Chapter 7 Scandals

Ava's POV

I fingered the little note Trish had left earlier for me.

It was the same cheerful message i had expected of her. Even though her whereabouts and her logistics was off yhe table.

With a renewed conviction, i made my way towards the first class on my schedule. Industrial sociology.

I had missed more than enough attendance to know I might be carrying the course over next year, all in preparation for a competition. I came third in.

‘This year isnt just for me. Oh lord….’ I whined exasperatedly.

But if the last card up my sleeves for the other courses worked, I could perhaps take a year gap, focus and build my portfolio to some extent before I resumed again.

College was already hard enough. Couple with having to divide your attention between something else that requires so much of your time and physical presence? That was a sure recipe for disaster.

The lecture hall was devoid of any human being when I stepped in. And for a second, I thought I had the wrong venue. I hurriedly checked my phone again,only to discover it was actually the same.

‘Where was everybody?’

I had no friend per se in this class but there were some who took it upon themselves to always leave me with some announcement that had been passed off in my absence.

So I knew certainly, that the class was probably still holding. I had left early to stake a seat at the back, far away from the lecturers prying eyes. But now thinking about it, it’s prolly useless.

Unless…..

I hurriedly made my way to a seat closest to the exit,throwing my weight on it, I slammed my bag on the next and fished out my phone.

My hands flew over the screen rapidly and in less than a second, the search engine vomited a series of information that might or might not have much to do with what I needed.

“Viktoria Dmitri…” the name lulled out gently from my tongue as I read the contents quietly.

“She was twenty two years of age, stood at five three inches tall, a little above fifty one kg, Russian nationality, attended a community college in the suburbs of Moscow, Former National Junior Champion, Ranking currently at twenty fifth in the all stars championship, fluent in russian, English and Ukrainian. Parents-nil. Political standing-nil.”

‘Wow! Thats….a lot.’ I muttered quietly to myself.

The more I read about her, the deeper it seemed I was being sucked in. For someone just two years older than I was, she seemed to have accomplished more than i had when she was just my age.

And that was saying something. Because according to Mum, she’d had little to no help at all in grappling her way up there.

I guess I could say it was impressive. I shrugged mindlessly at that, even though something ugly stirred inside of me. I didn’t want to name it, so I pushed it behind me.

I lost track of time the longer I hopped from one news outlet to the other, seeking for bits and pieces of anything jist out of the ordinary with her.

But every single site had almost the same story amd sometimes just a twist to make it more clickable. There seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary with her,and I really wished I would stop being fixated now.

But that was always the problem!

I turned into a feral dog with an heightened sense of smell, fishing out a bone. I painstakingly went through each and every published article about her life, even memorizing some notable moments, challenges and how she had overcome it all in my head.

Still that wasn’t enough. Apparently. Until I stumbled upon one peculiar site. It as usual  gave out the necessary information for the public and the farther I scrolled down, the more unearthed information came up.

The last one I came across, had my thumb hovering around it shakily. Although the remaining content for some weird reason had been translated to an unknown language, my breath couldn’t help but seize in my throat.

‘BURIED DOPING ALLEGATIONS: Read the full news below’

"How the fuck was I supposed to read below, when it isnt in fûcking—"

"Excuse me?" A male voice interjected my silent crash out, drawing me back to the soft hums going around me.

'W-when did they all get here?!' I stared shockingly at the decent number of people already seated in the hall.

i have been so far gone into my rabbit hole, I totally dissociated from the outside world. There was something definitely wrong with me.

The cool baritone that had wrenched me out of that trance came again. But this time, it seemed nearer than the last. Sliding my gaze up his body, I came face to face with the stranger whose looks could rival most models.

He appeared somewhat burly, like one brute i dont appreciate recalling now.

'W-why had he even come to my head now? Of all the whole time in the world.' I mused quietly to myself.

"Yes? How may I be of help?"

