Page 67 of Bookgasms
“Would you want to admit to your ex that you transferred schools to be closer to her? Especially after she’s already told you she doesn’t want to be anything more than friends?”
I wince. “Fuck. I definitely wouldn’t want to be anywhere near her, but I can see your point. That wouldn’t be something he wants to admit. But if he’s willing to move to a different college to be near her, what else is he willing to do?”
Could Gary be Dani’s stalker? Changing colleges to be near her seems like stalker behavior to me.
Maya’s eyes widen. “You don’t think that he could be…”
“I mean, we don’t have any other leads. Maybe if we tug at this string, we’ll find something? Or maybe we won’t, but we won’t know until we try, will we?”
She nods slowly as she continues to click around the site. “Yeah, you’re right.”
I lean my head against her shoulder, watching as she checks various things. I don’t do much social media—I pay someoneto do that shit for me—so I’m not overly familiar with the site, meaning I’m not sure exactly what she’s looking for.
When she gasps, I sit up and lean closer to look at the screen. “What?”
“These are all messages from Gary,” she says, scrolling through pages and pages of unanswered messages. “These go back years. Maybe this is why she doesn’t use it.”
“That’s definitely weird, but is it enough for the cops to look into him?”
She sighs. “No. Probably not. Okay, well, that was mostly a bust. Let’s check her emails. I already checked the account she uses for school and the one for Behind the Lens, but there’s a different address listed as a recovery email for those. I don’t know if she has the password saved, but it’s worth a shot.”
Maya pulls up a popular email provider, and this, I’m more versed in, as it’s what I use for my email too. As soon as she types in the email address, the password populates, and we let out a sigh of relief. Maya flips through the inbox, finding mostly junk mail. Although there’s something from her high school saying they’re already planning the ten-year reunion for her class—which seems weird since that’s still four years out, but what do I know?
I certainly didn’t attend any of my reunions and have zero desire to attend any in the future.
Maya runs her hand over her face, trying to mask her frustration at finding nothing here, but doing a piss-poor job of it. She’s just about to close out of the account when something catches my attention.
I shoot my hand out and grab her arm. “Wait.”
“What?” she asks as I lean closer with a frown.
“That folder right there.” I point to the screen. “It seems to have a lot of unread messages, but it’s not one of the folders the provider sets up.”
She hums, clicking on it. Her eyes go wide when it reveals there are over 2,000 unread messages in the folder. “Holy shit.”
“What?” I ask even as I lean in once more, my eyes catching on the sender of the emails. “No fucking way.”
“Fucking Gary,” she mutters, going back to the start of the emails and clicking on the first one, which appears to be one of two that have been opened.
Danielle,
I know you said we couldn’t be together anymore, and I respect your choice to focus on school. Thank you for still being willing to be my friend. I love you so much, and I know we’re meant to be together. I have no problem in allowing you time to find yourself before you come back to me.
I hope you don’t mind my emailing you like this. There are just some things that are hard to say to you out loud and sending them to you via email makes it so much easier.
Love always, Gary
She backs out and clicks on the other one that’s been opened.
Danielle,
You looked beautiful today. That dress looks like it was made for you. I know youasked for some space, so I made sure not to approach you.
I hope that by the fall, you’ll have had all the time you need for yourself. But if not, don’t worry, I’ll always be here waiting.
Love always, Gary
“That’s creepy as fuck,” I say, shaking my head.
