Page 81 of I'm Gonna Get You Back
Marcus Jones:I have my physics final tomorrow. I don’t need this shit.
Marcus Jones has left the chat.
Alvin Guzman has left the chat.
Jax Mills has left the chat.
Lily Kim has left the chat.
“Heather sent these to me when it was all going down. The entire cast unfollowed her—apparently she was like this the entire run of the show, but she never wanted anyone to know. It’s why none of them came home this weekend and the rest of us performing arts alumni have to help withRomeo and Juliettonight. They want literally nothing to do with Amaya and were so mad when she became a Legacy.”
“Do you think the account could be one of them?” I ask.
Delaney considers it for a moment, then shakes her head. “Eh, I think their issues were Amaya specific. Why go for all of us?”
I read the texts again, pretty shocked at Amaya’s messages. She’s always so kind—almost soft-spoken. I had no idea she was capable of this kind of ire.
Wait.
I gasp. “Do you thinkAmayacould be making the posts?”
Delaney’s eyes go wide.
“Think about it—she hates me because of what happened with Josh… maybe by extension Reid?” I stand up, feeling the need to pace. “She could be trying to get me back for the assembly video by posting about what happened with you guys? And she’s obviously still mad at Josh.”
The idea picks up steam in my mind, some of the pieces falling into place. “Releasing this text thread would be embarrassing for her—it’d make her look like a diva. But it isn’t actually risking too much.Especially knowing a lot of other people were on the thread and could share these screenshots. It’s not nearly the same as what’s come out about you and Reid. It’s, like, a juicy-enough tidbit to make it seem like she’s threatened but not bad enough it would risk her scholarship.”
Delaney exhales in awhoosh. “Damn.”
“Right?”
“I mean, I’d be devastated because I have to destroy whoever is doing this, and I love the girl, but… yeah, this makes sense. We’re going to figure this out.”
I grin. “You think?”
She raises an eyebrow and sounds like a reality show villain when she says, “Iknow. Because whoever’s doing this is playing checkers, but we’re playing chess.”
We share another smile, and I lunge for my bag. “Please say that again on camera.”
After we finish filming her interview, I head home to switch out my camera battery and get the rest of my gear for the play. I go over my notes and take stock of who I still need one-on-one interviews with by tomorrow, more determined than ever to figure out who is trying to ruin my friends’ lives and how to stop them before they do.
I have three interviews left, with Amaya now at the top of that list. If she really is behind Legacy Lore, I’ll see it through my lens. But she’ll be onstage tonight. Which leaves Josh… and Reid.
Even though Delaney and I talked it out, I’m not sure I’m ready to face him yet.
Now that I’m calmer, his words from the hot springs echo through my head again in a way that I can’t shake.
I knew the second you found out, I’d lose you for good.
If that’s true, he does still care about me—and rightly predicted thatI would back away instead of hear him out. Push him away instead of let him in. It’s not that I can forgive Delaney and not him.
It’s that he’s the only person who manages to make me feel as wildly out of control as I did today. The person I want to be the best for but somehow always manage to show my worst.
Once I’m ready, I’m about to load up my car with my film gear when Mitchell pulls into my driveway. Despite telling them I didn’t want a ride, he and Kenji showed up anyway.
With Reid.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONEREIDNOW
