Page 15

A S I SHOP FOR GROCERIES , I can’t shake off the sensation that someone’s watching me. But whenever I look around, I can’t see anyone suspicious. Being around Victor has really made me paranoid.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a dark shadow. I quickly turn my head. No one’s there, but a bag of chips falls off the shelf. Someone was there, and they moved quickly enough to make the bag fall.

Is it Victor? But why would he be here? Unless he’s still stalking me. He hasn’t reached out to me after sending me that photo, and nothing happened today in class. What is he up to now?

If he plans to shame me for buying my groceries in a cheap supermarket, that’s just plain stupid and everyone will wonder why he was here in the first place. Maybe I should take a photo of him. It would be more embarrassing and humiliating for him to be caught here than for me.

I pull out my phone and stride with my cart, checking all the isles.

Victor, Victor, where are you hiding?

I don’t see him anywhere, so I stop in front of a shelf with drinks and turn on the front camera on my phone so I can see who’s behind me.

As I pretend to be busy picking out juice, I keep glancing at my phone screen.

There!

Victor peeks out from behind a shelf. He’s wearing a hoodie over his head, but I know it’s him. I quickly snap a photo and spin around, but he ducks out of sight.

Wow, so he’s really stalking me again.

Great.

I check the photo I took, but of course Victor got lucky and it’s blurry. The shape is there, but I’d never in a billion years prove that it was him.

I push the cart, trying to catch him by surprise, but I can’t find him. Somehow, he’s amazing at avoiding me.

I don’t know what he’s trying to achieve, but I’m mad. I’m so furious I want to punch him. Maybe I should leave the store and wait for him outside. But I doubt he’d give me an explanation. Actually, he’d probably ask someone to let him out through another exit.

But maybe there’s something I can do. This is my neighborhood, not his. I know how to move around better than him.

But first I need to grab some more things, and then I can put my plan into action.

***

M Y BAGS ARE HEAVY, and I grunt as I carry them. Walking slower would make things easier for me, especially if I rested, but I need to be fast. Victor is right behind me. I can feel his gaze on me.

The street is only lit up with dim lights and there aren’t many people. It’s exactly what I need. I round the corner and press myself against the wall. The streetlight above me doesn’t work, like always, and it’s perfect. Victor won’t see me.

I take a quick peek around the corner. He’s striding right toward me. I take a deep breath. It’s a good thing there aren’t any cars because I can hear Victor’s steady footsteps coming closer.

Before he can round the corner or see me, I jump out in front of him and throw my bags at him. He yelps, his hood falling off his head as he ends up on the ground. The cans I bought clatter. A glass bottle breaks, its contents spilling everywhere. Some oranges roll over the ground.

“Fuck!” Victor shouts, reaching out for his ankle. “What the fuck did you do?”

He glares at me, but there’s absolute panic in his eyes, and I love it.

I don’t say anything, just start collecting my groceries that survived and are still usable.

“I twisted my fucking ankle because of you.” Victor winces as he tries to stand up.

“Good.” I give him a wide smile. “Now stop following me and leave me the fuck alone.”

I grab my bags and walk away from him. As I glance over my shoulder, I see him grimacing and limping.

My plan worked better than I’d expected. I didn’t mean to hurt him, just confront him. But if his ankle is really twisted, then he won’t be able to follow me easily, unless he sends someone else after me.

He won’t be playing hockey either. If he’s smart enough, he’ll leave me alone. I can’t stop grinning on my way home. It feels so damn good to finally make him pay for everything.

Missing out on his precious hockey games will hurt him the most. I hope he’ll realize that chasing and terrorizing a random girl is a waste of time when he has more important things to worry about.

Even if he gets mad at me and wants revenge, I don’t see how it’ll be different from anything he’s already been doing to me. Maybe he snaps in front of everyone, and it’ll be easier for me to report him because there’ll be plenty of witnesses.

I don’t know if things will go in my favor, but someone needs to tell Victor to stop messing with me. If he thinks he’s the only one who can do damage, he’s wrong. I can hurt him too.

***

I WAIT FOR THE NEWS of Victor’s injury to break all over social media, but there’s nothing. Huh. I’m pretty sure Victor couldn’t walk, and judging by the look in his eyes, he wasn’t pretending to be in pain.

Usually, guys who play sports like he does can tell when their pain is probably something minor and when it’s serious, or at least that’s what my dad told me. He used to play soccer all the way through college until he started having some serious trouble with his knee.

Is it possible that I’m so unlucky that Victor is perfectly fine? I can’t believe it. Unless Emberwell doesn’t want everyone to know that their main star is injured because they want people to come to the game anyway.

But people talk about Victor all the time. Someone would find out about his injury, or maybe not. Maybe no one knows except his closest friends, and they’re not going to tell anyone yet.

I scroll through some more posts. The team even posted a list of available players for the next game, and Victor is on it.

I huff as I lean back in my chair. That guy is undefeatable, isn’t he? Or maybe he’s really that good of an actor and he made me believe he was hurt. Maybe he expected I’d be worried about him or try to help him, and then he planned to do who knows what.

I don’t know anything anymore. Victor is still a mystery. Well, on the inside, at least. I get to my feet and look through the window. No one’s hiding in the shadows, but my parents are home too, so I don’t think Victor will be crazy enough to try something.

And I have to be prepared for anything at Emberwell. Not that it’s any change from the usual, but Victor might be even more tempted to bully me. Then again, if he’s suffering no consequences, I don’t see why he would want revenge. But it’s Victor. He always finds a reason that probably only makes sense in his mind and no one else’s.