Fleur, Jun and Frankie? Wow! Well, I'm not going to say anything about that. I'll be at HalloWiener on Halloween night. Keep an eye out for me, if you're courageous enough to. And, I see you haven't exactly made any moves in ensuring your permanent social media absence. If you show up at HalloWiener (and you MUST be there) with those accounts, I'll ruin your life. But wait. I already plan on doing that. Now here's your punishment for ignoring my suggestion: stay away from Beau (you're getting clingy anyway).
As much as I hate to admit it, you're kind of nothing more than a backup girl to him. You ENTERTAIN him... just like you did Travon Justice (poor boy!). Do what I tell you or you'll pay. I can't assure you the next punishment won't be greater than this one.
P.S. I'm watching you!
Liking posts on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter? Check. Updating Snapchat stories? Check. Watching videos on YouTube and subscribing to online channels? Check. Videochatting? Check. Hacking online accounts? Definitely not.
Bella's mental list of YWN's technological abilities wasn't long, but none of the things on that list was too extreme to be abnormal.
She had come to one conclusion: none of this was as it seemed, and there was more. Except she was missing something, she knew YWN couldn't have gotten into her Twitter account... without assistance. And their latest email proved that.
I'm not going to say anything about that.
"You're tempting me to try something with your lips looking like that," Ashton said beside her, staring at her pursed lips, and she quickly closed the email window, then went on Instagram.
She had completely forgotten he was sitting beside her, engrossed in her YWN situation, instead.
It was only after she went to watch some 5-Minute Crafts videos that Ashton's words sank in.
She turned to him with widened eyes. "What in the name of all things sweet did you just say?"
"What in the name of all things equally sweet did you hear?" he asked, his expression serious.
She studied him like he just sprouted a unicorn horn. "What are you doing here?"
Ashton placed his arm on the top of the sofa, making them look like something more. "I'm waiting for Cody."
"And you have to do that here? Beside me? In front of a blank television screen?"
"Yep, yep and yep!" he said, popping the last P.
She shook her head, then looked back into her laptop. Ashton had no idea what was on her mind. "By the way, you have a girlfriend, so you shouldn't say stuff like that to me," she said, not looking away from the video on her screen.
Ashton grinned, then bit his lower lip. "I have a girlfriend," he said, but it sounded more like a question than a statement. "And who told you that?"
"Well, Fleur was here the other day, and she told me she was here with her 'boyfriend.'"
"That could've been anyone."
"She said your name, Ashton."
Ashton laughed. "Okay, fine. What if I have a girlfriend? That doesn't mean my eyes are closed to other attractive things."
She turned to him again, not believing she was talking to himâlike they were friendsâwhen her mind should've been somewhere else. "Are you flirting with me?"
Ashton was looking too amused for his safety, and his eyes ran over Bella's facial features like she was an artifact in a museum.
"Please go upstairs," she said when he didn't say anything.
"Why?"
"Why? Because I don't need you here, plus, I don't have the time for this," she gestured between them, "stupid word exchange."
"You know, I still don't get why you always attack me. Sometimes I just want to talk."
She paused, then frustratingly took a deep breath. "Look, the both of us never talk, okay? You might be Cody's friend, but you're not mine. Not in a million years."
The brightness on Ashton's face dimmed a little. "And would you have thought at the beginning of the semester, or 'in a million years', that Travon would kiss... sorry, use you?"
Bella glared at him, now disinterested in her video. "You just had to bring that up, didn't you?"
"I haven't talked to you about that, have I? Honestly, I think you played a part in what happened, however inconsiderate that may sound." She stared at him, incredulous, but he continued, "Justice would've known you weren't interested if you hadn't played along. You went on a date with him and stayed alone with him in a room when you knew the kind of person the guy was. I know you don't care about what I have to say, but you need to hear the truth."
For some reason, Ashton's words hurt her. She told herself she didn't care, but it still hurt.
She remembered what Cody said to her in the parking lot the previous Friday and, weirdly, tears started to form in her eyes. She looked away from Ashton, redirecting her glare to a food hack video.
