Q picked up the knife from the table and spun it between his fingers. ‘What is this for?’
‘What do you think it’s for?’ Jackie read the note twice more before she looked at him. She reached out and snatched the tool from his hands.
The others were several steps behind if they couldn’t figure it out.
‘He wants you to cut yourself?’ Cece asked.
Ding! Ding! Cece was the winner.
The slip read, ‘Coward. No, that’s not the word. But I’ll give it to you. Only if you use the knife to carve the name. Here, I’ll give you all but one letter, B-O-J-A. I want it somewhere noticeable. Somewhere no one would miss it.’ Jackie crumpled up the paper in her hands, its words emblazoned on her brain.
‘I found a letter,’ Holly said, holding up a piece of paper. ‘C.’
‘Okay,’ Teddy said, writing down the C.
‘Add O to the list,’ Jackie said, eyeing the knife. She wasn’t going to do anything to her body with that thing. But she also knew these secrets weren’t meant to be out in the world, at least not if she wanted to keep her social life intact.
‘How do you know that?’ Zoe asked.
‘Trust me,’ Jackie said, swallowing hard. This was almost over.
Glancing over their shoulders to make sure Mr. Curtis was still in the office, they leaned over the table to get a better look at Teddy’s notebook.
‘I wish I had my phone,’ Cece said.
‘I’m sure that’s part of his plan,’ Teddy added. ‘But I know a way we can figure this out.’
Jackie glanced at the clock. Two minutes left. Where the hell did time go? Her insides fluttered. She grabbed the lipstick and twisted it open, ready to write whatever she needed to.
‘I was never good at these things,’ Holly said.
Jackie shot her a look. Not helpful, skank!
‘It’s a name,’ Q said.
‘What?’ Jackie asked.
‘J-A-C-O-B,’ Q said, pointing at each letter. ‘No other word uses all of these letters. At least not in English.’
That impulsive need to kiss Q came up again, and instead of that, she squeezed his hand. Surprisingly, he squeezed back.
‘I need a reflective surface,’ Jackie said.
‘I have a mirror,’ Cece said, reaching into her bag.
Jackie glanced at the clock. One minute left. She snapped her fingers, a twitch she was unable to shake.
When Cece handed her the flip mirror, Jackie opened it and poised the lipstick and started spelling out the letters. Even in the stressful circumstances, she managed to keep the tremor in her hand at bay while she wrote. When she finished, she gave back the mirror to Cece and stared at the clock.
Everyone was silent as the minute hand clicked over to the ending time.
Jackie held her breath, looking around at the others. But nothing happened. The television didn’t turn on, and the intercom remained silent. With each passing second, hope fluttered in her chest.
Had she beaten this person at his own game?
And then, the itching started.
CHAPTER TWELVE
ZOE
Saturday
‘What’s wrong?’ Zoe asked.
Jackie’s breathing was strange, stilted as if she were having trouble drawing oxygen into her lungs.
‘Oh my god!’ Jackie said, squeezing her eyes shut and bowing her head. She held her head in both hands and let out a groan.
Zoe glanced over her shoulder at Mr. Curtis. They couldn’t afford to have him come out there, especially with someone’s name written on Jackie’s face. There was no explanation for that. If he thought they were distracting each other, he might separate them, and they needed each other. Zoe never thought she’d care about anyone in this room, but they were all going through this. And when her turn came around, she wanted to rely on them as much as they relied on her.
Mr. Curtis’ mood had deteriorated in the time since detention started. They couldn’t risk him finding out anything about what was going on.
‘Jackie?’ Q asked.
Jackie lifted her head. The skin around the lipstick had turned an angry shade of red, and tiny bumps spread across her forehead.
‘Gross!’ Cece said.
Jackie ground her teeth, but she didn’t come out with a snarky remark, though Zoe knew it was on the tip of her tongue.
‘I’m allergic to most makeup brands,’ Jackie said, her eyes welling with tears. Zoe had never seen the cheerleader so vulnerable. ‘I have to use hypoallergenic.’
