by Blair Holden
“He called you beautiful about eight times; I know, I counted.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She’s blushing profusely and now I’m just itching to know more. Megan’s the kind of girl who’s always been too busy to fall in love. When she’s not aiming for a straight-A transcript, she’s volunteering at the homeless shelter and the orphanage and the Red Cross and the old age home . . .
“It does! He likes you and he’s cute, so why don’t you just answer his texts?”
“Wait, is he the guy you were dancing with?”
“No . . . I—I . . . he asked me and I didn’t want to say no. It didn’t mean anything.”
“But you looked like you were having a lot of fun.”
“Just drop it, guys, we’re not discussing this.” With her fiery red hair and gleaming green eyes, she’s quite the picture when she’s angry so we decide to not prod her further on the topic. It’s obvious that she feels uncomfortable discussing boys since she’s always been taught that education and college are her priorities.
“So where is Cole, anyway?” Megan changes the topic but I can sense that she’s sorry for snapping at us like that.
“I don’t know really, usually he picks me up around seven thirty but he was late today and I had to ask my dad to drive me. I thought he’d be here but . . .”
“Could this have something to do with the fight?” Beth asks earnestly and I shrug. It may have something to do with a fight but not the one they’re talking about. I don’t know why I can’t tell them about me almost kissing Cole or Jay showing up and then the argument that followed. I want to, but somehow it just seems so personal. I’m such a horrible friend!
“Well don’t worry, he’ll probably show up, he can’t stay away from you for that long.” Beth winks and takes out her song book, signaling the end of her presence in this particular conversation.
“Yeah, what she said, just find him later and talk things out.” Megan smiles warmly and I nod.
“Yeah I’ll do that, I’ll find him later.”
***
I can’t find Cole.
I should be jumping for joy and running around like I’ve won the lottery, but all I feel is a stupid sense of despair building up in the pit of my stomach as I scan the hallways for him. Ever since he’s arrived back in town he’s been by my side, even when I’ve threatened to make voodoo dolls using his hair and prick them with sharp pointy needles every night before I go to bed. If the promise of dark magic couldn’t keep him at bay, then why is it that one little spat has made him vanish from the face of the earth? He’s not present in any of our morning classes but Jay is and he’s been sneaking glances in my direction when Nicole isn’t paying attention. While usually this thrills me, today I just feel depressed. He’s so confusing with his mixed signals and I’m almost tired of waiting for him to realize that he can do so much better than his vicious pit viper of a girlfriend. He’s sorry, I can see that, but it’s not so much his words that keep me away from him but the clear warning that’s written all over Nicole’s face. Now that Cole’s not around she’s been making up for lost time and adding in extra perks just for me. For example, since morning I’ve been called out for my fat hips at least ten times. I’ve got a nasty purplish bruise forming on my forehead from where she “accidentally” hit me too hard with a dodgeball and somehow I’ve managed to “misplace” the file in which I keep all my homework assignments; therefore, I didn’t hand in a single one today, which in turn has earned me detention.
This is my logical explanation for why I feel deprived of Cole’s company today. It’s not because I miss him or am thinking about our almost kiss—I haven’t thought about it since it happened. It’s not like I spent the better half of my Sunday replaying the scene over and over again in my mind and thinking about what could’ve happened had Jay not shown up in time. I miss him because he saves me from all this hassle and while I should feel insulted that I need a man’s help to get through the day, I just want my inner feminist to suck it for the time being.
I’m on my way to the other side of the school for my economics class; the hallways are now more or less deserted since I’m running late because of my hunt for Cole. If I don’t see him today, then that’ll be that. It’s his choice if he doesn’t want to be around me anymore and I’m not going to beg him for his company.
With this optimistic thought in mind I skip to my class, feeling as though I’ve made a firm decision like the mature adult that I am. I’ll be the bigger person, I’ll be the one who gets to hold her head up high in the end, I’ll be . . .
I don’t get to finish the thought because think of the devil and he definitely does appear. Cole comes out of nowhere and veers me the opposite direction of where I’m supposed to go for class. I dig in my heels to try and stop or at least get an explanation out of him. He ditched me this morning and if he thinks that he can come up to me now and make me a partner in whatever crazy thing he’s up to then he’s wrong.
“Where are we going? I’m not missing class.” I stand my ground.
He whirls around and I’m hit with the force of his blue eyes for the first time today. It takes me back to our moment in the pool and my skin breaks out into goosebumps.
“If you checked your email you’d realize that class got cancelled today.” He hands me his own phone so that I can double check and there it is, our teacher is sick in bed and they couldn’t find a substitute in time.
“Okay so I have a free period, I’ll go catch up on some homework.”
“Or you could work with me here, please.”
“But where do you want me to go?”
“Do you trust me?”
We’re in the middle of the school hallway and attracting attention. I can feel so many eyes on the two of us but at that moment, I only see him and the sincerity in his gaze. He wants me to believe him desperately and in that moment, given the way things have changed for us recently, I do believe him.
“I do.”
