Nobody

Chapter 12

Grudges were hard to forswear into the abyss for a woman like Chelsea Rupert. Ever since the visit, she vowed to herself that she would raze their reputation one by one.

Torn apart by the circumstance, of having been ejected from Penhearte High, of having been turned away by Robert Winchester, Chelsea felt a hole in her chest.

But that void, so hollow, it was made complete by a raging hatred. She hated Kioshi for what he did. And she knew, from the moment she laid her eyes on him at her birthday party, that he was up to something. Yet, she wasn't able to stop it herself.

Now, the first phase of her vengeance had been executed. Leaking Shoji's video was a breeze since she and Haley were friends. They'd share everything together, especially the Blackmail Archive. It housed dirty little secrets from every student.

Since the archive itself contained the footage of Shoji at the school garden, Chelsea had no trouble posting it under the anonymous pseudonym: KARMA.

Karma, in the nature of the right amount of access to private moments, strummed the comfort of Shoji Watanabe. She was already under the glare of the spotlight. Chelsea thought that she could magnify it and make it scorch her as punishment for what her brother did.

Then, she decided to dig online, with the help of her connections, to excavate some grime on Kioshi. He was the number one target. He broadcasted the conversation himself. It was only a matter of time until Chelsea would stumble across a significant piece of information.

"I will drive you to the fucking soil. You will regret touching my rank," With the laptop on her lap, Chelsea hissed to herself as her fingers angrily punched the letters of her keyboard.

Beside her, a smart phone vibrated, its screen lighting up to show an incoming call. Plucking it from the couch, Chelsea slid her finger across the screen and pressed the phone to her ear. "What the hell do you want?"

On the edge of a breakdown, Gary tried his best to control his shaky tone. He sounded like he was about to crumble from the duress of anxiety and guilt. "Ch-chels, I know I'm disturbing you but I want you to know that I a-am really, really sorry. I-I will make it up to you- I could humiliate myself."

"I've given you enough chances. Now fuck off and never call me again," Chelsea barked at the phone and aggressively ended the call. Hurling her phone away, she transferred her focus to the laptop screen and heaved out an exasperated sigh.

She caressed the touch pad to scroll down a website until a notification popped up. Eager at the sight of it, she pulled up a message from a profile she found online.

"Pay me half the commission price I offered and I can send you fabricated screenshots of Kioshi's conversations. A few edits, too, as bonus."

After quietly reading the text, Chelsea contemplated if it was worth the money.

But then, her stomach grumbled in protest. She needed to eat. The second she gently closed her laptop, she set it on the glass table in front of her and rose up from the couch. She traveled from the lounging area to the kitchen where she yanked open the fridge. Once it was agape in front of her, she left her eyes to wander.

There wasn't much appeal in the content. Processing the lack of options, she decided to push the fridge door shut. She spun around and faced the counter, plucking a red apple from the fruit basket.

That's when she noticed the creak of the kitchen's back door. It subtly whined, begging for her presence of attention. When achieved with success, Chelsea peered at it and grew confused. Night breeze broke in the kitchen through the open gap. It had been left ajar, though she had no recollection of leaving her residence through this door.