Sealed Lips ✔️

Chapter 2

Bethany:

Jake fixes his gaze on me, his eyes seemingly dissecting something beneath the surface.

"What?" I ask, with extreme paranoia surfacing.

"The bump, does it sting?" he asks. I respond with a subtle shake of my head, my silent signal to spare him any sense of guilt. It isn't his fault, after all.

"You're lying Andrews," his hand reaching up to make contact with the swollen area. The chill of his touch makes me involuntarily flinch. "Told you," he adds with a knowing grin.

"Let's find some ice for that," he suggests, his steps guiding us forward. I walk by his side, and our connection is suddenly eased by shared amusement.

"But where are we going to find ice?" I ask, a quizzical expression on my face.

"Well, we could head to my place. My parents are out at work, so it'll just be us," he proposes, a casual assurance in his words.

"Sure, that works," I respond, a sense of trust grounding my words. Jake and I have been in the same class for two years, but we have never truly interacted with one another in such a way to get to know each other. Though Maya, my best friend, always raves about how kind Jake is, it's the way he looked at me that makes me believe it wholeheartedly.

We begin walking in the direction of his house, towards South Havenhill, the opposite side of town from where my house, which lies in North Havenhill, is.

"I'm really sorry for slamming my locker in your face," he apologizes.

"It's not your fault, really. I was running and not exactly watching where I was going," I explain, my words seeking to alleviate any blame.

"I was angry and not thinking clearly. My instinct was to slam the door shut," he admits, irritation evident in his expression as he recollects the event.

His confession prompts a question in my mind. Why was he angry? I remember seeing him this morning, laughing with Logan, his close friend, like it was just another day at school. They were laughing at who-knows-what and he didn't seem mad at all.

My day pretty much started as good as his. My mom announced that she got a new job as an interior designer and my dad, well he's still sick. When I got to school, Maya bought me coffee and our whole clique was waiting for us at the cafeteria: Skyler, Brooklyn, Nora and Jane. Yet, all was shattered by the arrival of Lily's cruel note, a stark reminder of her capacity to inflict pain.

Something must have seriously gotten under his skin. I still can't seem to shake the feeling that he might know about the letter.

My phone rings and I see that it's a call from an unknown number.

"Hello?" I answer, a mixture of uncertainty and nervousness in my tone. Silence follows my greeting, only to be ended with an abrupt disconnect. A message comes through directly after, and I read its chilling words:

"Don't enter his house, or that bump will be even worse."

These threats are making me feel sick. Lily, or whoever is sending this, seeks control, yet I refuse to be played like this. My reply, "Do I care?" is asserting back control.

I really don't care if this bump gets bigger or not. At least I can live through this pain, but I can't live through the pain of accusation.

The blocked number's next message reads: "You want this to get out?"

A video follows, but I seriously hesitate to watch it with Jake walking next to me, because I fear that it might exploit the suicide letter. I will just watch it at home.

Before I can even put my phone away, the video starts to play on its own. I try to hush it up, but it's too late. Jake comes from behind and starts to watch it with me.

It's Lily and her clique sitting in her room.

Lily says, "Yeah she's losing it." Samantha chirps in, "Who?"

"Bethany. And Sam, next time, open your ears. I'm not going to repeat myself the whole time. I don't have any time to waste," Lily replies.

"Bethany Andrews? Oh my gosh! Did you hear what happened between her and Marco at the hospital that day?" Sarah gossips.

"Yeah, I still can't believe it," Alisha says.

"Hell she's a crazy bitch," Lily adds.

Samantha then whispers something to the person recording and I can't really make out what they're saying. I wonder who's recording.

"Lily, what's that?" Alisha asks her and looks at the paper in Lily's hands. She looks alert, but quickly covers it up by saying, "It's a list of ways to get Sarah thin."

Everyone looks confused and hurt by her words, especially Sarah."Sarah, don't worry. She does it to everyone. Bethany would know," Sam says.

"Shut your mouth about Bethany!" Lily yells, pushes the camera over and the video ends.

A passing car grabs his attention momentarily, but he refocuses on me.

"Sorry, it's my mom," he says, urgency in his voice.

His mother's presence startles him and she demands that he gets in the car. We are in fact skipping school.

He quickly greets me goodbye, apologizing once again about the bump on my head.

I am left standing alone somewhere in South Havenhill, still sickened by that video. I enter a nearby shop, looking for ice, to ease the pain of my throbbing head.

As I lift the pack of ice, an unexpected letter lies underneath, with another sinister message:

"You're just getting colder Beth. Make one more mistake, and you might just freeze to death."