Chapter 159

Tessa’s POV

“Too many people will see us if we just go over and grab the phone,” I said, keeping my eyes on Amanda’s stuff.

“If we don’t, she’s going to expose that photo to the entire world.”

“We have to wait until everyone is preoccupied,” I told her. “If Amanda grabs her bag and goes anywhere, we need to follow her.”

Ruby nodded in agreement.

“Maybe we can get closer?” She suggested.

“That’s impossible,” I replied. “All the other seats are filled, and we are already close to the field.”

“I don’t mean up here. I mean down there,” she said, pointing to the field.

“The field?”

“Not exactly. But we can probably get in there,” she said, pointing to the box the players sit in while they wait to partake in the game. It was close to the cheerleaders and also attached to the gym.

To be more exact, it was attached to the men’s locker room.

“They would never allow us in there,” I said, glancing at her, shocked.

She was quiet for a moment as she assessed the field. Before we could say anything more, Cara walked across the field.

She wasn’t a cheerleader, but I knew she was there to sing the national anthem. She was a great singer; it was actually her main interest. She was a Broadway student and her talents never ceased to amaze me.

She wore a golden shimmering dress and her short brown curls bounced around her narrow and bright features. She looked so confident, which was something I always admired about her. She never let something like stage fright stand in her way; I don’t even think she’s ever felt stage fright.

The football players made their way from the box and toward the center of the field to join the other team which was from a different college an hour away from here. They knelt to one knee, facing the large flag that sat on the far side of the field.

The cheerleaders cheered for their friend before getting in a lineup and placing their hands over their hearts.

Everybody in the stadium stood and remained absolutely silent.

I heard the cameras clicking from the news crew and some light talking as the news station introduced Cara to the world.

She gave the camera an award-winning smile before taking the microphone that had already been set up for her long before she arrived.

She cleared her throat she began to sing her musical note.

She brought the entire stadium to tears with her incredible, angelic voice. She even had my heart souring. Everybody was so mesmerized by her beauty, charm, and incredible voice that I didn’t even realize Ruby was beginning to inch away.

She soon grabbed my arm, getting my attention.

“Let’s go now,” she said in a hushed whisper.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and followed her through the crowd of people who were still fixing their eyes on the amazing Cara.

We weaved through the bleachers and down the stairs until we reached the opening that led out onto the field.

“This is a bad idea,” I murmured nervously.

“You had sex with your professor in his classroom,” she reminded me, rolling her eyes. “Don’t talk to me about bad ideas. Besides, this is easy in comparison.”

I sighed, knowing she was right, but not wanting to admit it.

We made it onto the field, but we remained against the wall so the audience wouldn’t see us. However, if the players and cheerleaders weren’t so preoccupied with Cara, they’d definitely spot us.

We scurried as quickly as we could until we reached the box that the players usually sat in when they weren’t playing. There was an opening behind the box benches that I knew doubled as a supply closet, but beyond that was an entrance into the men’s locker rooms.

I just hoped nobody would need to get into the locker rooms during this game because I had a feeling that’s where we were going to be hiding.

As predicted, Ruby made her way into the supply closet, and I went in with her. We didn’t go beyond that though; there were small creases within the wooden panel that made up the box where we could see outside and a little bit of the field. I got a glimpse of Amanda who was running back to her things and grabbing her water bottle.

The singing had stopped so I knew Cara had finished with the anthem and the game was about to begin.

“Brian is going to see we aren’t there,” I told Ruby, knowing that Brian would probably be pissed.

“So, what,” Ruby said, rolling her eyes. “We have to talk about him.”

“What about him?” I asked, peering over at her.

“I saw him kissing Amanda,” she muttered. “He told her he was only using you to gain more customers for his father’s business. He wants you to post about him and the business on your blog.”

I looked at her, surprise.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, I’m sure,” she hissed. “When will you learn to not doubt me?”

She was right.

I knew there was a possibility that Brian could be up to something cruel. But maybe there was still a part of me that didn’t want to believe it.

“I would never write about Brian’s family business on my blog,” I said, shaking my head. “That’s not what my blog is about.”

We were interrupted by a loud cheering coming from the crowd.

“Touchdown!!!” The announcer yelled.

“So, what’s the plan anyways? We just hang out here?

“We have to keep an eye on Amanda and her bag,” Ruby shrugged. “I’m not sure what we are going to do. But stop her before she does anything that could get you and Professor Evergreen in trouble.”

I noticed Ruby yawned for the 4(th) time since we’ve been hiding in the box and I frowned, worriedly at her.

“Have you been sleeping okay?” I asked. “You’ve been tired a lot lately. Not to mention moodier than usual.”

She glanced at me sideways, her frown matching mine.

