“Hey, where’s Josh? I feel like he hasn’t been around all night.”
Brett shrugged and waved a hand. “He’s just doing his own thing.” She chugged another gulp of champagne.
Sadie scanned the room and saw Josh standing with Jeremy near the food. As she watched, she saw him glance at Brett. There was an odd look in his eyes, but before she could decipher it he looked away.
Olivia sniffed the air and struggled to sit up. “Hey … chicken.” She lurched to her feet and grabbed Brett’s arm. “Come on Brett, let’s get some chicken.”
Sadie watched the two girls stagger across the room, giggling and swaying like drunks in a three-legged race. She laid her head back on the cushion and closed her eyes, relishing the first moment she had had to herself since the ceremony. She felt someone sink into the cushion next to her and opened her eyes. Jeremy.
Her body responded instantly to his closeness, and she leaned toward him.
He grabbed her hand, and she could see his face was flushed. “Come somewhere with me?” He jerked his head toward the others. “No one will notice.”
She nodded, her eyes locked with his, and let him lead her out of the room. As soon as the door closed behind them, she grabbed his arm and pulled him to her, wrapping her arms around his neck. They leaned against the stone wall and kissed until they stopped to catch their breath.
His eyes flashed as he looked down at her. “I’ve been waiting to do that all night.” His voice was hoarse. “Come on.” He took her hand and led her down the hall, feeling along the wall for doors as they went. Finally he found one that opened and pulled her inside.
They tumbled into the room and stumbled over a small table. She laughed, but Jeremy looked at her anxiously until she reassured him she was okay. She looked around and realized they were in the dressing room she had used earlier. She remembered the couch and grabbed Jeremy’s arm to steer him toward it. She started to sit down, but he stopped her.
“Wait, Sadie, hold on a second.” As she watched, he took a deep, controlled breath. “I want you to know I’m not, you know, expecting anything. I know tonight was crazy, and we’ve had lots of champagne and everything, but I just wanted to get away so we could talk. Everything just happened so fast, and I wanted to tell you something.”
She smiled. “I know. This has been pretty nuts, right?” She sank down onto the couch and pulled her legs up underneath her. “What did you want to tell me?”
“I just wanted you to know I’m excited about all of this, but I’m also really glad it was you in there.” He grinned and raised an eyebrow. “Now we’re linked forever. Whether you like it or not.”
She laughed. “So did you know? I mean, about any of it?”
He shook his head. “Not really. They told me the basics tonight, but I still feel like it’s barely started to sink in.”
“Did they tell you much about the Order? Like, what the point of it is and what they actually do?”
He looked thoughtful. “I guess it’s sort of like a frat, only stronger. The members all help each other out — they’re in the same social circles, they give each other jobs, finance each other’s companies — you know, all that stuff.” He shrugged. “So this has been going on for the two hundred years since it was founded, and they’ve managed to get members in most of the most powerful companies and all the branches of government. It’s just a really loyal group of rich and powerful people, and wealth and power breeds more wealth and power.” He shook his head again and looked at her. “Blows your mind a little, doesn’t it?”
She gave him a wry smile. “No kidding. And here I thought you just had to invent something cool like Post-its or blankets with sleeves.”
She sighed and leaned into him. “I guess we shouldn’t complain, though. We’re on their team now.” He put an arm around her and squeezed, then leaned down and kissed her. He tipped her slowly back onto the cushions, and she let the last bit of anxiety drain out of her as she kissed him back.
Chapter 18
She groaned and rolled over, pulling her blanket over her head and trying to fall back asleep. Her head was pounding and her stomach felt like she had spent the night chugging seawater. What felt like seconds later, she woke up again to someone banging on her door.
She heard the old hinges creaking open, and someone jumped onto the bed next to her.
“Rise and shine, bitch. Time for practice.”
Sadie didn’t move. Maybe this was a bad dream, and she would wake up soon and feel fine. Then someone yanked the blanket off her face, and she saw Jessica grinning at her from the foot of the bed. Jessica’s smile faltered.
