LOGINJulianBefore I could say anything else, I caught movement from the corner of my eye. Someone was approaching our table.Savannah must’ve noticed too because she turned her head, and the color drained slightly from her face.He was tall, wore a tan suit, and seemed rather too confident. Every step he took carried that kind of self-assured arrogance that came from generations of money and power. Colleen walked with a lazy, almost calculated ease, like the world would move out of his way whether it wanted to or not. When he reached our table, he stopped, slid his hands into his pockets, and gave Savannah a small, knowing smirk.“Hi,” he said, voice smooth as silk. “I’m Colleen.”Savannah didn’t take his hand. She just looked at him, her body stiff as stone.“Colleen, this is Savannah. Savannah, Colleen.” I said quickly, trying to break the tension in the air.“I know who she is,” Colleen said, lowering his hand, slightly amused. “The girl is shaking up half the school and pissing off m
JulianBy the time I got to the café, Savannah was already there. She sat by the window, her arms folded, and her face half-lit by the morning sun. The same stubborn glint I’d come to recognize was right there in her eyes. She didn’t look like someone who’d been sleeping well, either. But then again, neither of us had.When she spotted me, she gestured for me to sit, and I slid into the seat across from her.“Morning,” I said, trying to sound casual, but my voice came out tighter than I meant.“Morning,” she replied, her eyes flicking toward me with that half-curious look she always had when she knew I was hiding something. “You said we needed to talk?”“Yeah.” I nodded, rubbing my palms together, searching for where to start. “There’s something you should know first.”Savannah leaned in slightly, and her eyes narrowed. “You’re scaring me already.”I gave a dry laugh. “Trust me, I wish I were exaggerating,” I said.She didn’t interrupt, so I continued.“Last night, I got a call,” I sa
JulianAfter that call, I couldn’t sleep that night. I just lay there staring at the ceiling, my phone face down beside me, my mind running wild with everything that had happened, the call, the threats, my father’s text messages, Savannah. Especially Savannah.By the time the sun broke through my window, I already knew what I had to do. It wasn’t even about choice anymore; it was about control. My whole life, people had been trying to make decisions for me. My father, the company, and even the people who thought they knew what was best. But this time, I wasn’t letting anyone else dictate my next move.And so, I pushed off the bed, grabbed my phone, and just sat there for a moment, staring at it like it might talk back. My hand hovered over Savannah’s contact, but I didn’t press dial right away. Part of me wondered what she’d think, if she’d even want to get me roped in this. But another part of me, the part that was tired of being scared or uncertain, didn’t care. So I hit the call bu
Julian Since I received that call, all sleep had cleared from my eyes. I kept turning over the same words, the same voice that had crawled into my head and refused to leave. “Tell your friend Savannah Ford that she’s not the only one being watched.”It was the most eerie thing I’d heard in a while. Which made me wonder how much worse the person behind the phone was. Suddenly, every freak in the walls, every flicker of shadow outside my window, made my nerves twitch. I tried to convince myself it was a prank, maybe someone trying to scare me off from helping Savannah, but something about the tone, the calm precision in that voice, told me it was more than that.By 2 a.m., I couldn’t take it anymore. I sat up, grabbed my phone, and stared at the unknown number on the screen. My thumb hovered for a second as I contemplated whether this was the right move to take, but then, against all inhibitions, I typed,“Who is this?”The message went through instantly, and the screen stayed still. T
Julian Since I received that call, all sleep had cleared from my eyes. I kept turning over the same words, the same voice that had crawled into my head and refused to leave. “Tell your friend Savannah Ford that she’s not the only one being watched.”It was the most eerie thing I’d heard in a while. Which made me wonder how much worse the person behind the phone was. Suddenly, every freak in the walls, every flicker of shadow outside my window, made my nerves twitch. I tried to convince myself it was a prank, maybe someone trying to scare me off from helping Savannah, but something about the tone, the calm precision in that voice, told me it was more than that.By 2 a.m., I couldn’t take it anymore. I sat up, grabbed my phone, and stared at the unknown number on the screen. My thumb hovered for a second as I contemplated whether this was the right move to take, but then, against all inhibitions, I typed,“Who is this?”The message went through instantly, and the screen stayed still. T
JulianFor some reason, I couldn’t stop replaying that conversation with Savannah in my head. Every word of it, every look she gave me when I told her about my father. It forced me to confront my reality. For the longest time, I’d tried to run away from it. I didn’t think much of my life and what I wanted for myself. But she’d said it so easily then, and I had no other choice but to face it, “You’ll figure it out.” I still remember her words. As if it were that simple. Like defying the man who’d built my entire life to what it was now, wouldn’t come crashing down on me.But still, somehow, those words stuck. When I got back to my room that night, the silence felt heavier than usual. My walls were bare except for a few sketches and old photos, but right then it felt like they were closing in. For a while, I just walked around the room, gazing at nothing in particular, but then I sat down on my bed and my eyes shifted to the phone on the nightstand. It was almost like it was staring b







