Page 22 of Dark Thirst (The Scandalous Novellas)

S leep was pointless last night. I spent the night tossing and turning in bed. With what sleep I got, I had nightmares about Anna telling my family about Michelle and I. I woke up in a cold sweat earlier, and finally just got up to take a shower.

I notice that more texts came in last night from Anna after I get out of the shower.

I put my phone on ‘Do Not Disturb’ so I can think.

She keeps saying that something weird is going on.

That her phone is doing strange things, her passwords are not working, and she can’t access her photos.

A lump forms in my throat, and I look through my phone to see if anything is amiss.

I don’t notice anything out of the ordinary, but Michelle hasn’t reached out either. Could she be messing with Anna without telling me? She can hack into my phone and computer, so I wouldn’t put it past her.

If she saw the messages between me and Anna, she could have pieced things together. I can’t think of any other reason why Anna’s phone would be locked down that way other than Michelle being behind it.

Clever girl. If she erases all the evidence Anna has, then there’s nothing hanging over our heads. I decide to call her, but the line only rings, so I send a text and she responds immediately.

Sean: Please call me. We need to talk.

Michelle: About?

Sean: Did you ignore my call?

Michelle: Maybe

Fucking brat! She is behind this, but she needs to be careful. Anna is bound to figure out it’s her soon and she will retaliate.

Sean: Answer. Now!

I call back and the line rings with no answer. I growl in frustration. Why is she not answering me?! I want to throw my phone across the fucking room, and just as I’m about to, she finally calls me back.

“What do you need?” she asks dryly.

“What’s going on?” I growl, pacing back and forth in the living room.

“You called me first, remember?” There’s that snarky little tone that always pisses me the fuck off. If I didn’t have work tomorrow, I would drive back down to Champaign and make her pay for it.

“What did you do to Anna’s phone?” I spit out. No need to pretend I don’t know. She’s diving into shark-infested waters by fucking with Anna.

She laughs. Fucking laughs! “I’m just giving her a taste of her own medicine.

If she wants to fuck with me, then I’ll get her back.

That’s all,” she replies with a bored tone.

“Don’t forget, I can see everything you do on your phone.

Did you think I was some stupid little girl?

I don’t need someone to protect me. She needs protecting now. ”

My mouth goes dry. She doesn’t sound like the girl I know. The shy, sweet, timid girl that keeps to herself. She sounds like she’s emotionally a million miles away from me and is out for revenge.

“Look, Anna can and will do whatever she can to ruin us if she finds out it’s you fucking with her. Understood?”

“Yes… anything else?” she sighs.

“Since you saw the messages, what’s your plan?”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ve taken care of the picture she took of us. If you want to get back with her, you’re free to.” And she hangs up.

“Hello! Michelle!” I yell into the phone, but there’s no use. I try calling back, and the number is no longer in service. She blocked me.

I text her and let her know I don’t want to be with Anna, that I’m only doing this to keep her safe. Not sure if she will see it, but whenever she unblocks my number, the message should go through.

Knowing that she’s mad at me pisses me off because there’s nothing I can do while I’m in the city, and I can’t afford to take more time off from work. I haven’t been posting much on my page, so there’s no income coming from that either. I’m stuck, and she doesn’t seem to care.

MICHELLE

I emailed my professors and let them know I wouldn’t be coming into class.

My plan is to break things off with Sean today and head back to school after.

My Tuesday classes don’t start until the afternoon, so I have the time.

I want to end things in person with him and take care of a few things with Anna while I’m in town.

I found out where she lives now, what kind of car she drives, and that she has paid no taxes for her little ‘side hustle’.

The picture she took of me and Sean is gone off of her phone, and I don’t know if she uploaded it elsewhere, but if she keeps trying to blackmail him, I’ll have no problem sending a little tip to the IRS about her hiding income.

From her bank records, it seems like she makes a good living off of her videos, and she’s been lucky enough not to get flagged for not reporting the money she makes. Good for her, but even better for me.