Q grabbed the lipstick and read the side of it. ‘It says hypoallergenic.’
‘I know,’ Jackie said. ‘It’s the same shade I use every day. Which is why I didn’t think it would do this!’
‘Do you have yours with you?’ Q asked.
She squinted her eyes and pointed to her bag.
‘You need to wash that off,’ Teddy said.
‘Well, duh,’ Jackie said. Her voice lifted as if she were about to cry.
Zoe wouldn’t blame her.
Q produced a tissue from Jackie’s bag and handed it to her.
‘Thanks,’ she said, blotting her eyes.
‘Did the note say how long you needed to keep that on?’ Holly asked.
Zoe grabbed the note and read it twice over to see if there was any mention of it. ‘It says, “Leave on until I say so.”’
‘Ow,’ Jackie said, waving her hand in front of her head as if a breeze could stop the reaction.
‘It’s the temporary option,’ Q said. ‘It’s not going to be temporary if you keep it on.’
Tears sprang to Jackie’s eyes as the rash spread. ‘This is like really bad. I haven’t reacted like this since I switched my products. It feels so much worse than I remember.’
‘I think you should wash it off,’ Teddy said.
‘I’m not going to lose my turn,’ Jackie said determinedly.
‘You won’t lose,’ Q said. ‘I—we’ll make sure of it. I think you should go.’
‘How can she ask Mr. Curtis to go to the bathroom now?’ Holly asked. ‘He’s going to have questions.’
‘I have a hat if you want to borrow it?’ Q asked Jackie.
Jackie shook her head. ‘I’m not ruining my hair over this.’
Q opened his mouth to say something, but as if he thought better of it, he pressed his lips together.
‘He said we all get a break,’ Zoe said. ‘We’ll cover for you.’
Jackie nodded. ‘Thank you.’ She slunk toward the door and opened it as silently as possible.
Mr. Curtis remained unaware for the time being.
‘We should get back to work,’ Holly said. ‘In case Curtis comes around.’
‘Good idea,’ Zoe said. She picked up a slip of paper and turned it over. She wasn’t sure what she expected. A message for her? Another red letter? Jackie’s punishment had been given out, and her secret was safe. Zoe had hope that she would share the same fate. It wasn’t just her that would be affected if the secret came out.
‘Should we try and figure out who this Jacob person is?’ Cece asked.
‘That might help,’ Teddy said. ‘The name is the only clue we have. Maybe it will determine how we’re connected.’
‘I don’t know a Jacob,’ Zoe murmured.
‘My uncle’s name is Jacob,’ Cece said. ‘But that’s not helpful. He lives overseas. And I barely know the guy.’
Zoe glanced at Holly and caught the end of an eye roll. Cece was right, that tidbit into her life wasn’t helpful.
‘There’s a kid named Jacob in my Calculus class,’ Teddy said.
‘Jacob Thompson?’ Cece asked.
Teddy nodded.
‘He’s definitely not doing this,’ Holly said.
‘How do you know?’ Q asked.
‘Trust me,’ she said. ‘He may be book smart, but he’d never be able to pull this off.’
Zoe wondered how well Holly knew Jacob Thompson and if her reputation was more than a rumor.
<
br /> ‘Okay,’ Teddy said. ‘Any other Jacobs?’
Q cursed, and everyone looked at him.
‘What?’ Zoe asked.
‘This isn’t the same lipstick,’ he said, shoving his hair out of his face. ‘The shade is a little bit off, and the consistency is different.’
Q smeared both of the lipsticks on the sheet of paper that Teddy had used to write down the letters they found for Jackie’s task. He was right. Someone had tricked Jackie into using a different lipstick, causing the reaction on her forehead.
‘That’s terrible,’ Cece said. ‘What if her reaction had been even worse?’
‘I guess this person knew it would only cause a rash,’ Q said.
‘He did his research,’ Teddy said.
‘It has to be someone at school,’ Cece said. ‘That’s the only place where all of us are on a regular basis.’
