RED NOTES AND KISSES-Chapter 72: FRIDA -

The past week had been hell.

The exams were back-to-back, and Frida barely had five seconds to breathe. Her body was sore, and she hadn’t slept in days.

Frida was sure she looked as awful as she felt. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten a proper meal, unless a bag of Cheetos and leftover pizza counted.

Her bag was stuffed with energy drinks and instant coffee packets, her lifelines for survival through the relentless exam week.

She hadn’t been online in days. Social media and the outside world were a blur; her focus was entirely on her exams.

Laz hadn’t crossed her path either, but that wasn’t surprising. He was probably buried in his own textbooks, just like her.

That was just how they’d always been.

Frida and Laz used to compete endlessly as kids, constantly trying to outdo each other in class.

He always came out on top, though she never let him hear the end of it. She smirked faintly at the memory. At least he’d gone into tech, it gave her some breathing room.

Still, she couldn’t help but wonder how he was holding up in his own little world of wires, codes, and algorithms.

Now, she was hunched over a table in the lab, focusing on practical questions about bones and muscles.

Dressed in her lab coat and gloves, she carefully labeled parts of the skeletal structures laid out before her.

Leah and the others joined her, their presence doing little to lighten the tension. Lexi and Reg were at it again, and the friction between them was impossible to ignore.

"This is the anatomical neck of the tuberosity of the femur, and covering it is synovial fluid, which reduces friction between the bones attached to the hinge joint," Reg explained.

"Ball and socket joint, damn it, Reg!" Lexi snapped, her frustration boiling over. The exam pressure was clearly getting to all of them.

Heads turned in the quiet, pristine lab as Reg huffed and set down the bone she was holding. Her recent taper fade gave her an intense, almost intimidating look as she glared at Lexi.

"Got a problem, Lexi? Or do you need your boyfriend to slap your mouth shut again?" Reg said, her tone biting.

Lexi saw red. It wasn’t every day that "Barbie" and "Rhea Ripley" got into a fight—nicknames Frida had mentally assigned to them. Normally, it was a joke, but today, no one was in the mood.

"Jayce does not hit me!" Lexi spat, seething.

Reg let out a mean, snarky laugh. "You sure? Because those sure as hell look like bruises to me." She gritted her teeth. "And I swear to God, I’ll kill him if he touches you again."

Lexi’s anger flared. "You will not lay a finger on him! Jayce is complicated. Only I understand him."

"The hell he will be when I complicate his damn face!" Reg retorted, throwing a bone across the table.

Leah slammed her hand on the table, her voice cutting through the chaos. "Enough! For God’s sake, we’re all stressed, but this isn’t helping!"

"Yeah, imagine getting beat up while already stressed out," Reg muttered, tossing her gloves aside.

Lexi stepped into her path, a storm in her eyes. "Touch him, and I’ll never speak to you again."

Frida sighed, removing her gloves. "Are you done?" she asked calmly.

All eyes turned to her as she tucked her hands into her pockets. "You and Lexi should talk outside. You’re distracting everyone in the lab."

Slipping off her lab coat, she continued, "Try to rest up. We’ll continue the discussion via video chat."

The group reluctantly gathered their belongings and left. Leah lingered for a moment, concern etched on her face. "Will they be okay?"

Frida packed up her books. "Let’s hope so."

As they exited the lab, Leah broke the silence. "I’ve been staying at Tyler’s place during the exams."

Frida nodded, the cool evening air hinting at an impending storm. "I know."

"Have you spoken to Laz lately?" Leah asked, scrolling through her phone.

Frida shook her head. "Not really. We’ve both been busy."

"It’s going to rain. Need a ride?" Leah offered.

Frida shook her head. "No, my dorm’s close. I’ll make it before the rain starts."

Leah paused by her car, giving Frida a curious look. "Why don’t you have a car?"

Frida stiffened, her chest tightening as a fleeting, traumatic memory flashed in her mind. She shook her head, catching her breath. "I just don’t like driving or being driven."

Leah blinked, then nodded. "Okay. We’ll talk about it next time."

As Frida walked home, her thoughts swirled. Why didn’t she have a car? Why did she always feel suffocated in one?

She shook off the uneasy feeling and focused on the path ahead.

That’s when she felt it, a prickling sensation, like someone watching her.

Her pace quickened as unease settled in her chest. Then, she heard it. Footsteps.

They matched hers.

She stopped. They stopped.

Fear gripped her, making it hard to breathe. Her palms grew clammy as the footsteps drew closer.

Laz, where are you?

Her dorm finally came into view, the lights brightening the dark street. She turned. No one was there.

She wanted to pretend none of it was real, that no one had actually followed her, that her imagination had run wild, conjuring shadows and footsteps in the dark.

It was just paranoia, she told herself. Just the tricks of a sleep-deprived mind, spooked by the oppressive silence of the night.

She wasn’t being watched. She wasn’t being followed.

It was all in her head, like the fears of a little kid afraid of the dark.

Yeah, that had to be it.

Panting, she climbed the stairs, her nerves still on edge.

At her door, a crumpled, hole-punched sticky note greeted her.

It read:

I love you.

I love you.

I love you.

I love you.

I love you.

I love you.

I love you.

Her heart pounded as she glanced back toward the trees. A shadow stood there, its gaze burning into her skin.

Shivering, she darted into her room, slamming the door behind her.

Switching on the light, she froze.

Her feet were wet.

She looked down, and a scream tore from her throat.

A dead bird lay on the floor, a knife protruding from its chest.

Written in blood around it were the words:

I LOVE YOU.