The Academy

The next few months went about the same. Sam and I would have coffee in the café or hang out in one of the student lounges. We would attempt to come up with plans with the help of Charlotte and Breanna but so far all the information they gave us seemed little to no help with taking down Michelle, with trying to get my life back. Sam was nice enough to keep me company though, which I was thankful for.

Winter break came and went. I spent it in Beverly Hills, alone in my room mostly as my mom was working on a script and my dad was helping Devin, Brent, Andrew, Jeff, Jimmy, and Zach with their album. Of course, they ended up ignoring me. That didn’t surprise me in the least bit.

After break, I was back at Kloss. I walked towards the café, the cold air around me causing me to pull my jacket closer to me. I sighed and saw my breath puff out in front of me. My hands shook as I ran one through my hair. I stepped into the café, the aroma of coffee and pastries helped with warming me up. I walked straight back to Sam and I’s usual table. Sitting in the back helped so not many people paid attention to us, and since we were meeting with Charlotte and Breanna not calling attention to ourselves was probably best.

I sat down at the table and patiently waited for Sam. I wasn’t in the mood for coffee but it’d probably help warm me up a bit. Every time the bell rung, signaling the door opening, I’d look around the corner hoping it’d be Sam or Charlotte and Breanna. It usually ended up being a group of friends, bundled up in their jackets, laughing at a joke one of them told just seconds before the door opened. With each entry, I’d perk up only to slouch down with each disappointment. I was early though, since sitting in a dorm room can only entertain you for so long, so I shouldn’t be expecting every person walking in to be them.

The bell rung again and once again I perked up and looked around. This time I was not disappointed. Sam walked in, pulling his beanie off his head and ordered a coffee at the counter. I smiled slightly, thankful I was no longer alone. He looked back and saw me and he smiled as well as he was handed his coffee and walked back, sitting down in the chair right beside me. He ruffled his hair a bit to get rid of the flatness his hat caused before speaking.

“You haven’t been waiting long have you?” He laughed slightly while asking. “You seemed pretty happy when I showed up.”

“No, I wasn’t. I’ve been here five minutes, maybe,” I lied. I’d actually been here about fifteen minutes now but I didn’t want Sam to feel bad. I arrived early and he’s on time so he has no reason to feel bad.

“Good,” He smiled, taking a sip of his coffee. Then silence took over. Again, I kept checking who was entering whenever the bell rung, still waiting for Breanna and Charlotte. Since I’d received a text that they got something that could potentially help us with the plan, I was rather impatient. “Do you know what they have?” Sam asked. I shook my head.

Soon, I gave up checking who was coming in and just sat still when the bell rang. It rung six more times and then two girls came around the corner. “Sorry we’re late,” Breanna said. “Michelle’s a bit hard to get away from sometimes.”

“She finally decided to take a nap so she dismissed us,” Charlotte added. ‘Dismissed’ them? It made them seem like they were soldiers and she was the lieutenant, which probably was almost true in Michelle’s case. “But we found out some dirt that might help with bringing her down.”

“Apparently that diary she reportedly said was yours is actually hers,” Breanna smirked. “Kind of amateurish to use your own diary instead of going and buying a fake one, but I digress.”

“The diary holds the plan for taking you down,” Charlotte explained. “She was in the shower and just left it out on her desk for the whole world to find so I just happened to drop it on the ground and when it didn’t open, I opened it to a random page and saw the plans.”

“We already know she planned the whole thing though,” I retorted. “How is this supposed to help with bringing her down?”

“One of the items on the plans was to photoshop Christian’s head onto Andy’s,” Breanna defended. “She’d been taking pictures of you guys for months last year and of course snapped a few of Cassie and Christian before he left with Andy and everyone. She has a whole folder on you guys on her computer, including the original Cassie and Christian photo and you and Andy and the photoshopped version.”

“So you’re saying she’s obsessed with me?” My face contorted with confusion.

“She’s obsessed with the guys, not you. You’re just in most of them because she believed she could use them to take you down,” Charlotte paused for a moment. “I don’t think she counted on having the pictures used to take her down.”

They had a point. Showing the pictures Michelle took of us against her isn’t something she’d expect us to do and it had a great potential of working. I looked over at Sam who looked like he was thinking the same thing. I smirked and looked back at the girls across from me. If this worked, I could have my friends back before graduation. I nodded slightly.

“Get the pictures off her computer, put them on a flash drive and deliver it to me but make sure Michelle has no idea. You two have been good at that so far. I’m assuming the pictures have time stamps on them so that’s going to play to our advantage,” I explained. “I’m going to need the diary too but get that to me the day we carry this out.”

They both nodded before getting up and walking out. I looked over at Sam who was smirking at me.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked laughing slightly.

“Oh, uh, nothing,” He answered laughing. “Just I think this plan could work is all.”

It seemed this plan could work and hopefully I’d be getting my life back soon.