Fever Pitch

by Heidi Cullinan

  The door to the room opened. They broke apart enough for Aaron to turn and see his barely held together roommate come through the door. Elijah tried for a sarcastic smile and wave, but mostly he slumped against the wall by the closet, looking like he’d been dragged sideways through hell. In a bad suit.

  “Fuck this.” Giles motioned impatiently to Elijah. “Bitch, put on something human and get over here.”

  “I’m not in the mood for a three-way,” Elijah replied, but his shade fell flat, no snark to hold it up. He undid his tie with shaking hands.

  “Tough. You’re getting one. Put on a T-shirt and get the fuck over here, because I’m hugging you both. Fuck your fucking fathers. I will daddy both your asses, and right now you need some hugs.”

  To Aaron’s surprise, Elijah came. He moved stiffly, uncertainly, but he let Giles manipulate him between himself and Aaron, pressing his face to the same place on Giles’s chest where Aaron’s face had been up until a few minutes ago. Giles drew them both close, folding them into a boy-burrito on the narrow dorm bed.

  “You’re safe, you got it? Both of you.” He stroked first Aaron’s hair, then Elijah’s. “All they can do is yell at you now. Elijah, we have a place lined up for you to live if the college doesn’t come through. This is before your pastor visit and before Walter.” He paused to check his phone, then grunted in satisfaction. “My parents are coming down. We’ll have the full posse tomorrow night. We’ll sing ‘Kumbaya’ until you two get it through your heads that you have a new family. Your real parents suck. That’s fine. We’ve replaced them four times over.”

  Aaron shut his eyes, soaking in Giles’s vow. He didn’t weep, and neither did his roommate. But he swore he felt the same heaviness rising from both of them, just as surely as he knew Giles took it, tied it in a knot and tossed it away where it couldn’t hurt them anymore.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  On Friday at three in the afternoon, Aaron led his roommate to the student lounge in the music building, where Walter, Kelly and Giles waited.

  They’d elected to meet there because the toads had been shadowing Elijah all day. Aaron figured it would take some balls to come onto music turf. The one hiccup in the plan was that when Elijah came into the room and saw not just Walter and Kelly but Mina, Jilly, Damien, Karen, Marius and Giles, Aaron had to physically restrain him from bolting.

  “This is too many people.” Elijah glanced over Aaron’s shoulder in terror. “What the hell are they all doing here?”

  “Caring about you.”

  “They’re freaking me the fuck out. Why couldn’t we do this in our room?”

  “Because your parents might show up there. Or mine.”

  Elijah relaxed only a fraction. “I don’t like this.”

  “I know.” Aaron kneaded his shoulder gently. “But they’re all good people. They want to help you.”

  “Fine. But you’re holding my goddamned hand.”

  Aaron did.

  He introduced Elijah around the table, then sat between him and Walter. Walter leaned forward on his elbows as he addressed Elijah. “Thank you for coming. I understand you’re overwhelmed right now. I want you to know, though, that everyone in this room is here for you.”

  Elijah stared at his lap. He gripped Aaron’s hand so hard he was probably losing blood to his fingers.

  Walter continued, still speaking softly. “I want to lay out some long-term plans with you, but for now I think we need to address the short term. Your parents are coming today, yes?”

  Elijah tossed his cell phone onto the table. “They’ll text any minute to tell me they’re in town. It’s kind of weird that they haven’t contacted me yet.”

  “I know this is stating the obvious, but it’s important for everyone here, including you, that we make matters expressly clear. Is it your wish to not see them this weekend, to not return with them at any time in the near future to South Dakota?”

  Elijah snorted. “In any future.” When Walter waited, he cleared his throat and spoke again, voice wavering only a little. “I don’t wish to see my parents anymore or have any association with them. But this means I will have nothing.”

  Aaron squeezed his hand back. “You have us.”

  Damien leaned forward from his seat on the other side of Kelly. “What did Pastor Schulz say to you when you met with him? Did he offer any help with tuition?”

