Just the Two of Us

When a Stranger Calls pt.2

I'm back! This part may be a little longer than usual but it's okay because I'm so glad to be back!

-

The next morning I was completely exhausted. I was torn on what to do about the article the Black Hood sent me. Should I publish it to possibly ruin my mother's reputation in this town or risk going against the Black Hoods needs?...ugh I don't know!

Anyways, I was currently walking down the school hallways with my headphones on while listening to some Pop music hoping it'll distract my mind for a little while.

"Bella!" I heard Archie call my name as he ran towards me.

"Woah, Arch." I put my hands out to stop him from running into me. "Why are you running?"

"No reason. I was just looking for you." He huffed.

I giggled in response before making my way towards my locker to put my books away.

Archie followed behind watching my every move. "So, uh, have you decided?"

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion as I closed my locker shut. "On what?"

"The article." He replied bluntly as if I was stupid for asking him that.

I sighed, "Well, my Mom went after the Black Hood hard so its no surprise he wants to humiliate her." I paused for a second to look around and make sure no one was watching before continuing, "We can't do it, Arch. It would destroy her credibility."

"Yeah, and build yours with the Black Hood." He shrugged, "And anyway, what credibility, Bella? Your mom's always going after our friends."

I shook my head, "I know but it would blindside her. We can't publish it. End of story."

With that I didn't hesitate to walk away. At this point I don't care if the Black Hood comes after me I just don't want to disappoint my mom and ruin her reputation over some stupid old asshole.

~

Later on, me, Betty, my mother and Sheriff Keller were all standing next to the door way conversing about the code I got from the Black Hood.

"We sent the letter to two different specialists but the handwriting wasn't a match." Keller explained before turning to me. "So, whoever wrote your letter was either a copycat or pranking you or-"

"Or something much more banal...like a teenager acting out to get attention." My Mother turned to me as if I was a complete joke.

"What?!"

"Mom, Bella wouldn't do that." Betty defended me.

She shrugged, "The cipher was cribbed from a Nancy Drew book of all places."

"Mom, what possible reason could I have for making this up?" I threw my hands up in the air.

"I don't know, Bella. Maybe you, your sister and your serpent boyfriend cooked this up because you guys were bored."

What a lame excuse.

The room went silent as Betty and I looked at each other in complete shock at our mother's thought.

Sheriff Keller quickly broke the silence making all of our heads turn to him. "Okay, well, we're not gonna rule anything out yet at least not until we know what we're dealing with."