‘I wish Curtis hadn’t taken away our phones,’ Q said. ‘Then we’d be able to look up Jacob online.’
‘What if there is more than one person involved?’ Teddy suggested.
The idea made the hairs on Zoe’s arm stick up. She tugged on her sleeves again, crossing her arms over her chest to keep her body warm.
‘It’s possible that the rest of the names involved will come up with the next tasks,’ Teddy said.
Zoe couldn’t imagine branding her body with someone’s name, permanently or temporary.
‘It makes sense,’ Teddy said. ‘We don’t have anything in common outside of school. But if you factor in people we all know, then the network of connections expands.’
‘You lost me at “factor,”’ Q said.
‘I understand,’ Zoe said.
‘I think I do too,’ Holly said.
‘What do you suggest we do next?’ Cece asked Teddy.
‘Let’s gather a list of people in our lives named Jacob,’ he said. ‘Look outside the box. Family, friends, friends of friends, you get the picture. If there is even one connection, then we have a jumping off point.’
‘You said you knew Jacob Thompson,’ Q said to Holly without hesitation. ‘On an intimate level?’
Holly flipped him off. ‘What I do in my spare time is none of your business.’
‘Holly,’ Cece said. ‘We need to start somewhere.’
Holly flicked her hair over her shoulder. ‘We went out a few times. He’s nice. A little skittish around girls, but harmless.’
‘And he’s in your Calculus class?’ Zoe asked Teddy.
Teddy nodded. ‘As Holly said, he’s harmless. He barely gets by with passing grades. I think he’s being pressured by his family to take advanced classes.’
Cece snorted.
‘Do you know something more?’ Teddy said.
Cece sighed and shook her head. ‘I just know what that feels like.’
‘Anyone else come in contact with him?’ Teddy continued.
Just then, the door to the library opened.
Zoe jerked her head in the direction of the entrance to see Jackie entering the library. She leaned into the room, checking on Mr. Curtis before slinking back to her seat. She held a wet paper towel against her forehead, and there were no longer streaks of tears cutting down her cheeks.
‘Are you okay?’ Q asked.
And for the first time in the years she’d known Q, Zoe saw a hint of concern for someone other than himself. It would have been sweet if it wasn’t coming from him. He probably needed someone on his side for his task.
Jackie removed the paper towel from her face.
Zoe gasped, her hand reaching up to cover her mouth.
‘Oh my God,’ Cece said.
The rash had spread across Jackie’s forehead and halfway down the side of her face. She looked as if she rubbed poison ivy all over her skin.
‘It should go down in a few hours,’ Jackie said. ‘But I don’t have any of my medication to stop the itching.’ She placed the towel on her forehead once more and closed her eyes.
Zoe could tell Jackie wanted to scratch the angry red bumps, but that would probably make it worse.
The investigation into Jacob halted for a moment.
‘Q, can I borrow your hat now?’ Jackie asked.
Q handed over the beanie and Jackie fitted it over her head, stuffing her ponytail inside. She tugged at the sides, dragging it down to cover as much as she could.
She glanced at the group, revealing that the corners of her eyes were red. ‘What were you talking about before I got here?’
‘Nothing,’ Q said at the same time Teddy said, ‘Jacob.’
Jackie looked at Q then switched over to Teddy. ‘Did you find anything else?’
‘The only Jacob a few of us know is Jacob Thompson,’ Teddy said.
Jackie shrugged. ‘The name sounds familiar.’
‘Are you sure he didn’t suffer from your little gossip mill?’ Holly asked.
Q sat straighter in his chair as if he was the one she was speaking to.
‘No,’ Jackie said.
‘Where do we go from here then?’ Holly asked Teddy.
‘I don’t know,’ Teddy said. ‘I’m having trouble thinking that he would do this to anyone.’
‘Then we’re back to having no suspects and no idea who is next?’ Cece asked.
Zoe thought about that. She couldn’t recall anyone else named Jacob. She kept her head down every single day of school, just trying to make it to graduation. She never bothered anyone, unlike Jackie and Q. Cece could brag so much that it might have upset someone. But Teddy? Teddy was a smart kid and a kind one at that. Who would want to steal from his bank account?
