Ask Again Later

by Liz Czukas

  A group of people were bunched together and moving quickly, though they appeared to be struggling with something. Like they were carrying a heavy piece of furniture or a rolled-up rug. I couldn’t tell who was in the group as they headed down the driveway, but I could hear them whispering to each other loudly. Finally, they stopped at a boxy sedan, and I watched as they opened the trunk and stuffed whatever it was inside.

  Were they seriously stealing something from Blanchard’s house? I crept closer, trying to keep hidden in the shadows. I expected the group to get in the car and take off, but they stayed at the back of the car.

  HEADS

  I had no idea what time it was anymore, but my eyes were the kind of tired where blinking could have turned into sleep in a heartbeat. After my talk with Tara, I’d found a padded chaise lounge near the pool, and now it was starting to seem like a decent candidate for a bed. I hadn’t leaned back. Yet. But sitting up was getting harder by the second.

  “Heart!” My name startled me into opening my eyes (when had I closed them?), but I couldn’t locate the source of the voice.

  “Oh my God. There you are!” It was Cassidy. “We’ve been looking all over for you!”

  “I’ve been looking for you.” Well, I had been before I decided to throw a beer at my brother.

  “I’m here.” She did a ta-da pose. “Now, let’s go!”

  “Where are we going?”

  “I have a surprise for you.”

  “You do?” I let her yank me to my feet and followed her as she headed for the side of the house. “Are we leaving?” I asked.

  “Soon.” Her Chuck Taylors made much louder sounds against the stone paths than my bare feet.

  “What’s the surprise?” I asked when we emerged onto the massive driveway in the front of the house. The brick steps where I’d sat earlier were still empty.

  “You’ll see.” Cassidy towed me down the driveway until we reached a Volkswagen Jetta. Three people sat on the trunk—Lisa, Ryan, and Neel.

  I felt like crying, I was so relieved to see familiar faces. “You’re still here!” I said.

  “Of course we’re still here,” Lisa said.

  “I thought—” I shook my head. “Never mind. What’s this surprise Cassidy’s talking about?”

  “Remember how you said your night could only end up worse if you were kidnapped by a serial killer?” Ryan asked.

  I nodded.

  “Well . . . we thought it would be funny to take your picture in the trunk of this car.” He patted the fender.

  “It’ll be like documentation that you have officially had the worst prom in the history of proms,” Neel said.

  Laughing a tired laugh, I rolled my eyes to the night sky. “Sure, why not?”

  “Yay!” Neel clapped his hands rapidly.

  “Do you want us to rough you up a little bit to make it more realistic?” Cassidy did some fake boxing moves in the air.

  “I think I’m roughed up enough, thanks.” I could still smell a faint whiff of beer on my dress from when I’d knocked Phil’s drink away.

  Ryan, Neel, and Lisa slid off the trunk, and Lisa used a key fob to pop the lid.

  “Whose car is this anyway?” I asked.

  “Becca’s,” she said. “We asked around, and she had the biggest trunk.”

  I actually smiled at them, which was really weird considering what they were about to do to me, but hey, that’s how you know who your true friends are, right? They’re the ones who offer to stuff you in a trunk, and you’re not only willing but grateful.

  TAILS

  Suddenly, Ryan came out the front door, followed by my brother and his friend Austin, of all people.

  “Hey!” Ryan teased. “I thought I told you not to move!”

  “You guys, I think someone just stole something from—” I started to say, but Ryan cut me off.

  “Never mind all that. We found you. That’s what counts!” His voice was overly jovial, like a game show host.

  “Heart!” Phil called, holding his arms out to me. “My sister! Come here and give your big brother a hug!”

  “What the—?” I gave them a crazy look but took a few tentative steps in Phil’s direction. “What are you up to?” I’d hardly seen him all night, and suddenly he wanted to play happy family?

  “Why would you think I’m up to something?” Phil asked, still holding out his arms. “Don’t you trust me?”

  I put my hands on my hips. “Not particularly.”

