I was on my bed on my back, one leg crossed over the other while scrolling through Myles's pictures when a video call came up on my screen that I couldn't process its accuracy and the motive behind it.

Why was Scarlett Maverick of all people calling me? My heart was out of its cage from anxiety. But I had to accept it or it could get worse. So, with a pounding heart, I scrambled to my closet and struggled into the golden dress from New York while my free hand quickly loosened the high bun, and ruffled my hair a little for balance.

"What are you wearing?" She scrunched up her face. Her condescending gaze bore through the screen as I picked up the call on the bed.

Scarlett could never be impressed. She was always looking down on everyone. My case just seemed worse. I happen to be at the length of her foot. She could step on me every time and walk around with a crown of victory on her head.

My breath becomes suddenly shaky and my feet and fingers frigidly cold.

"I-I..." Just like always, I was intimidated. I couldn't talk back to her.

"I don't even care." She rolled her eyes under her long eyelashes and eyeshadow, flipping her manicured fingers in her typical manner of terminating conversations she wasn't interested in. "Tell me who's that girl who went to New York with your brother? I thought you were clearing things for me." Her nose crinkled, her eyes wild like the last time I saw her. It was scary even on the screen of my phone.

"Yes, I-" I started, but her loud and angry voice interrupted, "You said he was single."

"He was, he just-"

"So he even met someone while you're there doing what, choking to death? Now I see the reason why you can't handle your Instagram account. You are slow." Her teeth gritted while she spoke and her breathing ragged. It was audible through the speakers.

Even after swallowing a couple of times, it didn't work down the lump in my throat. So I focused on blinking away the burning tears behind my eyes while she was taking some meditative breaths.

When she calmed down, she said softly, "Now let's move forward, I heard Myles Cameron and that horse leg lass were over."

"How do you know?" I asked instinctively.

"It's all over the news. I am not a stalker. But he was seen with some mystery girl in New York. Is that place where they all go to meet new girls?" She distastefully queried, flipping back her straight hair.

"No..."

"Then that means he just wanted someone to fuck after the breakup." The look on her face was judgmental, yet after my weak response of "No..."
She claims, "And you know what? I wholly understand. A man like him has needs. And all those sluts out there are ready to attend to him."

"She might not be a slut." I said defensively and instantly regretted it because she was now cruelly laughing after eying me dryly.

"You are naive and awkward. I mean look at what you're wearing at this time of the day. Who can deal with you? God, I hate I had to stoop this low." Her lips curled up viciously. "The man had just come out of a relationship. He wouldn't focus on finding love any time soon, he's in the mopping phase. He needs to heal after what went on. So any girl who thinks he could fall in love with her must be dumb."

We both know that is not true. Do not listen to that. Myles broke up with Autumn to be with you. A voice crept into my head but it didn't stop the bitterness from spreading like acid inside me.

Gulping, I jutted my chin, appearing unaffected.
"So who will I find for you?"

"Myles Cameron." She flatly chooses.

What the hell?

"You said..."

"How bad do you want peace, Calista Donovan?" She sternly taunted.

There's a feeling of wrenching agony in my throat. I struggled to articulate my next response. "There are others on the team."

"Brayden and Myles are the only young people fit for my age on that fucking team. Start working, the clock is ticking." She emphasized, loud, clear, and angrily.

"And hey? Post some of my pictures on your account and tag me." She added. It was a command.

"I don't post there."

If glare could kill, hers would be the most venomous kind.

"I do not have your pictures. Can you send it please?" I rephrased quietly.

"No, I am too smart to have something bounce back from you. You should figure it out. Aren't you a straight-A student? Think. Remember everything you're doing is for your benefit. Do it well, you get a good result. You did it badly, Choppy... No, what's the name of your dead friend?" She smiled meanly, lifting one brow.

That light. That exact bright light from my nightmares blinded me again. I froze, lost in silence, until she authoritatively demanded again, "What's her name, Calista?"

"Ch-Chloe." I sniffed, feeling the tears rolling down my face. This time I didn't make any effort to hold it back. She knew where she had hit, and I was bleeding internally from it.

"Yes, that's it. God, her name is so long, it makes it hard to remember." She dissembled a worried expression and then flipped her fingers again. "But what I mean to say is, it's just two weeks until school returns. You do good, you get a good result. You do bad, you will then have to join Chloe down there in hell." She spoke coldly and threateningly and vanished from my screen before I could blink.

How I wish there was a life out there where I could start over again. I wouldn't have to go to the same school. Chloe won't have to die, because no matter how I try now, it is just hard to be strong.