“Yeah… I guess so, “ she said, shrugging.

“You know you can tell me if something is wrong, right?” I asked, peering at her. “I know I’ve been all wrapped up in my own shit. But this friendship works both ways. I’m here for you too…”

She was quiet for a moment; her eyes never left Amanda who was dancing with the other cheerleaders. They were very close to their bags now so trying to grab it on our part would be a huge mistake.

“I’ve been having weird dreams,” Ruby finally said, still not looking at me.

“What kind of dreams?”

“I don’t know…” she breathed. “I’m running in the woods and being chased by creatures that only come out at night. But I’m not really sure what they are. But I know they are dangerous. But then the dream shifts and suddenly a guy is standing in front of me.”

My entire body felt frozen as I stared at her.

“A guy?” I asked.

She nodded her head once, not noticing the change in my demeanor.

“His face is a little foggy, but I remembered thinking how familiar he was and how handsome he was,” she said with a small smile on her lips. But then the smile dropped, and she shook the memory out of her mind. “Then he got serious and told me to run. After that, I wake up in my bed and I can’t fall back to sleep.”

My heart was pounding heavily in my chest. Was she dreaming about the vampires? Could that man have been Carter?

I know they had a connection when they met; but could he really be coming to her in her dreams? Her memory was supposed to be wiped. It didn’t make any sense.

“You think I’m delusional,” she breathed, looking back through the creaks of the wooden panels.

It wasn’t stated as a question, but I answered her anyway.

“No, you aren’t delusional,” I said simply.

“I think it’s just all the stories we read and write in Professor Evergreen’s class,” she said, shaking her head. “It might be getting to me.”

Before I could say anything more, Ruby gasped as she stared out into the field.

“What?” I asked, looking as well.

That’s when I noticed that Amanda was completely gone and so was her bag.

“Oh, shit,” I breathed. “She’s gone.”

“We have to move now,” she said, rushing toward the back door and into the locker room. We were inside the men’s locker room, but there was nobody there thankfully. Once we were in the gym, Ruby began to run faster; I tried my best to keep up with her, but I wasn’t really a runner.“Where are we going?” I asked breathlessly.

“The girl’s locker room,” she said.

The girl's locker room was on the other side of the gym. But as soon as we reached the door, it swung open, nearly hitting Ruby in the face.

Amanda strolled out, startled at first, but then her face turned into a dark scowl.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” Amanda seethed. “You could have injured me.”

“What are you doing?” Ruby was quick to ask.

Amanda narrowed her eyes and curled her lip up in disgust while speaking to Ruby.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” She asked, folding her arms across her chest. “I had to use the restroom.” She added that last part while rolling her eyes.

“Cut the shit, Amanda. We know what you are really doing,” Ruby blurted, much to my surprise. “Give us your phone.”

“Excuse me?” She asked with dark amusement in her eyes. “Under what grounds?”

“We know you have a photo you are going to expose to the world,” Ruby elaborated.

This made Amanda let out a dry and humorless laugh.

“And how exactly do you know that?”

“Because I heard you talking about it,” Ruby growled. “Now give us your phone.”

“How about no,” Amanda said, stepping around us to go back to the field.

My instincts kicked in and I grabbed the bag from her arm, yanking it out of her clutch. However, she was fast and grabbed it back. Neither of us released the bag.

“Let it go,” she hissed.

“Amanda please, this could ruin my life,” I said; I sounded desperate. I was feeling desperate.

“Should have thought about that before you decided to fuck the professor,” she stated through her teeth.

“You had no right to take that photo!”

“You have no right to take what’s mine. That includes Brian,” she hissed.

“I don’t want Brian!”

“Then, why the fuck are you here?” She asked angrily.

Both of us were struggling to tear the bag out of one another’s hands.

“I have a right to be here like everyone else,” I hissed. “It has nothing to do with Brian.”

“We both know that’s a lie,” Amanda seethed. “Once you are out of the picture, I’ll have him all to myself and you’ll have nothing.”

“Amanda, please don’t do this!” I begged as I yanked the bag harder, nearly knocking her to the ground.

But with one angry tug and a howl of fury, she ripped the bag from my clutches. I would have fallen on my face if Ruby hadn’t caught me.

I was panting heavily when I heard the sound of running coming in our direction. Breathing heavily, I turned to see who was running toward us, hoping it was a faculty member. I hoped they saw the whole thing and knew Amanda was up to no good.

But I was super disappointed to see Liz charging at us. I rolled my eyes and steadied myself on the ground.

“Look, Liz—”

I began to say, but my words fell short when I saw the anger plastered on her face and the fact that she was still charging directly at me.

Before I could turn and run, or grasp what was even happening, Liz was swinging her fist and punching me square in the face.