Chapter 179: ...Comes Around
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Gigi’s eyes lit up with that familiar thrill of gossip as she leaned closer over the lab table. "Wait, you seriously haven’t checked out the anonymous post on the school forum? It’s totally blowing up-like, people are analyzing it as if it’s a true-crime documentary."
I laughed before I could help it, the sound escaping sharper than I meant as I grabbed my backpack and slung it over my shoulder.
"I haven’t been on that forum for the past three months," I replied, rolling my eyes. "Not after everyone turned my ’beef’ with Vanessa into the most entertaining reality show on campus. Half the threads were just memes of me falling into the pool on repeat and edits of me bitch slapping Vanessa which never even happened. No thanks."
Skylar burst out laughing, rifling through her bag until she pulled out a crinkly packet of spicy chips. The scent of chili and lime wafted over as she ripped it open and offered it around.
"Fair point," she said, munching on one. "That place is a total cesspool on a good day."
Gigi dramatically rolled her eyes, snagging a chip from Skylar’s stash.
"Still, it’s kinda weird, don’t you think? Vanessa would rather pull her own hair out than leave Brookstone in the middle of senior year. She’s the cheer captain, running for prom queen, and practically has the Snow Queen crown already for next week’s Snow Ball-she’s all about that stuff. She’d never miss any of it."
Skylar nodded, crunching thoughtfully. "Yeah, super suspicious timing. One day she’s strutting down the hall like she owns the place, and the next, her house is empty and there’s a For Sale sign out front. No heads-up, no tearful Instagram farewell like you’d expect...nothing."
Gigi leaned in closer, lowering her voice conspiratorially, even though the room was loud enough to drown us out.