I never felt scared and alone like this year. I was thriving all by myself and the torture was only amplifying. I cried for the next hour or two or maybe even more, muffling my whimpers on the pillow until I fell asleep.

~

It was mid-afternoon when I finally came out of the room to prepare a meal for myself since Natalie had clearly devalued my rank as Brayden's priority. Earlier, when I came to this place, he would bring coffee over and give me a couple of hundred, but now it was just hundreds and no coffee.

The moment I walked into the living room, I found the devil watching two reporters discussing Myles and Autumn's breakup.

"Hi?" Natalie rose from the couch the moment she noticed my presence.

I just wanted to feed my grumbling stomach not trade fake smiles and polite words with her right now. So I didn't answer her. I walked into the kitchen quietly, minding my business, but she followed me. She was barefoot and free like it was her place. It was getting under my skin, I was only one step closer to exploding.

"I get it. I do not pass the friendship vibe." She thought to herself.

I glanced over at her, it was brief. It was the first time I actually saw what she looked like. She wasn't as bad as I had hoped. Her eyes were big and blue, her hair was caramel brown and shiny. She was smiling, it pained me to admit mentally that she was somehow cute.

"You are not my friend. You are my brother's girlf... That." Pronouncing the word felt like risking a rock through the throat. I couldn't try it.

"So I clearly didn't meet your expectations of your brother's standards."

While I brought out some leftovers from the freezer, I glared at her from the corner of my eye. She was eying me suspiciously.

"What about you giving me a chance to get to know me?" She implored.

"I am too busy for that." I furiously shoved back the leftovers into the fridge at the cost of annoyance, knowing I couldn't survive another minute talking about friendship and opportunities with this stranger. So I grabbed two eggs instead, hoping she got the cue, and left. I do not want her here.

"What could you possibly be doing? Brayden and Myles are with the team, training. It is just you and me."

What did she move in already?

"I don't care about their whereabouts and I am cooking." I retorted while breaking the eggs into a pan.

"Myles?"

I tensed as she mentioned his name.

"What about him?" I sounded squeaky. My response must be analyzed, evasive, and constrained. I had to pretend to be busy, grabbing unneeded spices from the cabinet to disguise my stirred nerves.

"You do not care?"

Why is she asking me that?

Her questions were getting to me, challenging my self-contained, control, defense, and everything I had built to protect my relationship with Myles. Shakily breathing, I turned my back to her and faced the sink, clenching the edges while I regulated my composure.

"What do you mean? I barely know him." I cleared my throat, my fingers trembling and my heart racing.

She hummed. From the glossy cabinet, I saw her reflection pushed onto the island. That does it. I turned around to ask her to please step off of it but she struck me with something else.

"Did you see what his ex posted on her Instagram?"

Autumn?

"What was it?" I couldn't help the impulse. I hope she didn't go crazy on the internet.
God, my stomach flipped a hundred times.

"There is it." Natalie clapped her hands. There was confidence in her eyes and accusation in her tone and smugness that I immediately hated. "I know you like him. You like each other."

Ugh. Not her of all people.

"That's absurd."
How did she even figure it out? Where was all that coming from? It is not like she had seen us around each other ever. This was the actual first time that we were looking into each other's eyes and talking. How could she assume my life, basically the most covert part, so accurately?

"The playoffs finals weekend, Hannah said you weren't home." She smiled with warmth and a trace of worry behind her eyes. My heart stopped. "And Myles didn't stay with the boys in the hotel. Then there is news spreading about this mystery girl he was with in New York."
There wasn't any tone of criticism but vigilance, a little too much.

"What are you trying to prove?"

"Nothing, I just want to sit with you and gush about athletes." She blushed embarrassingly, nibbling her bottom lip between her teeth.

Does this mean she was on my side?

"Come on." Her head jerked over to the door. "I am going to the beach for fresh air and the sun. Do you mind getting a bikini to join me? We could have Sangria Slushy and Margarita for this hot day and you could tell me everything about Myles Cameron; the man candy every girl talks about." She talked so quickly, clearly, and elegantly. She winked at the end of her statement.

I smiled, it was impossible not to. I have to admit, I have grown to like her after a short period of our first-time conversation.

"Brayden..."

"Will never hear anything from me." She promised immediately.

She was convincing and influencing in every human way. I see no reason to refuse her.

Maybe other than a book, I do need a listener with whom I can get off my chest all the moments I thought were sexy and romantic that I had with Myles.