Page 55 of Raise 'Em Up

Colton presses play and we watch the screen. It only shows an empty gym. That is until someone makes their way inside the room. “Who's that?” Mateo asks.

“Not a guy. Too short and small,” Lennox says.

They have a ladder with them. Pulling it into the center of the room, they set it up and start climbing up. “Holy shit, is that a crowbar?” Donny asks when the person pulls something from their side.

“Shut up and watch,” Mateo mutters.

The person starts beating the shit out of the pipe. They go at it for a while until finally it explodes, sending water spraying everywhere.

“Shit.” Donny chuckles, getting a slap from Lennox on the arm.

The pressure of the water sends the person tumbling off the ladder and onto the ground. They scramble to get up, and when they do, the hood of their sweatshirt has fallen down. “Can you zoom in?” I ask.

“On it.” Colton zooms in on the person’s face and hits pause.

“Fucking Missi!” I hiss, pure fucking rage filling me.

“I knew she was too damn quiet,” Lennox hisses. “I bet the bitch was spending all this time scheming.”

“Why would she fuck with the gym?” Donny asks.

“Because she’s pissed she’s not on the team,” I tell him. “She could individually mess with someone, but they can be replaced, if needed. No, instead, she did this to fuck with our practice time, knowing we’re so close to Regionals. Crazy bitch is trying to throw us off.”

“I’m going to fucking kill her,”Colton growls.

“Not if I beat you to it,” Lennox says.

“I’m never going to be rid of her, am I?” I sigh.

“How do you think I feel?” Lennox mutters.

“I’m sorry, baby.” I wrap my arms around him.

“What are we going to do about her?” Donny asks.

“I don’t fucking know, but we’re not letting her get away with this shit. She wants to fuck with the team? This means fucking war,” Colton says, chest heaving.

I don’t know what her game is, but I don’t want to play. Colton might wanna hit back, but it’s only going to make her retaliate harder, and given that she’s batshit crazy, it wouldn’t be good. Not at all.

Leaving practice, I wait for the guys and Rylee. After the gym was vandalized, I don't feel comfortable letting Ry out of my sight. I don’t care if the gym is fixed now or that there are cameras.

We all know it was Missi. Colt is still planning his revenge, but she’s unstable, we don’t know what she’s going to pull next.

She's a fucking psycho.

“Hey, did you want to grab some pizza?” I ask the group, and they all nod, except Donny.

He's swaying on his feet and yawning.

“You guys have fun. I'm out,” he mumbles, then walks off with his shoulders slumped and head down.

Rylee moves to go after him, but I put my hand on her arm, stopping her. She looks at me, and I know she's about to mouth off, so I lean down and kiss her to shut her up.

She shoves me away and I laugh, licking the taste of her from my lips.

“What the hell, Teo? I'm worried about him. Can't you see something isn't right?”

I nod and she puts her hands on her hips. Felicia, Ursula, and Serenity walk out of the gym and over to us.

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