03

I don’t get how the nerd in romance books were so innocent despite being bullied. In reality, when something bad happens, you don’t get any nicer.

The best part of the books that have me cracking up on the floor is when she falls in love with her bully in a span of two weeks. Three, if she is somewhat level-headed. Seriously, sometimes I feel like throwing the book into a wall or reaching into the pages and gifting our designated nerd a spine a nice slap of reality. Back to the topic.

Dylan told Tyler to shut up and I hacked into the mainframe through the computer and put him with the retest kids and cleared his marks. All done.

I tried to log out but the computer wasn’t allowing me to. I frowned and tried again. Same result.

Dylan looked at me, the glow of the screen giving his face a ghostly bluish tinge. It was completely dark outside. Los Angeles was waking up.

« Chevie, everything okay ? » He asked, frowning.

« Yeah, » I replied nonchalantly, »why don’t you two leave ? I have things to wrap up. »

And I want to find out what is going on.

« You sure ? » Dylan asked.

« Yep, now go. » I said with a small smile. I needed privacy and focus for this. Once they were out I felt more vulnerable. Stupid girl. What if something happens ? You know something is wrong !

I distracted myself by focusing on the computer. Something was up with the professor who taught the Aerospace Department. It was his account that was causing a problem. There were rumors about Professor Roy that sent chills down people’s spines. Rumors that he had dealings with the Mafia in LA. If you read the newspapers you would know. The Mafia is not to be messed with. The worst part ? Roy was a genius in his field. The rumors weren’t too far fetched. It made sense that the Mafia would want the best and Roy was the best. Personally, anything to do with that man made me feel uneasy.

I didn’t want to know what was up. I just wanted to log out for fucks sake !

Maybe I could…

I pulled up his account and the first thing I saw were blueprints. I narrowed my eyes. The fuck ? Why would someone store blueprints on the school mainframe !?

The blueprints were open. He was probably working on them. Holy shit. What did I just see ? They could be related to the Mafia for all I knew.

I heard a scratching sound and nearly fell out of my chair. There was no one there. Hey that rhymed ! A shudder ran through my body.

Okay. Calm down. I’ll just log out and go home. Nothing happened. They probably wouldn’t even find out. I’ll go home and see. I need to get out.

My hands were shaking as logged out and ran home on shaky legs, as fast as I can.

I reached home and ran upstairs. I locked the doors and windows. My roommate was in Switzerland, so I was completely alone. I was panicking for no reason. They could have been some projects from his students. I laughed to myself. It was going to be just fine.

I forced myself to eat something. I didn’t have the guts to order food, so I just made some ramen. I switched on the TV and watched Gossip Girl for a while, till I was sure I could sleep. Maybe I’ll bunk college tomorrow. I deserved the break. He was probably grading projects and all the late night study sessions had gotten to me. It seemed so stupid now.

When I woke up early in the morning and picked up the newspaper I dropped my coffee mug in shock.

Dylan Di Angelo’s house, Los Angeles

Underestimating your intelligence was bad but being overconfident and overestimating it was a thousand times worse.

I may have been the smartest in my college but reality is a bitch. I was probably just a wannabe hacker to the Mafia.

Oh shit, I had the motherfucking Mafia behind me ! Realization slowly dawned on me.

What do I do ? Do I go to the cops ? No point, the Mafia had men in the police forces. Do I tell someone ? Then two people will have a target on their backs.

Oh shit. I was so screwed. My parents were back in England, so I guess that was comforting. They were safe. There was no saying how far the Mafia’s reach was, though.

I called up Dylan. No answer. Fuck.

I ran and grabbed my car keys and a knife. I hoped there was no fight. At five two weighing forty kilos I was no athlete. I probably wouldn’t be able to hold on my own in a fight.

I didn’t even know for sure who was after me. The DeLucas, the Castellinos or the Abandonatos. The three families that controlled this region. It could be any one of them.

I gulped. Or maybe it was all three. This was all Professor Roy’s fault. Never mind that I hacked into the college mainframe after hours. It wasn’t technically my fault.

I reached Dylan’s house. Dylan lived near Beverly Hills, his family was stinking rich, that’s also how he got into the college. God knew his grades weren’t anything special. He used to flunk half the classes since sixth grade. Dylan’s car was still in the driveway.

I checked under the flowerpot for the extra key. His neighborhood was eerily silent. As if it was waiting for something. My hand went to the knife in my purse. I didn’t know how to use it but atleast it was still something.

Using the key I had found, I opened the door. I slowly crept inside. There was noone in. Atleast that’s how it seemed. The empty corridor in front of me was a bit frightening.

I was tempted to scream ‘hello’ but decided against it. That’s how the idiotic main character dies in horror movies. As if the girl from The Ring is going to invite you over to your room for Netflix and Chill.

Dylan’s shoes were still resting by the door. But by now I was certain the house was empty. So what happened to Dylan ?

Wait, maybe there was something else I could do, without giving away my location. I pulled out my cellphone and called Dylan. His phone started ringing but I couldn’t hear it in the house.

He didn’t pick up.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I hoped he was okay. Maybe he’s out at college or something, but the innocent little blueprints were not innocent little blueprints and karma was a gigantic pain in the ass. Taking that into consideration, he was obviously not at college or something.