"Hey." Ashton's voice was soft when he realized he had hurt her feelings. She didn't react. "I'm sorry, okay? It's just so infuriating how you let some guy do that to you. You always deal with me well, so what happened with Travon?"
"I'm notâ" she started, but stopped when she noticed her voice was shaking. This was ridiculous. "Just leave me alone."
She shut her laptop, then stood.
"Come on, Bella. Don't be like this."
She ignored him and rushed up the stairs to her room. She tried to focus on the smell of her roomâslight Maggie-Lyn, slight Belindaâafter shutting the door, then moved to place her laptop on the bed.
Silently, she was glad it was a Saturday, because it meant Maggie-Lyn was out shopping and there would be no interferences.
Everything hurt. And YWN was making things worse with her threatening emails. Bella was sure she should've told someone when her Twitter account was hacked, but something was stopping her, and she wasn't sure what.
She went back to read her recent email and, as she began to digest it, another one came in. This one made her move away from the laptop.
I could help you get rid of that look on your face. Maybe Ashton's the perfect person to help you with the plan. That guy has it bad for you, Bella! The way he was looking at you downstairs is making me swoon right now. Ah, there are so many things I wish I could tell you, but I have to be patient and wait for them to reveal themselves. One by one!
Bella stared at the laptop like it was a bomb about to explode. YWN knew she was just downstairs with Ashton.
* * *
One week went by uneventfully.
Monday, Bella had to remind herself to avoid Beau. She stayed away from public places at school and successfully went home without seeing him.
She couldn't believe she was listening to YWN, but she also couldn't deny that she was scared of what they'd do if she ignored them again. Saturday's email kept playing in her head on repeat, and she couldn't shake off the fact that this stalker knew her more than she thought. What if they did something to Beau?
On Monday night, Ashton made it to the top of her suspect list, just above Jun, Fleur and Frankie. It was stupid because Ashton played basketball and, apart from gaming with Cody and his other friends online, she had never seen him doing anything complicated with a computer.
But he was still on the list.
On Tuesday, Beau caught up with Bella as she walked out of school after the last bell.
He wasn't smiling like usual, and it made her a little uncomfortable, but she didn't think too much about it.
"There's something we need to talk about, Bella," he said after stopping in front of her.
She stared at him for a while, then walked around him. "Can't talk, sorry."
He turned to her retreating figure in disbelief. "Bella."
"I said I can't talk," she snapped, not turning to him.
On Wednesday, Maggie-Lyn noticed she was unhappy, but didn't ask.
On Thursday, Bella noticed she hadn't gotten a note from Beau all week.
On Friday, she almost bumped into him at the cafeteria entrance, but she acted like it didn't happen and walked past him without uttering a word.
On Saturday, she got an appreciative email from YWN.
The next Tuesday, she stood in front of her locker, trying to figure out how to solidify her plan to stay away from Beau.
None of the options in her head seemed fitting, but, before she could come up with something better, a boy's voice came from behind her.
"There's a fight happening in the quad," he announced, like it was breaking news, and Bella rolled her eyes, deciding to ignore him. Then he added, "It's between Milworth and Algernon," and her head whipped around.
Students immediately started rushing out, willing to witness the match and have the I-was-there-when-it-happened gossip, but she could only wonder what was happening.
She closed her locker, then rushed out to the quadrangle.
Students were gathered, unmistakably around Ashton and Beau, and she pushed her way past them, getting squished once in a few seconds.
"Sorry," she said to those whose feet she stepped on by mistake.
When she finally escaped the bodies, the sight that greeted her wasn't pretty. Some guys on the football team acted as some kind of shield for Beau, while others grabbed Ashton, to prevent him from lunging at his opponent.
Beau had blood trickling from somewhere on the side of his head. The blood ran down his face in a way that terrified Bella.
What did Ashton do to him?
"What are you gonna, Algernon?" Ashton asked, his bleeding nose not going unnoticed. He struggled a bit with the guys holding him, but they were too much for him to conquer.
