"How are you doing, sweetie?" Mom asks.
"I'd be doing better if Johnny would leave me alone."
"He's still going?"
"I blocked his number, so he moved to Instagram. I blocked him there, so he moved to Snapchat. Blocked him there too, so he moved to Twitter. Blocked him on Twitter, so he went back to Instagram with a fake account."
"And you blocked that too?"
"Of course, I did. But because he's Johnny, he made another fake account."
"Please tell me you have some sort of proof of all this."
"I took lots of screenshots."
"Good. Has he been by the house at all?"
"He drives down the dead end and he's sat outside a couple times but he hasn't come to the door at all."
"He's sat outside?"
I nod. "He just sits in his car. Like he's waiting to see if I'll come out or if someone will come over."
"What exactly does he say to you when he messages you from his fake accounts?"
"He's cursed at me, called me a whore, told me everyone around me would be better off without me and that I should kill myself and then for some reason he always ends the messages with an attempt at getting back together."
"Are you serious?"
"Unfortunately. He'll ask why I won't just get back with him and I tell him how he treated me like dirt and then he'll throw a tantrum and say I'm wrong and I don't know what I'm talking about and I'm too stupid to know what's best for me. That's where I block him and then get another fake account requesting to message me."
"How long has he been doing this?"
"Since Bryce met up with his dad. Their dad."
"Almost two weeks? This is harassment now, Alex. You'd be well within your rights to go to the police."
"I know. I just don't want to take it to that level."
"He's the one taking it to that level."
"I know."
"I just want to make it extra clear that I never liked him."
"I know."
"Your grandmother didn't like him, either."
"I know."
"What does Bryce think of all this?"
"He's not a fan."
"Why don't you let him take care of it? I have faith in his ability to hide a body."
"Good to know."
"I'll help him if he needs an assistant. I bet Cassie will join too."
"She absolutely would."
"Grandma's got some experience in that department."
"She what?" My eyes widen and my jaw drops to the floor.
"Oh, relax. I was seeing if you were paying attention."
"Can you test me later?" I laugh. "I need to do a some shopping at the mall and I'd like to get it over with."
"You're going in that?" She looks down at my pajamas.
"I wasn't gonna change with my mother in my room."
"Fair enough." She walks out and closes my door behind her. "Can you grab some milk while you're out?"
"Sure!" I yell as I yank open the top left drawer of my dresser. I pull out a pair of dark blue denim shorts before closing the drawer and opening the one next to it. It takes some digging before I find the tank top I'm looking for: a yellow crop top with white flowers on the chest. I grab a pair of black panties and a tan strapless bra before taking a light green towel and going into the bathroom.
"You're showering first?" Mom asks through the door when she hears the water turn on.
"Well, I'm not going out in public smelling like sleep."
"Sleep has a smell now?"
I ignore her and pull off my pajamas.
I take a quick shower and dry myself off with my towel before wrapping my hair in it to dry a bit while I get dressed. Once my shorts and shirt are on, I walk to my room and take a look in the mirror. My butt looks great in the shorts and the cropped tank shows off my abs perfectly. I brush my hair and throw on some light makeup before slipping on a pair of black and tan sandals. I toss my wallet, keys, and phone into my black purse and head out.
"Have fun," Mom says. "Don't forget the milk."
"I won't. Bye, Grandma."
"If a road is closed and you have to take a detour through a certain someone's neighborhood and you accidentally hit that certain someone with your car, don't worry about it. I'll pay to fix the damage," Grandma says.
"Oh, good to know." I walk out the door and get in my car.
It's not a bad idea.
I back out of the driveway and head to the mall. I park in the lot between the mall and the grocery store, knowing I'll forget the milk if I don't have a visual reminder. As I get out of my car, a red BMW parked a row over catches my eye.
"You're just paranoid," I whisper to myself. "It's not Johnny."
I decide to get a little closer to peek at the license plate to prove it to myself.
"Well we might be paranoid, but that's his."
I look around and don't see him anywhere so I hurry into the mall. Every ten seconds, I take a look around me to make sure I don't see him following me.
I go upstairs and quickly walk to Forever 21. I browse the racks of clothing and pick up a pink cropped tank top. Once I'm sure I've hit all the racks, I head to the fitting room.
A brunette about four inches shorter than me wearing ripped black leggings and a mint green cropped tee with a lanyard holding some keys around her neck looks up at me. "Just one item?"
"Yeah." I nod.
"You can follow me." She leads me down a short hallway and knocks on a green door before unlocking it for me. "Here you go."
"Thanks." I close the door behind me and pull off my top. I slip into the pink cropped tank and take a look in the mirror. The shirt is fitted but not too tight and stops just above my belly button. I take a picture of my reflection and send it to Bryce.
What do we think?
He sees it right away and texts me back.