“Jesus, Sadie. No offense, but you look like crap.”
“Thanks,” Sadie croaked, throwing an arm over her eyes. “Why is it so bright in here?”
“Uh, ’cause it’s ten o’clock, otherwise known as half an hour before we have to be in the gym for conditioning or Coach kills both of us.” Jessica jumped off the bed and started rummaging through the piles on Sadie’s floor. “Where’s your bag? I’ll pack it for you while you brush your teeth.”
Sadie pulled herself up and rubbed her eyes. She still felt like someone was playing the bongos on her temples, and her skin was clammy and cold. She pointed to a black duffel in a far corner of the room, and Jessica started tossing things into it.
“God, I completely forgot practice was on Sunday this week. I’d rather do anything than run right now.”
“What’s wrong? Hung over or something? You totally look hung over. Oh, and by the way, don’t think I didn’t realize that you and Brett never came upstairs last night.” She pouted a little. “You could have just told me if you wanted to sneak out to meet Josh and Jeremy.”
The night came back to Sadie in a rush. The ceremony, the voice, the people on the balcony. The dark dressing room. Jeremy. Her body felt warm at the thought, and she smiled.
“Okay, you are seriously grinning like an idiot. That good, huh? Now get up. You can tell me about it on the way.”
They got to the gym with minutes to spare, and Thayer was already leading the rest of the team through warm-ups. Thayer caught Sadie’s eye and nodded slightly. Sadie scanned the court, but Brett wasn’t on it.
“Hey, did you wake Brett up?”
“I tried. She wasn’t in her room.” Jessica was sitting on the front row of bleachers, lacing up one of her tennis shoes. “Sounds like she had an even better night than you did.”
Sadie frowned. “I guess. She’s never late, though.”
Jessica shrugged. Coach whistled for them to corner up, and they dropped their bags and joined the rest of the team.
That day she was. Instead of running with the team, Coach made Brett spend the whole practice doing laps around the gym. She shuffled slowly along with her head down.
The rest of the team ran for an hour, alternating sets of suicide sprints with lunges, push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. By the eighth sprint, Sadie was trailing a half step behind the other girls in every round. Her legs felt thick and leaden and her headache had retreated from her temples and settled low and heavy around the base of her skull. Seconds after they crossed the baseline, the whistle blew and they dropped to their stomachs for a round of push-ups. Her arms felt strong, and she completed the set quickly. Coach blew the whistle again and the girls lined up on the baseline, sucking in oxygen in short gasps.
“Sadie, I better not see you in last again,” Coach barked. Sadie nodded but looked straight ahead, avoiding her gaze. The whistle blew, and they took off.
She pushed hard, pumping her arms and willing her legs to move faster, be stronger, push harder. At the first turn, she was in the middle of the pack. She dug in her toes, grazed one hand along the gym floor and turned, lunging back toward the other end of the court. She passed two girls who were slow to turn and kept going hard, ignoring the pain. By the next turn, her legs started to give, and she could feel her body losing power. By the last length, she felt like she was running in mud, and she cr
ossed the baseline a split second behind Jenna, the second-string goalkeeper, in dead last.
The whistle blew again, and she started a set of lunges, following Thayer as she led the group to half-court and back. They paused for two counts at the bottom of each lunge, allowing the burn to soak in and take hold. By the end of the set her legs were shaking, and she doubled over and breathed hard, hands on her thighs. The blood rushed into her head and brought a fresh wave of pain. She stood up straight and bit down on her lip until it faded. The whistle blew again and they took off. She crossed the line a full step behind the last of her teammates.
They all collapsed to the ground for a round of sit-ups, grateful for the chance to rest their legs. They waited for the whistle to sound to signal the start of the set, but instead they heard Coach’s voice.
“Again. And if Sadie still can’t keep up, we’ll do it again. And again.” Everyone groaned and Jenna shot her a dirty look. She struggled to her feet.
