Twice The Trouble Book 2 of 2: Twice The Love

Chapter 8: Fair-Haired Detective

Stacy

"Do you know anyone in a class in the pool area right now?"

I stole a glimpse of Bryce's bewildered face. "Scarlet."

His answer almost made me trip over my own feet but I was too swift and I quickly recovered from my pathetic reaction.

We kept running up the winding staircase leading up to the indoor pool on the fifth floor.

"How interesting that you're still aware of your ex-girlfriend's schedule," I drawled in a bitter tone, keeping my unfathomable gaze in front of me.

I heard him smirk. "Are you jealous?"

Still dashing up the white steps, I shot him a look of annoyance. "Can we not do this right now?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said dryly. "I forgot you have a busy life and you don't have time for--"

I clamped my palm over his mouth,making him shut up. "Shush!" I snapped at him.

There were a few steps leading up to the pool area.. next to the small staircase was a very limited gap between the cemented railing and an unused room once meant for ping pong tournaments (I know because Miles and I once tried to break in to play a few rounds).

I heard the shrill, piercing sound of a whistle being blown, followed by a woman's voice:

"Okay, everyone, five more laps and then hit the showers!" SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!

"Remind me why we're here again?" Bryce asked while I lurked near the stairs.

"Keep your voice down," I calmly whispered,then I met his stare. "I think my professor, Sir Clemente, comes here often to perv on the girls in their swimsuits."

I slapped my hand over his mouth when he was on the verge of blurting out a "What?!?"

"Shush!" I reiterated, the monosyllable heavy with authority. "Stand guard.. wait.. do you have a class to get to soon?" I threw him an intense look over my shoulder.

He shook his head. "I'm free for twenty more minutes.J ust do what you're supposed to do."

I nodded at him, a bit touched by his support and encouragement. I sneaked up the stairs like a ninja eschewing laser beams inside a vault room inside a bank. I think Sophia's mannerisms were rubbing off on me. She has such a boundless imagination of a writer.

Lifting my white phone in the air, I put it on "camera" then set it to "video." I pressed "record."

As discreetly as possible, I hid myself in the shadows while I filmed the activities in the pool area.

Usually, I enjoy proving people wrong. But.. this is the first time I felt defeated to realize..

I was right.

Bryce

I watched with expectant blue eyes as Stacy stealthily descended the white steps.

Stacy Eris Sta. Ana.. the proud winner of the Miss Orion Pageant last year, the cover girl of Glam Magazine, the best student in her batch..

Was completely disoriented.

I rarely see her in this grave demeanor: With her blonde head bowed low, her sky blue eyes empty, her aura somber, as though she witnessed something inexplicable beyond belief.

For some reason, I felt ashamed of myself to assume she wouldn't break down as badly as she had the previous year.. when she had almost been gang-raped by the very people who admired her for being a prominent model. Even way before that incident, she had been drugged and raped by someone back when she was in high school.

A lot of bad things have happened, and yet she remains confident and headstrong, a few traits that made me fall for her in just a matter of weeks after I accidentally slammed a door on her.

Hey, I honestly didn't do that on purpose. That hallway was spacious. She shouldn't have been walking so near a freaking door in the first place!

"What did you see?" I asked when she was close enough.

In a strange daze, Stacy warily handed me her white phone, which I readily took from her.

My right thumb pressed "Play," and what I saw next made me want to vomit my breakfast.

I hit "Stop" after merely five seconds into the video. That two-faced douche.. preying on oblivious college girls when he's already in his forties and married to an unfortunate woman.

In the video, Sir Clemente was surreptitiously leering at the female juniors and seniors, some of them still bobbing inside the body of water, while a vast majority were emerging from the pool, exposing their wet, provocative figures to anyone in plain sight--mainly a repulsive professor.

"We have to surrender this to the head master," I declared, waving the white phone mid-air.

"No. Not yet." Stacy blinked repetitively, clutching her temple, trying to clear her mind of the fog.

My blue eyes narrowed at her. "What do you mean, 'not yet'?" I could barely suppress my fury.

The beautiful blonde matched my sharp glare. "We need a plan of action. We can't just--"

When the days are cold and the cards all fold.. and the saints we see.. are all made of gold...

"Fuck," I muttered, fumbling in my pockets for my phone.

Stacy panicked. "You didn't put it on silent mode?!" she whispered.

I urgently jabbed the "Shut off" button on the side of my black phone.

The tall blonde swiveled around and saw a man's shadow looming towards us.

On instinct, I grabbed Stacy by the wrist and pulled her to the closest hiding place available.

Stacy

My startled voice came out muffled when Bryce covered my mouth with his hand.

"What--" I began into his warm palm, but he cut me off with a low "Shh!"

I drew in a sharp breath as I felt his free arm protectively wrap around my waist from behind.He has his back pressed against the wall of the staircase leading up to the pool area.

Both our hearts were playing a drumbeat, fast and in sync, and I felt a hot flush creep up from the base of my throat due to the close proximity of my back against his broad chest.

Five seconds later, a lone shadow appeared on the steps of the staircase, the black entity looming just above our heads, followed by a man's easygoing voice.

"I'll be on my way, then. See you tomorrow."

Nine words. Nine syllables. To anybody else, they would have been completely innocent, but the hairs on my arm and neck stood on end when I heard him speak.

Footsteps. Heavy. Louder. Closer.

As if on instinct, my fingers curled tightly over Bryce's arm snaked around my small waist. I felt him try to steady his breathing when I did that.

My sky blue eyes glared at the back of Sir Clemente's head until he was out of my sight.

Seconds ticked by. Then, minutes.

"Uh, Bryce?" I murmured. His hand loosened from my moving lips. "You can let go now."