Zenon's Game Chapter 320

I was happy that Jake was realizing his dream.  It gave me comfort seeing others rise out of bad situations.  He said I inspired him to write the song, but now I'm inspired by him.  If he makes it out, that represents us.  That means I can too.

I picked up my phone and checked his Instagram story to see the fun he was having at the bar.  He tagged me in a photo and I scrolled through it and the other photos I'd been recently tagged in.  The photos of Dubai and Bianca's puppy love comment.

And, suddenly, the two worlds collided.

Jake's song lyrics and Bianca's comment.

The shock rocked through my system.  I dropped my phone into my shoe, jumped out of my chair and headed towards my closet.  With shaky hands, I rummaged through my clothes until I picked up a shoe box I had stashed in the back.

If I was right ...

I sat on the floor, folding my legs, and placed the cardboard box in front of me.  I never thought it would come to this.

I'd stashed every single piece of evidence I had from the blackmailer in this box.  I opened it.

The cleaned jersey was folded on top.  I took that out first.  Then there was a notepad full of clues and alibis I had collected from people at various moments in time.  I dug into the box and pulled out the first letter I had received.

It was in a pastel blue envelope.  Written in capitals, was the blackmailer's first threat:

STAY AWAY FROM ZENON AND JAKE,

UNLESS YOU WANT TO SEE THE LENGTHS I'LL TAKE,

TO END YOU.

PUPPY LOVE DOESN'T LAST,

BUT PHOTOS DO.

STR-I-P-PERS AND HO-ES,

MAKE EASY FOES.

SLEEP WELL CANDACE.

I've read it a hundred times before, but this time, two words stood out.  First line, second paragraph:

Puppy love.

I was still on the floor and crawled back to reach my phone in my shoe.  I stretched, grabbed it, opened it and checked Bianca's comment on the photo of Zenon and me.

Puppy love.

I looked back at the letter.  And then back at the phone.

And back at the letter.

Same words.

Bianca.  It's been Bianca all along.

I lowered the letter and my phone to the floor and sat back, in shock.

Holy jumping mother of a weasel

Puppy love is not a super common phrase.  We write things every day, texts, essays, emails... she must have forgotten what she wrote all those months ago.

"What do I do?  I don't know what to do!" I said, my voice getting increasingly loud as I started to panic.

I stood up, looking around my room, not sure of my next move.  This wasn't exactly hard evidence, but it was a lead.  It had to be!

"OH FLIP!" I flapped my hands in the air.

My bedroom door opened, and Heidi poked her head inside, "Everything ok?"

"All good," I replied, pretending like nothing was wrong.  I was standing with one shoe on, and my hands raised like a bird's.

She shrugged and closed the door, but not before I heard her on the phone telling Matt, "It's just my sister being weird again.  Nothing new."

Nothing new?  Not from this view.

I had to find Zenon.  I don't know why I felt like I was running out of time, but I had to find him.

Zenon Albert lives in my mind, rent free.

He's who I think of when I try to sleep. He's who I compare every boy to. Healthy or unhealthy, my mind loops back to Zenon. Always.

I ran across the street, zipping my brown jacket up to my chin. The letter was folded in my jacket pocket, and I held onto it like it was my most precious possession.

Zenon's jeep wrangler was parked outside his driveway. It hadn't been there when I first came home, so he probably just got back from wherever he's been.

I reached the Dawsons' flower bushes and resisted temptation to pluck some daisies. I was here on a mission. But I didn't want to knock on the front door because I didn't want to see his parents.

They've been so rude to my family and to me, that I didn't want to put myself in a submissive position again.

I walked around the flower bushes to the side of their house and stared up at Zenon's bedroom window. This would be so much easier if Zenon hadn't left the bar early, if he'd come looking for me or if he would answer his damn phone.

"Zenon!" I called up. He didn't hear me.

"ZENON!" I yelled louder.

No movement. I stared at the tree next to his house. Its branches extended so close to Zenon's window. Should I? No. That would be a disaster. But... maybe?

I looked around. No one was here to witness this, so how bad could it go? I shuffled closer to the tree and reached out to touch it.

It didn't fall over, so that's a good sign.

I grabbed onto a low branch and tried to climb, convincing myself to just channel my inner raccoon.

I was stuck in a tree.

I didn't know how to get to the next branch, and I was scared of going back down. So I just sat there, reflecting on my life's decisions.

It's much harder to get up a tree than it is to come down. Lesson learned.

I heard Zenon's voice as he walked out of his house, completely unaware of my current situation - above him. I used my new viewpoint to stare down at him. No bald spot. Just a fluffy head of hair.

"Bryce, it's not difficult. Keep your mouth shut... no, not even Irvin... I'm handling it... maybe I'll take a bubble bath to relax."