I Am an Invisible Stalker (Guardians #2)

Chapter 3

Eliza's POV

Today is the day. I'm sure of it.

With a determined smile, I swoosh left and right as I follow Denise through the tide of chattering high school students. While most of them won't notice the jostle from an unexpected direction, I can't risk one of them getting spooked. The last thing I want is for mass hysteria to dampen the sunshine illuminating my Monday morning.

After my fifth doge, Denise and I finally arrive at her dented cherry red locker. While Denise reaches for the shiny silver lock, I take a step to the right and lean against a hand-made poster inviting students to join a Halloween costume contest—one that is still a month away. The moment my back touches the paper I realize that despite its appearance, the paper isn't thick enough to conceal the roughness of the bumpy cinder wall it's glued to. And to make matters even worse a rude teenager right then pushes the door of a nearby girl's restroom wide open, missing me only by seven inches.

Still, I don't let the self-centered humans dampen my mood. Not today.

Denise turns the lock in a sequence of 31, 10, and 13. For a while I thought that the numbers were a random array, however, last year's anniversary shed the truth onto their meaning. Who would have thought that the Princess has a sentimental side?

While Denise scans the inside of her locker for her history textbook, a blonde girl with red highlights stops a few steps down the hallway and screeches, "Denise! Babe!"

The girl flings her arms wide apart and runs down the hallway, forcing her fellow students to jump out of her way. Once she reaches Denise's side she immediately pulls her into a crushing hug.

"I'm sooo sorry," the girl cries. "I thought you were skipping school on Friday, so I didn't call you. But then Wendy told me that she heard from Hannah, whose mother heard from your mother, that your grandfather passed away. And now I feel like the crappiest friend in this entire shithole of a school."

"Rose, it's okay." Denise pats the whiny girl on her back.

I, on the other hand, gag at their antics. If I had eaten anything in the last hundred and forty years, then this would be the moment when I'd spit it all out.

"No, it's not okay." Rose shakes her head and puts a step of distance between them. She dabs the sleeves of her plum-colored shirt over her nonexistent tears and then fans her hands in front of her eyes. "I'm sooo sorry to hear about your grandfather."

"Me too!" Another girl, this one with black hair and sticks instead of legs, cries from the other end of the hallway. Just like Rose she rushes toward Denise, pulls her into a big hug, and then pretends to be barely holding back her tears.

I snort at the irony of their reactions. If either of them produces a single tear, it will be a tear more than the Princess shed ever since she realized that her grandfather passed away.

"Thank you, Wendy." Denise takes a hold of both girls' hands and gives them a quick squeeze. "Your loving support means so much to me."

In the most high-pitched whale possible, the two girls embrace Denise again.

I cover my ears with my hands and turn my face toward the sky. "Make it stop. You don't have to kill them; turning them mute will be more than enough. Just make it stop."

Yet, of course, nothing of the sort happens.

"But we're still on for shopping today, right?" Rose is the first one to pull away. "Don't get me wrong, I totally feel for you, but I desperately need a new dress."

"Don't worry." Denise smiles at her. "I would never let you, girls, down."

I'm about to shout at them to shut up when another student almost slams the restroom door into my face. Sick of the threats, I stalk across the floor dotted with discarded gum wrappers and crumpled papers until I stop at the locker across the hallway. At least from here the chatter of the students passing in between us saves me from being forced to listen to the Princess and her whiny friends.