of knowledge alone. I had no idea why that brought me any sense of relief, but for whatever reason, it did.
Feeling more than a little stalkerish, I clicked on each one of the other girls’ profiles that he was following to see if they went to school here and to look at their pictures because … I was a female, and we were curious—aka competitive—but they were all private. It was probably for the best. The last thing I needed was to fall down the rabbit hole of Mac’s social media and get myself all worked up, which would have definitely happened.
And that was exactly why I stopped myself from scrolling through his likes and comments on his regular feed too. I’d done that more than once over the summer, and it hadn’t gone well for my emotional state. Seeing the number of comments the guy racked up with each picture, plus the kinds of things that girls posted, I only imagined what they said in his DMs.
Walking into my room, I tossed my phone on my bed and headed toward the shower before promising myself that I wouldn’t log on any more tonight. School started tomorrow, and I needed the sleep, not the headache.
*
The next morning, the usual thrill of the first day of classes rolled through me as I stretched my arms over my head and smiled to no one. I couldn’t help it; a new school year always made me a little excited. You never knew who you might meet or what might happen.
Practically hopping out of bed, I grabbed a pair of jean shorts and a plain white T-shirt. Simple but still cute. It was too hot to wear combat boots and socks, so I opted for a pair of sandals instead. Liking what I saw in the full-length mirror, I walked into the bathroom to put on some makeup but couldn’t stop staring at my hair.
It was long and blonde and had been for all of my life. I’d never once colored my hair or done anything different with it. And while I loved it, it suddenly felt a little stale. Maybe it was the girl I had seen yesterday with the Billie Eilish hair that seemed to work so well on her that got me thinking. NOT that I wanted to color my hair black and green, but maybe I could pull something else off. Lavender maybe? Silver? Icy blue? I pulled at the strands, deciding I’d mess with them later. For today at least, I’d have the same old blonde hair that I’d had forever.
After finishing my makeup, I grabbed my bag and my keys before heading into the kitchen. I stuffed a bottle of water and a protein bar into my bag. I rarely woke up hungry, and to be honest, I had to force myself to eat breakfast most days—hence, the protein bar. Phone in hand, I glanced at it one last time and started to hustle.
I liked being early to class. Not on time, definitely not late, but early. And since it was still morning, I knew that there were most likely no classes before mine started, so I could get in there, find a seat, and get comfortable. School was technically close enough that I could walk if I wanted to, but in this weather, I’d be sweating through my shirt by the time I got there. And even though parking could be a total pain in the ass, I decided to drive anyway.
It was a typical morning, the streets were crowded and I’d just accelerated to make it through a yellow light when I heard a loud thud. My car immediately started pulling to the right as horns honked, and I gripped the steering wheel like my life depended on it. Maybe it did. I was confused, and my car wasn’t cooperating, pulling to the right as I tried to navigate it toward the left.
The sound got louder and more consistent, and my car felt like I was driving over a gravel road. I looked in my rearview mirror, signaled, and pulled over to the side of the road with my heart in my throat. Stepping out of my car, I noticed the flat tire.
Shit.
I’d never changed a flat tire before, but I was a smart and capable girl. I was sure I could figure it out. They didn’t keep a spare in the trunk for no reason, right? I thought about calling my dad, but what could