Letterman Jacket

37.8 / six days before

After much hanging around at the pool and afterwards, the boardwalk and beach, Nico and I decided to take a nap in my room before dinner.

We took separate showers first, and when I was done, dressed in cotton boxer shorts and a thin shirt, I curled up on my side on the bed. Nico came in a few minutes later and immediately wrapped his arms around me.

"Paula's phone is on her bed," he muttered against my skin. "Can we check through the texts for a bit?"

I thought about it. "Yeah. I think we should. It might help us."

Nico stood to grab the phone and to lock the door.

I sat up and ran a hand through my hair. "We're not reading the messages unless we see something suspicious."

"Okay," Nico agreed, moving to sit beside me. "Her password's still the same," he said with a snicker, quickly unlocking the phone.

"She told you?"

"When she was drunk a couple years ago. I don't think she remembers."

I nodded. "Calls first."

Nico's fingers moved fast against the screen as he opened the recent calls. "All cleared," Nico muttered, shaking his head. "She's smart. She deletes them."

"Texts?"

"Cheer squad, family, cheer, Faust, family—wait."

I dropped my chin on Nico's shoulder so I could see better. I squinted. "Who's James?"

"No idea," Nico said, furrowing his brows. "Look at the last message."

you know you can trust me.

I inhaled sharply. "Should we read?"

Nico opened the conversation. "Last text was sent last night. She probably forgot to delete the messages."

Paula: you'll get caught someday.

James: i know.

Paula: how long?

James: years. stop bugging me about this.

Paula: i'm just worried about you.

James: I'm fine. just worry about what i'm asking of you, please. make sure no one else knows.

Paula: you know you can trust me.

There was no response after that.

"Their conversation is so vague. Why are there no texts before that?" I asked, features drawing together in confusion. "Did she delete all the ones before this and then forget the rest?"

"I don't know," Nico said, pulling out his own phone as he handed Paula's to me. "Maybe she fell asleep. I don't want to assume what they were talking about, but it sounds weird and suspicious as hell. Dictate the number for me, please. I'm trying to see if I know this guy."

"Okay, um, five five nine, four eight seven, three one—"

"Thea."

"Two—yeah?"

"That's—this is JJ's number."