Thayer stepped off the baseline in front of the girls and put a hand on her hip. “Coach, why should everyone who’s in shape be punished because Sadie can’t lay off the cheeseburgers?”
Coach sighed and held up her hand. “Get back in line, Thayer. Our team is only as strong as our weakest player.” She looked straight at Sadie. “And for some reason, today that’s you.” She raised her eyebrows, and Sadie dropped her eyes to the floor.
So much for the Sullas being Thayer’s family. Apparently she and Thayer were only friends behind generations-old stone walls. She looked down the line and saw Thayer whisper something to Charlotte. As Sadie watched, Charlotte’s eyes widened and she shook her head. Thayer spat out a few more words, and Charlotte turned away. Just then, Thayer met Sadie’s gaze and winked. The whistle blew.
Sadie put the pain out of her mind and pushed hard, but still she felt herself losing ground. Her thighs burned, and her throat felt like it was filled with hot sand. As she made the turn at half-court, she saw Charlotte stumble and slow down. Encouraged, she tried to pick up speed. In the final sprint, she barely passed Thayer, who was furiously pumping her arms despite rapidly falling behind. She crossed the line third to last.
“Much better, Sadie. Everyone give me fifty sit-ups, and then Thayer will lead you in a cooldown.”
She breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed gratefully to the ground. Apparently, Thayer was going to live up to her promise of sisterhood after all.
When they were done, Sadie sank down onto the bleachers and put her head in her hands.
“Feeling better?” Jessica asked.
“I’m alive, but I don’t think I could have done another suicide.” She crushed her paper cup and threw it in the trash, glancing around for Brett. She needed to get her alone. She wanted to talk about last night, and it was killing her that she couldn’t tell Jessica.
“Yeah, that was weird. Charlotte and Thayer are usually really fast.” Jessica frowned. “No offense. Think they did that on purpose?”
Sadie laughed to hide her smile. “Do you really think they would do that for me? Charlotte probably just tripped because she was trying extra hard to beat me.”
Jessica looked unconvinced.
“Trust me, I just got lucky.” She didn’t want to lie to Jessica, and that was true — she was lucky, just not in the way she was implying.
She stood up and looked for Brett. Most of the girls were still scattered on the bleachers, catching their breath and sipping Gatorade. Something caught her eye near the entrance, and she looked just in time to see Brett’s red ponytail disappearing out the door.
She saw Thayer standing alone at the cooler and mumbled something to Jessica about getting a refill. She got in line behind Thayer as she filled a paper cup.
“Hey, thanks for doing that.” Thayer shrugged, but she didn’t turn around. “You’re family. If you ever need anything, I’m here.” Thayer gulped down the contents of her cup and started filling it again.
“Actually, I was hoping you could tell me something. I’m in now, so no more secrets, right?” Thayer glanced around them, but no one was close enough to hear. She turned to face Sadie.
“Sort of. What do you want to know.”
“A few weeks ago, after the meeting with the Fates, I woke up with a bruise, like I’d given blood or had an IV or something. What was that about?”
Thayer shrugged. “Honesty isn’t the only thing they test for that night. We don’t really know details — the senior members keep most of that stuff quiet — but I know they have to make sure everyone’s, you know, a good fit.”
“Meaning what?”
Thayer smiled. “Like I said, they don’t tell us everything right away. But they will. Just be patient — they’ll answer all of your questions eventually.” She looked Sadie in the eye. “Trust me, okay?”
Sadie sighed and nodded. She felt a little better, but she still wished she knew more. “Okay. Thanks.”
“No problem. Now ignore everything I’m about to say,” Thayer said. Louder, she said: “I don’t know if you’re hung over or what, but I don’t want to see you coming in last again. Ever. Understood?”
Sadie heard the room go silent, and she could feel the rest of the team staring. She clenched her teeth. “Understood.”
With her back turned to the rest of the girls, Thayer grinned. “Good. Now don’t make me tell you that again.”
