Hooked [Complete]

8. Reflection

Author's Note:

Song for this Chapter: Warpaint by 88rising, NIKI

https://open.spotify.com/track/2QIvCZTFVnky13XShl1zWJ?si=7O8GSnzxQpS3XtMr8gS1IQ

This song is Dru's anthem! I love it!

Dru stood in shadows in her dorm room.

The candle on her dresser lent enough light to see her reflection in the mirror above, and she stared hard at herself, pulling back her shining, shoulder length hair. She was trying to convince herself that the fresh-faced, healthy, and completely not crazy girl in the mirror was really her.

She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she half-expected to see the old Dru—the one with pink hair and a nose ring. The girl with the bags under eyes from too much partying, and the heavy make-up that didn't hide the fear in her eyes. The girl who drank too much and thought she made things happen with her mind.

Or had she been the girl who made things happen with her mind, and then drank too much because it scared her shitless?

No, it had all stopped. It wasn't real. All those weird things she imagined faded away when she stopped partying and hanging out with crazy guys, and taking crazy risks.

Now, it was happening again. It had happened again last night, with the bonfire. But she wasn't that pink-haired crazy girl any longer. So what was going on?

Maybe last night had been a drunken flashback. Or maybe Hearne was messing with her head.

He'd said he had seen her student file. But what was actually in her file?

Her juvenile records were supposed to be closed, but she had written her college essay about her arrest, and how it had turned her life around. The essay was surely in her file, so Hearne would know about that. The essay was discussed in her interview so there might be notes of the things she said about her bad choices and bad boyfriends. But the other stuff—the hospital stay, the delusions, the things she had told her therapist—all of that was confidential. She had never told anyone at Sabit about that. But maybe the administration had found out somehow, and everything about her recovery was in her file.

Maybe Hearne was a sleaze-bag trying to gas-light her.

Yet, she'd known sleaze-bags, and she didn't get that vibe from Hearne. He was full of himself, but he didn't seem...evil. She wished she could be sure. How could she find out?

She needed the file. If she could rule out or confirm him knowing about her hospital stay, then she would be one step closer to figuring out what Hearne wanted with her.

So how could she get hold of her own student file?

Staring in the mirror, she saw an overlay of the old Dru—the one with calculating, make-upped eyes. The old Dru knew how to find out. It shouldn't even be that hard. Sabit was an old-fashioned place, stuck in the last century of technology. A lock and key kind of place, not a hi-tech security system kind of place.

She shook her head at herself. A stupid idea. A stupid risk. She was no longer a stupid girl. No, she wouldn't break into Hearne's office, and risk getting caught and ruining her college career. It didn't matter what her file said. It only mattered what choices she made now. As long as she stayed away from Hearne, and stayed away from Sean, and stayed away from all risky behaviors—especially ones that could get her arrested and expelled.

Just forget about what Hearne said, she told herself.

As she stood contemplating her reflection, the door behind her opened and shut quickly. Lana stole into the room like a thief, and jumped as she turned around to see Dru's face, dark and flickery, staring at her from the mirror. With the close of the door, the old Dru faded away. The true Dru stared in the mirror at her roommate.