#KILLME2

Chapter 4

   
#KILLME2

By: theinkslingerr

Chapter 4

    I was a zombie the next day at school. A determined zombie, but sluggish and bleary-eyed all the the same. I'd spent the whole night thinking of ways to get Finley to help me. To get him to do what I wanted, even though I probably wasn't his fave right now. I'd put together a mental checklist of every objection he'd have and every loophole he'd try to exploit.

    He was smart, so I had to be smarter.

    Despite what I'd said to Maya about not being afraid of Finley, I knew I couldn't handle him targeting me on top of everything else I was going through. If that happened, then I might actually need that psychiatrist Dr. Tifft was trying to force on me. But I couldn't let maybes derail my plan. I had to try for Liam. And Sam, and Ella, and LaTanya— who I'd never even met.

    I set everything in motion during lunch. The first step was to do recon via Maya since she liked Finley as a person and paid attention to what he did. There was a good chance she'd have the information I needed.

    "So..." I began, casually picking all the cheese off my pizza. "Does Finley do any extracurriculars?"

    I was stealthy. Real stealthy.

    Maya's eyes narrowed. She stopped chewing on her rubbery slice of pepperoni. "Why?"

    "What do you mean 'why?'"

    "You ain't slick, Ellis. Tell me your bad idea," she said dryly.

    I was taken aback. And lowkey offended. "I'm sorry. I had a supportive friend named Maya sitting here a second ago. Do you know where she went?" My guilt trip didn't faze her, so I rolled my eyes and wiped my fingers on a napkin. "It's not a bad idea."

    "Then tell me what it is, and maybe I'll tell you where Finley hangs after school."

    I bit my lip, staring down at the table. Should I tell her? I could easily lie, but she was my best friend and Liam had been her friend too. She'd see why this was a good idea. She'd see why this was the perfect way for Finley to make up for the assembly.

    I glanced back up in time to see her wary expression slip into neutral. "I'm..." I paused and took a breath. "I'm going to ask Finley to help me look for the Social Media Slayer."

    Maya choked on her pizza and started coughing. She gulped down water to get it under control then spent several seconds gaping at me, brown eyes wide.

    "That's not a bad idea," she said.

    I grinned.

    "It's a terrible one!"

    "How?"

    "Have you been drinking NyQuil during the day again? Putting hashtag Kill Me Too on your social media when everyone's doing it is one thing, but trying to look for the murderer is like stepping in front of all those people and saying 'Me next'! What if— what if it's a teacher and they find out you're looking for them?" I opened my mouth to answer, because I'd considered that, but she cut me off. "This isn't Riverdale. You and Finley aren't Betty and Jughead. If the freaking FBI can't figure it out, what makes you think you can?"

    I massaged my temples. She didn't get it. She wasn't even trying to. "It's not that I think we're gonna be able to do stuff FBI agents can't do— I'm just sick of sitting around doing nothing! Plus Finley owes me for the assembly. He can help, and we can give whatever we find to Agent Johansson and her partner."