  Elijah shrugged. “He said he’d look into it. Mostly he told me not to worry and to take it one day at a time. I think he’s talking to the department about a scholarship like they did for Aaron, but I don’t think I want to stay a religion major after this. So I don’t know.”

  “But Giles told you about the White House, right? How they’ll take you in?” This was Mina, and she gave Giles a look that said, You’d better have told him.

  Elijah’s lips thinned into a line. “Yes—but…” He glanced uneasily around the table. “I don’t understand why. I mean—” He broke off and sagged in his chair. “You don’t know me.”

  This time it was Marius who spoke, his deep, gentle voice rumbling across the table. “We haven’t all had your experience, or Aaron’s. But everyone here has had tough times. Maybe ours weren’t so tough, but we know what it’s like to feel alone. You can’t bring my mom back from ovarian cancer, and I can’t erase anyone else’s past. But I can help get you to a better future. We can all do that for each other. You don’t have to be a music major, or even be in the orchestra or choir. You just have to be a human.”

  Elijah looked overwhelmed, and Aaron wondered what he should say, but Walter eased into the conversation then, using the same comforting tones. “I’m a law student, not a lawyer, but I wanted to put the option on the table for you so you understand your rights. I’ve already put out a few feelers, and I know several people who would help you pro bono.”

  “Why would he need a lawyer?” Karen asked.

  Walter kept his gaze on Elijah. “He might not. It depends on how his family behaves. Elijah hinted to Aaron and Giles his parents would do more than just cut him off if he stopped dancing to their tune. They would actively try and remove him from a life they see as unfit.”

  On the table Elijah’s phone lit up and started to buzz across the Formica. He grimaced. “This will be them. Do I answer? Because they’re going to come after me no matter how hard I tell them to fuck off.”

  Weirdly, this made Walter smile. “If they try to force you to stay with them, we can sue them. There’s precedent—a woman in Ohio took her parents to court for stalking and got a restraining order against them when they wouldn’t stop trying to control her life. She had the same tracking software as you on her electronics.”

  Elijah didn’t seem impressed. “They make her parents pay for her school?”

  “You’re an adult. Can’t make them do anything, particularly if you’re telling them to fuck off. Which is why I’m asking what you want. Do you want to go to school, or do you just want out?”

  Elijah looked so tired. “I don’t know what I want. I’d love to be at school, in the dorm with Aaron but as a real college student for a change, not a fugitive. Except I’m not naive enough to think that’s actually on the table. Even if it is, I can’t see Timothy springing for a full ride for three and a half years, which is what it would come down to.”

  Which was exactly what Nussy had promised Aaron would have. Guilt gnawed at his stomach. “There has to be a way.”

  “How? Somebody’s got to pay for it, and honestly, I don’t want to be someone’s charity case where they pet me and call me poor baby and live out their fantasies of saving somebody. I don’t want to owe anyone either. But I don’t want to work for slave wages at McDonald’s or Walmart.” He rolled his eyes. “In other words, I want a goddamned fairy tale, which isn’t happening. This is a stupid idea.”

  He started to fidget, and Aaron did his best to soothe him. �
�The pastor guy might have it right. Let’s start with today. What should we do right now, with your parents coming?”

  “Meet them.” This was Damien, who had an iron look about his jaw. “Face them down. We’ll go with you—we’ll all be there when you tell them no. We’ll do the same thing to Aaron’s dad when he arrives.”

  Kelly nodded at Elijah’s phone. “How close are they? Did they say?”

  “We should call campus security, let them know this is going down,” Karen suggested. “Get them alerted before any trouble starts.”

  “Too late.”

  They all glanced up—Baz stood in the doorway. Beside Aaron, Elijah stiffened, but Baz didn’t look at him. He stared right at Marius and Damien, jerking his head to indicate the outside. “They’re here. Elijah’s parents. Campus security.” His gaze slid to Aaron. “And your dad.”

  Aaron could barely breathe, and the world tried to spin away.

  Elijah held him fast. “Oh no, you don’t. You don’t drag me into this by my nose and then check out in a panic attack.” He was deliberately not looking at Baz.

