Chapter 22

Chiara

I’m bleary eyed the next morning when I wake up. I had been up most of the night rereading old conversations between Felix and I and agonizing over if blocking him had been the right decision. I know that it was, but it hurt all the same.

Eventually, I decided to delete the accounts I had made as Iris entirely. Even with his contact blocked, I was able to go back and look at old messages and I was driving myself crazy, pouring over every conversation for signs I had missed.

A loan groan escapes my lips as I pull myself out of bed and stretch my sore muscles. I look at the clock and see that I am running late. I debate skipping school entirely, but worry that it will look suspicious if I don’t go after what happened at the competition yesterday.

I quickly, not wanting to draw attention to myself by walking in after the bell. When I arrive at school, everyone is talking about Vedant’s public display at the competition.

My stomach turns when I pass a group of freshmen talking about how romantic gesture was. The whole pack knows about Iris.

I keep my head down as I continue to class, slipping into my usual seat when I arrive. No one has any reason to think that I’m Iris, in fact they would probably laugh at the idea, but I’m still nervous.

I watch as one of the boys sitting in front of me pulls out his phone and gestures for the girl next to him to look. “Vedant must really be serious about this Iris girl. Look what he posted on the forum this morning.”

I suppress a gasp and quickly pull out my phone to check the school forum. My eyes go wide when I see what he’s posted. Not only has he made a plea asking the whole school to search for me, but he has also offered a reward to anyone who comes forward with any accurate information.

My face heats when I realize how serious he is. He really cares for me, or who he thinks I am anyway. I push the thought aside.

It doesn’t matter. If Vedant ever finds out that I’m Iris, any feelings he has will vanish. Vedant thinks I am responsible for his brother’s death, it doesn’t matter how much he thinks he loves Iris, his loathing for me, Chiara will win out.

I hide a shudder as I think about how he would react if he ever finds out Iris’s true identity. I’m sure he would claim that I knew he was Felix the whole time, and that I had been manipulating him somehow.

The pair in front of me continues gossiping about the post. The girl leans in, “Well there has to be some way to find her. If they met online, I bet there’s a way to track her IP address or something.”

I still. I hadn’t thought about Vedant being able to track me down that way. If he’s willing to offer a reward for information that might lead him to me, I don’t doubt that he would go as far as having my messages traced. I need to get a new phone and probably a new laptop too,

I spend the rest of the day subtly listening to other students’ conversations to make sure that no one suspects that I am secretly Iris. I hear my name tossed out once as a joke, but that’s all it is. No one believes that the wolfless pack orphan could say enough of value to attract Vedant in such a way.

I swallow my pride at the insult. It’s a good thing that no one thinks it could be me. Vedant makes my life hard enough without the knowledge that I’m Iris.

The final bell rings and I rush to the cafeteria to start my cleaning there. I need to finish my punishment before the shops close. I can’t risk Vedant being able to track my messages back to me.

I finish in record time and then sprint home. I quickly wipe my phone and my laptop and then run back to town. I arrive at the small electronic shop in town minutes before closing.

The clerk looks at me, “Can I help you.”

I pant for a minute, out of breath before straightening and giving her a response. “Sorry, I ran to catch you before closing. I would like to exchange my old devices for new ones please.”

The salesclerk raises her eyebrows, but gestures for me to place my items on the counter. After a brief assessment she allows me to trade in my items. I do need to pay a small amount for the new devices even with the trade in discount, but it is worth it to know that Vedant won’t be able to track me.

Vedant

In the days following the competition my every thought revolves around Iris. I made a fool of myself at the competition looking for her and I will do it again if I have to. I know that we can work through whatever the problem is, I just need to find her.

I look at my phone. I have been messaging her nonstop since the competition, but since the first few messages I’ve been getting an error back. I keep trying in the hopes that she will come to her senses and unblock me, but so far, no luck.

I sigh as I try to decipher what Mr. Pluteus wrote on the board. It’s no use, I hadn’t been paying attention. I had been too consumed by my thoughts of Iris.

The bell sounds and I gather my things. What if Iris is someone from New Moon pack? What if she goes to this school?

I check my post on the forum hoping that someone has found something about Iris, but so far, no luck. I tuck my phone back in my pocket, and head for the door. As I do I pause when I see that Chiara has gotten a new phone.

I think about the error messages that come in every time I try to text Iris. Is it possible that Chiara had gotten a new phone to prevent me from realizing that she is Iris.

Doubt creeps in, I had been down this path before, and every time Chiara does something that convinces me that her and Iris are not the same person. I consider letting it go, but something in me won’t let me.

I approach Chiara. “Is that a new phone?”

Chiara quickly slips the phone into her bag before responding. “Oh, yeah. Mine broke so I had to get a replacement.”

She broke her phone. That’s a perfectly reasonable explanation, but the way that she hid her phone when I asked sets me on edge. She’s hiding something.

“Were you at the competition the other night? I didn’t see you there.”

Chiara lowers her head. “No. I was still at the school. I hadn’t finished cleaning for the day, and I didn’t want to risk you extending my punishment if I did a bad job.”

I nod. I had ordered Chiara to clean the school every night, and Iris had said she would come to the competition. If Chiara was following orders she wouldn’t have told me she would come.

I ignore the pang of disappointment in my chest. The stupid mate bond is making me crazy.