Sadie was trudging back to Keating with Jessica when her phone jingled. She flipped it open, and felt a smile spread across her face.
“Feeling okay today? My head feels like it’s going to explode.”
She typed out a quick response.
“Rough wake up but feeling better now. Practice sucked.”
His response came a minute later.
“Ouch, ours isn’t until noon. Last night was worth the headache though, right?”
“Definitely.”
“Good. Me too. Still on for tonight?”
Jeremy picked her up at five o’clock. She hurried from the door to the limo, clutching her hood around her face to keep out the cold. Inside the car was warm and dry, and she sighed gratefully as she sat back against the smooth leather.
She looked at Jeremy and feigned shock. He was wearing a simple white T-shirt, his Cubs hat, and jeans. “So this is off-duty Jeremy? I can’t even believe they let you off campus like that.” She stuck her nose in the air. “You hardly look like DeGraffenreid material.”
He grinned and nodded toward a black wool coat that lay in a heap on the seat next to him. “The coat was my camouflage. Sure you don’t want to reconsider? You know, now that you’ve seen me without my rich-kid costume?”
“Nah, I like it.” She scooted a little closer to him on the seat. “So what’s the plan?”
He took her to Lou’s, a tiny, hole-in-the-wall brick building on a small side street in downtown Foxburg. The sign above the door was a wooden carving of a plump tomato that read, “Lou’s Pizza: Since 1937.” He told her it was the best pizza he had ever had, “outside Chicago, obviously.”
They sat together in a cozy wooden booth near the back and ordered a thin-crust pizza with sausage, mushrooms, and peppers. It was sizzling hot when it got to the table, and Sadie immediately reached for a piece.
“Wait!” He held up a hand. “It’s not ready yet.”
She watched as he picked a large slice and slid it onto a plate, leaving a trail of thick, melted cheese. Next, he picked a shriveled, light green pepper out of a small bowl and held it up like an offering.
“The secret ingredient,” he said.
He used a knife to carefully slice off the tip of the pepper. Then, squeezing it like a lemon, he drizzled the spicy juice all over a slice. He finished it off with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, then finally slid it toward her.
She looked at him expectantly, but he just stared back. “Are you really going to watch me eat it?”
He grinned. “Just the first bite.”
She picked up the steaming slice and bit off the ti
p. He leaned forward, crossing his arms on the table like a little kid waiting for seconds.
“Great, right?”
She chewed, purposely avoiding his gaze. The pizza was good — hot and cheesy, with just the right amount of sauce — and the hot pepper juice added a spicy kick at the finish.
He laid his hands flat on the table and leaned even farther. “Come on, Sadie — you’re killing me.”
She put the slice back down on her plate and took a deep breath. “Okay fine, you’re right. This pizza is ridiculously awesome.”
He exhaled loudly and settled back into his seat. “Thank god. If you didn’t like Lou’s, we might have had some issues.” Satisfied, he performed the ritual all over again and dug in.
They were debating over whether to have thirds when an enormous man in a big white apron walked over to their table and slapped Jeremy on the back. He had bushy gray hair with eyebrows to match, a ruddy red nose, and deep laugh lines carved in both cheeks.
“How’s the pizza tonight, eh?” He spoke with a heavy Italian accent.
Jeremy leaned back and patted his belly. “Great, as always. Thanks, Lou.”
The man smiled widely and put his hands on his hips. “Good. You going to introduce me to your girlfriend?”
Her cheeks burned, and she opened her mouth to correct him, but Jeremy was unfazed.
“This is Lou, he owns the place. Lou, this is Sadie, she goes to Keating.”
Lou raised his bushy eyebrows. “Keating, eh? Did you know that girl who disappeared last spring?”
She shook her head. “I’m new this year, I just transferred in.”
He nodded. “Tragic. The whole town was devastated. Sometimes I wonder what’s going on over there.”
Poor Little Dead Girls Page 16