  Walter, however, was. In fact, he rose, staring at Baz like he’d seen a ghost. “Sebastian? Sebastian Acker?”

  Baz’s gaze jerked to him, and then he too went still. “Lucas. What the fuck are you doing here?”

  “I’m friends with Aaron. And Giles.” He was trying to put on a good face but couldn’t quite manage it. “Jesus—how…how have you been?”

  “Maybe another time, bud?” Baz snapped.

  Walter shook his head like he was trying to clear it. “Yeah…sorry.” He kept trying to get on top of himself but kept failing. “So the gang’s all here.” He turned to the table. “What do we do next?”

  “What we do best. Face the music.” Damien pushed to his feet and motioned to the table to do the same. “Up. Everybody. We’re all going out there, letting the parents yell, showing them we don’t give a shit, and then we’re going to the White House to drink ourselves into comas.”

  “We still have rehearsals, Mr. Student Director,” Karen pointed out.

  Damien rolled his eyes. “Fine. We’ll drink ourselves into comas after rehearsals.”

  They rose, but as everyone filed out of the room it was obvious they took special care to keep Aaron and Elijah in the center of their herd. Walter stayed right beside them, as did Giles.

  As they passed Baz, though, both Walter and Elijah got funny again. So did Baz.

  Aaron looked between the two of them. “How do you two know Baz?”

  Elijah sagged, still shaking. “He’s the one who told me to go home.”

  That didn’t make any sense, so Aaron turned to Walter. “And you?”

  “I knew him in high school. Before the sunglasses.”

  Wonderful. Another cryptic answer. Aaron wanted to press for details, but they were heading out the door now. As soon as they cleared the corner of the building, he saw his dad looming over the campus security officer, shouting demands. Mr. Prince stood beside him, red-faced and bellowing in harmony. On the snowy knoll just beyond the parking lot Reece and Emily stood with the rest of the toads, wrapped in self-righteousness. Mrs. Prince was with them, arms bundled around her coat, her expression impassive and colder than the ice she stood on.

  Walter drew Kelly closer to him even as he tightened his arm around Aaron. “You’re going to be okay. Both of you. All they’re going to do is yell. Sticks and stones and so on.”

  Aaron tried to put on a brave face. “We’re dangerous because we know how to survive.”

  Giles, who stood between Elijah and Aaron, squeezed Aaron’s hand as he laughed. “My mother would be so proud of you.”

  Elijah rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to deliver what undoubtedly would have been a wry remark.

  He never got a chance, though, because before he could speak, Mr. Prince pulled his gun.

  One moment Giles was walking, gripping Aaron’s arm as he tracked Mr. Seavers’s wild hand gestures. The next thing he knew, everyone was screaming.

  “Down,” Walter shouted, voice breaking as he pushed Kelly onto the frozen asphalt. Aaron tugged at Giles and Elijah, except Elijah wouldn’t go.

  “Behind a car.” Elijah dragged Aaron and Giles with him to a red Toyota truck.

  That was when Mr. Prince moved, swinging his arm, a small black gun trained on his son.

  In the movies when someone drew a firearm, everything slowed down, but in real life things happened so fast Giles couldn’t keep up. He felt slow—his brain tripped over itself trying to react, yanking Aaron down, reaching for Elijah, shouting as Aaron’s roommate escaped his grasp. The security guard didn’t have a gun but was doing his best to tackle Mr. Prince, except Jim Seavers had missed the assault-with-a-deadly-weapon threat and was still shouting at the man, demanding to see his son.

  All this happened in less than three seconds. Except it didn’t take that long for Mr. Prince to bark out his crazy, level his gun and pull the trigger.

  A shout cracked Giles’s ears in stereo with the shot as Baz sailed through the air, tackling Elijah and covering him as they crashed to the ground.

  Screams echoed everywhere, making Giles dizzy, hollowing out his gut. The security officer tackled Mr. Prince, gun clattering underneath the truck now riddled with bullets. In the distance Giles heard the sound of sirens, many sirens.