  “We want to show you something,” Ryan said.

  “What?”

  HEADS

  “Up you go!” Neel offered me his hand, and Ryan did the same, giving me two handholds for balance while I put one foot on the bumper and stepped up and into the remarkably empty space. I wondered for a moment if Ryan had said anything to Neel since our talk on the stairs.

  “Her trunk is really clean,” I remarked as I got situated inside with my fluffy dress doing its best to prevent me from doing so.

  “We took a few things out,” Ryan said.

  “Aww, it might have looked more authentic if there were, like, jumper cables and an old coat or something in here.”

  “Please. Like a serial killer would leave you anything you could use as a weapon.” Cassidy propped her hands on her hips, and I noticed her corsage was now hanging below her wrist and missing nearly all of its petals. “Now would you lie down so we can take the picture?” She held up her phone, doing a click-click motion with one finger.

  “All right, all right. Give a girl a second, would you?” I eased my way down onto the fuzzy carpet, trying to baby my still-aching tailbone. Stupid Amy. When I was settled into a comfortable position, I gave Cass the thumbs-up. “Should I look scared?” I wondered.

  “Nah.” Neel shook his head. “Just go with whatever feels right.”

  “We’ll take a bunch.” Cassidy tapped her shutter button, and the flash blinded me. A collection of spots gathered in front of my eyes as she clicked away for a series of quick shots.

  “How do they look?” I blinked hard, trying to look past the mass of after-burn on my retinas.

  They were all gathered in close to look at Cassidy’s display. “Looks good!” Lisa declared.

  TAILS

  “Just come here.” Phil beckoned me again, and I took one more hesitant step. Phil’s eyes went over my shoulder, and he said, “Grab her.”

  Austin, who had circled behind me while Phil talked, wrapped his arms around me, pinning my arms to my sides. “What are you doing?!” I shrieked.

  “Calm down.” Phil bent down to grab my legs, and I kicked at him. He dodged me easily and snatched one of my ankles out of the air. “Would you stop that?”

  “What are you doing? This isn’t funny!” I shouted. “Ryan!”

  “Relax!” Ryan held up two hands. “I asked them to help me.”

  “With what?” I shrieked. “Let go!” I bucked hard, but only succeeded in letting Phil grab my other ankle. I was now suspended between two football players who probably weighed three times as much as me combined. I didn’t have a prayer as they headed for the driveway.

  “Ryan!” I twisted. “Help!”

  “Stop screaming!” he shouted. “No one’s going to hurt you!”

  “This isn’t funny!”

  The sedan I’d been watching earlier loomed into view, and I realized the people loitering around it were all familiar. Cassidy, Lisa, Ally, Neel, Dan, and Becca.

  “You guys! Help me!” I shouted at them, but they all just laughed.

  “Oh my God, you have got to calm down,” Cassidy said.

  “Lisa!” I whipped my head as far to the right as I could, trying to make eye contact with my sensible friend. Lisa always had a cool head. There was no way she’d let them get away with whatever insane plan they’d come up with. “Lisa! What are you doing?”

  She looked at Ryan. “We should throw her in the pool first to calm her down.”

  “No!” I screamed.

  A m
uffled voice and some pounding caused Becca to give the trunk a solid thump with her fist. She laughed a fake laugh. “Never mind that. Everything’s fine.”

  “You want us to put her in?” Austin asked.

  HEADS

  Lisa reached up with a smile and closed the trunk.

  I let out a little shriek, startled by the sound and the sudden dark. “Very funny, you guys!” I thumped my hand on the floor.

  “You okay in there? Can you breathe?” Lisa’s muffled voice called.

  “I’m fine! Just open the trunk.”

  “Not yet,” Ryan answered.

  The first trickle of panic settled in my stomach. “What?”

  “We’ll let you out in a second,” Neel called, his tone impatient. “Just relax.”

  “What are you doing? You guys! Open the trunk!” I reached up gingerly, suddenly aware that I didn’t know how far up the lid was, or what the underside of it looked like. Were there sharp bits of metal just waiting for some flailing limbs to chew on?

