by Sarah Mello
“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” I said to Winston.
We stayed behind in the hallway while people piled into the gym doors on Saturday evening.
“You okay?” he asked me.
I looked down at my white shirt, pressing my thumb against the black teardrop stain. “I’ve had a rough couple of days,” I said as my fellow peers passed by me with judgmental eyes. “Everyone has seen those pictures.”
“Is Dean pissed?” Winston asked.
“I think he’s hurt,” I replied.
“Don’t worry.” Casey walked up behind me. “You’ll fix things with Dean.”
“Yeah,” I said as I thought about Jacob. “I know.”
Winston checked his watch over the side of his soda can. “Where is Kyle? We were all supposed to meet here ten minutes ago.”
“Probably somewhere with Ari,” I said.
Casey looked down. “And Buckets and JC are meeting us near the office?”
“That’s the plan,” I replied.
Casey clawed her head with her frail fingers. It was painfully obvious that the war within her mind was spilling out.
“Jesus, both of you are out of commission?” Winston shook his head. “What is it with Westcott guys? They have to beat you across the heads with their flags before you recognize they’re red?”
“I’m fine,” Casey said.
I stared into her eyes. “You don’t look fine.”
“I guess I’m just confused,” she said. “Kyle really opened up to me recently. I thought we were getting close.” She paused. “He told me about the divorce.”
My eyes narrowed. “What? When?”
“After the dance,” she replied. “Once the two of you came back from Piper’s house.”
“I thought you couldn’t find Kyle after the dance,” Winston said.
“That’s because he was in parking lot C,” Casey replied. “He was leaned up against my car—waiting for me.”
My mouth slowly began forming a smile.
“We sat and talked for hours,” she said. “It sounds like he’s been through a lot.”
I towered over my sneakers with crossed arms, casually rocking back and forth on my heels as I looked down. “That was the worst year,” I said. “Their divorce was rough on Kyle. He had to grow up pretty fast.”
There was a brief moment of silence between the three of us as we all thought about Kyle, each of us for different reasons.
“Is that why he’s such a good kisser?” Casey asked.
Winston choked on his soda. “Now that explains your mood.”
“He kissed you?” I asked.
Casey scratched her bottom lip. “He just leaned over, slipped his hand on my neck, and kissed me.”
“That’s it?” Winston asked. “That’s all it took?”
“That’s all it takes.” My mind flashed back to Jacob’s lips.
“But I guess he and Ari really are getting back together.” Casey looked down. “So that’s that.”
I stared at Winston as he mouthed the words I told you so.
Seriously? I mouthed back.
“I hope we can get into the safe,” Casey said, interrupting our silent argument. “I’m ready for all of this to be over.”
Just then, Kyle approached us with disheveled hair. His shirt was wrinkled, like he’d slept in it. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Are you okay?” I asked him.
Kyle repeatedly ran his hands over his shirt, swallowing excessively. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out Principal Winchester’s keys, then placed them in my hand.
My eyes narrowed. “Thanks?”
“Can I talk to you for a minute, Casey?” Kyle asked her.
Casey looked around the group. “Sure,” she replied, following him to the other end of the hallway.
“You have one minute,” Winston said as they walked away. “We have to go.”
Kyle finally stopped, far enough away to make it difficult to hear their conversation, but close enough to where we could. His bloodshot eyes paced across Casey’s face. “Are you upset with me?” he asked.
“Why would you think that?”
“Because you haven’t been responding to my texts.”
“I’m just really busy with my school work,” she replied.
Winston and I shifted toward them.
“Busy with homework?” Kyle wasn’t convinced. “Casey, we used to text every night.”
“That was before you got back together with Ari,” she said.
Kyle exhaled. “I figured that’s what this is about.”
“Would it be about anything else?”
I stared at Winston, and he at me, as we continued shifting.
“Look, Casey, I never wanted to hurt you.”
“You didn’t,” she replied.
“Me and Ari—”
“Have history, and you and I have only just met,” Casey interrupted. “You’ve been dating since the beginning of sophomore year. I get it.”
“It’s not that I don’t like you,” he said. “I don’t want you to think this has anything to do with what you told me about your parents, or where you live, or anything like that.” Kyle paused. “It’s not you, okay?”
Kyle’s voice was desperate, like he needed someone to understand him, and nobody could.
“Yeah,” Casey replied. “Okay.”
Kyle rubbed his eyes. “I should never have kissed you.”
“You’re really bad at the whole not-trying-to-hurt-people thing,” Casey said.
Stick to the script, I thought.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said. “I definitely don’t regret kissing you.”
“What do you regret, then?” Casey asked.
Kyle swallowed. “Not meeting you before tenth grade.”
I looked at Winston, my sappy eyes melting from their sockets.
“Can we still be friends?” Kyle asked her.
“Christ.” Winston exhaled.
There was another long pause. I waited in suspense for her answer.
“I’m sorry, Kyle,” Casey said. “I can’t be friends with you.”
Just then, Winston lunged toward Kyle. “Let’s go!” He pulled him by the arm and led him away.