  Is it safe yet? He clutched at Aaron beneath him, flush with adrenaline as he scanned the parking lot, looking for more shooters, more threat, but all he could see were people rushing, pushing, crying. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could feel himself reeling, but at that moment all he knew was he had to make sure they were safe. Except he had no idea what safe was right now.

  Beside him Elijah started to sob. Giles turned toward the sound—then stopped, breathless, at what he saw.

  Blood. Red, red blood, so stark against the snow.

  Not all of the bullets had gone in the truck.

  Elijah sat up, bloody, sobbing, his face and neck splattered, but he bent over Baz, crying and touching his face and his shoulder, screaming when his hand came away full of blood. Aaron sat up too, and he and Giles crawled to Elijah even as the others pressed in around them. Marius hurried to his friend’s side, face pale and eyes brimming with tears as he lifted Baz’s head into his lap.

  Baz was conscious—clearly in pain, but weirdly peaceful. His glasses had fallen away, and he squinted as his good hand fumbled for Elijah’s face. “Don’t cry,” he slurred. “It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay.” When Elijah kept crying, Baz made contact with his skin, smearing the blood across Elijah’s cheek. “Shh. It’s okay.”

  “My dad shot you,” Elijah wailed, crying so hard now he choked.

  Baz’s grin was eerie. “Yeah. But I’m bulletproof.”

  Elijah looked at him in confusion, but that was when Marius started to lose it—then the ambulance pulled up, and everything was chaos.

  The next few hours went by in a kind of dream. Giles kept trying to keep it together, but it was so hard. He barely understood what was going on. An ambulance took Baz and Elijah away. Giles thought someone should go with them, but the police made them all sit on the curb, get checked out first by the paramedics, and then they had to all give statements. Someone brought him a blanket, which he tried to share with Aaron, but Aaron had his own.

  He couldn’t let go of Aaron’s hand. Every time he did he freaked out.

  Had this actually happened? It didn’t seem real. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. The dads were going to yell, that was it. But Baz had been shot.

  Giles had almost been shot. Aaron had almost been shot.

  When he let himself think about it, he could barely breathe.

  It took him a full minute to hear his phone ringing in his pocket, and by the time he was able to figure out how to make his fingers work enoug
h to call his mother, she was in hysterics. That was nothing though to when she found out he’d been involved in the school shooting playing on the news. Her being upset made him upset, and a female police officer ended up taking the phone from him while Walter and Kelly and Aaron tried to calm him down.

  Jesus, there were news vans outside the police barrier.

  There was a fucking police barrier.

  Eventually they were all herded inside the music building, where the faculty ushered them into the choir room and made them sit on chairs. Somehow the president of the college was there talking to them, and the deans of everything and some other guys in suits. Giles couldn’t guess who they were.

  Out of nowhere, in the middle of one of their speeches, he remembered what he’d been trying to remember for about an hour now. “Someone has to be with Elijah. He’s all by himself at the hospital—somebody has to be with him.”

  Walter pulled him down. “There’s an officer with him. It’s okay.”

  “Not police. Someone to be with him.”

  “Baz’s mother will check on him. She’s already here.”

  Giles stared at Walter, feeling dizzy. “But he’s from Chicago.”

  Walter raised an eyebrow, an oddly wry gesture cracking through his weariness. “His uncle is a US senator and his dad owns half of the city. They flew up here in a private jet.”

  Oh. Okay then. Giles sat, not sure what to say to that.

  The doors to the choir room opened, and Giles’s mother came bursting in. He couldn’t so much as take a step to get to her before she was yanking him and Aaron, sobbing, into her arms.

  He still couldn’t leave, even with his parents there. Bomb squads were searching campus, making sure people were safe, though all signs indicated Mr. Prince had acted alone with the single intent to attack his own son. Everyone on the news called it a school shooting, and the campus was in lockdown. All campus activities were canceled, and parents streamed in from all over, waiting to collect their kids. Even Kelly’s mother waited for clearance to come in—Vanessa Mulder had barreled through by sheer force of will.