I’m borrowing Stephanie’s car for the day with the promise of filling it up with gas and having it back on campus by tomorrow.

Wishing I had my own damn car, I make a mental note to buy one this summer so I can drive it to the west coast when I move out there.

I pack my backpack with an LED mask I bought this weekend, a dark hoodie and black jeans.

I’ll pretend to be Sean and lure Anna out to meet with me in a deserted area near his apartment. I’ve been tracking their messages to one another, and he seems on board with getting back together, which makes my chest ache.

She hasn’t mentioned us, which leaves me hopeful that she is satisfied with having him back. I slowly unlocked her accounts again after I took what I needed from them, and she doesn’t seem to have noticed that I was poking around.

Throwing my bag in the backseat, I start my drive up north. My hands tremble as I grip the steering wheel and tears sting my eyes. Everything I thought I would have with Sean is gone now. And he doesn’t seem to care at all.

The highways are empty in the late morning and I make it back into the city in record time. Knowing Sean doesn’t get off work until later, I stop off and grab a bite to eat, but I can barely keep the food down, and my mind is racing.

I want to swing by Anna’s new place and monitor her until I meet with Sean, so I make my way across the city and into the suburbs, finding her car parked in the driveway.

From the lease agreement in her emails, she has a roommate in a three bedroom ranch-style home.

Nice little place in a quiet neighborhood, so I park down the street so I’m not spotted.

I sit and watch for a couple of hours before the front door opens wide, and a pretty, tall, slim brunette walks out of the house carrying a designer purse.

Ah yes, that’s Anna alright. As always, the fucking diva.

I wonder where she’s going since she doesn’t work a regular job.

Fuck it, I’ll follow her. I still have a few more hours to kill before seeing Sean.

Watching her as she gets in her car, my breathing quickens.

The rage building inside of me is becoming insatiable.

I don’t want to confront her head on just yet, and it takes everything in me to not just walk up to her and beat the shit out of her right in her own driveway. Now that would be stupid.

I need to be smart about this and confront her privately.

Somewhere she isn’t comfortable and isn’t in the middle of the day in a quiet, suburban neighborhood.

She pulls out of the driveway and drives past me.

I wonder where she’s headed to, but instead of contemplating further, I start Stephanie’s car and follow her.

Not being familiar with the suburbs, I stick close.

There were so many stop lights that I almost lose her, but I catch up before losing complete sight of her car.

Unsurprisingly, we pull into the lot for Woodfield Mall, and it’s already busy here.

There’s lots of other cars around, so it makes it easier for me to blend in.

She parks in the lot closest to Macy’s and gets out, making her way inside. I don’t want to follow her inside or I’m sure she’ll spot me and the game will be over. So instead, I wait a handful of minutes, and then casually walk over to her car to leave a note on the windshield.

A girl like Anna will be furious and call the number wanting to meet up for cash for non-existent damages.

So, I’ll use her greed to lure her somewhere just the two of us can talk and sort this out, once and for all.

I gleefully walk back to the car, where I wait for over an hour for her to come out again.

She’s carrying a few bags, and I’m sure she had a fun time shopping while I waited for her to come out. My mouth curves into a smile as I watch her approach her car and notice the note on her window. Her face drops as she snatches the note, and I see her face contort into a scowl while reading it.

Anna stomps around her car looking for any damage, then angrily throws her bags into the trunk of the car while dialing a number into her phone.

I expected her to be calling ‘Em,’ but my burner phone never rings.

I hate not being close enough to hear what she’s saying, but she is talking to someone and yelling at them.

Then it occurs to me that she’s most likely on the phone with Sean.

My hands grip the steering wheel, and an intrusive thought pops into my head. Maybe I should just run her over and get it over with? Nah, too easy for her. I want her to suffer, to make her world crash and burn around her for stealing him away from me.

When she finally gets into her car, I decide it’s time to head back to the city to surprise Sean at the shop he works at. I have high hopes I’ll be hearing from Anna soon.