One Tiny Secret - By Adam Kunz Page 0,43
nothing, you know. ”
“It’s just a shame it all went down like this. I was kind of starting to like you,” he says, sounding completely conceited.
“Like I’d be interested in you anyway,” I counter.
“I could have any girl in this school, and you’re telling me you wouldn’t be interested in this?” he asks, pulling up his shirt and showing off his chiseled abs.
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter. I don’t date nark bitches like you,” he comments, making me want to punch him right in the throat.
“Screw you, Gunnar,” I say before walking away.
“No thanks, I think I’ll pass,” I hear him call out after me, which only succeeds in making my footsteps that much angrier as I stomp down the hall.
Chapter Sixteen
Sitting in the newspaper office after school, I can’t shake how everyone’s been treating me all day. First Gunnar, and then Portia got her chops in with her twat squad by her side. I swear, if looks could kill I’d probably be dead a hundred times over already. Screw Hester Prynne, I freakin’ have the scarlet letter on my chest.
“You okay?” I hear Mr. Whitman ask over my computer screen. “You seem to be out of it today.”
Grown-ups can be so oblivious to what’s going on around them. Of course, Mr. Whitman probably hasn’t heard the latest gossip. It’s kind of refreshing to talk to someone who isn’t looking at me like I just ran over his family pet or something.
“Just tired…been a long day,” I reply.
“Should I even inquire how the essay’s coming?” he asks with a slight chuckle, clearly already aware of the answer.
I shake my head and resort to hiding behind the large monitor. Thankfully, that’s the end of that discussion, but the quick look I receive from him after my response doesn’t bode well for me.
There’s actually something else I’m thinking about as well. I find it odd that Unknown hasn’t erased the picture of Parker and me last night from my messages. Staring at it, I begin to fidget in anticipation of Parker walking through the door so I can show him. I need him to see this so at least someone will truly believe me, and not just tell me what they think I want to hear.
I don’t even give Parker a chance to fully cross the threshold into the room before I bolt from behind my desk and grab his hand, dragging him into the hall behind me. His first reaction is to try and kiss me, but I put up my hand in front of his lips, blocking him.
“Not right now. I have something to show you,” I say quietly.
“Oh you do, do you?” he asks while scanning me up and down. I swear, guys can be such horn dogs.
“Seriously, Parker, check your hormones at the door. This isn’t funny, all right?”
He completely snaps out of his frisky demeanor and becomes serious. “Is this about that unknown person?” he asks in a whisper.
Nodding, I pull up the picture on my cell and show it to him. He grabs the phone from me and studies it carefully, even zooming in with a two-finger gesture on the screen to see it clearer.
“This is really creepy, Dani.”
“Tell me about it. I’ve been getting stuff like this for days from this asshole, and frankly, I’m getting tired of it.”
“Are you going to show your dad?” he asks, and then realizes how dumb that would be since it’s a picture of him and me at night right outside my window.
“Do I even have to answer that question?”
He shakes his head while handing me back the phone. “This is seriously messed up. And you said this person also sent you a video of us too, right?”
“Yep. In all our glory.”
“What are we going to do? Is there any way to trace this message back to the sender?”
“I don’t know, probably. But that would require us giving the phone to my father. And we’ve kind of already established that as being a bad idea. Besides, what makes you think this one won’t disappear like the rest?” I ask, feeling utterly hopeless.
“Well, there’s got to be something we—”
“Shit,” I say, cutting him off. “It’s gone. Damn this bastard. Damn this Text Destruct app. Unknown keeps doing this to me. What have I done that could possibly warrant this?”
I throw up my hands and turn to lean up against the bank of lockers next to us. Sliding down the cool metal and resting on the ground, I fold my