This morning I was woken up by Gala throwing clothes from the closet onto my bed. She is dancing as she sings along to Taylor Swift's latest album. When she sees I'm awake she smiles gently.

"Oh, you're up?"

"As if I had a choice?" I ask indicating to the pile of clothes now at the foot of my bed.

She laughs and continues her search of the closet. I roll over onto my side and put my pillow over my head. "Gala it's too early!" I complain peaking my head out from under the pillow and looking at my alarm clock. "7:30?! Are you kidding me?!"

"We have a long day planned for getting you ready for your date!" Gala squeals excitedly. "You want to sleep? Don't plan to date boys in your spare time. No friend of mine will show up looking crazy on a first date. Or any date for that matter."

Nerves start to set in my stomach. With all of the Victoria stuff going on it has been a nice distraction from even thinking about the fact I'm going on my first date. I can't imagine how bad it will be when I'm standing directly across from Chip.

She pulls out a red romper with floral lace that dances around it in an intricate pattern. She tosses it to me and claps excitedly. "This is the one!"

I look at the romper and instantly feel uncomfortable. I can already tell that this outfit choice is going to be significantly shorter than anything I'm used to wearing. It also just doesn't look like something I'd wear. There is a Prada label stitched into the back of the neck of the cloth and I shudder thinking about how much this must have cost.

"We have mani-pedis at 9:00, I'm taking you to get your hair done at 10:30, and then we're going to lunch!"

My wallet weeps as I think about how much money each of those things costs individually. Let alone added into one lump some total in the same day. There's no way that I'll be able to afford any of that on my allowance that Mom has agreed to send me weekly. I shift in the bed uncomfortable.

"Gala," I say with a small smile. "I really appreciate the gesture of today, but I can't afford any of that."

An awkward silence fills the room as Gala scrunches her eyebrows and looks at me as if she was insulted. "Girl, I invited you. I wasn't counting on you paying for anything at all."

"I can't ask you to pay-"

"Good thing you didn't then!" Gala says with a smile. She grabs her shower caddy from a drawer under her bed and brings it to the bathroom. I hear the water turn on and she appears in the doorway covered in a plush towel. "I'm going to shower, and then we can go down to The Cafe and get breakfast. Sound good?"

"Sure," I say knowing that any sign of protest would be met with passive-aggressive southern hospitality.

She closes the door to our bathroom and I'm left alone. I bite my lower lip and throw the covers off my legs. I go into my underwear drawer and grab the diary. I flip it open to the next page after the first entry about Mr. Goldstone. It feels weird knowing that I likely have access to extremely intimate moments from my teacher. It makes me feel guilty, but then I remember that if he had done what he was supposed to do in the first place and not hooked up with a student he wouldn't be in this situation.

Not to mention he could very well be a murderer.

Hey again,

I'm starting to think that this thing with Bryan isn't what I thought it was. He was sweet and caring at first, but now he seems more possessive and demanding. He's complained about what I've worn, or how high my skirt was, and I wonder if that's normal. Is this a normal grown-up relationship? Or am I in over my head?

I never thought that I would be one girl in this situation. I'm smart. I'm beautiful. I'm socially intelligent. These things should be pushing me forward and allowing me to be happy, but the more I see of Bryan the less happy I'm becoming. I don't know how I'm going to get around it, and maybe I'm not supposed to, but I'm definitely not in love with him. At least, maybe not as much as I thought.

I wish I could talk to Gala about this. She would know what to do, but I don't think she'd understand. I can see her getting angry or worse, disappointed.

I have a date tonight. It isn't with Bryan.

Excuse me?

A picture of Victoria is coming into my head more and more. I keep hearing how she was to her friends and how she kept an iron grip on the group and made sure none of them got too comfortable, but underneath it all could she really have been this misunderstood girl? This person who was projecting her insecurities on others?

And who is the date that she went on?

I kind of want Bryan to know about it, but I'm also scared he'll take it out on the guy. He's not my normal type, but something about him is just...endearing? Maybe I can find something real.

Until next time,

VC

I hear the water turn off and Gala moving around the bathroom. I throw the diary back into the drawer and quickly close it as Gala opens the bathroom door and smiles. "Ready for a day of pampering and excitement?!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hours later, and I'm dolled up in the same red romper that Gala had picked for me that morning. She had instructed me to get matching red nails on both my hands and feet. Gold strappy sandals adorn my feet, and she gave me a white faux fur trench coat to help with the inevitable wind chill. She went full curl on my hair, and put more makeup on my face than an Ulta has in stock.

"I look nothing like me," I tell her looking in the mirror flabbergasted.

"You're beautiful without all this stuff, but you're also beautiful now," Gala says with a smile. "Sometimes it's okay to dress up for a boy. Plus, he won't be the only one that notices tonight. So if it goes south at least everyone will know you're a total dime."

