Odd One Out

CHAPTER 33

Bailey
Saturday, November 15

The first video was strange. None of us seemed to understand it at first — it was just someone recording a bunch of notes and papers, going around some kind of room and picking up random notes. It wasn't until I looked closer that I realized what they were.

"Those are the papers in the book," I thought out loud, ignoring the nagging thought of what the video at the party had ended in. "Most of the papers in this video are papers Viktor and I found in the Moby Dick book."

There was a silence before Ellis asked, "Is there a Moby Nice?"

"You're genuinely so stupid," Naya retorted, and I glanced at Viktor for a second, trying to hide my smile. He squinted his eyes and shook his head at me, a slight smirk playing on his lips as if to say I told you so, before turning back around to the screen.

Jake fast forwarded through it, and it seemed to be just five more minutes of carefully recording these documents and notes. Right before the video ended, there was a noise in the background and the camera shook. Then the video ended.

"That can't be it," he said, more to himself than to us. He exited out of the video and clicked on the second one.

"What was that noise at the end?" Naya asked as we waited for the second video to load.

"It sounded like a voice," Viktor answered. "Like a TV..."

"Or a person," Ellis added.

The video finally loaded, and Francisco's face was the first thing we all saw. Almost simultaneously, it felt as if the air had been punched out of our lungs, causing us to slightly gasp in some air.

Jake moved the cursor on screen, then pressed play.

"Hey," his voice rang out.

This is him. This is Francisco.

Did that mean...

Was he alive?

"If you're watching this video, then the worst has probably happened — I died."

He rolled his eyes before smiling playfully. "I know, I know. Tragic. Roosevelt High will burn to ashes without me present. But, I guess that's how it is now, right?"

He grinned at the camera, folding his arms together on the table as he adjusted his position on the chair. He then continued to talk.

"This is probably going to come as a shock, but over the course of...two years now I think? I have made my business into a very successful project, and...well, a lot of people hate me for it. I know! Shocking, isn't it? It could be that they're jealous of not being as successful as I am, but jealousy truly is a disease. And it makes you ugly. That's why I always look so gorgeous."

He flared his hands out in front of his face, before chuckling slightly, setting his hands back on the table.

"I guess I'm a little nervous. I've never had to make one of these videos before, and even though I love drama, I realize now that it's not so much fun when the drama is about me. Especially not when my life may be in danger."

His eyes traveled down to something on the table, staring at it for a few seconds before continuing with:

"It's kind of crazy. He and I originally paired up to try and expose these secrets, but then he...I don't know. He became obsessed. And when I called him out on it, he got really upset. But then again, I did threaten to expose that he cheated his entire junior year to get to where he is now, but...that's besides the point. We supposedly made peace, and everything was supposed to be normal.