Like To Be You ✓

thirty nine pt. two

Previously, on Like To Be You... 

Neil: Let's go visit dad! 

Neil: Hi dad here's a cinnamon roll for you *proceeds to bury a cinnamon roll* 

Neil: Oh hi there Tyler why the fuck are you here again? 

Tyler: cuz we gotta solve your dad's murder lawl 

Neil: Okay less goooo

Miranda: hi guys pls let me in i've been waiting outside your house since the past eight days

o-o-o

"What are you doing here?" I say, stepping out onto the porch. "And how did you even enter the street?" 

A railing separates Miranda and I. Behind me, Tyler and Zayne stand by the door, their postures stiff. 

Miranda's eyes are wide as she takes in the villa before her. They grow wider when she spots Tyler and Zayne behind me, and something flickers in her eyes. Her choppy hair is tucked behind her ears, and her cheeks are red, as if she's just run a mile. 

"Neil." She begins. "Please hear me out. Please." 

"Who is it?" My mom's voice comes from behind me, and I turn around to find Zayne awkwardly shuffling her back inside. 

"It's no one, Mrs G," I hear him say. "Just a girl from school." 

The door shuts close, then reopens. 

"Go on," I tell Miranda, sighing tiredly. 

Her eyes are shiny with tears and her lower lip wobbles, which somewhat pisses me off. 

"Speak, Miranda." I say. "The fuck are you here for?" 

"It wasn't me." She says, her voice catching. "Please, I swear it wasn't me. I would never do anything like this to you." Her voice slowly grows stronger. "Ever." 

"The IP address matched that of your phone." Zayne says. "And your email inbox had password verification emails. Don't even try shitting us with the my phone got hacked line. " 

"But that's exactly what happened!" Miranda says, her voice high-pitched. "And I haven't opened my email in days, I swear!"

Zayne scoffs, while Tyler watches her carefully as she rubs her nose with the back of her hand and sniffs twice.

"Listen to me first, okay? Just listen." Miranda says. "Remember that girl I told you about when we went to Mama Ana's? My dealer? The one I had a crush on?"

She looks at us expectantly, and I give a single nod.

"Well, we, uh, fooled around at her place." Her cheeks turn a vibrant shade of pink. "And I stayed the night." Her fingers play with the string of her hoodie. "And I saw her hanging out with those computer nerds at Gusto's the other day—"

If it weren't for the current situation, I would've gasped at the thought of Gusto's, my Gusto's, with its shitty coffee and shittier doughnuts, being infiltrated by people from school. 

"—and I think she did something with my phone." Miranda says. "I tried calling her, but- but she's not picking up." She wipes away a tear with the sleeve of her hoodie. "Sorry, I'm sorry, I don't mean to cry." 

A part of me, one that irritates me quite a lot, wants to put my arms around her and say it's okay. Another part, the shittier one, tells me to continue being passive. 

"What's her name?" I say. "Your dealer's." 

"Her name's Hazel, but she goes by Haze." 

"And her number?" I say, pulling out my phone. 

Miranda recites it from memory, and I raise my brows. "Get a lot of your stuff from her?"

"Uh, yeah," she says sheepishly, scratching the back of her ear. 

"Who else buys from her?" I ask. 

"Um, Shae, sometimes Mitch, and Huda, I guess." 

"Zayne," I say, "there's a burner phone in the left drawer of my desk. Could you go get it, please?" 

His quick footsteps fade. I keep my eyes on Miranda, who awkwardly shuffles her feet on the grass. 

"How'd you get in?" I question. "You would've had to have gone through security." 

"A shit ton of it, too." Miranda says in a low voice. "But there's a way. A loophole." 

"Where?" I say, my heart quickening its pace. 

 "From the back-roads." Miranda says. "I'll show you." 

Zayne's footsteps return. 

"Here." He holds out the black burner phone, huffing a breath. "You have so much shit in your drawers, man." 

I glare at Zayne, then give Miranda a meaningful look, before flipping open the phone and typing in Hazel's number.  

I press the tiny call button and put the phone to my ear. It rings four times, and then I'm met with static. 

"Hello?" A scratchy voice comes through. "Who the fuck is this and how did you get my number?" 

"Whoa, calm down," I begin, doing my best to sound somewhat high, "Just looking for some hash, man. Shae gave me your number." 

There's a moment's silence on the other end. "Who is this?" 

"My name's David." I say. 

"David what?" Her voice is harsh on the other end. Zayne and I share a look.

"Mahajan." I say. "David Mahajan. Look, I just needed some quick—" 

"Not right now, Andrew!" She says. "Later."

My eyebrows furrow. 

"Yeah," she says, "How much?" 

"A quarter." 

"Hmm." Static. "I'll meet you tomorrow in Target's parking lot. I'm busy now."  

"Oh, come on, Shae said that you'd—" 

"I'm busy, okay, asshole? Tomorrow, 3pm." 

The line goes dead. I lower the phone from my ear. 

"She's with Andrew Yu." I say. "My coding partner. And I think they're up to some shit together."

o-o-o 

a/n 

short chapter, i know, i'm sorry :( 

but the next chapter's ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

it'll be up within the next three days(hopefully!) 

ily y'all🤠

p.s. another iconic sentence added to my search history is "how do you measure weed"