  “In a minute!” Lisa called.

  I could feel the panic growing, but I quashed it with anger. “This isn’t funny! Let me out!”

  Someone thumped on the outside of the lid and I jumped, just barely containing the urge to scream. “Settle down!” It was Cassidy’s voice this time. “You’ll understand in a minute.”

  “Cass! I am not okay with this! It’s not funny!”

  No one answered me this time, and I realized there was muffled chatter going on outside. I went still, trying to hear what they were saying, but they weren’t talking loud enough. I reached up to the lid again with fingertips, feeling for a safe spot to pound my fists. If they were going to play kidnappers, I was going to play the most resistant victim who had ever lived.

  Suddenly, a double thump came from outside, and I yanked my hands back in shock.

  “Heart?” A new voice. Schroeder, if I wasn’t mistaken, though he never used my real name.

  “Yeah?”

  The outside chatter got loud, and I could hear a few individual words, but none of it made sense.

  TAILS

  “What!” They meant the trunk, I knew it the moment Austin spoke. My dearest friends had colluded with my idiot brother, and they were about to stuff me in the trunk.

  “Relax, it’s really big,” Becca assured me.

  “Why are you doing this?” I tried one more time to buck free of Phil’s and Austin’s grips, but I just wriggled like a dolphin in a tuna net.

  No one answered me as they gathered around the trunk, murmuring to each other.

  “. . . he’s probably going to try to . . .”

  “. . . open it slowly . . .”

  “. . . hold him down?”

  I watched as they slowly popped the latch and eased it open, three of them reaching in through the gap as soon as it was wide enough for their hands. They appeared to be holding someone else down.

  Right then, I understood.

  “Ryan!” I shouted.

  “This is for your own good!”

  “This is kidnapping!” I screamed.

  “We’ll let you out soon.”

  “. . . the hell is wrong with you?” Schroeder’s voice came from inside the trunk. “Let me out of—”

  That was all he managed before Austin and Phil heaved me over the edge and dumped me in on top of him. Before I could even get out an “Oof!” the lid was shut again.

  HEADS

  “Make room, Heart!” someone shouted, and I heard the mechanical thump of the release mechanism. Before I could even reach for the lid, it opened, and my entire visual field was filled with something completely confusing. I couldn’t make sense of the big shape overhead, but it was coming in fast.

  I squealed and scrambled for the back of the trunk. I was almost clear when the shape thudded down beside me and the lid closed again.

  TAILS

  “I’m sorry!” I tried to shove myself off Schroeder, but there were only so many places to go in the trunk of a Volkswagen Jetta. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” he muttered quickly, before shouting, “Let us out of here!”

  “Nope!” Cassidy called.

  “You two need to talk!” Lisa said.

  “No, we don’t! Let us the hell out of here!” Schroeder moved suddenly, kicking at the trunk lid and rolling me into the wall with the effort. My head thumped against something hard.

  “Ow! Stop moving!” I brought my hand up to rub the spot, smacking him in the face.

  He ignored me, shouting, “Open up!” so loudly my ears clanged and I flinched. He tried to kick again, but all I heard was “Ouch! Fuck!” and he didn’t make contact with the trunk.

  “Stop moving!” I hissed, taking another swat at him. I made contact with something fabric-covered, so at least I hadn’t hit him in the face again.

  “Tell them to let us out of here.”

  “Open the door!” I called.

  “Can you breathe?” someone asked. Phil. Aw, he does care, I thought with an eye roll.

  I considered the air inside. It was warm and still, but I felt like I could breathe well enough. “Yes!” I snapped.

  “Okay, then. You’re not coming out until you’re friends again!” Cassidy called.

  HEADS

  “This isn’t funny! Open up!” Schroeder shouted, and my ears protested the noise. They’d actually stuffed Schroeder in the trunk with me.

