Grit | under construction

16.

Mabel's POV

Somehow, Bubba and I were able to convince the principle that we were just joking around. I don't even know why I went with what she said, that was my moment to open up about everything that was truly happening to me.

There was a clear bruise under my left eye, and my nose stung bad. It hurt when I pressed down on my left cheek. But hey, word in the halls is that I won. Well, everyone thinks that except for the few people that are like super dedicated to Sami, they're just saying I lost because they like her and her friends more.

Sami's POV

School finally ended, after what felt like forever. The hallways were buzzing with rumors about the fight. One of the biggest rumors, was that Mabel won. I didn't even bother clearing that up for Bubba, because the fact that she didn't beat the crap out of Mabel was disappointing. The fact that this fight was relatively close, was disappointing.

"Hey ladies" Miranda said approaching us. She raised an eyebrow when she saw Bubba, "I thought you got into a fight?" she asked her. Bubba was about to speak, but I stopped her. "She's wearing make up, I mean I would too if word on the street was that Mabel Cano beat me up" I said, as everybody but Bubba laughed.

"Funny" Bubba snickered. "I'm just playing with you kid" I said, as I playfully pushed her shoulder. "You did well."

Was I lying to her? Yes I was, but as much as I wanna hurt Bubba's feelings at times, I also have to remember that being too mean to her could potentially drive her away. And driving her away means she goes back to Mabel. I don't want that, so I have to watch myself sometimes.

"So here's the plan ladies" I said, changing the topic. "My house. Today. 4 o'clock. Miranda, bring any technology stuff you think you'll need" Miranda nodded at my words. "Everyone bring your cellphones! I doubt we'll need that but you never know" I continued. Everyone nodded, and we dispersed.

***

I had my mom make us chocolate chip cookies and lemonade so that we could have a little snack while we investigate. Miranda brought her dads computer, because it had access to more private things like records and numbers.

"Okay, so what are we about to do?" Bella asked as she picked up my poodle and sat with her on my bed. Bubba sat with them so that she too could caress my pooch. Surprisingly, I didn't really seem to mind. My dog loves company, and I love seeing my dog happy.

"I found out his full name, it's Trevor Rein" I began. "So the first thing we need to do is find his social media. He's seventeen and lives here in Tallahassee as well."

"Okay, that should be easy" Bethany said, as she took out her phone to do research. "Not exactly" Bubba replied, "because what if he doesn't use his real name on social media, or what if he's private, then what?"

I nodded, "she has a point. Let's see what we can find. If we struggle to find his socials, then we'll look him up on white pages" I said, and everyone nodded. "I have an idea!" Miranda said abruptly. "We can look him up on Facebook first, because anything associated with him will come up. Then we should be able to find out a little more about him, or maybe even find out who his close friends are" she said. I smiled, "I like how you think Miranda."

So we all went on Facebook, and searched up "Trevor Rein." To my surprise, a ton of information came up.

"Why is everything I see from Florida State University?" Bubba asked, "that's a college." I raised an eyebrow in confusion, "well did they post any pictures of him, or did they just mention his name?" I asked.

"There's pictures, and they look just like the boy we saw pick Mabel up that day" Bubba said, "something isn't adding up here."

"Okay wait, go on his page and search up his last name. See if you can find anyone related to him, like his mom or something" I said. Bubba nodded, and proceeded to do so.

While doing that, Bethany had searched up 'Florida state university' on Instagram. "Okay so I'm gonna look at who they're following, and see if I can find him" Bethany said. I didn't wanna waste time, and I knew Bethany wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box, so I gave her a quick tip. "Search up his name, don't spend your time going through the whole list" I said.

Bethany nodded her head, and proceeded to do so. "I found his mom!" Bubba randomly exclaimed, "now I'm gonna see if she may have ever posted him on his birthday."

"I found his account!" Bethany exclaimed right after, "it says he's a student at Florida state university, and he's" she suddenly paused. "He's what?" I asked, "what is he?"

"He's twenty" Bethany said, sounding disgusted.

Everybody stopped what they were doing. We all looked around at each other. "He lied to her?" I questioned, immediately laughing after. "How embarrassing" Miranda said, joining me. We all giggled about it for a bit, but the whole time, Bubba's face had a look of concern on it.

"Wait, but I'm sure Mabel would have him on social media or something" Bella said, "do you think he has another account where he uses a fake identity?" she asked.

I didn't even think about what Bella said, she was right. Trevor could have a whole different account and that could be the account that he gave to Mabel. "Okay, search up Mabel. See who she's following" I said.

"His birthday is in July" Bubba randomly said, "so he turned twenty like three months ago." I laughed again, "what a pedophile" I said.

"Okay, I found it" Bella said. Bella was the only one out of us that followed Mabel because Bella and her didn't ever really have an issue with each other, and I allowed it for times like this.

"His bio says 'Mabel' with a red heart next to it. It also has a fake birthday. This is his fake account" Bella said, as we all huddled around her to see. I took screenshots of both accounts.

"Okay, one last thing" I said, all eyes were on me. "Miranda, search him up on white pages, I'm getting his address." Miranda nodded and began typing, then stopped. "Wouldn't he live in one of the dorm rooms?" she asked.

I was confused for a second, and then I nodded. "You're right! Florida state university has dorms, so we just need to figure out his. How are we gonna do that?"

"I'm tech savvy, did you forget?" Miranda asked me. "I could hack into their system and find out his dorm number and his partner. Then, we can all show up at his spot" she said. "Don't worry about showing up, I have a plan for that, but it'll require me alone" I said. The girls nodded, and Bubba low key looked relived.

***

After what seemed like eternity, Miranda finally found out Trevor's dorm number and a few other things along with it.

"He's in dorm 130-a" Miranda began. "It's in Broward hall, and it's a double. His partner is Matthew Garcia-Yoshima, a freshman who majors in criminal justice."

"So his partner is eighteen?" I asked, out of curiosity. Miranda nodded, "he should be" she said. I smiled, this is going to be good.