ห้องสมุด
ค้นหา
หน้าหลัก / When the Smiles Faded / บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 10

บททั้งหมดของ When the Smiles Faded: บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 10

12

Chapter 1

Yvette Larson's profile picture was practically vibrating in the group chat. She had dropped a three-page document into the chat titled 'Prank Plan'.Even through the text, I could hear the barely contained excitement in her voice."I bought two stage smoke bombs. We'll set one off in the main bedroom and one in the living room at the same time. In five minutes, smoke will be pouring out through the cracks under the doors, and every smoke alarm on the floor will go off!"Once the fire alarm starts screaming, everyone in the building will run outside."Then when the fire trucks show up, we hide in the stairwell, set up our cameras, and film the firefighters breaking down the door and searching the apartment. This is going to go viral. Guaranteed!"The chat stayed quiet for less than three seconds. Then it exploded.[Holy crap, Yvette. You're a genius.][My mom used to work in stage lighting. I'll steal two smoke bombs tomorrow and keep them ready.][We have to get a close-up whe
อ่านเพิ่มเติม

Chapter 2

Yvette posted her prank announcement on a public social media account.At 10:30 that night, I came across the post while scrolling.The caption read: [The internet's first firefighter prank video. Tonight at 7:00. Don't miss it. Everyone involved is already in position.]The photos showed a full view of the equipment they had set up inside the apartment, along with a photoshopped 'cast and crew' list. Everyone's name was there, along with their assigned role.My name, Janet Chapman, was listed under: [Special thanks: location coordination]The comments were already blowing up.[Seriously? Aren't you guys afraid this could get out of hand? You could even get arrested!]Yvette replied almost instantly: [Come on, we're just having fun. Besides, maybe the firefighters will think it's funny too.][Where exactly is this happening? I want to come watch the livestream.]One of our friends who had grown up with us posted the apartment complex and building location without a second thou
อ่านเพิ่มเติม

Chapter 3

At midnight, my phone suddenly buzzed.It was a message from Larisse Payne, the neighbor next door.[Janet, what are you guys doing over there? I keep hearing banging and clattering. My kids have school tomorrow.]I typed back: [Larisse, it's not me making all that noise. A group of people is planning a prank livestream in the apartment tonight. They might trigger the fire alarm. Please lock your door tonight, and don't panic if you hear anything.]Larisse immediately sent three question marks and replied: [What kind of prank? Trigger the fire alarm? Are you young people completely crazy? Mrs. Brooks upstairs is 80 years old and lives alone. She has a heart condition too. Did any of you even think about other people before pulling something like this?]My fingers froze above the screen.Melanie Brooks. She lived alone on the eighth floor. All three of her sons lived out of town.A scene from my previous life slammed into my mind.After the fire alarm went off, Melanie was so te
อ่านเพิ่มเติม

Chapter 4

Shane let out a mocking laugh and pulled his hand off Yvette's shoulder. He gave me a thumbs-up, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt. "Fine. Stand over there and keep your eyes wide open. You'll see what being young is all about."Yoel chuckled behind him."She just wants to act all high and mighty. Once the video goes viral, don't let her come crawling back to steal the spotlight."Yvette wiped away her tears. Her expression had already returned to the excitement she had shown before, as if the person who had just crumpled up the statement and thrown it on the floor had not been her.I took two steps toward the corner when someone suddenly grabbed my wrist. It was Shane. He dragged me into a small storage room nearby, then slammed the door shut behind us."You're staying here." He stood in the doorway with his arms crossed, lifting his chin at me. "Don't even think about sneaking out to warn anyone. You can't stop tonight's livestream."I looked at him without struggling o
อ่านเพิ่มเติม

Chapter 5

The firefighters stood in the doorway, the spotlights on their helmets cutting through the thick smoke.Nobody laughed.Nobody moved.Yvette's hand froze in midair, still holding her phone.The live stream comments were still pouring across the screen, but the smile on her face slowly fell apart.The commanding officer took off his breathing mask. He looked at the remains of the smoke bomb inside the apartment, then he looked at the group crouched in the stairwell, phones still in their hands."Who did this?"Just three words.Yvette's face went from pale to ghostly white. Her lips moved, but no sound came out. The walkie-talkie slipped from her other hand and hit the concrete floor of the stairwell. It bounced twice before rolling to a stop at the firefighter's feet.The officer bent down and picked it up. He looked at the sticker on the side and read it aloud."Prank Operation. Channel Three."Yoel took a step backward, his back hitting the stairwell wall. "Sir, we're just
อ่านเพิ่มเติม

