The Skylar Experiment : Dead Ending (second draft)

Chapter Thirty-One - Social Cut

RILEY

THE GENERAL SHOCK that ensued Lauren's reappearance last week had died down for the most part. People either believed that she ran away and came back or she'd been found a long time ago in another city and whoever taped the missing posters didn't take hers down. Her story had never passed on the news, therefore any recent development could not be divulged through television or the press. 

When I rolled up in Chemistry, more or less ready to kick it off, I saw her at the first table on the left against the windows, as usual.

Lauren didn't acknowledge my presence as I walked in and dropped my books in front of my seat. I pulled the chair out and hopped on, mentally cursing at how the chairs in this classroom were always too high. 

The teacher lounged at his desk with his nose plunged in a textbook, the whiteboard in the background displaying his screensaver. He must be trying hard not to look our way judging by the upkeep of his shoulders.

After stopping at my locker and preparing myself to confront Lauren, a possibility had struck me. A number of things changed when she returned. The agents had allowed us more space and the hunters had ceased their attacks. We were at a deadlock, not that I could explain exactly how; I just knew that she was the source of it. 

But there was one thing I'd missed and that flew under my attention previously, and it could untie everything if I was correct. My hands fell on the table.

"You were the one sending me messages and telling me what to do," I said, careful to maintain a low volume.

Lauren stared up from her notebook. Her face was smooth and neutral. Dismissive, even. I didn't know why, but it itched my temper. It felt as if no person or problem was worth an inkling of her focus.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Why did she have to play this silly game with the bunch of us? I glimpsed over my back and noticed that our neighbors were not-so-subtly eavesdropping. The girls had their heads bobbed in our direction in an attempt to catch a few blurbs from our conversation. I redirected my gaze and leaned forward, holding my forearms together as I did so. Lauren supported my gaze without flinching.

"Yes, you do. You told me that hunters were in town and warned me not to stay in detention. You texted me the address to the barn. This whole time, you were trying to tell us something."

She rubbed a temple with a finger, her eyes dimming like I'd said something incredibly stupid. I choked out a flare of irritation rolling through me.

"It's like you expect me to admit to what I didn't do," she replied calmly. "But I can't do much except disappoint you on this one."

"Stop lying." I gritted my teeth then thought that this wasn't normal. I'd never gotten this frustrated about Lauren, least of all not in her face. "You wanted us to find out but now you act like... like we're crap you stepped on."

She tapped the bare skin between her collarbones, an amused light in her eyes. "That's an interesting analogy."

I inhaled, telling myself not to let her condescendence get to me and make me lose sight of the intention. Maybe this was a tactic to sidetrack me. She was known already for deflecting all and any question about her. Except that she forgot something important that will dismantle her neatly-woven pretenses.

"Yeah, really," I challenged. "Those texts couldn't even be traced, and I know you're good at covering your tracks. I saw your sketches." At that, her lips parted but I went on. "And it was you on that bridge and there's no way that's not true. I saw your bike this morning. I remember that it looked the same. No license plate. Now, not only does this mean the messages came from you, but you clearly stopped the men from chasing us." I folded my arms, searching her expression for any sign of defeat or constraint. She was blank. "So why did you do that if your family means nothing to you—why save your brother? You did that twice, actually."

Lauren's probing stare intensified until I almost believed that a red dot was glowing on my forehead. Her features didn't budge from their dignified position, save for a twitch at the corner of one cheek. 

She took a good couple of seconds to size me up, one elbow sliding off the back of her chair. The more she examined me, the more disturbed she seemed as her brows crashed together. Her voice travelled in a distinct, severe murmur.

"You should be careful, Riley. If your mouth hasn't gotten you in trouble before, it will now with me."

I gaped unabashedly, wondering why the hell this was such a problem. She cast a circular glance at the classroom, her eyes poring over the chemistry posters and material cupboards with glass panes. They settled back to me once she looked sure that no one was listening or following our discussion.

"There's no need for you to believe that I was behind the messages. It's not like I could know that you had detention."

"Yes, you could have... the news was on the internet."

Lauren tilted her head, bewildered. "You getting detention got on there?"

"Yeah..." I dug into my pocket and fished out my cellphone. There was still a hot minute remaining before the bell will ring and I could show her the school gossip blog—the bane of everyone's student life. The website had emerged after she disappeared, and she most likely still wasn't aware of its existence. But she could be playing coy. 

My finger tapped on an icon and I searched through Chrome. I was quite proud of myself for managing to stay out of the limelight since winter break. I clicked on the result, and it led me to a void page. The black and purple forum was still showing, but all the posts were removed. 

"What...?"

My phone was filled instead with rapid-fire emails from classmates hysterically asking the whole school if the page worked on computer or mobile. Dozens were sent about an hour ago while I was getting dressed in my room for the day, speculating about a massive glitch. I frowned over the screen. 

"Looks like whatever you were going to show me is gone." Lauren smirked. "That's too bad."

I hurried to store my phone into a pouch from my backpack, bending under the table to zip it open. When I straightened my spine, I stared at her in confusion. Of all the people gathered in this building, she was probably the most well-equipped one to terminate a website from what I've heard. 

"Did you..."

The bell cut me off at the worst possible timing, and Spencer sprung to life with his boring voice and nonchalant tone. He rounded the desk, demanding for everyone to reveal their homework as he waved his name list before him. A brief, cutting glare was spared for me during his speech, but my thoughts lied elsewhere.

Lauren maintained her stone-cold, signature gaze over mine, never backing down until we both had no choice but to dig our notebooks out. 

I sat throughout the period, rubbing my eyes to fight off the drowsiness while also mulling over the blog's radical closure. It didn't seem like any of the students had wanted to erase it, and it couldn't have happened by accident. One thing was clear and undeniable in my mind. It hadn't been a coincidence. 

❃ ❃ ❃

Shaady. 

So... not *that* much leaked out of this conversation, although it's now established that Lauren is messing with Riley. Do you think the blog being erased was her doing?