"Lay a finger on my sister and you'll see," Beau answered, looking angrier than Bella had ever seen him.
A satisfied but mocking grin went to settle on Ashton's face. "Did she tell you I haven't done that already?"
The teenagers around her oohed, and Bella's eyes widened as Beau lost it. He was about going for Ashton when Mr. Justin's voice rang through the quadrangle, stopping him and silencing the students' murmurs.
"Algernon, Milworth, principal's office!" Neither of the boys responded to him, preferring glaring each other down to going to see the principal, and Mr. Justin added in a firm voice, "Now!"
Beau was the first to make a move. His eyes met Bella's, but he only held her gaze for a split second before walking away angrily. Ashton managed to push the guys off him, after which he followed behind Beau, pushing a bloody and frustrated hand through his hair.
"Now, you all get to class!" Mr. Justin ordered in a voice that couldn't be disobeyed, then left in the direction Beau and Ashton did.
As students went back into school, Bella didn't move, recalling what she overheard Ashton telling her brother two weeks ago.
What exactly happened between them that caused a fight like that? And why was Ashton getting Fleur involved?
She almost missed the girl standing on the other side of the quad as she focused on the questions running through her head. Her arms were folded over her chest, and her bouncy blonde hair was up in a ponytail, managing to make her look innocent.
Bella hadn't seen Amparo since their encounter in the girl's bathroom two weeks priorâwhich was a bit surprisingâand her sudden appearance reminded Bella of Stephanie.
Even though a part of her wanted to just let it go and forget it ever happened, another part wanted to get at least one of her questions answered, and it craved confrontation. So, before she could discourage herself, she walked over to Amparo.
Amparo looked at her with a bored expression when she stopped in front of her, but she didn't roll her eyes or say anything insulting. She just stared at her, silently asking what was up.
"What do you want from me?" Bella finally asked.
"What do you mean by that?"
"What I mean by that is, why do you hate me so much?"
Amparo smiled. "Look, I don't know if you woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, but please spare me your lack-of-sleep-induced nonsense. I don't have the time for it." She made to walk away, but Bella spoke.
"You convinced Steph to ruin my friendship with Violaâthat's what this 'lack-of-sleep-induced nonsense' is about."
"Oh. You finally figured it out," Amparo said confidently, but there was an underlying emotion in her voice.
"So you admit it."
"Of course. I wasn't being exactly stealthy about it, was I?"
Bella lost her voice then, wondering what was going on. Finally, she asked, "But why?"
Amparo sighed. "I don't have to tell you my reasons. What's done is done. But I have to ask you something. Who, exactly, told you?"
Bella hated replying to Amparo, but she did it anyway. "Technically, Jessica did first. She didn't tell me everything, thoughâStephanie did."
"Jessica? That blabbermouth?" Amparo gave a warm smile. "And Stephanie. Stephanie Baldesco, AKA your best, best friend of ten years."
"I didn't know I came here to listen to stupid, obvious facts," Bella said, folding her arms over her chest, just like Amparo.
Amparo lifted her hands in frustration. "What else do you want? I already told youâyes, I did it. What else do you want?"
"I want to know why you did it."
"Don't you have better things to do? Like, I don't know, restoring your friendship with Viola?"
Bella stared at her, ignoring the skip of her heartbeat.
"Yes, that just came from me," Amparo continued. "Honestly, I thought you'd try harder. I guess that shows how much you care about her. You stand here, trusting all the wrong people and confronting me about something I never denied doing, when you should be doing something else."
"What do you mean I'm trusting the wrong people?"
"I mean exactly what you think. Stephanie, Jessica... you have no idea, Bella, how much they're against you. Maybe you should focus more on them and open your eyes, instead of talking to me."
Amparo walked away, surprising Bella. She sounded... angry, and if that wasn't enough to change the tone of her day, Bella didn't know what was.
Viola, who had been watching them from a distance, stared at Bella, her heart aching. After a while, she shook her head, convincing herself that Bella didn't need sympathyâespecially not from her.