Her Terrifying Love

Part 23

Monday morning, Ryan drove his daughter to school. When Lyla's phone buzzed, she checked her messages.

She was surprised to see: Hey Lyla. Its Jack. Darcy gave me UR number. We need to talk. 

Her heart pounded. Was this really Jack reaching out to her? Maybe he was having the same feelings for her that she had for him. Maybe he dreamed about her, about them being together.

"Anything wrong?" her dad asked as they approached the school.

Lyla smiled. "Nope." She began to reply to the message when a painful memory surfaced, freezing her fingers.

Last spring, Lyla had been trolled by a brooding girl in her Biology class named Breanna Muncie. Breanna tormented, bullied, and harassed Lyla on social media and the cruel attacks came relentlessly. They went on for months. Lyla shut down her Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat until the ridicule had subsided. And what had she done to earn such scorn? Her only crime was that she was an easy target and Breanna had nothing better to do than to pick out random girls to attack. The brutal experience hardened Lyla. She was no longer an accepting, gullible girl. Until she could confirm that Jack Bentley had actually texted her, she wouldn't respond.

"Thanks for the ride," she said to her dad as she exited the car. 

She joined the mob of students filtering into the school building. On her way toward the front doors, Lyla scanned the crowd for Jack. She didn't see him.

The obnoxious screech of car brakes drew frightened eyes. She cringed when she saw Keenan tumbling through the air and crashing to the ground, his neck bent at a contorted angle. Her knees wobbled. Students in the courtyard froze. 

Upon closer examination, Lyla discovered that it wasn't Keenan lying in the street but instead, a squirrel with a severed spine dragging its flattened body from beneath the front wheels of the car. It squealed, struggling to the curb where it expired.

She steadied herself.

Carissa and two of her cheerleader friends Emily and Nicole, remained oblivious, huddling against the wall and rating the boys who passed by. Lyla noticed Carissa's outfit, ripped jeans and an off-the-shoulder cardigan. 

She'd look amazing wearing a shopping bag.

A gangly teen made the foolish mistake of leering at Carissa.

"Stop torturing yourself." She blew him a sarcastic kiss. "Move along." 

Nicole and Emily clapped and jeered.

"You don't know what you're missing." He forced a feeble grin.

"Gets really busy in that immature little brain of yours, doesn't it?" Carissa shot back.

The kid turned and practically ran in the opposite direction. 

"Run, Forrest, run!" Nicole teased.

Lyla's phone buzzed again. She checked her message.

Keenan – You left me alone in the cold

Followed by

Keenan – You feel bad about that Kitten?

Her stomach dropped. She turned off her phone and stuffed it into her back pocket. Her attention drifted to the sidewalk where the gnarled body of the squirrel lay, its dead glassy eyes frozen in shock.