The rest of the day was uneventful. Then again, it's hard to find an eventful situation after what I experienced this morning. All day long I continued to get teased by Pria and Stassi, and to my unfortunate findings, Stassi is in the Newspaper class with me. I'm truly not going to have a break from any of those girls during my day. 

"Today really just wiped me out," I tell Gala. "I'm just needing to stay in tonight. I don't think I can swing the cafeteria." 

I'm only half lying about that. In truth, I was wiped from the moment I walked into my first class here at Riveroak. Mr. Goldstone is not a good man, and I can't shake the fact that something might be going on between him and Anne-Marie. Especially with how defensive he is of her. I want to read the diary and see if there's anything else I can find out about him. Maybe there's something Victoria hid that proves they were together. 

Maybe there's something that can link him to her murder. 

Or maybe I watch too much crime shows. 

"I don't blame you," Gala says. "I'll tell you what, I'd normally offer to stay with you but they're serving fettuccini alfredo tonight and I've been craving it all day. You want me to bring you some when I come back?" 

My mouth waters as I think about the creamy pasta, but I smile at my friend. "That would be great. You're a godsend," I tell her.

"Just doing my part," Gala says with a wink. "I'll see you in about an hour with a big ol' plateful!" She walks to the door and stops before opening it. "Hey, I know I said this earlier, but it really meant a lot how you stood up to Anne-Marie and the others for me today." 

I look at Gala and see tears welling up in her eyes. She quickly wipes them and clears her throat. 

"Gala, I'd do it again and again," I assure her. "Don't worry about it. I know you'd do the same for me."  

She nods and leaves the room and I wait until I hear her heavy footsteps get far down the hall before I jump down from the bed and lock the door to the dorm. Gala won't think it's to weird that I did that once I tell her I was feeling weird after our room was broken into. That also isn't entirely a lie. 

I walk over to the bed and go into my underwear drawer where the diary has gone untouched for days. I have an hour to read as much as I can before Gala gets back, and I don't plan to waste any of the time I have. 

I lay down on my bed and open up to the next page. 

Dear Diary, 

My mystery man was the perfect gentleman on the date.  

I forgot about this mystery man. If I ever figure out who he is, he'd be worth having as a backup to Goldstone idea. Maybe the mystery man can even give me more information about Goldstone if she asked him for help. 

We walked along the shores of the bay and we talked for hours. He isn't normally my type, but something about him was endearing. We were paired together during a science project and we exchanged numbers, and I don't know what compelled me to message him back. Maybe I was needing attention, or maybe I knew that he was going to be good for me, but this boy has been so sweet. He calls me love, and normally I would shut that shit down quickly, but it's nice when he says it. Like I think I could genuinely be falling for him. 

So Victoria was entangled with two people. This love triangle definitely could have led to death. Maybe Victoria and this mystery guy were on a date and Goldstone saw. Goldstone then fell into a heated fury and she went with him to calm him down. Then he killed her and moved her body down to The Bay the night of the bonfire. 

Why move her body to the Bay? What was Goldstone trying to do? 

When I'm with him, it just feels like my world stops turning. For a brief second, I'm not having to wear a mask that hides who I am from these people. That he can see me for Victoria and everything feels right. I think I might break it off with Goldstone. I'd love to go public with this boy and let people see that I have him on my arm. 

Jesus, it's like I'm in the 1950s asking him to go steady with me. 

I bet you're wondering who it is, huh? We agreed to keep it a secret, but it's not like you'll tell anyone. 

I'm dating Chip. 

My brain stops working as I read that last line over and over again. 

Chip? My Chip? Like the Chip that I have been flirting with since arriving here at Riveroak? The boy who sought me out and pursued me? A sick feeling travels over me. What if Goldstone wasn't the one who killed Victoria? What if it was Chip? 

What if he's getting close to me in order to throw me off, and here I am letting him do just that? Tears well up in my eyes as I stare at this page. My first thought is to rip it up, but then I would be destroying evidence. I feel so broken. 