She grabs my hand and leads me out of the dorm. Boys aren't allowed to go into the girl's dormitory and girls can't go into the boys. From my understanding that hasn't stopped a lot of them from sneaking in and breaking that rule, but I didn't want to risk anything just to have a moment where Chip picks me up at my door.

When we get outside the cold winter air hits me in the face. I instantly feel the bite on my ears as we walk to the meeting spot in between the girl's and boys' dorm. Gala looks at me with a smile. "Okay, breath check," she motions with her hands to breathe in her face, and I hesitantly do so. "You're good. Winter fresh. Remember, use the codeword if you need an excuse to get out of there. I'm assuming he's taking you to Riley's, it's a coffee shop right off campus."

"Okay," I say. "Thank you."

"Wow."

I spin around and see Chip looking at me with his eyes wide. "You look beautiful, Elena."

Gala eye's beams at me as she nods at Chip. "Have her home before curfew. We can't let her get in trouble before classes even start."

"Yes Mom," Chip winks.

She laughs and walks away and I'm left alone standing with a boy. A boy that I'm on a date with. Something that I've never been on. He smiles at me and for a second an awkward atmosphere settles between us. I feel my heart start to beat quickly, and panic starts to set in when I search for something to say and can't think of anything.

Elena, you have to say something.

"Shall we walk?" he asks me finally breaking the long silence.

I nod. Still not able to form words with the nerves that are building up in my stomach.

Great, he's going to think you're a freak. A mute freak who all of a sudden forgot how to speak.

"Can I be honest with you?" asks Chip.

"I'd prefer that," I tell him with a light chuckle.

"I'm really nervous right now," he says in almost a whisper.

My cheeks blush and my heart picks up pace in a good way. His cheeks are also red as he looks at me, and I realize it's been quiet and I haven't responded.

"I'm also nervous," I say with a laugh. "Since you were honest with me...this is my first date."

Chip looks at me slack-jawed. He bites his lower lip and smiles. "Well then let's make it a good one."

He leads me to the parking lot when my phone starts to buzz and I look down to see Gala calling. I look at Chip apologetically before I pause walking. "One second," I say. "She wouldn't just call me to chat right now."

I step away from Chip and answer the phone to a hyperventilating Gala. "Gala?!" I ask with worry in my voice. "What's wrong?! What happened?!"

"Elena, get back to the room right now," Gala says. "It's an emergency."

I look over at Chip who is standing awkwardly waiting for me to return. I hang up with Gala and run over to him. "I know this is going to look really bad, and I promise that this isn't something I planned, but Gala just called and said it's an emergency and I need to get back to the room. Can we please reschedule?"

Chip's eyes fill with disappointment, but he quickly nods and smiles. "Absolutely," he says. "Let me walk you back."

We speed walk toward the girl's dorm and when we get to the door Chip stops and smiles. "I'll text you," he says.

I reach out and grab his wrist before he walks away. "Please. I really do want to reschedule."

I turn and run toward the stairs and take two at a time as I run to the third story. Out of breath and exhausted as I finally reach the third-floor landing I take off down the hall to my room where Gala is standing outside the door with her hands locked in her hair. "Elena, I'm so sorry," she whispers.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

She opens the door to our bedroom and my jaw drops. On Gala's side of the room, everything looks exactly as we left it when we left the room. On my side, it looks like a tornado struck. My clothes were thrown around the floor, my items were all over my side of the room, and my heart was beating as I look at the underwear drawer which is the only one still closed.

"I'm going to call the house mom."

Gala leaves the room and I run over to the drawer and throw it open. Sitting in an otherwise empty drawer is Victoria's diary with a piece of folded paper on it. My heart beats as I pick up the folded paper with trembling hands.

This could be fun. Hope you don't mind, but there are some things you don't need to know yet. Who knows, maybe you might find out why I killed the bitch. Or maybe you could be next. No cops, and don't test me. We both know what happened to the last one who tried me.

Keep your eyes open, Elena.

I open the journal and in the middle of the book, there are several pages that are ripped out. Instant regret fills my chest when I realize I had a chance to figure out who killed her but they got to me first.

How did they know I had the journal? Why did they break in only now?

And why are they talking to me like I'm in a game?

A chill runs through my spine. A murderer was in my room. The person who killed Victoria Caldwell was in this room. They went through my stuff. Tears well in my eyes as I try to blink them away, and I hear the sound of footsteps beating down the hallway. I quickly take the folded paper and shove it in the journal and place it under my pillow on the bed.

I sit down on the pillow and try to act normal as Gala and an older woman strolls into the room.

"We're going to find out who did this to you, Elena," the woman says earnestly. "Don't worry."

I sure hope so. Because something tells me this person doesn't threaten lightly.

Or maybe you could be next.