Hearts on Edge

Chapter 1

ᴠᴀʟᴇɴᴛɪɴᴀ

"Are you sure you didn't just forget to lock it?" Alani asks.

"Hundred percent sure. I always lock my doors." I search around my room to make sure nothing's missing. "Everything's still here."

"Val, you probably just forgot to lock your door, it's fine" she glances at me from across the room as I'm examining my bookshelf.

"Yeah I'll believe that. For now." I pick up one of my Shakespeare books and realise that it's out of place. It usually goes next to all the other ones. I set it down once I hear a ringing. I pick my phone up to check if it's mine but it's not. "Lani, I think that's your phone."

She puts her hand in her pocket and pulls out her phone to answer the call. "Hey, you can pick me up at 8' ok, thanks, bye!" she quickly puts her phone back in her pocket and turns back to me.

"Let me guess, its Aaron," I yawn, "I don't know how you actually like him. He's friends with Ethan Torres, you know that's instantly a red flag."

"Oh, come on Val, you'll understand when someone has you head over heels in love... if that ever happens."

I'm about to open my mouth to speak but she adds, "I've got to go home and get ready now but I'll see you in school tomorrow, yeah?" I nod

I watch her walk out the door and jump onto my bed after it shuts behind her. I'm bored. Wait, the Shakespeare books.

I hop out of bed and go over to my bookshelf. I take out the book that was misplaced and flick through it. I almost miss it but there's a small note near the end that wasn't there before. I take it out and read it.

𝘔𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘵 12𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘱. 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘖𝘳 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦.

Or else what? I slip the note into the side of my pocket and flip through the rest of my books but I find nothing. Is the person who wrote this note the same person who broke into my dorm? The thought of someone having access to my room sends a shiver down my spine.

-----

"And that's only a quarter of what you need to know for your exams. We will keep revising, don't worry," I try to keep my eyelids open but I can't help drifting off to sleep. Science class is hell. My teacher blabs on about stuff I can't even keep up with and even worse, I got paired with Ethan fucking Torres for a silly, little project(I literally love projects, of course he ruined this for me too). I might as well drop out of this class because there's no way I'm passing now.

I throw my bag over my shoulder as the bell rings. Alani grabs her notebooks and walks over to me. "So, how do you like  your new partner?" Son of a bitch.

"Please push me off a cliff," I beg her. Anything but working with Ethan for a stupid science project.

She pats my shoulder, "You'll survive."

"Eso espero," I murmur. I hope. Alani and I talk to each other on our way to our next class. I'm nodding at whatever she's asking me even though I'm not paying much attention to her speaking. My mind is somewhere else. I have to meet the person at the cafe tonight. I don't even know if I should go. Should I be telling Alani about this?

I'm about to tell her about the note when three idiots show up. My patience is really being tested today. And they only come up to us now because Aaron wants to talk to Lani. I groan quietly and try to keep myself distracted while they talk. It's going well until my attention is diverted onto the presence of a lean, 6'1 figure walking next to my shoulder.