Chapter 53

Andy's POV

Emily shook her head, her eyes full of sympathy.
“I don’t know, Andy. But whatever it is, it’s personal. She’s obsessed with hurting you. And from what I heard… I think she’s planning something even worse than she has done.

I buried my head in my hands as frustration washed over me. I couldn't ever get a moment of peace.
What had I ever done to Marissa to deserve this from her?

“Say exactly what you heard,” Bree demanded, her voice sharp, cutting through the night like a knife. Emily flinched but quickly nodded, knowing the gravity of the situation.

“Well I didn’t hear much but what I heard her say…” Emily started before taking a huge breath.

“When I heard her voice, her exact words were, ‘That stupid bitch deserves everything that has happened and whatever is coming to her. Yes, let’s move on with the foolproof plan.’ And then she added, ‘Andy should have just given up and killed herself after the whole Jake thingy, but I’m sure after this one? She won’t be able to show up outside ever again’” she explained, quoting Marissa.

Her words hit me hard and I felt suffocated almost immediately. ‘She should have just killed herself’? What kind of sane person says that? To anyone at all?

“And she didn’t say what the plan was?” Bree asked, her eyes narrowing, pressing for more details.

Emily shook her head. “No, just that they were going to go ahead with it. That’s all I heard.”

I couldn’t speak. My throat felt tight, and my chest was burning with fury, with fear, with an overwhelming need to do something.

I couldn’t just stand here while Marissa plotted something terrible. I had to find her and ask her what had I even done to her and why she hated me to the point of wanting me dead. Oh my goodness.

“We need to go meet her and put her in her place,” I finally said, my voice shaky with a mixture of anger and frustration. “Now.”

Tyler, who had not said anything since we got here, finally spoke up. “I know exactly where she would be.”

Bree whipped her head toward him. “Where?”

“She hangs out by the pier with some of the lifeguards this time of night,” Tyler explained, already starting to move in that direction. “Come on.”

We got up and followed Tyler as he led us to wherever Marissa was. My heart was beating fast and my anger was rising with every step that I took. When we got to the pier, Marissa was sat there. She was with one of her lifeguard friends and they were talking casually and she had that stupid smile of hers on her face.

“Tyler, call her over. You know how both of you are, she wouldn’t hesitate,” Bree whispered to Tyler as she watched Marissa with eyes filled with rage.

Tyler nodded and walked ahead of us, calling out to Marissa. “Hey, Marissa! Can you give me a minute? I have something to tell you.”

She looked over at him with a sweet smile on her face, but when she saw us standing next to him, her face turned into an unreadable expression. Still, she stood up and walked over, leaving her lifeguard friend by the post.

“What do you want to talk about?” She asked as she got to us with a clipped voice.

I didn’t wait for Tyler or anyone else to talk. I stepped forward, my voice shaking with anger.

“We know what you’ve been doing, Marissa. What you’ve been planning. We know what you did” I said, anger evident in my tone.

As she heard my words, she looked stunned for a minute but as soon as it flashed across her face, it was gone and replaced with the stupid smile she always had on.

“Excuse me?” She said as she crossed her arms across her chest tightly.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” she asked.

“Stop this façade,” Bree spoke up as she moved closer to Marissa.
“We heard you. We overheard you talking about Andy. We know you’re planning something. So just admit it.”

Marissa let out a small laugh as she wore a serious expression.
“What was I saying? What did you hear me say? Where is your evidence?” She asked with a voice filled with condescension.

“You guys can’t just be going around and accusing innocent people- like me about things they don’t know about.” she added.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, drop the act. You know exactly what we are talking about,” I spat at her but she looked at me with a mock hurt expression.

“You’re accusing me wrongly. I could sue you for defamation of character, you know?” She said in a sugary voice and I had to hold myself from slapping her across the face.

She had some audacity, she was already caught and yet she was still acting like she knew nothing about what we were saying. What kind of crazy person were we even dealing with? I felt my blood boiling and before I could stop myself, I moved closer to her and yelled at her.

“You really don’t have any shame, do you? What the hell did I ever do to you? Why are you so obsessed with trying to ruin my life?” I asked. I desperately needed an answer.

I could swear I saw something evil and malicious flash across her eyes but before I could even blink my eyes, it was gone as fast it came. She smirked at me.

“The moment you decided to exchange words with me and feel like you had the right to argue or go against my words. You provoked the wrong person,” she let out in a cold and sharp voice.

I forgot how to breathe momentarily as I took in the coldness of her words and the way she was looking at me. But before I could think of something to say, her innocent look was back on her face as she smiled at me.
“But I swear,” she started saying in that same sweet voice. “I do not know what you guys are talking about.”

With that, she turned around on her heels and walked back to the post to meet her friend, leaving me and the others speechless and frozen in place.

The moment I decided to exchange words with her? That was what I did to her? That was why she had it out for me? That why she wanted me to give up and kill myself? Marissa is crazy!

I wanted to run after her and get her to admit everything but there was no way I could. There was no proof. Nothing to hold against her except for Emily’s overheard conversation. And Marissa knew that. She knew we couldn’t touch her.

“Let’s get out of here,” Tyler said, his voice breaking the silence.
“There is no point in standing here, we have to figure out something.”

We nodded and I felt so helpless, Bree and I bade Tyler and Emily goodbye as we walked back to the mansion. I was quiet throughout. We both were.

When we finally got home, Jason was just sitting by the table and reading some documents. He looked up from what he was doing as we walked into the house and a frown made its way to his face.

“Why do you both look like that? What happened?” He asked, his voice filled with concern.

Bree didn’t hesitate, she sat down across from him and told him everything we had experienced. She explained everything- what Emily had overheard, our confrontation with Marissa, her refusal to admit anything.

Jason’s expression darkened as Bree spoke. When she was done explaining, Jason looked very angry and was silent for a moment. When he finally looked up, his eyes were far away.

“Don’t worry, I would have someone keep an eye on her,” he let out in a quiet voice and I knew he was trying his best to remain calm.

“If she makes any move or plans anything, we would be alerted.” he said.

I immediately felt relieved because I knew Jason was going to do just as he had said. Besides me being his daughter’s friend, he had another reason to protect me so I didn’t have to worry.

“Thank you,” I said to him in a soft voice.

Bree nodded beside me, her shoulders finally starting to relax. “Thanks dad.”

Jason gave her a small, reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. We’ll handle this.”