Three Years Later | ✓

11 | Tangled Feelings

STARING INTO OUTER space, the letter from the other day echoed throughout my head: For I am warning you so that history doesn't repeat. But he himself is not sweet. What the heck did that even mean? Warning for what? Who was he?

I was pulled away from my thoughts as someone called out my name multiple times, "Miss Summers."

"Hmm?" I hummed, eyebrows lifted.

"Care to join us while we warm up with some grand pliés?" Mistress Elaine suggested.

I looked around and realized that everyone was staring at me, waiting for me to get into second position. Warmth oozed to my cheeks as I adjusted my footwork, placing one hand on the bar and the other out to the side.

As Mistress Elaine counted aloud, I couldn't stop thinking about the note, despite how hard I tried to focus. The more time had passed, the more intrigued I became.

Luckily for the remainder of time, I was able to follow along, feeling fatigued after the good workout.

∞

"STILL NO LUCK in finding out who the culprit is?" inquired Ava as she munched on her Caesar salad.

I shook my head frustratedly, picking at the salad in front of me. "No, but I do have a few suspects."

Intrigued, Ava's eyebrows rose, "Care to elaborate?"

Drawing in a deep breath, my eyes shut briefly before opening and meeting with Ava's. "So far, all I could think of was Milo or Nicole."

She stayed quiet, waiting for me to continue. "I mean think about it," said I, leaning in closer while lowering my voice, "there was no return address or even a dorm unit on the envelope. And they were the only ones who saw it and supposedly found it at our doorstep," I claimed, using air quotes. "I don't know something just doesn't sound right to me."

"Oh please, why would either one of them want to send a letter like that to you?" Ava said with disbelief.

"Well, a few weeks ago when I told Milo about going out with James to meet his "roommate", he told me to be careful. Why would he tell me to be careful when I would be with James?"

Ava opened her mouth to say something, but I cut her off, holding up my pointer finger to her face. "And maybe it's Nicole because this is her way of getting back at me for fracturing her toe," my eyebrows shifted up. Pretending to dust off my hands, I sat back in my chair, "Case closed."

"You're. Going. Insane," Ava pointed her fork at me as she paused between every word, dramatically rolling her eyes.

"Hell yeah, I am!" Flailing my arms and speaking a bit too loud, a few of the students inside the cafe, Bella's, with us glanced in our direction. "I'm curious as hell in finding out who sent that note, what it means, and why."

Ava huffed and shifted in her seat, throwing her fork into the empty salad container and resting her elbows on the table, head in one palm.

"Well, on another note, how's it going with James?" Wiggling her eyebrows, a smirk formed across her lips.

"It's going well, I guess," I nonchalantly claimed, although my cheeks gave away something different.

Ava giggled, "You know, I never imagined that after all these years, you and James would end up together. What a plot twist."