Chapter 79. Bitten by an Insect

Vanessa's POV

It had been a week since everything happened—the chaos, the news, the press, the shame. All of it had slowly begun to melt into silence. The world had moved on, or maybe it just stopped watching me so closely. For once, my phone wasn’t buzzing with blog posts I didn’t want to see, or videos of people tearing me apart. And I could breathe.

Claire and I were in my room, curled up on my bed, our legs tangled like we used to as kids, eating ice cream. We were working on her online store, compiling a long list of products and ideas, when my phone buzzed.

Mr. Garcia.

I ignored it. Flipped the phone over so I wouldn’t see the messages.

“Do you think I should use this?” Claire asked, passing me a paper.

“Yeah, pink is best. The ladies would love it,” I agreed.

“Okay.”

Another buzz from my phone. Then a third one. I glanced at it quickly.

“Come outside,” the message read.

So rude, I thought.

I st