I glared at the message as though my scorn for the sender could travel through the screen and jump out the other end to smack him in the face. It appeared Zac figured out that I had blocked his ass, and the thick-headed bastard was texting me from someone else's phone. I wanted nothing to do with him. In fact, if it wasn't for all the shit that was already on my overloaded plate, I wouldn't have thought twice about ratting him out as the anonymous user and earning some extra brownie points from the new principal in the process.

Angrily, I typed back.

Fuck off, Mazur!

When my phone dinged again, however, goosebumps trickled over my skin.

don't worry, this isn't zachary.

Zac wasn't the one texting me?

My heart rate began to flutter. Anxiously, I tapped out a reply and pressed 'send.'

Who is this?

Within seconds, another text flashed across my phone.

i'm parked in your driveway. let me in and you'll find out.

My stomach dropped like a bag of rocks. I tip-toed over to my window as though this creeper could somehow see through the walls into my bedroom and carefully pulled back the curtain by an inch. I peered outside. Sure enough, there was a shadowy car parked just beyond the gated entrance to our property. The vehicle's headlights weren't turned on, and it was too dark outside to pinpoint the exact make or model of the car, but, either way, I was starting to freak the fuck out. My pulse had doubled in speed at this point.

Mrs. Watson and the rest of our household staff had clocked out for the day. Trick was at an away game for football and wouldn't be back until late. Bea and I were the only ones at home.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

Was I supposed to call the cops?

Or did I need to wait until the fucker had trespassed onto our property?

Was I overreacting?

Was this some kind of sick prank that somebody was pulling on me?

Frantically, I texted out a warning.

You have two minutes to get the hell off of our property before my dad goes out there with his shotgun. He's a former Marine and never misses his target. Then, we'll call the cops.

My threat was only a half-lie. My dad had been a former Marine, but, as of right this moment, the man was in DC on another one of his business trips.

My eyes were glued onto the mystery car outside as I hoped for the best and prepared for the worst. I already tapped in 9-1-1 on my phone. Every muscle in my body was wound up, ready to dash down the hallway to grab Bea, so we could make a quick getaway in her car through the back gate.

A minute later, the strange vehicle's lights flashed on, the engine roared to life, and the creeper started backing out of our driveway at awkward angles.

I was scared to blink as my gaze bore into the car's every movement from my window. I tried to calm my breaths.

In-out-in-out...

In, out, in, out, in...

Out.

My breathing gradually slowed down to a regular tempo as the car's tail lights disappeared into the night.

Holy mother of God.

Now, I knew how those main characters felt in horror films. It was a miracle that none of them ever peed their pants. To be completely honest, I think I might have wet myself a little. I slumped onto the floor of my room in a daze, feeling relieved that the creeper didn't call my bluff. But I was also scared that he or she might come back.

Who had been in our driveway?

I wanted to know. I proceeded to download a few different apps that were meant to track down hidden numbers. They were all useless.

Currently, Lily Sinclair topped my list of potential fuckers behind the spooky texts, but I couldn't be sure. Zac sat at the bottom of that list. I didn't really think it was him, though. Lily was still my prime suspect. For a microsecond of a second, I even contemplated reaching out to the guy for his hacking expertise in these kinds of matters but quickly shot down that idea and buried its remains in the recesses of my mind.

Fuck that bastard.

I wasn't about to give him an excuse to come crawling back into my life!

***

Wednesday was a typical late autumn day in Wellesley. Cold, wet, and dreary with just a touch of fog. It suited my mood perfectly. The mysterious texts weighed on my mind like a bad dream, Amari and Nat still weren't talking to me, school continued to kick my ass, and Zac hadn't tried to reach out again since the day I crushed his boy bits. I wanted to be thrilled about the last development, but it actually made me feel kind of crummy.

In between packing and last minute prep for my conference, I never found the time to file my grade change request for AP History. Nevertheless, life needed to go on. My Model United Nations team was flying out first thing tomorrow morning.

After a restless night of sleep, I woke up at the crack of dawn to meet everyone at the Ashton Wellesley school parking lot. When our charter bus arrived at the airport, I got a Facetime call from Amari. I picked up right away. Amari waved through the screen. Nat was with her.

"Nat! Amari!" I exclaimed happily.

They were grinning from ear to ear. "Hey, bish, we got the flowers!"

Both of my friends were holding the mammoth-sized bouquets that I had sent them. White-tipped fuchsia stargazer lilies for Amari and blush pink peonies with baby's breath for Nat.

"You guys like them?" I asked

Nat squealed, "Yes! They're gorgeous!"

Amari rolled her eyes at Nat good-naturedly and said, "We just wanted to call and let you know that you're still an asshole, but we forgive you! Did you want us to come get you from the airport on Sunday? Those buses are so disgusting!"

"Really? Shit, I should send you guys flowers more often."

Nat laughed impishly. "I mean, I definitely wouldn't mind getting flowers everyday!"

Amari started waving good-bye. "Okay, we gotta get to class! See you on Sunday, bish."

Right before Amari hung up, Nat shouted, "Give 'em hell, Cate!"

The rigorous back-to-back events of the three-day conference served as a welcome respite from the clusterfuck that was my life, and, towards the very end, I was feeling slightly better than I did upon arrival. On Sunday afternoon, our team was awarded Outstanding Large Delegation, and Dev received an Honorable Mention in the individual awards category. We could've done better as a whole, but competition this year was fierce, and I hadn't spent nearly as much time or effort preparing as I usually did. On the flight back, I took a quick nap and looked forward to seeing Nat and Amari's stupid faces once we landed.

In the arrivals terminal at Logan International, my team members and I said our good-byes and went our separate ways. Kids either boarded the charter bus back to Ashton Wellesley for their parents to pick them up or simply left with their personal drivers. I rose up on my tip-toes, searching for my friends through the crowds.

I texted them again.

I thought you guys were on the way. Where the hell are you two?

Amari replied right away.

sorry bish something came up... nat and i won't be able to make it after all! Don't worry doe we sent someone else to gechuuuu ;)

I typed back furiously.

Are you fucking kidding me? You guys suck!!! Who's coming to pick me up?

As I pressed 'send' on my message, I sensed a tall lean figure step in front of me.

He greeted me quietly, "Hey."

I looked up in disbelief. "Zac? What are you doing here?"