as my knees began to weaken.
I felt the bile rising in my throat. My lips trembled as I tried to stop the tears, not like everything was completely true but the fact that there was actually some truth to it made it hurt so bad.
What did I ever do to this triple trouble individual? Okay, even if I was faking perfection, and so? Was it my fault I was held in a certain esteem that I lived up too without any effort?
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you this time." Bodie said and took a seat beside me on the bench.
I chuckled to myself.
Whoever they were, he or she wanted to see me break but I wouldn't let them have that joy.
"It's fine. I don't need saving everytime." I replied, feeling a sudden burst of courage. "An essay written by some anonymous vagabond isn't enough to faze me, if triple trouble had an actual backbone, they'll take a megaphone and stand in the hallway and blast me in my presence and until that happens no one's getting a reaction out of me. Thank you for sticking around but I'm good on my own." I added, standing up with a smile on my face.
The word 'priss' flashed in my mind and I recalled the first text I got from the stalker. Could it be that the triple trouble was me and Kiara's stalker? But why?
"Be safe, Marietta." He looked at me with concerned eyes.
"I'll try." I left him and went on my way to my next class.
I was late but who cares? I wasn't faking perfection anymore. Here's to a brand new version of Marina Hunter.
~ ~ ~
~Kiara's Pov~
Sitting at my window seat, listening to telepatià by Kali Uchis, I let my mind wander. My life was going great but I was desperate to know who my stalker was. Well Milan's curiosity made me desperate. I'd switched off all the lights in my room and the only source of lighting in here was coming in through my massive window due to the moon's shine.
The regionals were around the corner and I kept having this premonition about it, hopefully there would be good security throughout the game week.
My music came to an abrupt stop and my ringing tone blared into the air.
Milan was calling.
My heart began beating a bit faster. I was nervous to answer the phone but I did anyways.
I'd barely said 'hello' when he divulged an address like he was being remote controlled.
"Excuse me?" I asked, making sure I heard what I heard correctly.
He repeated the address.
"Rings a bell?" He asked over the line.
I think I stopped breathing.
Of course it rang a bell, it was my freaking boyfriend's house.
"Milan is this a joke? Because it's not funny."
"Cara Mia, I only mentioned an address, I don't remember saying anything that was meant to be funny." He answered.
"Something is clearly wrong."
"You're not making sense, Kiara." He said, laughing.
"Milan Collymore!" I scolded and placed one hand on my hip even though he couldn't see me.
"Okay I'll stop messing around. The guy's a tech guru, he tracked the messages to have come from one of the computers at school."
"This is a dead end, it could literally be anyone, this investigation was meant to narrow the list not increase the numbers." I gushed out, sighing heavily.
"There's CCTV for a re–"
"Goodnight, Milan. I'm too exhausted for this." I interrupted him and cut the call.
Standing up, I walked to my bed and collapsed on it.
"The guy's a tech guru, he tracked the yen yen yen... The guy is obviously sick in the head. How could that be all he could decipher." I rubbed my forehead as I spoke out loud. "The computers at SLake needed an external internet provider to be able to send texts because the WiFi only works for chrome, so the motherf*cker must have connected their phone or a flashdrive to it or something, I wasn't into tech but even I knew."
My phone's screen lit up in my dark room. I glanced at it and sighed. Milan Collymore was so headstrong, the dogged boy had texted me twelve alien emojis.
I exhaled and tossed my phone away.
I had a one thousand word essay college application to write and send to Oxford School Of Arts and a script to rehearse for my upcoming audition screening. I was honestly exhausted, senior year has been no joke.
I choose sleep anyways.
~ ~ ~
A/N: comment all your guesses!!! The stalker would be revealed in chapter sixty. Spoiler alert: five more chapters left then the epilogue. I love you with my whole heart.
TheShadyButterfly🦋.