Even the people that I thought I could trust at Riveroak are people that are holding secrets. 

I bury my face into my pillow and cry as I let the reality of what I just read wash over me. What do I do at this point? Chip is already so ingrained into my life that it would be impossible to ignore him. 

But is it possible for me to just ignore the fact that he dated Victoria? Is it possible for me to ignore that he was the one potentially threatening my life and broke into my dorm? My chest starts to hurt because I had really started to like this boy. 

And now he's potentially a murderer.

I sob into my pillow for what feels like forever I feel my tear ducts unable to produce any more tears. I can't believe what I just read. 

My phone dings and I pull my face up and open the message. Chip sent me a funny picture he found on the internet and my heart fills with sadness upon looking at the message.

Do I give him the opportunity to explain? 

I stare at the message for a long time before remembering that he can see when I read his messages and realize I have to make a quick choice. I take a deep breath and I'm not even sure what I'm typing as my fingers move across my phone screen, but when I'm finished and press send I see the words, Need to talk. Meet me at The Bay, please. 

I send a quick text to Gala to let her know that I was going to The Bay with Chip. If he is a murderer I'm going to make sure that someone knows my location and who I'm with. I walk over to the closet and pull on a black hoodie. I grab the diary and put it in my oversized hoodie pocket before I walk out of the dorm room. 

The sun is setting as I move across campus. Students lay in the grass on picnic blankets and play ultimate frisbee on the lawn. None of them are even scared that a potential murderer could be among them. This experience is starting to make me nervous. I feel like the only person I can trust is Gala, but even then I can't fully trust her because I don't want to show her the diary. 

If I lose Chip right now, then everything is going to feel so isolated here. I know it's silly to hope that he has nothing to do with this. The smart thing would be to completely cut him off and continue the investigation into Goldstone, but have him on the back burner. 

Maybe I'm stupid, or maybe this is just because I feel like he's the first boy who's ever made me feel nervous with butterflies, but I feel like I can trust him. Maybe he just genuinely didn't want people to know he was dating Victoria. 

Maybe she didn't want anyone to know before she stopped the fling with Goldstone. 

The sun is just dipping below the horizon when I arrive at The Bay. I walk down to the dock and remember the dream that I had just days before. Victoria rose from the water in front of me and the killer walked toward me from behind. 

Either way, I feel like I'm chasing a ghost right now. 

I sit down on the edge of the dock and it's a few minutes before I hear footsteps behind me. I turn to see Chip's smiling face in the moonlight as he walks to the end of the dock and joins me. He sits closer than you would a friend and a part of me longs for that contact, but instead, I scoot over and he gives me a puzzled look. 

"Is everything okay, Elena?" 

My words are caught in my throat. Up until this moment, I hadn't thought about what I was going to say to him. Do I just show him the diary? Do I just flat-out ask him if he knew Victoria and see what he tells me? 

I take a deep breath before he grabs my hand and squeezes. "Hey, it's okay," he says gently. "You can tell me anything." 

"But can you tell me anything, Chip?" I ask him. 

He looks at me confused and slowly removes his hand from mine. He turns towards me on the dock and I can tell he's trying to figure out what exactly I'm talking about. 

"I know about you and Victoria," I tell him. "How you dated." 

Even in the moonlight, I can see Chip's face pale. His eyes bulge wide and he chokes on the breath that he was taking in before I accused him. Shock, confusion, and awe pass over his face as he looks at me, but he never takes his eyes off mine. 

"And how did you find that out?" 

"That's all you have to say, Chip?" I ask him.

"Considering that it was a secret and we didn't tell anyone, yeah. I want to know how you know," he says. 

I look at him with tears welling up in my eyes before I reach into my jacket hoodie and pull out the diary. His eyes widen when he sees the big VC on the cover and he slowly reaches out to grab it. He flicks through the pages and gasps. 

"It's her handwriting," he whispers. "Elena, where did you find this?"

"In my dorm," I tell him softly. "I found it on my second day." 

