Bayla made it sound as if Larissa’s behavior was nothing out of the ordinary.

Just the way she’d talked to the DeLoughreys earlier had scared me. And I was worried that this guy was serious and might even turn up here and cause a bloodbath.

Even if the Ruisangors were playing by the rules of the treaty here in Blairville, they couldn’t be trusted. They were gradually buying up parts of our territory, and that was slowly making them a bit too powerful.

“Larissa, leave her alone now!”

“It’s all right, Bayla.”

“No,” Bay looked at me. “You have to tell her if something’s bugging you. Larissa likes to overstep boundaries.” Bayla paced around the room. “And you can call me Bay.”

Exhausted, she dropped onto her bed. Somehow, she looked paler than usual.

“Don’t talk like I’m not here.” Larissa looked at me, rolling her eyes. “I just want to help Julie.”

“I’m fine on my own,” I refused with gratitude, but something told me I wasn’t going to get out of this one just like that.

“So, how is it that you’re never seen making out on campus?”

“Larissa!” Bay looked at her best friend with widened eyes.

“He’s not my boyfriend!” I said with a little nervousness. “He’s a friend.”

Larissa raised one of her eyebrows as if she didn’t believe me. “Why don’t people see you two on campus anyway?”

I didn’t know what to say. Actually, I was pretty much sitting on the serving platter.

“Larissa...” Bay reminded her again, but just shook her head in resignation when Larissa seemed to ignore her and continued talking instead.

“Simply because you two have never met.”

My heart stopped treacherously.

I saw Bay’s jaw drop in the background.

“How the heck would you know that?” she asked in amazement. “Stop making such predictions about relationships and study for your degree instead.”

“She’s right...” I sighed a little too softly, but loud enough for both of them to hear me.

“Ha!” Larissa looked triumphantly at Bayla. “That would be my twenty dollars.”

“You told her without my permission and immediately made a bet on it?” I asked, dumbfounded, and pulled my laptop closer to me to close the open chat.

Now, Bayla was blushing. “We always bet on whether her relationship predictions about other couples are right, and in case she’s right, she gets 20 dollars from me, if she’s wrong, I get the money.”

“You’ll be poor soon, Bay.” Larissa laughed, but then looked back at me. “And now for you.” I just wanted to sink into the ground. “Why haven’t you two met yet?”

It was none of her business, but how was I, of all people, supposed to talk my way out of this now?

“Because he doesn’t know I’m studying here.”

Larissa and Bayla looked at me, puzzled.

“Wait, that means you’re both studying here, you’re texting with him, and he doesn’t know that he could theoretically meet you?”

I took a deep breath, then nodded.

“Oh my God, that’s so romantic,” Larissa exclaimed excitedly.

Could she please stop pretending that Erik was more than just a friend? 

“But wait... you’re not stalking him, are you?” Larissa pointed at my laptop; her eyes widened.

“No...” I said quickly. “I’m just trying to find out who he is and if that’s really his name.”

Larissa gave me another crooked grin. “That’s a nice euphemism for stalking, sweetheart.”

“Why don’t you ask him out?” Bay interjected into our awkward dialog.

The thought of meeting him in person overwhelmed me inside.

“First of all, I’d like to know who he is,” I lied, because what I knew about him was enough for me to want to meet him.

“It sounds like you need our help,” Larissa said, standing up and pacing around the room in deep thought.

“I can really manage on my own.”

“That’s why you’ve already found out everything about him, I assume?”

Larissa was right. And yet. This conversation was too uncomfortable for me.

“So... this Erik isn’t called Erik at all?” Larissa sat down cross-legged on her part of the long desk.

“I don’t think so...”

“Mh... And all you have is his number and the information that he attends university here...” She continued to think aloud and adjusted something on her camera. Her long dark blonde hair, which she usually wore in a ponytail, now fell casually and fully over her shoulders. “Do you have any other clues?”

I thought for a moment.

“He does a lot of sport...”

Larissa looked down as if she needed to think.

Then I remembered something I hadn’t even thought about.

“He’s probably part of the football team”

“How long have you been texting?” Larissa asked.