Page 31 of Chasing Headlines
I’d been nice to her. Helped her out. And still, the ruthless little pest couldn’t stand for me not to answer her questions. “Like Meyers did.” I sneered to no one.
I unwrapped chicken sandwich number two and uttered a prayer that this one would taste a bit less like extra-dry cardboard—and maybe something like real food.
From the first bite, I knew that prayer had been in vain.
So far, life after going away to college consisted of being stuck with the world’s crummiest chicken sandwiches, a bunch of overbearing responsibilities, learning anger management ‘tools and techniques.’
It was teammates who wanted a piece of me. A dad who’s depressed and a mom who's . . . gone.
I didn't want toget used to it.
My stomach flipped over and simmered in the acid that constantly churned and ate away at my insides. Heat and anger pulsed from my heart through my veins.Not now, not ever.
Anger turned to rage. I seethed and punched my dashboard. My knuckles, already bruised from this afternoon, screamed in protest. I punched it again anyway.
I won't. I refuse. You hear me?
Whatever I did to deserve this . . . I’ll make it right. Just . . .Pain stabbed me through, all the way through, like a blunt edge shoved between my ribs into my chest. It made everything hurt. Every breath. Every heartbeat.
It hurt every second. Just to be alive.
Chapter Nine
Olivia POV
La Reunion Dormitory
Iheld the phone to my ear as Cathy sighed through the handset for the twenty eighth time.
“What was it called again?”
“Quick. Acc-ess,” she drew out the word in obvious frustration. So palpable, if I set my phone down, I was pretty sure some kind of pinkish-tan ick would ooze out of the speaker and form the word: frustrating.
I tried again to type into the little bar, but my thumb brushed the mousepad and my cursor was someplace else. I needed a new laptop.
“You sure you can't wait until I'm there to do this?” The sound of tapping in the background was Cathy's signature soundtrack. I wasn't entirely sure what to call her other than my friend and resident cyber expert. She coded, she gamed, she scripted, she hacked. But “only for the good guys”, she'd say. I just hoped she and I were always on the same side.
“What if you just sent me the file?” Cathy said.
“Oh, um, sure.” Made sense. “I can do that. But then how?—”
“I’ll unzip it and load everything up on my personal ShareDrive for you. Once it’s done, I’ll forward you the link to the folder. I'll set it up inside the folder you already have access to.” Some more key tapping. “And done.”
“Ok. Now I just need to figure out how to use this.” I selected the file and it blinked red. When I clicked the error a registration form came up. With a fee. I huffed. “Of course, I need to create an account and pay money. Suck.”
“You can just text me when you've sent it.”
“We haven't caught up in ages. This won't take me long.” I filled out the online account form.
“Liv, I'll be there next Friday. We have the whole weekend to catch up.”
“Oh, before Hilda and Dubby get here? Awesome. We can stream this new K-drama Lucy told me about.”
“Deal.” Some more rapid-fire typing. “I need something funny. And romantic. I'm tired oflittle boys.”
I winced. That could mean only one of two things happened. I guessed at which one. “Got hit on by another thirteen-year-old gamer?”
“Ugh, it's depressing,” she said with a groan.