He snaps the book closed and looks at me. "You found this on the second day and didn't tell me?! You told me we wouldn't have any secrets in this mess! Elena, you're in danger and this," he says holding up the diary in the air, "Could very well be the reason you get hurt!" 

"Like you didn't keep secrets from me when you didn't tell me you dated Victoria?" I ask him. 

His face softens and he hands me back the diary. "Look, I wanted to tell you. It wasn't anything super intense. It went on for two weeks before she told me that she wasn't interested in me anymore and she'd be getting back with an old boyfriend. It stung at the time, but I'm over it now. That's it." 

I look at him skeptically. "You know that I can read all of the relationship updates in this, right?" I ask him.

"Yes, that's why I'm telling you the truth. I liked her, but she came with a lot of baggage, and her ex wouldn't leave her alone. Shew as always getting her phone blown up on our dates, and she would always take his calls when she was with me. I wish I knew who he was because I would like to go kick his ass. From the sounds of it, he wasn't very nice to her. I got fed up that she kept entertaining him and confronted her about it. She called us off."  

My heart fills with relief as his words come out. I look at Chip and he looks at me with apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry I kept that from you, Elena." 

"I'm sorry I kept this from you," I tell him. 

We sit in silence for a long time. The only sound filling the space between us is the light waves crashing against the bottom of the dock. Chip is the first to break the silence when he clears his throat.

"Does this change things between you and me?"

I look over at him and see the worry in his eyes as she asks me that question. I lean my head in and caress his face gently. He leans in, and soon our lips crash over each other. My stomach erupts with butterflies as he slowly guides his hands from my face, down my back, and to my hips. 

He shifts toward me, and we fall back onto the wooden surface of the dock. Our lips never leave the other. The waves that were once providing sounds in our awkward tension now provide the perfect romantic ambiance. 

When we pull apart he looks at me and smiles as he flips over onto his back and I lay my head on his chest. Riveroak is far enough out of town that you can see the stars at night. Laying under the starry sky with Chip makes me feel stupid for ever questioning him. 

Of course, he didn't kill Victoria. 

He's Chip. 

"I really like you, Elena," he says. 

A giant grin spreads across my face at those words. "I really like you too, Chip."

We sit there in silence before I remember Goldstone. Chip had said that Victoria would always get phone calls from her ex when she was on dates with him. I sit up from his chest and lean over to face him on my elbow.

"Chip, I need to tell you something and it's probably going to upset you." 

"What's up, babe?" he says with concerned eyes. 

My stomach flutters when he says babe, but I shake my head and take a deep breath. "I think I know who Victoria's ex-boyfriend was." 

His eyebrows raise and he looks at me eagerly. "Who was it? Was it someone at Riveroak?" 

"It was Mr. Goldstone," I say after a long pause. 

His eyes widen and he sits there in silent shock for a long time. "A teacher?! She was dating a teacher?! Holy crap, Elena, he's dangerous then! He's a predator! He needs to be taken down. We have to tell someone-" 

"We need proof Chip," I say calmly. "It would be a respected teacher's word versus mine, and I didn't even know Victoria. This could blow up and he could get away scot-free. I could lose my scholarship," I sigh. "And in the spirit of no more secrets, I'm pretty sure he's seeing Anne-Marie now."

Chip's eyes widen. "This is insane. Absolutely insane." 

"Chip, we need to take him down. I think," I trail off.

He looks at me connecting the dots. "You think he killed her?"

"I think it's possible," I tell him. "He sounds like he was controlling and abusive. Maybe he wanted to teach her a lesson for seeing someone else. She talked in her diary about how she didn't know if this was what a grown-up relationship was like. Why I don't like Anne-Marie I don't want that for her, and if he's a murderer then he's definitely needing to be caught." 

"Well," he says sitting up. "We're going to go back to our dorms. You're going to pack a blanket, and other things that can keep us warm, and I'm going to bring snacks and hot chocolate. You can meet me in the back of the girl's dorm in an hour." 

"Why?" I ask confused. "What are we doing?" 

"We're going to have a stakeout," he says.