They The Pretty Stars (Court High 1)

“Well, he is sweet, isn’t he?” she asked, coming over. Hershey easily won the housekeeper over, rolling in my arms for a belly rub from Rosanna.

“She’s a she,” I said, smiling. “I named her Hershey.”

“That’s just perfect, then, isn’t it?” The words more for the dog than for me, Rosanna rubbed Hershey’s belly. “Perhaps we can keep her out in the guesthouse until we warm up Mr. Lindquist. How does that sound, little one?”

My dad’s guesthouse was posh as hell, this little dog was about to be set up. My heart eased. “Thank you. I’ll take care of her. You won’t have to do anything.”

“I’m sure that won’t be a problem.” More puppy speak from the housekeeper. She raised a finger as she bent for her clothes basket. “I’ll put an extra veggie burger on the grill for her tonight.”

“She likes apples too.”

“And an apple glaze.” She winked, seriously my best friend right now. She had to accommodate all the healthy requests my dad forced her to make, but every once in a while, I found a few packages of individual Oreos in my bag before classes. After finding out I was vegan, she asked me about the things I could eat.

“And I’ll get her some puppy food in the morning,” she said. Rosanna wasn’t a live-in housekeeper and did go home every night. I appreciated any help I could get.

Five

Rosanna and I were a couple of idiots…

Hershey’s howls reached the house by midnight.

I’d just fallen asleep the moment puppy dog cries that sounded like full-grown canine barks blasted into the house like an animal orchestra, launching me out of bed with true terror in my veins. I had no idea if Dad had returned from his social event yet, but if he had…

He’s going to kill me.

The fear radiating from that, I took the steps two by two, making a circulation through the kitchen, and by the grace of God, no Rolls-Royce keys hung on the pegboard.

Fuck, fuck, fuck…

I shot through the back door and across the lawn. Dad might not be home, but who knew when he’d get home, and I had no idea if the neighbors held the same confidence I had with Rosanna. Something told me a dog ripping them out of sleep in the middle of the night wouldn’t move them in my favor, and as I didn’t have Rosanna to vouch for me since she went home in the evenings, I was on my own here. Bare feet padded me through a pitch-black lawn, and that might have been part of the problem considering I had a little dog in a foreign space on her own. Her freak-out was most likely completely all on me. Taking out keys, I opened the door with frantic fingers, the sight making me curse.

“What did you do?”

The puppy had ripped up her bed, completely torn to shreds. Rosanna and I had made space for her on the floor in a cardboard box with some of my dad’s old clothes. Rosanna hadn’t thought he’d miss them since he gave them to her for donation.

I dropped to my knees, and the moment Hershey spotted me, she bounded over the tattered sheets and fluff-filled bedding. The comforter she’d used was completely destroyed as well as the box she’d been in, the thing completely turned over on its side.

“You okay?” I asked her, the small animal whimpering when I gathered her in my arms. The moment she was there, her cries completed ceased, and I felt like a true dumbass for leaving her out here all by herself. “You’re coming to my room, okay? We’ll figure out something in the morning.”

Upon taking her into the house, I figured the present state of the guesthouse was okay at least until morning. Dad would have no reason to go out there, and exhausted, I dragged myself through the yard and back inside. We made it upstairs with no interference from Dad since he wasn’t here, and the moment I set Hershey on the bed she made herself right at home.

“You have to be quiet if you’re in here, cool?” I didn’t consider myself much of a dog whisperer, but the minute I climbed into the bed with her and put the sheets over us, I got nothing but silence. The room still, she even curled up into my chest, nuzzling my neck.

Well, I guess I figured out what you needed.

Who knew an animal of her size could create such volume, definitely not me, and closing my eyes, I put out of my mind what I’d have to do to keep her stay with me covert until I was ready. Dad really wouldn’t be having it, but maybe if I explained the situation, how she was alone…

My phone buzzed once and accompanied with backlighting. Normally, I’d ignore it, so tired, but when it sounded again, then again, I groaned, grabbing the thing.

Birdie: Have you seen this?

The same came from Shakira and Kiki, who’d also texted me. We’d exchanged phone numbers earlier that day, and they all provided me a link to the same social media site. It was an account post, and though the account itself was anonymous with its meme profile picture, one of the pictures the account posted I recognized.

The picture was me, me with illustrated stars over my eyes and pink hearts above my head. I was outside the school but I wasn’t alone.

Royal was ahead of me, the picture from earlier that day. It’d been right after he left the boathouse and I was behind him because I followed the same path out. There was a caption above us, one I read all too clearly.

STALKER.