Chasing you | ✓

Chapter 23 - Sleuth status

A/N—If anything in this chapter confuses you, read the A/N at the end!!

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Loud spluttering sounds made me jump in my seat. I glared at the barista who, in the sudden lull of customers, decided to clean the milk steamer. The white steam wheezed while she scrubbed the nozzle with a dirty rag. 

Reluctantly, I turned my gaze back to my computer screen. I had finished reading the book for English 110—The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck—but unfortunately I still had the 1500 word essay on the book to hash out by Friday morning.  

As I stared at the word document, I groaned. Loudly. 

I was already stuck and I was just on the opening paragraph. I hated writing essays—I was so bad at it. Everything I typed sounded strange when I read it in my head and I rewrote and reread every word until I wasn't even sure I was writing in English anymore.

How were some people so good at writing? There must be some sort of sorcery involved, or a reckless deal with a crossroads demon.

"Ugh!" Dani groaned loudly. She sat across from me, clicking the mouse on her laptop incessantly. "Why is natural science even a requirement for dance majors? It makes no sense!"

"I know, it sucks."

"Science with lab, Allie. I swear, they're trying to drop our GPA below a 3.0 so they can kick us out of the dance program and be done with it."

"There's always that one class that's more chill than the rest," I said. "Look again."

"We need inside information," Dani concluded, leaning back in her seat and sipping her newest conquest—a dragon fruit drink in a radioactive shade of magenta. The color looked radiant against her white crop top. "Because the course catalogue is giving me anxiety."

She sunk her head down on the table, defeated.

"I might as well drop out now."

My phone vibrated on the table between us. I picked it up, giving Dani a minute of privacy to wallow.

Practice after classes tomorrow? I have new ideas.

I bit the inside of my cheek, reading Jack's text. We really needed to get going on the choreography but being close to him right now felt dangerous. 

I pondered telling Jack about Cade. After all, there was a big possibility they had been twins. He would want to know that, wouldn't he? And telling him would effectively remove all the power from Paula. 

The thought made my palms start sweating. I wiped them off on my shorts, but it didn't seem to help. 

I couldn't tell Jack about Cade. Not yet. When I tried talking to Jack about him before, it brought out the worst in him. He'd made it perfectly clear that he had no interest in being dragged into my personal problems. 

No, if I was going to tell him about Cade I'd need some sort of proof that it concerned him too. But how had Paula found out about them? What proof had she found? Maybe she was better at internet stalking than me. There had to be something I'd missed.

I glanced away from my computer screen, resting my eyes outside the window where a curly-haired guy was loading a turquoise surfboard into his car. At least, he was trying to. The trunk of his car turned out to be too small. The guy tugged the curls on his head in frustration. 

"We don't need to decide on a science class just yet," I said, distracted as I formulated a text. "We can postpone it as long as possible. Look up which multicultural class we could do next semester for the requirement."