19 This Just In (3)

IMANI

It hadn't blown over. It just blew into something worse.

Quite a number of people were beginning to claim they saw Lucas and Imani leaving the hotel. Their stories were so convincing that even Imani almost believed she had actually gone to a hotel. Some articles had also started to say that Lucas and Imani have been sneaking around for months.

"I think I'm dying Lola," Imani said weakly as she placed her phone on the floor before she whimpered and began to slowly roll sideways on the floor. "Being alive is so overrated anyway."

She had already seen what started the rumours about her and Lucas. Someone had taken a couple of pictures of Lucas holding her in Milos' parking lot and posted it on Weaver with a caption that said, 'HOLY SHIT! IMANI AND THE WEREWOLF ALPHA JUST LEFT THE MALLORY!!! I'M SCREAMING!!!'

Imani had screamed too. Till her voice became hoarse.

"Oh my, oh my," Lola said from where she was perched on the couch with a phone on her hand as she read different articles that talked about Imani and Lucas and Imani stopped rolling.

"Oh, dear God. What are they saying now?"

"You guys have a ship name... Lucani," she cooed at Imani whose expression remained indifferent. "It's so cute. People have already created stan accounts for your relationship on Weaver."

"Anyone up there?" Imani mumbled as she stared at the ceiling. "Kill me... Kill me now. I hate you Lola, this is all your fault."

Lola furrowed her brows in confusion. "Me?! What did I do?"

Imani cleared her throat which felt scratchy, thanks to all the screaming, as she sat up. "I wouldn't have even left the house if you didn't set me up on that stupid date... Now that I think of it, Kurt wouldn't be in the hospital too."

"So this is all my fault? You were the one who asked me to set you up on a date," Lola stated, giving her friend a blank stare.

"Go away." Imani whimpered began to roll on the ground again. "I dislike you."

"Get up from the floor, Manny," Desmond called out as he walked past the living room's doorway but she ignored him.

Her phone began to ring and she stopped rolling to glance at the screen which was cracked courtesy of Lucas Harrison. She let out an exasperated sigh when she saw that it was one of the unknown numbers that had been calling for a while now to ask about her secret relationship.

"Lola, tell the reporters to leave me alone." She curled up into herself when the phone stopped ringing and Lola rolled her eyes.

Ringing filled the air again and Imani groaned, thinking it was her phone, just as Lola said, "Hey Tasha."

Imani quickly got up from the ground and limped towards her friend before she sat next to her. In that moment, she was really grateful that Lola knew a lot of people.

Tasha King was the daughter of the owner of The Mallory and Lola had texted the lady a couple of minutes earlier because Imani desperately needed someone that worked at the hotel to say she and Lucas didn't go there.

"What is she saying?" Imani mouthed at Lola who kept nodding as she listened attentively to what Tasha was saying over the phone.

"Yes, yes, Tasha. I know. But Imani looks like she'll kill herself if this goes on," Lola said.

"Put it on speaker," Imani mouthed and Lola complied.

"- kill herself? Aren't they dating? Oh wait... don't tell me they're actually not dating and she is one of those people that hate werewolves?" came Tasha's voice over the phone and Imani's mouth fell open while Lola gestured for her to reply.

Imani had to choose her next words carefully because according to Lola, Tasha was a gossip and not the brightest crayon in the box. If the lady assumed that Imani hated werewolves, she'll tell everyone and the internet wasn't kind to werewolf and vampire haters.

"No, no, no. I don't hate werewolves. I love them. I love Lucas," she blurted out. Imani's voice sounded really hoarse and when her brain finally caught up with her words, she clamped her hands down on her mouth as Lola tried to stifle a laugh.

"Oh. My. God. I knew it! Okay, I'll post a statement that says you and your boyfriend weren't at the hotel right now," the woman excitedly said before she hung up.

There was a bitter taste at the back of Imani's mouth when Lola finally burst out laughing.

"Imani. Oh my God... What the hell?" she managed to say while laughing and Imani slumped backward on the couch as Lola tried to get her laughter under control. "She's totally going to tell everyone what you just said."

Imani took in a couple of deep breaths and closed her eyes. 'I am a river, a gentle flowing river. Nothing can bring me peace but myself and I –'

"She posted it!" Lola cackled and Imani opened her eyes just as a phone was shoved in her face.

'So like, I called a concierge at daddy's hotel and he told me that Lucas and Imani didn't go there this night. I don't know about other nights. Btw, I just spoke to Imani on the phone and she confirmed that she and Lucas are totally dating {her voice sounded really hoarse, iykyk ;) }' was what the recent post from Tasha King on Weaver said.

"Jesus!" Imani exclaimed and Lola laughed even harder as Imani grabbed the phone from her.

She quickly opened the comments just as the first comment appeared.

'i so knew they were dating. and the mallory has a confidential list for guests so Lucas and Imani might be on that list. I also saw her limping from my window when she came home, iykyk ;)' was what the comment said.

Imani tossed the phone at a still laughing Lola, almost breaking the girl's chin in the process, and buried her face in her hands. She wasn't angry. She was just really, really frustrated.

'I wonder how Lucas Harrison is reacting to all of this.'