(FEATURED)
It's been months since the unceremonious fall of Kimie Sato's older sister. The whole of Ridgerock High knows it, and by now, the majority have moved on. But Kimie still watches those who had a hand in it continue to walk free, and the mo...
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It was obvious West didn't have any experience with climbing into rooms through windows.
He looked uncomfortable as he maneuvered his way from the tree and into my room, and for the millionth time, I asked myself why I called him to come over. It was a stupid, impulsive decision I knew I wouldn't have made if I'd had a clearer head, if I could've stopped the panic seizing my chest.
When West's feet hit my bedroom floor and he straightened, the nerves set in, and I took a careful step away from my window to give him more room (and to give myself more room to think).
He looked at me after he'd regained his breath, his expression now unreadable, and I shifted my weight from one foot to another, waiting for him to say something, regret burning a hole through my panic-seized chest. West shouldn't have been in my room. I could have totally handled the situation and left him out of it.
"You have a front door, don't you?" he finally asked, drawing my attention to the cut on his right cheek—the fresh cut on his right cheek.
It looked sore and only a few hours old, and I focused all my attention on the scar that had managed to add more imperfection to his features. It was weirdly refreshing to look at, but at the same time, it had me wondering what gave it to him.
"And why am I here?"
I had no idea if he said something before that, but, figuring it didn't matter, I looked away from his cut and moved my eyes to my bed, where my laptop was sitting. "You remember that photo I told you about? The one about Piper and Dion?"
"Yeah." He looked at my laptop, then asked, "What about it?"
In response, I walked to my bed, taking my laptop and placing it on my lap as I sat. When I saw the comments again, I shook my head, my heart doing a somersault in my chest. How quick people were to turn on you. "My laptop was hacked, and it was posted, along with an article I would have written." West appeared next to me, lowering himself until he was sitting on the edge of my bed. "Everyone thinks it's me and they're commenting. Look at them."
I bit down on my thumb as he took the laptop from me and scrolled through the comments on the blog post. I saw his eyebrows come together in confusion, and my stomach dropped even lower. He ran a hand over his face, his fingers brushing over the cut on his cheek, bringing my attention to it again. I told myself to focus on the issue at hand before looking away from it.
"This could cause some serious problems for you, Kim," he said, sending my mind racing.
I buried my face in my hands, then let out a groan that was a little muffled. "I know. That's why I called you here. I'm freaking out."
"You have a password on this, don't you?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Maybe you should just lay low for a few days or weeks. Piper was killed and, like you said, everyone thinks it's you who published this. The police might want to get involved."