***
He takes me to one of the supply closets near the girls’ bathroom. Well at least the kidnappers are keeping it classy these days, or maybe not. I feel like I’m in a cheaply budgeted Hollywood thriller as he guides me into the darkened room. A single lightbulb flickers dimly above us and I’m pretty sure I see something crawling up the wall that I’d rather pretend I didn’t see. I’m about to tear into him when he flicks a switch and the small room is illuminated.
“Is this where you’re going to kill me, Stone? I have to admit, I’m a little disappointed. Where’s the theatre?”
He rolls his eyes and checks his watch impatiently.
“Would you believe me if I told you that no, I wasn’t planning on murdering you here?”
“Well, you could have fooled me. This is the ideal setting.”
I press myself against the wall and study him closely. He’s tense, his body rigid as if ready for a fight. I didn’t pick it up earlier but there’s this quiet energy around him that screams of barely restrained fury. What the heck happened?
“Cole, this is a little creepy. Will you please tell me why we’re here? And why do you keep checking your watch? Are we waiting for someone?”
He hesitates and I’m pretty sure I won’t like where this conversation is headed.
“There’s a rumor going around and I wanted to be the one you heard it from.” He takes a tentative step toward me.
“What kind of rumor? Would you just say it already? This place is nasty and you’re starting to freak me out.”
“Some of the guys heard Hank Kelly saying some things after the party.”
My face drains of color and I start to tremble. Cole obviously doesn’t miss the change because he inches closer. He studies my face and his fingers lightly caress the back of my hand.
“I’m not going to repeat the things he said but I know that he’s lying. If he put his hands on you then . . .” he swallows, “ I have to believe that you didn’t consent to it. “
My breath ge
ts stuck in my throat and I inhale sharply through my nose. Goose bumps rise all over my skin, my heart’s hammering inside chest wildly.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I gulp.
I now have a full name to place with my attacker’s face. He’s a person, a very real person who wanders these very hallways. I could run into him at any moment and that makes me want to lock myself inside my room and never leave.
Cole’s voice is gravelly. “If he did something to you, if he hurt you or put his hands on you, you need to tell me.”
“It’s none of your business. I don’t owe you anything.” The line would have sounded better if I wasn’t stuttering like crazy. I sound like I’m in the midst of having a seizure or that I have some sort of tongue paralysis. It’s no surprise that he keeps pushing.
“I’m not asking you to tell me because I think you owe me an explanation. I want to know because it’s not fair nor is it safe that a scumbag like that is wandering these halls without so much as a scratch on him. Predators like that deserve to rot in prison.”
He doesn’t get it, if I admit to the attack then it becomes real. I’ve spent most of the past two days trying to forget whatever it was that happened at that party. I’d rather not relive it but on the other hand . . . the idea of Hank out there and still being able to prey on other girls sickens me.
“I need to go,.” I tell him. I don’t think I can breathe.
Pushing past him, I open the door and run straight into someone. It’s a girl, young-looking, probably a freshman, with red-rimmed eyes. She’s startled to see me and jumps back. I feel Cole come up behind me.
“Annie, hey we were just waiting for you.”
She looks like a scared animal that Cole has to coax into speaking. First things first, I find us a better spot than the supply closet. Since it’s a free period for Cole and I, the halls are deserted with most people in their classes. I lead the two to a bench near the central courtyard of the school. Annie sits on the bench, her hands clasped in her lap while Cole and I stand leaning against opposite pillars.
“Annie, would you please tell Tessa what you told me?”
She looks scared but not of the two of us. It’s as if she thinks someone might be watching her so Cole kneels down before her and assures her. “She’s not here and even if she was, we’re not going to let her do anything to you. Just repeat what you heard.”
“I . . .” she begins and casts me a pitying look. “I was at the party and I overheard Nicole and Hank.” She swallows. “I just got into the dance squad and Nicole had an initiation ritual for me, that’s why I kept following her at the party. I didn’t expect to walk in on . . .”
She couldn’t have . . . we were alone in that bathroom so she couldn’t have witnessed it but she knows.
“I overheard them talking about what they did to you and this morning he was around her again. They were coming up with all these lies that would destroy your reputation. I couldn’t . . . I couldn’t let them do that.”
You know how they say if looks could kill? Well, if Cole’s face is anything to go by, I know that the possibility of Hank leaving school premises in one piece today is not very high. I hadn’t anticipated a witness, I wanted this to go away quietly but that hasn’t happened.
Why? Why can’t I for once in my life be fortunate to have something work out in my favor? Why am I cursed with this horrible luck—I mean my mom’s half-Irish, does that not count for anything? Where’s my little leprechaun and that shining pot of gold at the end of the darn rainbow?
Annie scurries away as the bell rings and I don’t blame her. Nicole is the she-devil disguised in a dancer’s body. My hatred for her has soared this past weekend and maybe that’s what gives me the courage to open up to Cole.
I tell him everything and guess what?
Yeah, Hank wasn’t going to be among us living for very long now.
Chapter Ten: Discussing Who The Peeping Tom Creeper Likes More?
“Do you have a two?”
“Go fish,” I say, feeling smug, and he narrows his eyes at me.
“You’ve said that the last three times, shortcake, are you bluffing?”