They walked ahead toward the office, leaving Casey and me trailing quite a bit behind.
I walked beside her, waiting for her to acknowledge the elephant in the hallway. She never did.
“Is he okay?” I asked.
“He’ll be fine,” she replied. “Once he realizes it was never going to work between us.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m pathetic.” She laughed. “Look at me. Look at my life. My parents are junkies. I live with my brothers and aunt in a worn-down, Folk Victorian home with broken AC. The house is yellow, for God’s sake. Yellow. Could it be any more tragic?”
“You are not pathetic, Casey,” I told her. “Kyle doesn’t care about that stuff. He told you so himself.”
“Of course he does, Sonny,” she replied. “It’s cute to ride in on your white horse—until you see my wasted mother sitting on our couch for one of her supervised visits.” She paused. “I’m not good enough for him.”
“Kyle doesn’t exactly have the picture-perfect family either,” I replied. “And you know, for someone who hates the thought of being judged for what you don’t have, you sure do judge others for what they do.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You don’t want Kyle to dislike you for being broke, but you cut him no slack for coming from money.”
“It must be so hard,” Casey said, rolling her eyes.
I stopped in my tracks. “It’s not as easy as you think, Casey.”
She looked at me and paused, shaking her head before walking ahead. Kyle took a sharp right turn into the restroom, and Casey caught up with Winston at the front of the line.
I closed my eyes tightly, rubbing my fingers over my temples as I continued walking. �
�That girl . . .”
“Is trash?” Cliff walked toward me with a few of his friends, causing me to once again stop in my tracks. He wore a baseball cap and a bomber jean jacket; his hands were tucked into the pockets on his fitted khakis.
“What are you doing down here?” I asked him. “Are you too good to park in parking lot B like everyone else?”
“I avoid that parking lot,” Cliff replied.
Lana flashed across my mind.
“What do you want?” I asked. “I’m sort of busy.”
Cliff nodded in the direction of his friends. “I’ll catch up with you guys in a minute,” he said as they continued walking toward the gym.
“Oh, so you’re staying?”
“Jesus, Carter!” Cliff smiled. “Would you lighten up? I just wanted to say hello.”
“Hi, Cliff,” I replied, my voice at an all-time sarcastic low.
Cliff laughed as if I were his personal entertainment. “You’re starting to scare me, kid.”
“Would you stop calling me ‘kid’? You’re half a year older than me,” I said. “And I couldn’t possibly scare you.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because you aren’t scared of anything. You’re a Violet, remember? You’ll always be a Violet.”
Suddenly, I wasn’t so funny. Cliff dropped his smile, then glanced at his friends. He grabbed my arm, pulling me closer toward the office. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I overheard you and Ari’s conversation in the hallway, Cliff,” I said, pulling my arm away. “How could you do this to Kyle? We all know you kissed at the pool party, but this?”
“Jesus, Sonny.” He leaned down. “I don’t know what you think you heard, but—”
“Save it, Cliff,” I whispered sternly. “That’s not going to work anymore. I know what I heard. You and Ari have been hooking up ever since you and Lana broke up.”
Cliff rocked back on his heels—like he always did. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You need to tell Kyle,” I said.
Cliff looked down at his sparkling white sneakers. “There’s nothing to tell him.”
“You can’t be serious, Cliff.”
“You need to stay out of it.”
“Oh, I'm in it,” I replied.
“You aren’t.”
“I know what you told Lana about you and Ari,” I whispered. “About the summer before sophomore year.”
Cliff leaned in toward me. “I told you not to bring that up again. Lana never should have told you about that.” He looked at me, disgusted. “It’s none of your business.”
“That’s beside the point,” I said.
“Look, I made some mistakes, and I’m going to make up for what I did in my own way. But what I won’t do, and what you won’t do, is tell Kyle something that would do nothing but hurt him and destroy our friendship. If you care about him, Sonny, then keep your mouth shut.”
Cliff turned around to walk toward the gym.
“Tell him, Cliff!” I shouted at the back of his head. “Or I will.”
“Sonny, come on!” Winston hollered from the front of the hallway.
I walked toward the office, leaving my heated conversation with Cliff in the middle of the tile floor.
“Kyle’s still in the bathroom,” Casey said. “Let’s wait.”
“I’ll go get him.” Winston jogged toward the restroom.
“Here’s a list of possible combinations.” Buckets reached into his pocket; his green cotton jacket hugged his arms. “Important dates to the school and such. If it’s a keypad—we’ll try these. If it’s a lock—well, we’ll need to find the key.”
“Unless the key is on this key ring,” I replied, pulling Principal Winchester’s keys from my back pocket.
“What are you guys doing?” Ari suddenly appeared from the shadows.
Buckets jumped. “Jesus, Ari! Could you whisper?”
“Because that would have been less terrifying?” she asked.
“What are you doing here, Ari?” I pointed in the direction of the gym. “The game is that way.”
