Page 63 of The Obsession

I opened my bag, took out a few baggies filled with assorted pills, and rummaged about the room, looking for good hiding places. The other steps in my plan had finally become clear: I had to frame Logan as the school’s drug dealer. Everyone could see he was on something; it wouldn’t take too big of a leap to conclude that he was selling the stuff. I didn’t allow myself to pause. I had to keep moving, otherwise, guilt would catch up and paralyze me. The place was a dump. I’d expected Logan to be a bit neater, but maybe he hadn’t been in a cleaning mood lately. Quite honestly, it stank. Piles of dirty laundry were strewn everywhere. I checked his wardrobe, rifled under his mattress, searched all of his drawers, and every place I searched, I left a little plastic baggie behind. I hated the fact that this place reminded me that Logan was a person, a human being with a whole life. I felt sick at the thought. I should stop. But still I moved around, stuffing the little bags in every hiding place I could think of, feeling shittier by the minute. Aisha didn’t know about this part of the plan. And I hoped to god she never would. She’d never look at me the same way again. She’d never forgive me.

At last, I was done. And still no flash drive or anything that looked like it could contain the video. If it wasn’t on his computer or in his room, where else could it be? I guess he could’ve uploaded it onto the cloud somewhere, but I couldn’t imagine Logan being that brash when it came to the video. It was way too precious to him. The last possibility was that he had it on him at all times. Maybe in one of his pockets, maybe—oh.

That cheap pendant he always wore. I’d dismissed it as a silly trinket, but now I recalled how he was always handling it, how his fingers curled around it from time to time, as though it was some touchstone he had to keep coming back to. It was big enough to harbor a secret USB drive.

Why had I never thought of that?

I peered out the window. Aisha and Logan were silhouettes in the distance, their heads bent low.Good job, Aish. But even as I thought that, Logan suddenly grabbed Aisha. I heard her squeak, the sound a small, furry animal might make right when a clawed predator snatches it. My chest tightened. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. Logan shook Aisha, hard, and she cried out as her head flopped back and forth. His hand shot out, covering her mouth. No, no, no.Oh god, what have I gotten Aish into?I had to move, I had to get to them, I had to—

But just as suddenly as he’d grabbed her, Logan shoved Aisha away and started walking back toward the building. My breath released in a rush, my blood pounding. No time to waste. Spying his sport coat on the floor, I grabbed it and stuffed it into my bag. My phone buzzed.

“He—he’s going back,” Aisha gasped. “Holy shit, he’s awful, he—get out of there!”

I packed my stuff and slipped out of the room. I was about to head down the stairs when I heard the front door open. Crap. If he found me here…

Luckily, the bathroom was only two doors away. I slunk inside just as Logan thudded up the stairs. Every muscle in my body tensed at the sound of his approach. Only after his door clicked shut did I release my breath. Oh my god, I did it.

I snuck outside and went to the back of the building, where Aisha was pacing with her arms wrapped around herself. She looked so tiny and scared that my breath caught in my chest. Guilt sat in my throat, hard and heavy. I did this to her. I’d known how dangerous Logan was, and still I roped her into my mess and put her straight in the middle of his path. I whispered her name, hating myself even more when she literally jumped.

“Holy shit, Dee!” She caught me in a fierce hug.

“Aish, I’m so sorry, I—”

“What?” Aisha looked at me with a frown. “Why are you sorry?”

“I saw him grab you. I—god, Aisha, I’m so sorry I pushed you into doing this—”

“Dee, you didn’t push me into doing anything. Logan…” Aisha shook her head. “I had no idea—I guess it never really hit me what he was doing to you, but…fuck. He’s dangerous, Dee.”

I nodded. “Come on, I don’t wanna hang around.” We started walking back to the girls’ dorm, keeping our voices low.

“I didn’t know he was like that,” Aisha whispered.

I was about to comfort her when the seeds of another idea sprouted. “Yeah, I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want you to worry, but—” I let my voice tremble a little. It wasn’t hard to do; I was actually pretty shaky after everything. “I’m scared of him, Aish.”

“Oh god. I’m so sorry, Dee.”

“I think he’s on drugs. I found some stuff in his room, like bags and bags of pills. He’s so unstable. I just don’t know what he might do.”

“Tell me you found the video,” Aisha said.

I shook my head, and she visibly deflated.

“Are you sure you didn’t—”

“Yes, I’m sure I didn’t find what I was looking for,” I sighed. Guilt snaked through my veins at having to lie to the only friend I had, but I couldn’t risk telling her I’d found the video of me supposedly cheating on a test. What if she asked to see it?

“Ugh. This was supposed to work! In the movies, you know, at the last second you’d walk over like, a loose floorboard and you’d pry it open and the thing would be there.” She swung to face me, her eyes shining. “Did you search the floor?”

“It’s carpeted.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, of course. Dammit! So the whole thing was a bust?”

“I guess I’m not much of a spy. Wait, are you sure you’re okay? It looked like he hurt you—”

Aisha sighed. “I’m okay. But I don’t like the thought of Logan having something over you. Something is seriously wrong with him.” She took my hand and looked into my eyes. “Dee, I’m scared for you. I think he might do something. I think he might hurt you.”

I tried to laugh off the fear that was clutching my throat, but my voice came out cracked. “I’ll be okay. I’ll think of something.”

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