The message stayed on Scarlett’s phone all night.
You look prettier when you’re scared.
She must have read it fifty times.
Each time the words felt colder.
Crueler.
By morning, Scarlett looked like she hadn’t slept at all.
Because she hadn’t.
The hallway at Westview High felt different now.
Not just tense.
Hostile.
Whispers followed her like shadows.
“There she is.”
“The paranoid cheer captain.”
“I heard she accused half the school of stalking her.”
Scarlett kept walking.
Head high.
Shoulders straight.
If they thought she was going to fall apart in front of them, they were wrong.
But inside?
Her nerves were shredded.
Mia caught up to her near the lockers.
“You look like hell,” Mia said bluntly.
“Good morning to you too.”
“I’m serious, Scar.”
Scarlett pulled out her phone and showed her the message.
Mia’s expression changed instantly.
“Okay… that’s not funny.”
“I told you.”
Mia stared at the photo again.
“Someone took this yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“But you were sitting alone.”
“I know.”
A chill crept across Mia’s face.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “That’s… creepy.”
“Creepy?” Scarlett scoffed. “It’s proof.”
Mia hesitated.
“Proof that someone texted you. Not proof they’re stalking you.”
Scarlett felt anger flare in her chest.
“Are you serious?”
“I’m just saying we need more than one message.”
Scarlett’s hands clenched.
“Fine,” she snapped. “Let’s get more proof.”
—
By lunchtime, the plan was set.
If someone was watching Scarlett, they would catch them in the act.
Mia had recruited two of her friends—Jason and Lily—to help.
They met behind the gym near the back exit of the school, where the security cameras barely reached.
Jason leaned against the brick wall.
“So we’re basically ghost hunters now?”
“Stalker hunters,” Mia corrected.
Lily glanced nervously down the alley behind the building.
“This place is creepy.”
Scarlett crossed her arms.
“This is where I keep feeling watched.”
Ethan appeared a few minutes later.
Scarlett hadn’t asked him to come.
But somehow he showed up anyway.
“Why are you here?” she asked.
Ethan looked around the alley, studying the shadows.
“Because whoever’s doing this is smart.”
Jason raised an eyebrow.
“And you’re what? Sherlock Holmes?”
Ethan ignored him.
His gaze returned to Scarlett.
“What’s the plan?”
Scarlett took a breath.
“We wait.”
—
Hours passed.
The sun dipped lower.
Classes ended.
Students went home.
The school grew quiet.
Scarlett sat on the cold concrete steps behind the gym, staring at the empty back parking lot.
Nothing moved.
Nothing happened.
Jason checked his watch.
“This is a waste of time.”
“Just wait,” Scarlett said.
But doubt was creeping in.
What if Mia was right?
What if she really was imagining it?
Another thirty minutes passed.
Still nothing.
Lily yawned.
Jason sighed loudly.
“I’m going home.”
Mia rubbed her temples.
“Scar… maybe tonight just isn’t the night.”
Scarlett’s stomach twisted.
“You don’t believe me either.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“But you’re thinking it.”
Mia looked guilty.
“I just haven’t seen anything.”
Scarlett felt her chest tighten.
Every single person.
Even Mia.
Even Ethan looked unsure now.
Then suddenly—
The lights inside the cheer training room flicked on.
All of them turned.
The gym building stood silent.
But the windows of the training room glowed bright.
Scarlett frowned.
“No one should be in there.”
Jason squinted.
“Motion sensor?”
Ethan shook his head.
“Those lights are manual.”
Scarlett’s pulse spiked.
Without thinking, she ran toward the door.
“Scarlett—” Mia called.
Too late.
Scarlett shoved the door open.
The hallway inside the gym echoed with her footsteps.
The cheer training room door stood slightly open.
Light spilled across the floor.
Scarlett pushed it wider.
And froze.
Her cheer uniform hung from the mirror wall.
Shredded.
Cut into dozens of jagged pieces.
The red and white fabric dangled like ribbons of skin.
Scarlett’s stomach flipped violently.
“No…”
Behind her, the others rushed in.
“Oh my God,” Lily whispered.
Jason swore.
Mia stared at the ruined uniform in horror.
“Who did this?”
Scarlett’s hands trembled.