Fake Dating Alpha Hockey Captain Riley Above Story

Chapter 5

“S…Stop… Following me.”

I hurry to the back halls to avoid as many eyes as possible. All of the regular kids took the main ways, but I had my preferred paths. And I would prefer if Alex wouldn’t follow me there.

As thankful as I am that he kept his promise and returned my car, he and I aren’t friends.

“C’mon, seriously. I was wrong to say that. What happened to you?”

This…really can’t keep going on.

I stop suddenly, and he stops just as quickly. When I turn around, it’s with an aching chest that just keeps squeezing no matter what I do.

“Y-You told Oliver-to…to accept my ‘no! I’m telling you…n-o. So. Stop. I’m fine.”

Alex stares down at me, his hands at his sides.

This t

time, when I turn around and flee, I don’t hear him following me.

My goal to fade into the background continues to fail. I don’t realize how badly I’m failing until after school, though.

As I make my way to my locker, I feel more eyes on me than usual. This is supposed to be my calmer pathway to my locker, so why is everyone looking at

me?

No one ever looks at me like this. It makes me want to melt into the floor and seep through the floorboards, into the dirt.

7

The murmuring gets louder as I close in. I see a suspicious pile streaked on the ground.

Ah. It’s because my locker is absolutely trashed.

The lock I had used was no match for whatever broke it.

Test papers, study guides, old grades, strewn out like a crime scene. Photos of me

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Chapter 3

When I arrive, the doors are wide open, the darkness inside waiting for me. I shut my eyes tightly in internal pain, then scrub at my head with my hand, growling under my breath.

It’s definitely a trap.

Cautiously, I dump my backpack over in a corner near the swimming area doors, leaving as much stuff there as possible. In goes my purse, safe and zipped up, then I take out my phone for the light.

I don’t know where the light switch is in the dark room, so it can’t be helped.

The water is very still in the darkness, gleaming when my phone light hovers over it. I immediately go over to the water, considering the words of the person who alerted me.

However…I don’t see pages floating, or ink starting to haze over. The pool is ast clear as ever, straight to the bottom.

Confusion starts to make the skittish, but something colorful catches my eye. I shine my phone over to look and…

It’s my books. They’re not in the pool, but in a neat stack on a visitor’s chair, dry as a bone.

However, I can’t even sigh in relief before someone shoves me hard from behind.

Suddenly, water chokes my nose, mouth, and ears.

Chlorine burns my eyes as I start to struggle. The water is frigid.

My clothes are ill-suited for swimming. They get heavier as I fight to get to the

surface.

Once my head breaks through, I gasp and cry out. But there’s a loud bang.

I can’t see straight yet.

In fact, I can’t see much at all.

The natatorium doors are closed, and I’m in complete darkness.

Wheezing and gasping, I struggle and splash over to where I think the poolside is. It’s hard to tell in the darkness.

Chapter 5

My hand sparks with pain when it smacks against the side of the pool. Still, I’m grateful for it, trying to scramble out of the water.

Eventually, I manage to crawl out, and I simply sit there. I have to wait for my eyes. to adjust as much as possible. The pitch blackness of a closed room is different from the ambient light of the forest at night.

There’s no point in trying my phone. I dropped it somewhere in the water as soon as I started struggling. With the light out, I know it’s dead.

Crawling on wobbling legs as the cold pierces through to my bones, my fingers brush against the ground until I find the cold metal of the doors. When I reach up and push on them, they don’t budge at all.

Phone dead, no light, no contact with the outside world. No one comes to the swimming pool at this time of year. My best bet is to wait until a security guard or teacher checks…when?

Later today? Tomorrow morning?

Whoever planned this meant for me to suffer, so maybe tomorrow.

“Hah… Haha… Ha…”

Wry, pained laughter starts to bubble out of my chest.

Why is all of this happening to me?

I never asked for any of this. For Oliver to date me, for Alex to pay attention to me… It’s all just come to me, but now I have so many enemies.

It…hurts.

It hurts.

I curl up in front of the door, my forehead against my knees. The laughter won’t stop, little wet giggles to f

I don’t have a guiding light anymore. I’m just…stuck in the dark..

All I hear is the sound of dripping water and ripples…

Actually, no. There’s something else.

Chapter 5

A voice calling out. Someone…beyond the door.

It sounds like they’re calling my voice..

I don’t bother opening my eyes, staying quiet and curled up, just listening. But for sure, the voice calling doesn’t stop, getting louder and clearer.

As it closes in, there’s a smell. Something like pine trees. It’s such a nice smell.

I hear footsteps thump right outside the door.

“Cynthia?! Cynthia! Say something!”

It’s…Alex again. How does he know where I end up times?

“Hold on, I’ll just… Back up!”

so many

I do neither of these things, just sitting and staring down at my knees, exhaustion. seeping into me. As such, I’m close enough to hear something like creaking metal. Alex grunts on the other side, banging the door as it starts to…

I guess it starts to break.

The hinges and bolts that keep the door in place somehow give way.

I keep my eyes shut, protected from the bright light of the hall. My nose is filled. with the scent of pine cones, only getting stronger when I feel a jacket wrap around

me.

Then, I’m being picked up as though I weigh nothing. Exhaustion settles in my body, so I lean into the strong one that keeps finding me in danger.

Instead of protesting, I bury my nose against his neck.