The Eighth Breakup ✓

Chapter 20 Worse Than I Expected

Chapter 20: Worse Than I Expected

Nolan's car made strange noises as we sped down towards the highway.

There was a black car tracking us.

We needed to reach the cops before the stalker cornered us. Nolan's phone was dead, but I still had a fifty percent battery. I called my mom in a panic. She picked up and completely caught me off guard.

"Your letter from Princeton came." She gave the news.

"What?!" The moment I had been waiting for. "What does it say?" Nolan frowned at me, confused by my question. Whatever. Princeton was more important.

"Accepted on a partial scholarship," Mom answered and I could hear the excitement in her voice. A huge erupted on my face. I got in! That too, on a partial scholarship! I 've never loved Valentine's day so much! Nolan mouthed me to get help. "Wh--when are you coming--?"

The phone call ended with a network error popping up on screen.

I immediately realized the situation I was in.

"Oh shoot," I muttered. "No service." I didn't even get to tell her!

"Are you stupid?" Nolan asked, keeping his eyes on the road. "What was so important that you felt the need to neglect our current dilemma?" I was about to answer but he continued. "If anything happens to us, Helen, I swear I'll hold you responsible." He muttered curses and kept checking the mirrors.

"Oh yeah, what about the time you said you didn't have your phone when we were stuck in the vents?" I challenged. "When you screw up, it's okay. When I do it, it's WWIII."

He simply shook his head.

What was done was done.

I scowled at my phone and tried to move it around to get service. When I opened the window, the cold February breeze filled the car, chilling us. Nolan shook his head as I quickly pulled up the window. Hardly two or three cars passed by us. The weather outside seemed dark due to somber clouds hovering over our town. Hold on.

We weren't in our town.

Lonely trees surrounded the roadside which surprisingly hadn't expanded to multiple lanes yet.

"Why aren't we on the highway?" I asked worried.

"I may have taken a wrong turn in my panic," Nolan said in a nervous voice. I didn't know how to respond. He claimed to hold me responsible when he was the one pushing us into more danger. To add insult to injury, our transportation device began producing bizarre noises. I checked the speedometer. Everything appeared fine, even the gas was more than half full. "Something's wrong with the car." Even Nolan noticed.

We were going to die.

But I just got the good news about Princeton!

I checked the side mirror and saw the black car not that far away from the trunk of Nolan's car. I couldn't exactly make out the face of the driver.

"The stalker's closing in," I said terrified.

Nolan's anonymous texts definitely weren't based on some prank.

We were legitimately screwed.

Who could it be? I had my doubts on Chase and Paris, but Chase was in New York, right?

Paris was at the same mall! But why would he want to kill us?!

Nolan didn't step his foot down from the gas pedal. We were shifting more and more into an unfamiliar, isolated zone. Nolan's hands tightly held the wheel. I tried to find service, but no luck. The other car as close as it could physically be on Nolan's car.