secrets // h.s.

chapter two.

"Was he hot? I bet he was hot."

"Oh my god, Rory."

I had been bombarded with questions as soon as I had gotten back to the dorm room, where my friend was perched on the edge of the sofa, where she had apparently been waiting on me. She had an unhealthy obsession with Sebastian Winters, and had asked me for every single detail about my day. What he was wearing, what he sounded like, what his office was like. I had just rolled my eyes, waving her off.

"Alright, alright, I'll leave you to your... what are you doing, exactly?" The blonde murmured, looking at me where I was, sitting wrapped up in my blankets in my bed.

"Research," I murmured absently, as I typed the password into my laptop, watching as the wallpaper of me and Aurora slowly faded up onto the screen. I opened a browser, ignoring Rory as she leaned over my shoulder, her eyebrows arched. She's always been so nosy.

"On what? For class? Or for Mr. Winters?" My roommate asked me, and I quickly explained what Sebastian had asked me to do. I guess she could tell by my tone that I would rather be left alone, so she nodded her head, kissing my hair. "Alright, alright. I'll quit bugging you," she mumbled cheerily, and, as if on queue, her phone began to ring in the next room. "Ah, that's probably Mikey!"

And then I was left alone.

Letting out a small breath, I pulled up Google, pausing. What was I supposed to type in? 'New York City mystery man?' I pursed my lips before, instead, typing in 'Sebastian Winters New York Times.' I would attempt to find his article.

The first thing that pulled up was a picture of the newspaper article, the blurry picture from Sebastian's computer monitor underneath a headline that read 'X-Man, Unmasked?' But that was ironic, because even if he was unmasked, no one could tell. It was nearly impossible to make out his body shape, much less his facial features. He was a shadow, standing underneath a street lamp on the corner downtown.

After reading over Sebastian's article, which didn't tell me anything that I didn't already know, I began some actual research. I made note of each place the man had robbed, and anyone who had been there to witness it - which was only one person. An elderly man named Joseph Johnson, who owned a convenient store near the outskirts of the city.

That would be my first stop. I scribbled down the address, and stood up, sliding on my shoes, tugging my jacket on over my shoulders. Rory was jabbering away on her phone, probably to her most recent boyfriend, Mikey, so I didn't bother her. I simply waved before slipping out the door, down the street.

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"Look, kid, either buy something or get out, yeah? I'm tired of telling this story."

I hadn't been able to get anything out of Johnson since I had arrived at the store, thirty minutes ago. I had, at first, went through the store and made note of what was there. The man did sell jewelry, which was valuable. As well as electronics. And there was an ATM, where the robber could've taken someone's card and stolen money.

"Please, sir, I'm not trying to bother you. I'm working on an internship, and this was my assignment, and I just-"

I didn't even have time to finish. "Listen. I was behind my desk. Guy comes in, all black, mask over his head, and points a gun at my head. I give him all of the money out of the register, and then he goes to empty out any diamonds I have in the glass case over there. Then he leaves. The end, happily every after. That's all that happened."

Well.

I frowned, scribbling down a couple of notes as he spoke, my brows furrowed. I knew that. I knew he came in and stole things. I needed more than that.