Read Online Fearscape by Nenia Campbell - Free Book Online Page B

probably took it as encouragement,” she added darkly, “Men like that do.”
    “ Then what do I do?”
    “ Ignore him, and he'll lose interest.”
    “ But what if he sends me another message?”
    “ Block him. Don't even dignify it with a response or an excuse. Just keep blocking him. And if he creates a new account to bother you with, block that one, too.”
    Val stared dismally at the screen. “Okay ….” But I don't think that's going to help.
    “ And change your profile picture,” Mrs. Kimble added. “I've told you a thousand times, Valerian, that it isn't appropriate for someone your age. Look at you — half-naked.”
    “ But it's just my track uniform,” Val protested. “It covers more than a swimsuit.”
    “ Don't argue with me. Just change your picture and for God's sake, don't respond to him.”
    ▪▫▪▫▪▫▪
    True to her word, Mrs. Kimble didn't show Val's father the Facebook messages — probably because she knows she doesn't have access to my account , Val thought — but she heard the two of them discussing it after dinner in worried undertones. Without her. They were talking about Val as if she didn't even live under the same roof.
    No . Worse. As if the situation doesn't even concern me. It's my life. It's happening to me!
    She ended up locking herself in her room and calling Lisa, mad or no. Val needed to talk about this with somebody her own age or she felt like she would go insane. She would have preferred Rachel or Lindsay, but for the same reasons she was also afraid to talk to them. They were older and more mature. They might think she was stupid and naïve for getting herself into this mess in the first place, and Val didn't want them to think badly of her, too.
    Lisa answered on the first ring. “Go away , Mom! It's for me! Hello? Val?”
    “ Hey. I wanted to talk. Is that okay?”
    “ Just as long as you don't expect me to giggle over Gavin with you like a giddy schoolgirl.”
    “ Lisa, don't be a bitch, this is serious and if you can't be serious I'm going to hang up!”
    “ I'm just saying. But anyway,” she went on, “what did you want to tell me?”
    “ Some creep is following me and I don't know who — or why. He's always sending me messages about how much he wants to, I don't know, own me, and today he broke into my locker and filled it with flowers and carved the word 'mine' into the door with a knife.” Val's voice broke. “I think he's watching me on the track field, too, but I can't tell my mom or she might call the coach and have them take me off. I'm scared, Lisa, and I don't know what to do.”
    “ God,” Lisa said reverently, “and you have no idea who it is?”
    “ No,” said Val.
    Lisa clicked her tongue. “It's like something out of a movie. Remember that one — ”
    “ This isn't a movie, Lisa, and I'm freaking out because he seems to know a whole lot about my schedule, and a whole bunch of other stuff about me. I'm really starting to think that he might do something. Try something. You know?”
    “ I'm sorry.” Thoughtful silence. “I know! I'll tell James to eat with us at lunch. He's big.”
    “ It's not lunchtime that freaks me out,” said Val, “It's when I'm alone .”
    “ Oh. Well. Have you ever stopped to consider that it might be Lover Boy? He's unhinged.”
    “ Lisa — ”
    “ Okay. Fine. It's not him. Who is it then? What does he want? And why from you?”
    Val hugged her knees to her chest, leaning back against her fuzzy pillow. “I wish I knew.”
    “ I'd still bring it up with Gavin. See what he says, and whether or not he acts guilty. He's who I'd suspect.”
    “ You're just saying that because you don't like him.”
    “ No, I don't, and you shouldn't, either.”
    “ Lisa!” Val closed her eyes. “Look. I also called you because I wanted to ask you for help.”
    “ Help with what?”
    “ You know everyone. Well … almost everyone. Everyone in our grade, anyway. Will you see what you can find out, or if