Nao Summers hates drama, but life becomes full of it when he's paired with the school delinquent on a film project. He's also in dire need of a way to break up with his girlfriend who wants to have lots of sex, while Nao would prefer to die. To crow...
The words had stung, almost worse than Kurt's fists in my hair. Not worse than the punches I'd taken back at Fort Violet, to be fair, but it was close.
It had been my mother's first words when I came back home on Friday. She'd held a fresh letter in her hand, marked with the school's stamp, all crunched up as if she'd read it over and over. No one seemed to care about the truth.
Mr. White hadn't either. His rage had been palpable and terrifying, and both Axel and I had been sent home for the day. We'd exchanged no words before parting ways and heading back to an angry mother and an empty apartment. He'd had my back, though, and that was what mattered.
The weekend was slow and excruciating. My class' Facebook group was blowing up with updates about the model, more than one namedropping me in the hopes of dragging out a location. At first, I'd tried to tell them the truth, that I had nothing to do with the model, and knew as little about its whereabouts as they did, but people didn't listen, and so I stopped trying.
Emotions had shifted inside of me, changing like the direction of the wind. One moment I'd be sad, the other relaxed. Throughout the weekend, one pronounced emotion seemed to imprint itself in my gut. It was rage. Searing hot, dangerously impulsive — blind, unadulterated rage.
The stalker had taken things too far. The rat was already a notch above average grudge levels, but this? This crime, and my defamation? I spent the evenings in my room clenching my fists, thoughts racing at the pure nerve of this guy. The fact that he'd gone this far— I needed to end this, and I needed it to end now.
Operation Nao was still a go, even more so after the events of last week. Seth had been relentless in his work, even abandoning project duties to his group members. Everyone knew he was in league with me anyway, so I supposed they didn't want him around in the first place.
When sleepy Monday snuck up on unsuspecting December High students, the members of Operation Nao were ready.
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"It's gotta be somewhere in the school."
"How do you know that?"
"Because it's heavy as hell. No way that nutjob carried it all the way out here. He'd be spotted for sure."
I shrugged, hugging myself as Seth paced back and forth, occasionally stopping to scratch his head or study the map of the school. Axel stood next to me, tall and silent, with a cozy-looking hoodie to warm himself.
"If we find it, they'll know we're not responsible." Seth nodded to himself, still pacing up and down the hallway. His footsteps were heavy now that he wore his winter boots.
"Or we'll look even guiltier," I interjected.
A hum came from my left, demanding my attention. "Haven't got much to lose," Axel said, meeting my eyes as I looked at him. His eyebrows were raised and his hair was tidy. A modest bruise stretched around his exposed throat.
