Odd One Out

CHAPTER 25

Bailey
Sunday, November 9

I stared at the tweet long enough to make it seem like a pigment of my imagination, until I blinked and saw it was very, very real.

Somehow I had managed to finish all my homework on Saturday, out of a rage for the way Viktor had acted towards me. Actually, it had hurt to see the way they'd all reacted when I dropped the news. We didn't even get to come up with a plan, or talk about the possibilities of who could've sent it, or even talked about taking it to the police...they just got angry at me.

Truth be told, I was also confused as to why I hid it from them for so long. I convinced myself that it was because they would blame me but...they seemed so worried about me. They were worried about my safety, and not once did they deem me the murderer just because of the message.

I had read the entire situation wrong. I made them angry for nothing.

I need to apologize. To Viktor, especially.

Looking at my screen a bit longer, trying to make the tweet from salyourpal18 disappear, I realized why I risked making them angry.

It was not even because of the secret I was holding onto. It was because of what they would think of me. What they would think of me. For some reason, it would hurt so much to see their opinions of me change, which I would never be able to blame them for. It was all my fault.

People always had skeletons in their closets, but mine were already turning to dust and ash and I wanted them to stay that way. Although, by the looks of it, even ashes can burst into flames if you give them enough fuel.

Drum roll......HELLO! It's your favorite host, salyourpal18 and boy, oh boy, do I have a story for you today. So grab your mugs and get your tongues ready because today's tea will be HOT!

Now, can you guess who today will be all about? hint hint...yup! It's one of the Roosevelt Five!

The school's beloved prince, king of jokes, the funniest man at Roosevelt High. Ladies, gents, and all others, give it up for our next guest:

Harry Ellis!

I had been so focused on my schoolwork and so caught up in my own emotions that I didn't see when the tweet came to light. And even when Naya and Jake spammed the group chat, I had forgotten to unmute it so I did not realize anything had even happened until this morning.

Ellis's story was surprising, and the first emotion I felt after reading was shock, which was immediately replaced with worry. If Ellis was last night's story, then that meant it wouldn't be long before it was ultimately my turn.

I hurriedly zipped up the oversized sweater my dad handed down to me a few years ago, not caring enough to change out of my sweats. I needed to get to Ellis as soon as possible, because calling him only sent me to voicemail. I dialed Naya as I reached the bottom stairs, but was halted by a loud clearing of someone's throat.

"Hello?"

Shit.

"Hey...Naya...um, actually, can you give me a sec?"

Not waiting for her response, I muted the call before turning around to face my mom, whose eyes were answering a question I had not even asked yet.

She's not going to let me leave.

"Good morning," I started, giving her a small smile.

"Good morning. Heading somewhere?"

"Oh, nowhere special, just...with Naya."