I squawk at his accusation and throw my cards on the floor.
“I don’t play dirty, unlike you, Stone, and I would appreciate it if you stop accusing me of cheating!”
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry; how about we start again?”
“I’m not playing with you again.” I turn my head away from him and cross my arms stubbornly over my chest. I can hear him apologizing repeatedly but still it’s fun to give him a tough time. Let’s see how it goes for him without having someone to talk to or take his mind off the fact that he’s . . .
“Shut it down, you pipsqueaks; don’t make me come all the way down there!”
I roll my eyes, “all the way down there” simply means down the hallway. But for good old Detective Greene it would mean taking his feet off his desk and stop munching on the box of donuts that currently rests on his beer belly. He gives us a reprimanding glare before going back to his truckload of jelly-filled goodness.
“Sorry, detective,” I yell back before going back to ignoring Cole, who’s starting to look worse for the wear.
Confused? Okay, then please allow me to explain.
Currently I’m sitting cross-legged on a grimy floor outside a single prison cell. Cole is mimicking my position, sitting opposite me, but the difference between us is that he’s behind the bars and I’m not. It took a lot of begging and pleading on my part to let Detective Greene allow me to sit here and wait until someone shows up to bail him out. It’s been two hours, two hours filled with abandoned card games, trips to the donut shop, and bickering, of course bickering.
“Tessie, come on, talk to me. I’m this close to starting to mark my time here on the walls.” He groans and I fight back a smile. He’s quite the image, sitting there wearing only a thin wife-beater and jeans. His hair’s more messy than how he usually keeps it and his bottom lip is split. Usually I’m not the type to appreciate the whole scruffy look, I like them well-kept and free of criminal convictions.
However, there’s something about seeing him like this that’s just so appealing.
“It’s only been two hours, man up.”
“You try coming in here if it’s so easy. Hey, detective!”
Slipping my hand through the bars I shove his chest. “Shut up! If we don’t stop annoying him he’ll lock you up with that other guy.”
I shudder as I catch a glimpse of the prisoner whose cell is opposite Cole’s. Apparently he’d installed hidden cameras in the changing rooms of the shop he worked in. The toothy grin he’s been giving me the entire time I’ve been here makes me feel paranoid, like I’m one of the people he’s got on tape. Even though Detective Greene’s assured me that he’s from the next town over, my faith in the changing rooms of the world cannot be restored.
“The one’s whose been eyeing me like I’m a piece of meat. I’m starting to feel pretty violated if you ask me.” He shivers and once again I find myself rolling my eyes at him.
“Hey don’t get all cocky, mister, I’m the one he’s been staring at!”
“Are you blind? It’s obvious that he’s been drooling over me, can you blame the guy?”
“Are you for real? Haven’t you seen the way he’s been smiling at me all this time?”
“More like death glaring, he obviously doesn’t like you being this close to me,” he retorts, his face contorting into that of the arrogant prick that I’ve known my entire life.
“You conceited, big-headed, narcissistic . . .”
“Where is he?” I hear Mrs. Stone before I see her and promptly shut up. Cole’s face has gone pale as his eyes dart in the direction of the voice. He clutches the bars to his cell and whispers, “If she kills me in the slammer, tell the guys at school it was an ax murderer who finished me off.”
“Nothing more masculine than being high-heeled to death, is there, Coley
Woley?” I grin evilly and rub my hands together as the telltale clicking of high heels become less distant. Watching Cole’s face fall as he waits for the unmatchable fury of Cassandra Stone is priceless. There aren’t many occasions when you see him like this. A big fat grin lights my face as I get a whiff of Cassandra’s designer perfume.
“Cole Grayson Stone, what the hell are you doing in prison?”
I chuckle and get up from the floor, giving her full room to yell at him as much as she wants. I’m dying for some popcorn right about now. Maybe Detective Greene will lend me some of his donuts . . .
“Discussing who the Peeping Tom creeper likes more?”
“Tessa, dear, how are you?” She gives me a warm smile when she catches my eye and I simply give her a thumbs-up in return, something tells me I shouldn’t be talking right now.
“Don’t give me all that nonsense! Do you realize how worrying it is to come out of surgery to find that your son’s been arrested for assault?” she yells, but due to her gentle, almost caressing, voice, it doesn’t have the kind of impact she wants.
Cole looks at her sheepishly. “Sorry, Mom.” I see her anger melt the second he calls her that, and you can see that she’s practically already forgiven him. That’s the thing I’ve always loved about Jay’s mom. Ever since she married Cole’s dad when both boys were six, she’s treated Cole like her own flesh and blood. I know for a fact that Cole loves her just as much even though he tries not to show it. Cassandra is a wonderful woman and gorgeous as all hell; tall, blond, and absolutely stunning—it’s not really difficult to tell where Jay gets his good looks from.
“No, the mom thing isn’t going to work unless you tell me why you’re here.”
He groans and scratches the back of his neck. “Can’t you just bail me out first? I don’t think I can stand that guy staring at me for another second.”
“Oh for the love of God, he isn’t staring at you.”
“You’re just jealous.”
