Studying You - Chapter Five

Stalker Romance | Short Story | Multimedia Elements

All of my work is meant for those who are 18+ and may involve dark themes.

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Sienna

I shivered when I woke up as the cold air greeted me. I glanced out of my window and saw heavy rain falling. And something was in a puddle of water in our driveway. I squinted. Ah, my dad’s daily newspaper. Why he still spent money on a newspaper was beyond me, but he had always been a fan of actual printed news.

He usually grabbed it in the morning on his way out—or in—the door. But it must have come late today because there it sat.

I sighed as I got out of bed. I was planning on taking a shower this morning, so I decided a little extra water before wouldn’t hurt. I ran downstairs and threw on my raincoat before trudging outside. I rushed to the newspaper, hoping at least some of it was still legible.

I slammed the front door after I was back inside. I groaned as I slipped the raincoat off. It was raining hard enough that it hadn’t totally protected me. My shirt was wet enough that it stuck to my skin and my socks gushed water as I walked.

I examined the newspaper and was relieved to find most of the text intact. My heart started racing through when a certain headline caught my eye.

Was this stalker the same as my stalker?

I was surprised when my heart tugged a bit. My throat tightened. Was I…jealous?

I shook my head. No, that couldn’t be right. 

But I still pulled out my phone to text him.

I bit my lip as I did. Was my stalker a ‘he’? The sender certainly felt masculine. Maybe it was the confidence. The entitlement. Or maybe it was a gut feeling.

I panicked when I caught myself smiling at his texts. I set my phone on the kitchen table face down and took a deep breath before going to take a shower.