30

Becca

After the Rendezvous in the Relics, I heard from Travis more regularly. But he was smart. He always made sure to cover his tracks. Still, I knew it was him—the calls, the notes, the way he watched me. He was angry and he was fixating again.

Just like he did with Brit.

“Why does she hate me so much?” he used to ask me, over and over again. “Why can she just leave us alone?”

He started keeping tabs on her—her friends and the guys she dated. And he’d dig up dirt on them, to prove that the people she associated with were no better than he was.

Brit became the topic of choice.

“Did you know Brit got a D in Chemistry? I heard she was smoking, drinking, messing around … ” He’d fire out these accusations whenever we were together.

Travis was completely obsessed with her.

I felt those same eyes, and that same scrutiny, coming down on me as the months passed. I had to work fast. Thankfully, that party in the ruins gave me an idea.

Soon, I became just as consumed, developing a laser focus as my plan started to take shape.

Little by little, I brought Johnny in. I told him about Brit. About Travis’s threats. About Brit being at Travis’s before the accident.

Johnny grew more and more irate with each new revelation. Though I never told him it was really me who’d dated Travis. No, no, no. That would’ve messed up everything. I needed to play to his emotions. Play the part of the innocent. The victim.

I told Johnny it was Brit who planned to break up with Travis—I didn’t think he’d trust me otherwise. I had to protect myself and keep Johnny close. I knew just how to do that—after all, I’d learned from the best. And as much as it pained me to use and manipulate people like Travis did, I had to. It was the only way it was going to work.