Chapter 6

The young police officer took my phone. He glanced at the screen, then looked up at the property manager. "You knew about this?"The property manager opened his mouth, but no sound came out.Suddenly, Yvette yanked her hand free from Shane's grip and rushed straight toward me."Janet!" Her voice cracked. Her eyes were so red that they looked ready to bleed. "You reported us! You called management! You called the fire department! You…"Her voice suddenly rose, filled with tears and hatred. "Were you just waiting for something to happen to us?"I looked at her.She was standing less than two feet away, her face twisted with rage. She had looked like this in my previous life too. The only difference was that back then, she had been standing on the roof, screaming down at everyone below."It's all Janet's fault!"Then, she jumped.This time, she was standing in the emergency stairwell, screaming directly into my face.I spoke quietly, but every word was clear. "I warned you."Yv
อ่านเพิ่มเติม

Chapter 7

Shane's lips moved, but no words came out.At that moment, my phone buzzed with a message from Larisse.[Janet, Mrs. Brooks upstairs was taken away by an ambulance.]My fingers tightened around the phone.[What happened?][She heard the alarm, and her blood pressure shot up. Her heart was racing really fast. Her son came over and took her to the hospital. Thank goodness you warned her ahead of time. She didn't go downstairs. Her bones are so fragile at her age. If she had fallen…]Thank goodness.I gripped my phone until my knuckles turned white. Then I turned toward Shane in the hallway. My voice went icy."Shane."He looked up."Mrs. Brooks was taken away by ambulance."His pupils contracted.Yvette stopped crying.The hallway fell completely silent for a full five seconds. Then she leaned toward Yoel and whispered something. Her voice was barely audible, but the hallway was so small. Everyone heard her."Do you think Janet deliberately made Mrs. Brooks call the police?
อ่านเพิ่มเติม

Chapter 8

Julian stood in the doorway, the cold glow of his phone reflecting off his face."I watched the live stream." His voice suddenly turned serious. "I saw it in the news. Those young people pulled that prank and ended up bringing three fire trucks out…"He paused. "They're the same people you reported."I said nothing.He turned his phone around and held the screen toward me. The headline read: [Graduates Prank Firefighters, Person Who Reported Them Gets Harassed Online]The photo was the last screenshot from Yvette's livestream before it was taken down.The comments were exploding.[Wasn't the person who called the police the only one acting like a normal human being?][And this girl is crying? What is she crying about? The firefighters are the ones who should be crying after she wasted two minutes of their time.][Found out who reported them. She's the girlfriend of one of the participants.][Her name is Janet, right? She posted a statement at the scene saying she wasn't invol
อ่านเพิ่มเติม

Chapter 9

The interview was scheduled for the following afternoon, and I chose the location myself. Not my apartment, and definitely not a coffee shop. I chose the property management office's conference room instead.In my previous life, that was where Shane had brought Yvette's family to corner me.That day, they cornered me against the wall. One person splashed water on my face while another screamed that someone like me did not deserve to live.Shane stood at the front, his hands in his pockets, his eyes cold as ice. He said, "Janet, you killed Yvette. Don't expect to have a good life ever again."Now, I sat in that same conference room, a glass of untouched water sitting in front of me.The reporter from The Morning Legal Review was named Ella Carter. She was in her forties, wore glasses, and spoke in a calm, measured voice.A cameraman sat beside her with the equipment already set up."Ms. Chapman, we've put together the timeline."Ella opened her notebook."You called the propert
อ่านเพิ่มเติม

Chapter 10

Shane stayed silent for a long time.Then a second text came through.[Are you really going to be happy only after you watch everyone else go down?]I deleted the message without replying. Instead, I opened the news alerts on my phone.The hashtag #GraduatesPrankFirefighters had already racked up more than 200 million views.Yvette's social media accounts had been picked apart completely. Someone dug up the prank announcement she had posted three days earlier. Someone else screenshotted her reply in the comments:[Come on, we're just having fun. Besides, maybe the firefighters will think it's funny too.]People started piling on underneath.[Funny? Three fire trucks are funny? Thirty firefighters responding in two minutes is funny?][What about the elderly woman who lives upstairs? She was so scared she had to be taken to the hospital. Is that funny?][Your so-called first 'reverse-prank' documentary on the internet? So your big twist was making a joke out of fire safety?]T
อ่านเพิ่มเติม
ก่อนหน้า
12
สแกนรหัสเพื่ออ่านบนแอป
DMCA.com Protection Status