Later that same day, Scarlet filed out of her eighth period biology classroom, and headed to the locker she had begun to share with Melody, since she had missed the actually registration for one.
Cheerleading practice was scheduled to begin at its usual time, but with the enormous amount of last minute homework she'd been given, Scarlett was considering just heading home.
Her eyes found Bella, standing beside the door of the girls bathroom, looking flustered and texting away at her phone.
"Hey, Bella," Scarlet greeted her. "I'm going to skip practice today, if that's okay."
"Yeah, it's cool." Bella barely looked up as she texted away. "I'm leaving too. I'm really not in the mood."
Scarlet hesitated, unsure of whether or not she should question her. Finally she said, "well, what happened?"
Bella looked up suddenly, and her eyes fell to Scarlet's.
"Why do you hang out with Eva Rosewell, Scarlet?" she asked her suddenly, and Scarlett blinked in surprise.
"Well, um..." Scarlett knew the two didn't like each other. Everyone at Lakewood knew.
"She's pretty cool," Scarlett mumbled. "I'm not sure why you guys hate each other so much. Eva's really not that bad."
Bella laughed haughtily. "I really hate her. She's such a bitch. She thinks she's better than everyone," she said with a disgusted grimace.
Scarlet nodded slowly. "I kind of agree with that," she said. "I mean, I mostly hang with Melody. But overall, they're a pretty cool crowd."
"Just watch yourself," Bella warned. "Eva's the type of person that'll act bitchy when she sees someone else better than she is."
"Eva's always been nice to me," Scarlett said slowly.
Bella rolled her eyes. She turned away from Scarlet suddenly. "Anyway, I've got some people to meet. I'll see you later, Scarlett. Bye."
Moments after Bella walked off, Scarlet returned to her locker. A few people gathered by their lockers nearby, making mindless conversation.
Scarlet found herself pondering what Bella had said. She liked Eva, a lot, but she understand Bella's dislike. She was overly confident in herself- a character trait Scarlett particularly hated in people.
Suddenly, a warm hand grazed Scarlet's back. She spun around, startled, to see Julian smiling in front of her.
He had gotten everything from his locker already, and looked ready to leave.
"Are you staying for practice?" he asked her.
"No, actually, I'm gonna head home. I have a ton of homework."
His eyes lit up with excitement at her response. She loved his eyes.
"Great. So I'm walking you home. Let's go." Julian smiled warmly and offered to hold Scarlett's school bag.
Scarlett walked out of the school with Julian at her side. She had began to develop a slight crush on him too, but she didn't want to her express her feelings just yet. She was a bit apprehensive.
"Are you sure you wanna walk me home?" Scarlett asked as they reached the curb outside of the school. "That's a lot of work for you."
"I don't care. I wanna walk you home," Julian said indefinitely. "But on the way, I wanna grab a slice of pizza. No one in my house cooks and we barely have any food."
"Aww, that sucks," Scarlett said with a smirk. A bitterly cold breeze rolled by, and she shivered. Julian noticed this, and without asking or saying anything, he pulled her close to him and they walked up the street towards Scarlett's home.
On the walk, Julian found a small pizza place, and the two went inside.
It was slightly crowded, so Julian waited on line, and Scarlett sat at an empty booth and waited for him.
Her mind wandered and she found herself staring out the window. A pretty, tall and slim woman walked along the street, walking an adorable furry white dog wearing a pink wool sweater. Behind her, an extremely overweight man wobbled along, chewing on a bag of potato chips.
She started thinking about her homework, too, when she suddenly felt a vibration in her pocket.
She glanced up, too see if it was Julian, trying to be funny by texting her while she was in the same room. But his attention was completely focused on getting to the front of the line.
She peeked at her phone.
im watching u too, bitch.
The number had an unusual area code. She stared at the message for a long time. She glanced back at Julian. He still faced forward.
She decided not to reply. She began to slide her phone back into her pocket, when it buzzed once more, with another message.
im closer than you think. ;-)
* * * * * *
Eva sat stifly in the passenger seat of the Audi that technically belonged to Max's father. She planned on heading to his house that day, and she finally wanted to tell him about the stalker messages, and who she was nearly certain was behind them.
Max climbed into the driver's seat, closed the door and secured his seat belt. He started out of Lakewood High's parking lot.
"Are you coming to my house?" he asked Eva.
"I suppose, if it's okay with your parents."
"Why wouldn't it be?
Eva blew out a sigh. "Max, something a little weird happened."
Max suddenly stopped the car. He turned to face Eva, his face slack with concern. "What happened?" he bellowed.
"I-I got some really weird, harassing texts," Eva mumbled, her hands over each other. "And the other day, whoever it was, sent me a picture of you and me at the ice skating rink, as if they were hiding somewhere."
"Are you serious?" Max asked. "Do you have any idea who it could be?"
"It's Bella. I have no doubt, and she texted Aubrey, too. She's a creep."
"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Max suddenly sounded frustrated. "I would've made sure Bella didn't do it again, if it was really her-"
"I didn't want you to freak out," Eva cut in. "I know it's probably not a big deal, but-"
"It absolutely is a big deal." Max clenched his jaw. "Stalking? That's nothing to joke about. If someone sent you a picture of us, it means they followed us to the rink." He turned away and began driving again, slowly. "You should have told me the very same day it happened, Eva. I love you, do you realize that? I want you to be able to talk to me about any and everything."
Eva suddenly felt guilty. "I'm really sorry, babe."
"And what if it wasn't even Bella?"
Eva glared at Max. "You sound like Aubrey. You two don't know her the way I do. She's crazy."
"But I highly doubt she would follow us to the ice skating rink." Max shrugged. "Next time something happens and it bothers you, I want you to tell me. We're partners, aren't we?"
"Yes, Max." Eva looked down at her lap. "I'm sorry."
"It's alright, babe." The rest of the ride played out in silence. The Audi pulled into Max's garage, and the two headed into his home.
Neither of his parents were home, but the smell of coffee filled the air. The cream colored carpet of his enormous and flawlessly clean living room was soft under Eva's toes after she removed her boots and neatly placed them by the door.
Max took his coat off, grunted loudly, and slung it over the sofa. "Babe, you want something from the kitchen?"
"I'm fine." Eva headed up the cream carpeted stairs and to Max's bedroom, a place she had gotten to know so well.
As Max fumbled around his kitchen downstairs, Eva made herself at home. His walls were a deep, boyish navy blue. There were framed photos of him everywhere, one of them when he was only ten, holding a baseball bat, since there was a time when Max had been very much into baseball, but those days died. There was another photo of him in a football jersey in the seventh grade, with a random boy beside him.
For a guy, his room was exceptionally clean. His bed was mad with bright linen sheets, and there were no stray clothes laying around. Max's impeccable neatness was one thing that drew Eva into him.
She sat on his bed, grabbed his television remote, and flicked it on. A movie trailer for some action movie played on screen. She found herself scrolling aimlessly through her phone.
Suddenly, it buzzed in her hand with a new message.
lol, ur so fucking stupid. just u wait, bitch. wait until i fucking kill you.