Keep Quiet(51)

“That’s nothing, compared to the end. You look at the rest. I can’t. It makes me want to hurl.” Ryan thrust the phone at him. “My phone number’s not that easy to get. It’s not on Facebook, and anyway, I have all my privacy settings on. The school has it, so it could be someone who works in the office. It’s on the team portal, but only the team can get in. You’d have to hack it. I don’t think I have it anywhere else.”

Jake scrolled down through the line of pink bubbles, reading: i wish i cld b w u ur soo sexy

ur soo cute

ur soo tall

ur shredded

i love ur hair

u have gr8t eyes

I love ur smile

i think of u all the time

i dream abt u

i see u

i watch u

“How many are there?” Jake asked angrily. It had to be Deaner. Deaner must have gotten Ryan’s cell-phone number. Or the texts were from whoever made the video, if it wasn’t Deaner.

“Like fifty or so, I stopped counting. They came one after the other, like seconds apart.” Ryan kept shaking his head, his fair skin mottled. “Keep reading. It gets worse. Way worse.”

Jake seethed, reading.

i kno everything about u

i follow u everywhere

u can’t get away from me

Jake scrolled up and checked the time of the first text, delivered at 11:02. That would have been minutes after Deaner had left his office. Jake had thought that Deaner would go after him, but he’d gone after Ryan instead. Jake scrolled down again and read more texts, delivered only seconds apart.

we shld b 2gether

we belong 2gether

“Oh no.” Jake reminded himself to stay in control. He had to keep calm for Ryan, who was almost hyperventilating.

“Do you see this? Do you see? Keep reading to the end!”

Jake read on: we r meant to be

i am ur destiny

i see u at lunch

i see u in algebra

i see u in english

i see u in western civ

i see u in French

i see u in chemistry

“Dad, she knows my schedule! She knows everything! Or it might not even be a girl, who knows? They musta hacked the student portal, too. Whoever this is, a boy, girl, or whatever, they’re crazy!”

“I know, I can tell.” Jake felt his temples pounding again. He wanted to get ahold of Deaner and beat the living hell out of him. He kept reading. i see ur games i see u at practice

u cant get away frm me

no one loves u like me

u have 2 be w me

u will be w me

u cant get away

u killed me

u deserve 2 die

dont u feel guilty?

dont u feel bad?

dont u feel sad?

kill urself

kill urself

kill urself

“Oh my God.” Jake gritted his teeth, enraged.

“Keep going. You’re almost there.”

Jake scrolled down.

kill urself on pike rd

die & join me

you know who i am

“Bastard!” Jake exploded. “I’m going to kill this guy!”

“What guy? How do you know it’s a guy, and do you understand what this means?” Ryan grabbed his arm. “Whoever sent this knows what happened. They know it’s me. What are we going to do? They know. Look at the next one, it’s a picture.”

“Okay, try and stay calm.” Jake looked at the screen, which showed a thumbnail photo of a young girl. He tapped it to enlarge it, though he could guess who it was. A school photo of a beautiful young girl popped onto the screen, and she had long, dark hair with large, dark brown eyes, and a wide, sweet smile. The caption read, I’m Kathleen Lindstrom.

“That’s the last one.” Ryan twisted around in his seat, frantic. “Dad, whoever sent this, they know. This is not a lucky guess. This is not a troll. Somebody knows I did it. Somebody is stalking me. He could be watching us right now.”

“No, not really.” Jake had to cool him down. He patted Ryan on the knee, which was drawn up to fit his long legs into the cramped Toyota. “He’s just trying to scare you. Don’t give him the satisfaction.”

“Who? Why? Why’s he trying to scare me?”

“You have to let me handle this.” Jake looked over, and Ryan’s eyes went wide with disbelief and fear.

“What are you talking about? Do you know who this is? What’s going on?”

“Please, let me handle this.” Jake would have to come up with the money for Deaner. There was no other way. “You have to go back to school. What time is lunch over?”

“Dad, I can’t go back to school. What if it’s somebody at school? Is it somebody at school?” Ryan went wild-eyed with bewilderment. “How do they know I play basketball? What’s going on?”

“Trust me, it’s better if you don’t know.”

“You have to tell me.” Ryan shouted, jabbing the air with his index finger. “It’s me they’re after. It’s me they want. I’m the one who did it! I have a right to know. It’s my life!”

“We’re not going to discuss this now. You have to get back to school.” Jake checked the dashboard clock, which read 11:50. His phone rang again, but he’d have to get it later. “Tell me what time lunch is over.”