67 Is that Steve from Boy Next Door?

Mark

Missy was riding shotgun as soon as I reached Jamie's car. Not only does she own Steve's house now, she owns Jamie's car too. I grumbled as I got into the backseat instead.

"Marky, turn on the radio app on your phone and search the news channels," Jamie said as he started the car.

I looked at the phone in my hand, and there was LJ making a derp face as its screensaver. "This is your phone," I said. I felt my back pockets for my phone and there was nothing there besides my wallet. "I don't have my phone."

"Then, turn on the radio app on my phone," he said, patiently. "Missy, is Steve's phone still ringing?"

I looked at Missy, who was staring at her phone. I realize she had been calling Steve all this time. "Yes, still not picking up," she said. She glanced back at me as Jamie slid into traffic. "Why do you have Jamie's phone?"

"Oh my god, can we tell her?" Jamie suddenly laughed. I slapped the back of his head.

"...Chastity, a singer from the girl band Succulent... "

"OMG THERE IT IS!" "TURN THAT UP!" "OH MY GOD!"

"...was rushed to the hospital this evening, after suffering from a knife wound. She has lost a lot of blood and was unconscious upon arrival to the emergency room...."

"Which hospital?" "They didn't say." "Ssshh, they might announce it." "The fuck they're gonna announce it, the entire Succulent fan club can't turn up at a hospital."

"...It is unclear how the singer received her injury, their record label Big F is withholding information at the moment, claiming to be investigating the incident..."

"OMG, if she says I did it, I will kill her."

"Calm down, Mee. Let's go to the dorm first, maybe that's where Steve is."

"...Succulent is known for their wholesome, angelic image, and strong, supportive fan base, and have never had scandals or hate incidents since they debuted three years ago. They are currently promoting their single, Promise of Forev..."

Jamie's phone suddenly rang. It was Burt. "Burt!"

"Mark?" Burt sounded confused a bit. "Are you with Jamie?"

"Yes!" I fumbled to put him on speaker.

"I called Ned to tell him about Steve and he said to stay away from the dorm, he's there already and there's too many people," Burt said in a rush. "I'm going after LJ, who's definitely going to the dorm to see Rory. Is Missy with you or LJ? Her phone's been busy."

"I'm here!" Missy exclaimed. "I've been calling Steve."

"Has he answered? No, right, otherwise, you would have said so already. Okay, keep calling him. I'm calling Antonia next, she said she was going to the office to organize a search party for Steve."

"We should try the hospital just in case Steve's there," Jamie said.

"St. Francis is the nearest, but the fans might be there already because they'd guess as much, so be careful. Just find Steve and go." And Burt hung up.

"Let's just drive by the emergency entrances," Jamie said. "Keep a lookout for Steve's car."

"...Sugar pop superstar Antonia is planning her next world tour by the end of the year..." I pressed the next button to check out other news stations, but none were reporting about Chastity. Then a social media notification popped up, alerting that the hashtag #ChastitySucculent was trending. I clicked on the alert and my heart fell to the pit of my stomach.

It was post after post about Chastity - people saying she was murdered, people saying she was an innocent victim gone too soon, people saying she was a whore. Sad people, angry people, people who said she deserved it. People getting mad at the people who said she deserved it. "Oh you want proof?" they scoffed and started posting proof. Photos of a guy sitting naked on top of her and strangling her neck while she smiled with lust; a video of her in her underwear, smirking at the camera as she dragged a knife across her panties.

"What's going on?" Missy heard the faint sound coming from the videos and turned around to look at what I was looking at. "Oh my god!"

Oh my god.

I saw it too late and when I jerked the phone away, Missy had seen it, too. It was a photo of Chastity and Steve, naked in bed. You could tell it was Chastity, definitely, she had her Succulent smile on and was facing the camera. Steve had turned his head, so it could have been anyone. Except we both knew it was Steve.

People knew it was Steve too. "Is that Steve from Boy Next Door?" "Is Steve Chastity's unrequited love that she keeps talking about?" "I thought Steve was dating Missy from Goddess Athena?" "I thought Steve was gay?" "Is this why GA keeps picking on Succulent?"

"What is it?" Jamie asked, when he noticed the look on Missy's face.

"Social media is all about Chas," I said.

"Well, of course it is," Jamie snorted. "I hope there's nothing about Steve on there."

"Funny you should say that," I said, though it wasn't. No, it wasn't funny at all. "Jame, we really need to find Steve, like, right now."

"What do you think we've been doing, moron?" Jamie hissed.

Missy was texting something on her phone. "What are you doing, Missy," I said, praying she wasn't checking her social media as well.

"I texted Steve to stay away from the hospitals because people might see him," she said, softly. She sounded so tired. "I sent him the photo with Chastity."

"What photo with Chastity?" Jamie asked.

"That might freak him out," I said, carefully.

"He needs to see it so that he knows how dangerous it will be for him to show up," Missy sniffed.

"WHAT PHOTO WITH CHASTITY?" Jamie yelled in alarm. And then Jamie slowed down and stopped the car. We looked where he was staring.

St Francis Hospital was two buildings away. Teenaged girls in pink tee-shirts were scattered in front of the emergency entrance. Further down the road, waiting at the intersection, was Steve's car. It looked like he was inside, waiting for the light to change.

"STEVE!" Missy yelled, as if he could hear her. She picked up her phone and started calling him again.

He answered. "Go home, don't follow me. I'll be okay, I just need to check something."

"Steve!" Missy pleaded, as if it was the only word she knew to say. Jame and I didn't know what to say, either.

"I won't do anything stupid, so go home." He hung up.

We looked up at his car. The light didn't seem to have changed, but Steve suddenly turned left and drove away.

Jamie didn't care that our light hadn't changed, he floored the gas and drove after him.