It's Monday...oops —Grace

I take a shot of an unknown alcoholic drink and have to spit it back in the cup.
"Ew!" I say. Avery laughs.
"If you can't drink, then act like you have been." Avery proceeds to have at least eight shots. I mimic Avery's drunkness.
"You asked for step two. It's meet a guy," She says.
"Look, go get that guy over there, he's your type." I start towards him and Avery disappears in the crowd. I smile at him.

"Heyyyyyy," I say, dragging the word out much longer than I should have. He smiles, a little goofy.
  "Uh, hi?" He says as I giggle.
  "What's your name??" His smile is bright, but shy.
"I'm Alex," He says.
"Hi, Alex. I'm Ruby," I say. His friend leans over.
  "She's the one for tonight. I'll be finding a girl for myself." His friend is swallowed by the crowd. Alex blushes.
  "I'm only here, because my friends made me. I don't think this is going to work, I'll just tell them you rejected me." I stop my 'drunk' swaying.
"Really? Me too. I'm not drunk, I took one sip and had to spit it out. I was just told to act drunk." I say, acting normal. He smiles.
  "Okay, then this might work." I see Avery coming near, so I turn drunk again.
  "Yeeaaahh, that's cool Aleexxxx..." I say, faking faking drunk.... She taps my shoulder.
  "Steps three and four, get to know him and then kiss him." She says before wandering back into the crowd. Alex laughs.
  "That's your friend?" He asks. He smiles after a moment.
"Mine are just the same. What are the steps?" He asks me. I roll my eyes.
  "How to get laid..." I mutter. He blushes some more, I can barely tell, his skin is almost too dark for it to show.
"That seems to be what my friends want to do, too," He says. An idea pops in my brain. I hope he's up for it.
"We could fake it, just chill in a room. Tell our friends that's what happened." I say. Before he answers, Avery swings by.
  "Step 5, get him to come to your room. Here's a hotel card. I'm next door, meet me at 3:45 in the lobby." She leaves me. I turn to Alex.
  "So, you want to come up to my room?" I ask. He laughs and nods.
"Sure, Ruby. Just grab my arm so my friends see me." I do and he purposely leads us past three guys, each talking to girls.

     We walk across the street, using the crosswalk, despite the lack of cars.
"So, Ruby, are you from Concord?" Alex asks.
"No, I'm from Essie. We drove out here, because Essie doesn't have a single club. And you?" I answer.
"Oh, I'm from here." He says, leading us into the hotel. I open the elevator and see Avery behind us in the reflection. The door doesn't shut fast enough, I cling onto Alex. He just goes  with it. Avery and her date and full on making out. Alex pulls my chin up, into a kiss. Avery already starts taking her clothes off. I jump onto Alex's hips and he holds me. The elevator opens, right by our room. I stay on Alex as he opens the door. After he kicks it shut, I jump down. He stands in front of the door with a nervous grin over his face.
"Sorry, my friend was in the elevator..." He mutters. I laugh.
  "My friend was his date..." I explain. He nods.
  "That would explain..."
"Yeah," I say. I walk to the chair and sit down.
  "So, we'll be here for a few hours. We might as well get to know each other." He sits on the ottoman adjacent to me.
  "We should. So, Ruby, how old are you?" He asks. My eyes go wide.
  "Shit. I forgot..." He stares at my panicked face.
  "You aren't twenty one either, are you?" I shake my head.
  "No. I'm 17... oops. How old are you?" I say. He sighs, relieved.
  "I'm 19." He says.
  "Friends make you sneak in?" I ask. He nods.
  "I'm guess you answer is the same?" He suggests.
  "So? What do you do for fun?" His faint blush appears once more.
  "I like to read... um, I have a YouTube channel where I review books and sorta do conspiracy theories." He says.
  "Okay, so you're the ultimate nerd." I comment. He laughs with me.
  "Okay, what do you do for fun?"

     My smile fades, because I don't do anything for fun really.
     "Um, I don't know... I don't really have time for fun, there's other things going on right now." I answer.
      "College preparation?" He asks.
      "I wish, I wish that was the biggest of my problems..." I say.
     "Family stuff?" He tries.
     "No, have you heard about what's going on in Essie?" I ask. He shakes his head.
     "You should read the news... you'd be intrigued," I say. He nods.
    "Okay, later. What are you thinking about majoring in?" He says, switching the topic. I think about it.
    "I'm thinking linguistics..." I stutter. He nods.
    "Fancy, I'm going to major in English." We sit in silence for a minute. He stands up.
    "I'm going to google it." I watch him pick up his phone and type something in. He looks up after a moment, "Six murders and seven attacks in the past month?" I nod.
    "Yeah... and two thousand threats." I mutter He tosses his phone on the bed.
   "Two thousand threats? Is the murderer sending them to the whole town?" He scoffs. I shake my head.
    "No, but I shouldn't have brought it up. You'll be next if I get to know you any better." I say, regretting bringing it up. He frowns.
    "Wait, they are targeting your friends?" He says, worry showing in his voice.

"Just forget I said anything, okay?" I ask.   
     "Okay," He says, defeated.
     "So, Alex, what's your favorite food?" I say.  
     "Uh, chicken wings," He says.
     "Ew, okay. That's bad, mine is..." I start, before I'm interrupted by a knock on the door. I walk towards it, terrified.
    "It's probably one of our friends." Alex hopes. I stand on my tippy toes to pick through the peep-hole. It's room service. I look at Alex, he doesn't look up.
    "Did you order room service?"

       "No?" He says. I open the door.
     "Hi?" I question. She hands me a package.     
      "For Ruby Rose." She says, face bright. I take the small box.
    "I didn't order a box, of anything..." I clarify. She nods.
   "It was delivered by a friend. They said to tell you to read the card." She says, turning to leave. I shut the door as she walks away. Alex stands by the door.
   "What is it?" He asks. I shrug.
   "I don't know?" I take a pair of scissors off the desk. I stab into the tape and cut it. I open the box, not sure what to expect. There's a note, I grab it.

     Think you could get away from me? Breaking your phones didn't work, I'm still watching. I'll make sure to add Alex Crowley to my list. Don't believe me? Look at the photos below... Don't forget; Hush, Hush! You can tell Alex, he won't be alive much longer anyway.

-Your dear friend

"Well, crap."