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Essex County girl, 16, in coma after tragic snowboarding accident on Coy Mountain.
“Why are you doing this?” I scream, fisting the rock in my hand before throwing it at the door. It hits hard, then drops with a thud to the ground.
I don’t understand why anyone would taunt me with this information. It’s nothing I don’t know.
Is this about Crew? About our relationship after Maddie’s fall? Neo hates what we did. So much so that he wants me to live a life of torment. Is this his way of enacting that?
In a split second, the fear inside me transforms to outrage.
Heat flushes throughout my body as my boots stomp heavily to the desk I was using. I drop the medal into the side pocket of my flannel, along with the crumbled paper, and snatch up my belongings, then head for the door before Mrs. Evans comes back.
There are sharp edges sticking out where the sheet of glass once was, so I take care as I reach my arm through. Bending at the wrist, I click the lock and turn the handle from the outside.
I look left, then right, and the coast is clear. Not a sound to be heard. That is until the girls’ bathroom door swings open and a raunchy smell fills the air.
My hand waves across my nose, trying to stop it from swimming up my nostrils.
“Scarlett!” Mrs. Evans says. “What are you doing out of detention?”
I glance at the watch on my wrist then back to her. “It’s 5 o’clock.”It’s a lie. It’s actually only 4:45, but close enough. Once she sees the mess in her room, it won’t matter much that I bolted fifteen minutes early.
Her eyes widen. “Really? That time already?”
I nod, lips pressed together firmly.
“Okay then. Enjoy the rest of your evening, and I hope I don’t see you back again.”
If it were any other teacher, that would be an odd goodbye, but considering it’s detention, I hope for the same.
Before she walks away and sees the broken glass, I scurry down the hall. Just as I near the corner, I hear her holler, “Scarlett Sunder!”
Wincing, I tuck around the corner and run like hell to the door.
One way or another, I have to get myself out of this one. I’m sure she’s contacting the headmaster right now and discussing my punishment. All I know is, if I’m forced to sit in detention one more day, completely engulfed in silence, my head might explode.
I knew we were getting snow, but I was not prepared for what I’m stepping out in as I exit the building. A blanket of the white fluff covers everything in view. There are fresh footprints coming and going all over the place, and I look down as I run, wondering if any of them belong to my stalker.
Once there’s a good amount of distance between me and the school, I slow my steps to a brisk walk and head toward the trail with my book clutched to my chest.
My mind is racing, trying to piece together everything that has happened since I got here. I have no idea what is going on, but I have to figure out who is doing this. Unfortunately, I think there are only a couple people who can help me because I’m certain it's not them.And I really don’t want to ask these people for help.
Speak of the devil.
“Hey,” Crew says, appearing on the trail and walking in my direction. Before he even reaches me, his spiced sandalwood cologne hits my nostrils. His damp hair glistens in the shimmer of light casting down between the tall evergreens.It’s obvious he just showered, but snowflakes also moisten the tips of his hair.
I keep on toward him, willing myself to be nice because cruelty won’t get me any favors.
We meet each other halfway and stop. “Hi, Crew,” I say, a bite of nervousness to my tone.
“I was actually coming to the school to find you. Did you get out early?”
I blink away the flakes falling on my long lashes and pause for a beat before telling him the truth. “No,” I reach into my pocket and pull out the medal, holding it up to show him, “I was forced out.”
His head tilts as he reads the engraving. “You got a medal for going to detention?”
“No,” I stammer, “someone came to the detention room and threw a rock through the glass in the door with my medal wrapped around it and a news article addressing Maddie’s accident. Someone is still fucking with me, Crew, and it’s really starting to scare me.” I’m rambling, and as I continue, anxiety rears its ugly head again. “What do they want? What do they know? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Crew takes the medal from my hand and looks at it like it’s a foreign object that dropped down from a spaceship. With the medal still in his hand, he looks at me defensively. “It wasn’t me.”