"I asked if this space was a being kept for someone else? Sorry if that may seem bothersome." He showed a lopsided grin as his hands found the back of his hair...sheepishly.

But i couldn't so much as be bothered about a stranger...no lest him, who I have never seen for the little time i had attended this lecture.

"No. No one is occupying the seat. You may have it." I rasped out quickly, now wanting to go back to my digging. I hurriedly yank my bag to myself before returning my attention back to my screen.

The letters flowed seemlessly in the English alphabets, but the words were incomprehensible.

'what to do? What to do?!' My nerves jittered with anxiety

I knew this could have all been one of those baseless claims or scandals that holds no weight in real life. But like Dad would always say, there's no smoke without—

"Sorry but is this—Oh shit I am so sorry!"

His words dulled into a soft noise as the sound of my phone clattering onto the floor echoed around us.

His voice had startled me too closely, I had let go of it immediately. And dare I say, for a guy his physique, he moved swiftly than I thought possible. But not as fast as I was though.

My hand shot out to where the phone slipped to, coincidentally the same time his also did the same. My breath lodged in my throat harshly as the feel of his hands brushed gently against mine creating a spark i didnt know existed.

Time seemed to pause as the awkward position drew our eyes to each other. His light blue ones sparkling with a rather unsettling look as they ping ponged between my light brown ones.

But when I blinked, the little moment dissolved, throwing us back into the now buzzing noise of the lecture hall.

My hand hurriedly pulls away from his and with a slow disoriented blink from him too, he quietly picks up my phone for me. He stretches his hand to pass it off to me, but his eyes caught what I could only assume to be the front page of the site.

A slow smirk breaks cunningly on his face. And for some reasons that agitates me to no end.

I snatched the phone from him, not so nicely before settling back in my chair. I could feel the warmth rapidly making its way all across my chest and up to yhe tips of my ears. They felt hot and burned with embarrassment.

But why was I even embarrassed in the first place? Not like he knew me on a personal level or even on the ice arena. I was almost quite sure, the likes of him didnt know there was probably a functioning and actively running sports program aside...hockey.

"Woah! I am sorry if my actions had come off as intruding..." he raised his hands in mock surrender and that stupid smirk now missing from his face. But I knew better than to trust fools like him.

"Yeah. If you had kept to yourself as you should, then you wouldn't have to feel guilty about invading one's privacy!" I shot back at him, now tuning him out.

But my face morphed into shock and disbelief when I brought my phone up to continue my search.

The site was gone. No trace!

Instead, I was thrown back to the other previous sites i had earlier visited initially. And the worse part there? It didn't strike me enough to take note of the site I had been fixated on.

'Oh My Fûcking Goodness! This cant seriously be happening!' But no matter how much I berated my self internally or searched all around, I still didn't come across it.

All thanks to the nuisance beside me! Fuck me!

The professor comes in no later than my misery began, and ordered for decorum. Soon, yhe lecture began, plunging me into a sour mood all through out.

I had thought my mood would improve following the other scheduled class but yet, it was still the same. I pictured the reason for it–the Industrial sociology class' guy's face, numerous times and imagined soccer punching him.

Still, it wasn't enough to repair my mood. The day finally comes to an end, and the need to freshen up before hopping on the school ice arena, couldnt have been any better.

I headed for the exit with that thought in mind, when my phone chimes with a message.

'Trisha...' my mind filled in before I could check the screen's interface, but my hands nearly dropped the phone again as my body went completely rigid.

Every hair on my body stood on end as a cold wave of terror like never before washed over me.

A picture of my back view had been taken and sent to me. By an unknown number!

Before I could process my next thoughts, another message chimed in. This time my heart dropped to my stomach as I shakily read the text.

"I prefer you better with that black tear-stained face of yours. Now you just look uglier....Even from the back!"

My blood ran cold as the horrible realization hit me hard. That psychopath...has been watching me...But for how long, was what I had no clue of.