Whoever this person was, he had a strong grudge against every individual in that room. There had to be something they were missing.
What could she offer? She was one of last three to receive a task. It was in her best interest to figure out the who’s and whys before her turn came around.
But how could they expand their search without using technology?
She glanced around the room. They were in the library. While the computer lab was on the second level, there was no way someone could get up there and do a quick search. This was going to take time and thought, and their collaborative minds.
‘Yearbooks,’ Zoe said to herself the moment the idea appeared in her head.
‘What was that?’ Holly asked from beside her.
‘We can search yearbooks to find another Jacob,’ Zoe said, finally feeling a sliver of hope in their crazy situation.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ZOE
Saturday
Zoe’s cheeks flushed with the idea that they might be closer to finding out who was torturing them. ‘We’re all juniors so we can narrow the search down to the last, say, five years? If someone named Jacob knows us from school, he would have to be in there.’
Teddy nodded. ‘That’s a good idea.’ He gave her a small smile, and Zoe’s heart fluttered against her chest. It was an inappropriate reaction, but she couldn’t help it. After years of being apart from Teddy, in the short time they had been together that day, she remembered why they had been close when they were kids. She had yearned for that connection every day until she found it in someone else. She wished that someone could’ve been Teddy.
‘How are we going to get a chance to look through the yearbooks?’ Holly asked. ‘Curtis will be out here to check on us soon.’
Zoe wrinkled her nose. She hated when the other kids called Mr. Curtis by his last name. Their teacher encouraged it, bringing him down to their level. But he was much more than some vapid high school student.
‘It doesn’t matter if we get caught,’ Cece said. ‘We need to figure out who’s doing all of this.’
‘Let me go get them,’ Zoe said.
‘Why you?’ Q asked suspiciously.
‘Because I’m sitting farthest from Mr. Curtis,’ Zoe said. ‘And I’m one of the library assistants. I’ll be able to find them quicker than the rest of you. Is that a problem?’
Q’s eyes narr
owed for a moment. Zoe had no idea why he still thought she was involved with this. Even though there were plenty of reasons for wanting to see some of them suffer, she wasn’t the type to hand out punishments.
‘Well, go, then,’ Q said.
She didn’t need his approval. But they didn’t have a lot of time before the next task arrived. They needed to focus on the ‘who’ before they found out whose turn it was next.
Zoe’s pulse thrummed in her neck as she sneaked to the back of the room. She rarely went against the rules, so this was out of her comfort zone. But for some reason, it invigorated her. She located the most recent editions of the school yearbook and grabbed the last five years’ worth of books.
Without hesitation, she sprinted back to the table, careful to stay quiet and out of Mr. Curtis’s eye line. She didn’t want to give Q any reason to suspect her more than he already did.
What did he have against her, anyway? It seemed that his only evidence was that she’d arrived for detention before them. As a library assistant, it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that she could be involved. She had access to the entire room and could have set everything up. But she was innocent. And he would realize that once this mysterious Jacob gave her a task.
She shivered at the thought. The tasks were getting more complicated and dangerous. If she were the last to go, how grave an act would she have to complete to keep her secret?
‘I don’t get why Jacob would give up his name,’ Teddy said. ‘Does he want us to catch him?’
‘We have to do something,’ Cece said. ‘The sooner we find him, the better. At least then I’ll have someone to point the finger at when my parents flip over the video.’
‘And the photo,’ Q said.
‘Thanks for the reminder,’ she said flatly.
Q clicked his tongue. ‘No problem.’
‘Here,’ Zoe said, handing out the yearbooks. ‘Let’s begin with the class pictures. At least if we find out Jacob’s last name, we’ll have somewhere to start.’
Each of them took a yearbook, except for Jackie.
‘You should keep working on the chain,’ Holly said, as if reading Zoe’s thoughts. ‘We’ll take over from here.’
‘No,’ she said. ‘I want to help.’
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