  “Shut up!” someone outside shouted, and pounding rained down on the trunk lid. It came from all sides in a terrifying cacophony. I used my free hand to cover my ear and squeezed my eyes shut. Schroeder went still, too.

  The pounding stopped, and a female voice rang out. “We’ll let you out when you guys work it out.”

  “Work what out?” I shouted.

  There was a pause. “Your differences.”

  “You’re making each other miserable!” Cassidy this time. “It’s just stupid!”

  “And we’re tired of listening to you whine.” Lisa.

  “And we don’t want you to mess up the show.” Was that Becca? I couldn’t tell.

  “So you can come out when you’re ready to be friends again!” Ryan.

  “Or more.” Neel, laughing.

  TAILS

  “Does Ryan know you assholes kidnapped his date?” Schroeder shouted.

  “Yes!” Lisa this time.

  “It was my idea!” Ryan answered.

  “What the hell is wrong with you, man?”

  My ears were pounding each time Schroeder shouted, and I crammed my finger into the one I could reach.

  Ryan sounded gleeful when he called back, “Nothing! What’s wrong with you?”

  “Why would you stuff your own date in a trunk? Are you sick?”

  Laughter from Ryan. “Not at all. I’ve never felt better.”

  “Why are you doing this?”

  There was a brief quiet outside, then Ryan shouted, “I’m gay, you idiot!”

  “I knew it!” Neel yelled while my heart jumped into my throat.

  Cassidy called out, “Now get to it!” with a pair of thumps on the trunk to punctuate her words.

  28 Concerning recent automotive safety developments and honesty

  In the dark of the trunk, I shook my head against a sudden sense of vertigo. I felt like the car was spinning and dug my fingers into the upholstery for support.

  “Are they serious?” Schroeder asked me in a hoarse voice.

  “I think so,” I croaked weakly as the world stopped seesawing. I didn’t know what had happened, but I was glad it was over.

  “This is insane.”

  He had no idea how insane. “I know.”

  “They can’t do this. Wait—” He shifted beside me, pressing me hard into the wall for a moment. “Isn’t there an emergency release? In case you lock yourself in the trunk?”

  “I think you’re right.”

  “Feel around.”

  I reached out with my fingertips extended, moving slowly so
I wouldn’t get hurt on anything unexpected in the dark. The inside of the trunk was remarkably smooth, all things considered. Lots of fuzzy carpet on the walls and floor, smooth metal and hard plastic on the lid overhead. I couldn’t feel much, being crushed against the interior wall as I was, but I tried. Luckily, I was barefoot, so I even checked around with my toes, but there was no handle to be found.

  “Find anything?” Schroeder asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “Wait! I think I might have something. Check this out.”

  “It’s pitch black in here. How the heck do you think I’m going to check anything out?”

  “Put your hand on my shoulder.”

  I did as he said, barely touching his sleeve. He took my hand in his and stretched my arm across his body until I ran into the opposite wall. I had to roll onto my side and almost on top of him to reach that far, but I managed. Together we probed a small plastic piece, but no amount of pressure moved it.

  “I think it’s nothing,” I sighed.

  He sighed, too. “This car must be from before those latches were put in.”

  “They probably made sure of that.” Our friends had obviously plotted very carefully to make this idiotic plan come to fruition. In a weird way, I admired their dedication.

  “This is insane,” he said again.

  “I know.”

  “Let’s just tell them we’re fine and they’ll let us out.”

  I squished up my face in the dark, glad he couldn’t see my efforts to sound normal when I spoke. “But we’re not fine.”

  “Don’t you want to get out of here?”

  “Yes, but I also want you to talk to me.”

  Silence. Then he said, “This wasn’t your idea, was it?”

  “No! I swear to God. I had no idea what they were doing.”

  “Our friends are idiots.”

  “I think they’re trying to help.” And let’s face it, they liked a good joke. Especially at someone else’s expense. And this whole night had pretty much been a joke at my expense. It was actually a pretty fitting ending, all things considered. Now all I needed was an actual psycho killer to take the wheel and drive us off to his red room of pain.