GET IT
I smile at my phone and change back into my tank top. I bring the shirt over to the empty register and pay for the top.
The jeans I like are on sale at Hollister so I go there next.
"Hi, how are you?" a girl in light blue ripped jeans hanging up some dresses asks.
"Good, thanks." I smile.
"Just to let you know, our jeans are currently on sale. Let me know if I can help you find a pair or get you a fitting room."
"Thanks so much."
I walk to the shelves of the jeans I like and look through the different ones. I grab a pair of ripped black ones and a pair of light blue both in a size three before going to the register.
"All set?" the girl from before asks.
"Yeah," I say.
"And were you able to find everything okay today?"
"Yup."
She rings up the jeans and I swipe my card. I take my bag and walk back out into the mall after looking both ways to check for Johnny.
I make it about twenty feet before trouble finds me.
"Having fun swiping my brother's credit card?" Johnny asks from behind me.
I don't turn around but I do speed up. "Get a life."
"Oh, I have a life, sweetheart. You're the one who can't get your own guy so you have to go after my family members."
I shake my head. "I can't get my own guy? You make no sense. Seriously, Johnny, I got you. And I got Bryce. Long before I had any idea of you two being related, might I add. And you know what, Johnny? Does the situation with your dad suck? Yeah, it does. But you're the only one throwing a tantrum over it like a fucking toddler. Leave me alone. Stop with the fake accounts and the sitting outside my house and the harassment. You're seventeen years old. Grow up."
He grabs my arm and I try to yank it away but I can't.
"Let go of me."
"Don't you fucking dare talk to me like that."
"Let go."
"No. We're not done here."
"I'll scream."
"You won't."
"Somebody help me!" I yell. "Help!"
A man wearing black slacks and a white button down with a bright yellow vest on the other side of the walkway hears me and runs over. "Let go of her!" he yells and grabs Johnny's arm. "Let her go!"
Johnny grits his teeth and walks away with no more than a muttered curse word under his breath.
"Are you okay?" the security guard asks.
I wipe a tear off my cheek. "Can you walk me to my car? I know he's walking the other direction but he's parked near me and I don't want him to have another opportunity to cause a scene."
"Of course. You know him?"
"He's my ex."
"I take it he's not over you."
"He's not. It didn't end well. Things got really messy and now he's harassing me."
"That was a little more than harassment. You've got marks on your arm."
I look down at my forearm and sure enough, there are multiple bright red marks from his fingers.
"You have your phone on you?" he asks.
I nod.
"Give it to me really quick."
I do as he says and he takes pictures of the marks on my arm with my phone before doing the same with his.
"I strongly advise you file a report. It can be with us or through town police, whatever you're comfortable with."
"Do I have a time limit? I'd like to think about it for a bit."
"How about this? I'll give you my card and if you decide you want to file a report through us, you'll have my info. If you decide to go through town police, call me and I'll go with you. I have some buddies in the department and I can make sure you're taken care of."
I accept his card and stick it in my purse. "Thank you."
"Was he a decent boyfriend before things got messy from the breakup?"
"Not really." I admit. "He cheated on me."
"And he's got the audacity to cause a scene?"
"He does."
"Has he done anything else like this?"
"This is the first time he's put his hands on me but he's been making fake accounts to talk to me through social media for almost two weeks now. He's driven past my house a lot and decided to sit outside a couple times."
"And you haven't gone to the police yet?"
"You sound like my mother." I laugh.
"Maybe you should listen to her, then."
"I'll think about it."
I read the security guard's nametag as we reach my car. "Thanks for walking me, Ray."
"Of course. Don't forget what I said about going through town police."
"Call you first, got it."
"Good. Get home safe."
"Thanks." I get in my car and drive over to the grocery store. I take one of the spots toward the back to try to avoid door dings, knowing I'll probably still end up with one.
I walk into the store and go to the back right. It takes a second for me to find the two percent milk and about a minute to find one dated anything other than tomorrow. I grab a gallon dated a week out and head to the self checkout. I pay for the milk and don't bother bagging it. Bryce stands at the desk by the last register and I walk over to him.
"Hey, there," I say. "I heard they just hired a cute self checkout boy. Any idea where I can find him?"
"Funny."
"I thought so. You look good in red."
"This polo is itchy."
"You'll live."
"This job sucks."
"So find a new one."
"I applied to a bunch of restaurants but nobody's hiring. Not hiring me, at least."
"You'll find something."
"I made more working for Father of the Year."
"You did the right thing by leaving."
"I'll believe that when I can afford my car payment."
"I know it sucks right now, but it's gonna be okay."
"I know."
"I'll see you tonight?"
"Yeah. Thanks for saying hi."
"Of course. Love you."
"Love you."
•I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Only 2 left!
~SS💘