Unforgettable (Haven Falls 4)

Rivers – Yes and no. It’s hard to explain. I’ve been busy.

Alyssa – Well, I don’t know if you know, but a video went out of Henley getting jumped by Monica and everyone is saying that you sent the blast.

Rivers – What the fuck are you talking about? I didn’t send anything.

Wait. What?

My eyes widen and I find myself reading through the messages faster and faster. He couldn’t be serious, is he? Maybe he’s just trying to save his own ass. We were so fucking sure that he sent it. Could we have been wrong all this time?

Rivers – Is she ok? She would have taken that hard. Did Noah figure out who did it?

Alyssa – You haven’t talked to any of them yet?

Rivers – Answer the fucking question.

Alyssa – Geez! You’re moody today. Where are you? Why don’t you come around and we’ll work this shit out. And don’t get snappy at me, it’s not like I know how she’s doing. That girl is a closed fucking book and absolutely terrifying. Besides, as if she’s going to tell me what’s going on in that fucked up head of hers.

Rivers – Don’t fucking talk about her like that. She’s twice the woman you’ll ever be. Why do they think it was me?

Alyssa – I guess that’s a ‘no’ for coming around!

Alyssa – The video was emailed from your school account and well, you kind of fucked off. No one has seen you since the crash. It’s a little coincidental, don’t you think?

Rivers – What fucking school account? I’ve never used a school email in my life.

My reading and scrolling gets even faster as my heart starts to race. All this fucking time I’ve had the shits with him. Something is screaming at me that we’ve got it all wrong and what Rivers is saying his absolute truth in these messages.

Alyssa – Sure you have. It’s the one attached to your student ID. I got mine on my first day. Principal Evans said the students use them all the time.

Rivers – Do I look like I use a fucking student account?

Shit, he’s right. How could we have not considered that before. Hell, I don’t think any of us have used our student accounts before.

The messages stop for a few days and then three days later, at three in the morning, the next message from Rivers has my mind swirling with possibilities.

Rivers – I’ve been up all fucking night thinking about this. It was you, wasn’t it?

Alyssa – What the fuck are you talking about? Do you have any idea what time it is? I was sleeping.

Rivers – You sent that fucking video.

Alyssa – Excuse me? Are you nuts? I don’t have a death wish.

Rivers – No one in that fucking school has ever used that network, yet you show up and have the fucking principal making you think everyone lives by it. You told me yourself, you’re good with computers and you bitched about Henley all the time.

Rivers – You got your hands on that video and sent it from my account, didn’t you?

Alyssa – I didn’t do it. I swear, it wasn’t me.

Rivers – You’re a fucking goner.

Rivers – When they find out, you better fucking run.

What the fuck?

My thumb continues to scroll and I hate that it won’t go any further. I don’t fucking believe it. Rivers never sent the blast. It was Alyssa, at least, Rivers thinks it was Alyssa.

That doesn’t make sense though. She has no reason to try to hurt me like that. I saved her from getting trampled at the races and I’ve been the voice of reason when Tully has wanted to tear her to shreds. I’m a fucking angel to that girl.

I go over the messages again and again just to make sure I read it right. I mean, I have one hell of a nasty hangover and it’s very possible that I’m jumbling around the words, but nope, after my third read through, I’m certain that I’ve read it right.

Alyssa did it. She sent out the blast and I’m going to prove it. Don’t ask me how because I’ve got no fucking clue, but I won’t stop until I’ve got the truth out of her. How dare she humiliate me like that? That video was my lowest point. It showed me at the worst possible moment of my life where my every last shred of dignity was stripped from me.

And because of her, that video is still doing the rounds. It’s been uploaded to YouTube for the world to see and students are constantly bringing it up. You know, generally behind my back because they’re all too chicken shit to say anything to my face.

It kills me knowing that it’s out there but there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.