Page 38 of Colton

Which means, the person who wrote the article either has these books, or has much more access than I thought. Then again, most of the gossip submitted to the website comes from students, so it would be very hard to pinpoint who exactly sent this in.

When I move my thumb, moving the page down, it’s as though the ground underneath me opens up. Something inside of me shatters, and I don’t know whether to rush to the bathroom to throw up, cry, or disappear off the face of the Earth.

There’s a clear image of Colton and me. It was taken from outside of his castle, and I’m already beating myself up mentally for not noticing anyone was snapping images of us. My heart is thumping against my ribcage, and I feel it in my ears.

Everything is moving too slowly.

Because my face is blurred.

It was done on purpose, deliberately, to scare me.

Whoever took the picture, and sent it to Sinners and Saints must know the identity of the girl in the image. There has to be a reason they didn’t publish that information alongside the image, too. I’m worried about finding out why.

Is it a warning? A threat?

Is it someone saying clearly that they know what I’ve been up to?

“Sophia,” I whisper, and that’s all she needs.

As cold as Sophia may seem to be, she’s a softie for the ones she loves. She takes the phone out of my hands, locking it, and tossing it to the side, before she wraps her arms around my body, pulling me into a tight hug.

“I know,” she whispers back. “I know. Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out, okay?”

Her words are softly spoken, yet the promise underneath is undeniable. This girl is such a gem, and I’ll never be able to express my gratitude for everything she’s done for me. Not just today, but from the moment we met.

“How?” I hiccup, and my vision blurs. This seems like such a small thing, compared to what other people in the world are going through, and it shouldn’t be worth crying over. Yet, here I am, allowing the tears to stream down my cheeks, to soak her blouse.

“I’ll find a way,” she murmurs, running her fingers through my hair. “I always find a way.”

◆◆◆

“Have you calmed down?” Grace asks, offering a bottle of sparkling water. Sue me, but drinking carbonated water is the only kind of water I’d ever drink. As a matter of fact, it is the only kind I’ll ever drink.

“Yes,” I open the bottle, and take a big chug of the water. It’s cold, and the fizzy drink makes my throat feel all types of funny, in a good way. With a sigh, I hand her back the bottle.

Lila’s sitting on the floor, a look of concern on her face. Sophia somehow managed to console me, hold me, rub my back and text the girls to meet us here, all without missing a beat. Grace is the most apologetic one, though.

It’s because of her that I agreed to go to Saint Valley. No matter how curious I was prior to the trip, the chances of me going there alone were non-existent. I understand why she’s blaming herself, but I also don’t know how to show her that I don’t blame her.

It’s not her fault.

It wasn’t her that carelessly followed Colton, and that allowed herself to be so absorbed in his presence, that she didn’t catch someone taking a picture. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me.

“You need to start checking your phone more often,” Lila points out. The three of us glare at her, and she shrugs, seemingly unapologetic. “What? Sophia and I saw the emails, and sure, the figure did resemble you, but neither of us could’ve said with certainty it was. We could’ve figured out a way to get it taken down. Now, even if we do, screenshots exist and God knows who has the image saved.”

Grace rolls her eyes. “You’re right, but do have some tact. You come off as cold.”

“Besides, even if we do find a way to take the image down now, the person who took it might expose the one without your face blurred," Lila says, entirely ignoring Grace’s words.

One might think I’d be upset because she’s speaking like that. I could never be upset, though. She’s not sugarcoating anything, and no matter how much all of this is confusing and scary, I need someone to think straight, and tell me how it is.

“Now, we have two options,” Sophia says, and all eyes turn to her. Her blonde hair is tied into a high ponytail, and she changed into comfortable clothes — which, in Sophia Sloane’s case just means a pair of loose legged pants, a tank top, and smaller heels. “It’s already been a couple of days since the email was sent out. Soon enough, there will be more news, and this will be forgotten. So, we can try finding the person who took the picture, and finding out if Sinners and Saints have the blurry one, or the real one.”

“And the second option?” Grace asks.

“We let this go,” Sophia shrugs.

My eyes widen, and I can’t seem to find words. Even Lila seems shocked by Sophia’s suggestion. Grace blinks, then pushes herself off the wall, approaching Sophia like she’s approaching a wild animal. Her steps are slow, careful, and deliberate.