Page 47 of Under the Lights

Not this soupy mess clinging to my skin like a wet blanket.

When I turned my gaze back to the laptop, I began my search anew.

With each click, I felt like I was getting further away from my destination, like I was in a tangled maze with more dead ends than I could count.

It was as if someone had designed this system to wear me down by burying the truth beneath so much nonsense that I would eventually give up.

The deeper I dug, the more everything blurred together, and I started to wonder if that was the point. Drown the truth in noise. Smother it with digital static.

This setup reminded me of David — a foolproof way to save your own skin. All surface, no spine. That was David in a nutshell. And I dated that.

Because back then, I thought I wanted stability. Perfection. Or at least the appearance of it.

The resume-worthy boyfriend with the golden smile, the fake-chivalry act, the perfect photos for the feed. I got caught up in the packaging and ignored the fact that the box was empty.

I slid all my notes back into the folder with precise care, tucking the edges square and smooth. Then I slipped the manila envelope back into its spot on the shelf. Spine facing out, perfectly aligned.

No one would suspect a thing. Not from me.

I kept things pretty. Polished. Safe.

***

The air was thick and humid, coating my skin and making me sweat even though I was barely moving. Fucking gross.

Summer here was just all kinds of wrong. I shouldn’t be pooling in sweat just because I stepped outside.

And it was only June. The worst of it hadn’t even hit yet. Just like everything else in my life right now — hot, heavy, and only getting harder to breathe through.

My steps echoed through the mostly empty parking garage. With so many people gone for the summer, there were more spots available than I’d ever seen.

Like the shadows surrounding me, I lurked, watched, and bided my time. I was a ghost from David’s past who had justbegunto haunt him.

The advantage of having once been his girlfriend was that I knew what made him tick — at least to a certain extent. The bestplace to intercept David was easy to figure out, seeing as how much he loved his car.

Now that I think about it, that poor car had probably witnessed more action than a porn director.Yuck.

The sound of distant, echoing footsteps reached my ears, thudding briskly on the concrete. I leaned against his car, out of his line of sight. But he would have to get past me to get to the driver’s door.

And there he was — gym bag slung over his shoulder, hair freshly gelled, those stupid boat shoes on his feet. Gross. The smug confidence radiating off him made my anger spike all over again.

Anger at him. At this entire situation. At the fact that they were still strutting around like they owned the place, spending money that wasn’t theirs. They wouldn’t — they couldn’t — get away with this. Over my fucking dead body.

People always smiled when they sank the knife in. I’d learned that as the girl everyone wanted to be — until they didn’t. Until they saw a crack in the crown and rushed to rip it off my head.

That kind of attention didn’t come with real friendship. It came with hidden agendas and loyalty that vanished the moment it stopped serving them.

Letting anyone in had never been an option, especially when everyone was just waiting for me to mess up. Every connection was a calculation. Every secret, a weapon waiting to be used the second I slipped.

And when the betrayal came from the people who were supposed to protect me? That rewired something in me. I didn’t just expect betrayal anymore — I planned for it. I braced for it. It was instinct now, burned into my reflexes.

So yeah, I’d been paranoid. But I’d also been right.Again.

And David? David was just the latest asshole to prove my point. Another walking, talking red flag in a sea of them.

He rounded the front of the car, whistling, then raised his eyes … and froze, rooted to the spot.

I pushed myself off the shiny metal, turning to face him with a blank expression. Calm, collected. I was in control.

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