Six Little Secrets(18)

He slowly nodded and dug his hands into his jeans pockets.

He was still in the same spot across the way, inches from the laptop which held a nude photo of her. There was no reason for it to remain there.

Cece bolted across the room, back to the laptop. Even if Mr. Curtis caught her, she needed to delete that photo before anyone else saw it.

The others started talking, but their voices were muddled together, muted by her heartbeat roaring in her ears.

Even though Cece’s vision was blurred by the tears streaming down her face, she couldn’t mistake the movement of the cursor on the laptop. It scrolled over to the POST button and blinked.

‘No!’ she cried.

She pressed her finger on the touchpad and then the screen went blank.

‘No! No! No!’ She jammed her finger against the power button, but the computer wouldn’t turn on.

Panic seized her. Her breaths came quickly. Her head span, and black spots filled her vision.

A muffled voice filled her ears.

‘Cece,’ Teddy said. He was next to her, holding his hands out as if she might faint. She felt close to it. ‘You need to sit down,’ he said, taking her hand. He led her back to the table where the rest were staring up at her with wide eyes.

Teddy tilted his head to the side. ‘What did you say?’

Cece hadn’t realized she’d spoken until the words bubbled up to the surface again. ‘He sent it.’





CHAPTER NINE




ZOE



Saturday


Cece’s face paled, and Zoe could have sworn the girl was going to be sick.

‘What happened?’ Zoe asked.

‘It’s it obvious?’ Jackie asked.

‘He sent it,’ Cece repeated. Her voice was stronger this time, but her eyes were far away.

‘We know he sent the video,’ Holly said, pointing at the television. ‘It was on the screen.’

Cece flopped into the chair, her hands were shaking, and her teeth chattered. She wrapped her arms around her chest and leaned forward, her face almost touching the table.

‘No,’ Cece said, choking out the word. ‘He posted the photo. Just now. After sending the email with the video to my parents.’

‘What?’ Jackie hissed. ‘That wasn’t part of the deal, was it?’

‘We’re playing by his rules,’ Teddy said.

Zoe glanced over her shoulder. Mr. Curtis still sat at the desk in the office, focused on his work. Zoe hoped he stayed that way.

‘So it was like a double punishment?’ Jackie asked.

‘I guess so,’ Cece said. Tears flowed freely down her face. The streams created a small pool on the surface of the table.

‘Can you log into your account and delete it?’ Teddy asked.

‘No!’ Cece shrieked.

Zoe cringed at the sound. ‘You have to be quiet.’

‘I don’t care! My life is over because of this creep!!’

Teddy got up from the table and sprinted toward the back of the library.

Where the hell was he going? Zoe turned back to her classmates.

‘You were caught,’ Q shrugged. ‘It happens.’

‘It doesn’t happen to me!’ Cece shouted. ‘I’m going to ruin whoever is playing this disgusting game! My parents are going to sue the school for this.’

‘We’re not going to do much of anything if we don’t find out who’s doing this,’ Teddy said, returning to the table. He held a laptop in his hands.

Was that the one that Cece used to post the picture? Zoe’s heart leaped. Could they find information about their torturer’s motivation by looking at the laptop?

The door to the office opened. If Mr. Curtis had been distracted by his work, he wasn’t anymore.

Teddy shoved the computer on his lap and scooted closer to the desk.

He nodded at Zoe.

‘Cece, just keep working on the chain,’ Zoe whispered as Mr. Curtis approached. ‘We’ll figure this out.’

‘Screw the chain!’ Cece said. She stood and shoved most of the slips to the ground.

‘Excuse me?’ Mr. Curtis said. ‘What’s the problem here?’

‘Mr. Curtis!’ Cece sobbed. ‘I need to tell you something.’

She was going to ruin this for all of them.

Zoe wasn’t sure what she could say to stop Cece. As much as Zoe would have wanted to jump off a bridge if her naked photo appeared online, it wasn’t fair for Cece to expose the rest of them. It was her own fault that she hadn’t sent it in time.

Zoe tried to convey her message in a look to Cece since Mr. Curtis was right there. As much as she didn’t want her secrets exposed, they already twice witnessed what happened when someone failed a task. She had no idea what would happen if any of them revealed this game of consequences to Mr. Curtis.

‘Is someone going to answer me?’ Mr. Curtis’s attention landed on each of them. He looked madder than she’d ever seen. ‘I’m trying to be reasonable here, but you all are pushing the limit.’

‘Cece broke up with her boyfriend last night,’ Jackie said. ‘She’s upset.’

Mr. Curtis sighed. ‘Do you need something?’

‘She could use a bathroom break to get herself together,’ Jackie said.