“I know. I saw you standing outside of the gym doors and then you all just disappeared. You couldn’t look more suspicious if you tried. What gives?”
“We don't,” Buckets said. “We aren’t telling you anything.”
Ari twisted the rings on her fingers. “Does this have anything to do with Piper?”
“What makes you think that?” JC asked her.
“Cliff told me she leaked his video,” she replied.
“Don't you mean your video?” Buckets said.
JC walked toward her, dropping his head inches from Ari’s face. “Piper framed me,” he whispered.
I stepped forward. “JC!”
“She planted the answer key in my bag,” he continued. “She set me up.”
Ari crossed her arms; her gold bracelets were stacked on each one. “Piper? Why would she do that?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”
“Why are you breaking into the office?” Ari waited impatiently for his reply.
“Because Mr. Russell left him a riddle,” I said. “Which led us here.”
“A riddle? What does it say?”
“Look, it’s not important!” JC’s impatience came out to play. “We’re just trying to figure out what Mr. Russell wanted me to know. And I think the answers to my questions are right behind the safe’s door.”
“And you’re what?” Ari squeezed her hips. “Going to expose her? You would never.”
JC looked around the ill-lit hall.
“I guess you hadn’t thought of that, huh?” Ari asked him.
Her question caused us all to pause.
“Is that what you want?” I asked.
He took a moment to collect his thoughts. “I want to wrestle again,” he said. “No matter what.”
I stared at JC as we both silently agreed to move forward. “Okay, then.”
“I’m coming too,” Ari said. “If Piper is capable of doing this, who knows what else she’s capable of.”
“Scared there are more videos, huh?” Buckets asked her.
I nudged him.
“Fine, Ari. You can come. But you can’t tell a soul about this,” I said.
She rolled her widened eyes. “Fine.”
Suddenly, Winston approached the crowd. “He’s gone.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Kyle’s gone,” he repeated. “He’s not in the bathroom.”
We collectively stared at one another in confusion.
“Kyle’s in on this too?” Ari asked.
“You’re in on this?” Winston asked her. “What are you doing here?”
“Where did Kyle go?” Casey mumbled.
“As much as I’d love to sit here and chitchat, we really should get this done,” Buckets said. His loud voice commanded our attention. “I can’t keep the cameras frozen for much longer. We’ll have to do it without him.”
I looked behind me down the hall, hoping I’d see Kyle’s dark hair appear in the distance—but I never did.
“Ready?” I asked the odd group behind me.
Winston ran his palms against his jeans. “Is that rhetorical?”
With a shaking hand, I unlocked the office door with the key, then turned the knob and pushed the heavy door away from my face.
A gust of wind met us underneath the door frame. The office smelled of paperback books and antique furniture. I walked inside, and everyone else followed closely behind. We looked around the massive room. The white walls, covered with plaques, seemed to be closing in on us as we realized where we were.
“Are you sure about this?” Casey looked at me. “We can turn back.”
I walked around the front of the main desk, glancing at the piles of paperwork, scattered pens, and stacks of folders. Just then, the safe caught my eye. It was sitting center on a small wooden table tucked underneath the desk. I stared at the silver box
, unable to move, unable to do much of anything.
“It looks like there’s a keypad and a lock.” I lifted the list of possible combinations to my face.
The others shifted toward me. Ari grabbed the paper and keys from my hand and kneeled down next to the safe. She began trying every key on the ring at rapid speed—almost like she’d done this before. We all waited in suspense.
“The key’s not on here,” she said, placing them back into my hand.
I looked around the dark room. “Buckets, help me go through the desks.” I sprang into action. “We have to find it.”
For the next ten minutes, everyone moved in silence. The sound of beeps in my ear behind me eventually faded, and all I could think about was finding the key. I looked through the desk drawers thoroughly, and with each failed attempt, I lost a little more hope. My eyes scanned the room as I searched for another possible hiding space. Suddenly, I turned my head to the sound of loud thuds.
“Winston!” I yelled, pulling him away from the safe. “Smashing it isn’t going to get it open!”
“Well, Ari doesn’t know the combination,” he replied.
She looked at him, frowning at his idiotic remark. “Of course I don’t, you moron. If I knew the combination, you wouldn’t be bashing the safe against the table.”
“We can’t open it, Sonny,” Winston said. “We’ve tried everything.”
“And we can’t find the key,” Casey added.
I looked at the clock that hung directly above the office door while running my hands up and down on the steel box. I let out a deep breath, realizing the last piece to our puzzle was just behind this tiny door. We were so close, but without knowing what Mr. Russell’s riddle meant, we were still so far away.
Suddenly, the keypad caught my attention.
“I think I should go look for Kyle,” Ari said.
“Good idea,” Casey mumbled under her breath.
Ari stepped forward. “What was that?”
I ran my fingers over the safe’s black buttons as I gazed intently at each one.
“I’m surprised you didn’t think to do that earlier,” Casey said.
“I’m surprised you have the nerve to address me,” Ari replied. “After moving in on my boyfriend.”
“Ex,” Casey retorted.
