She felt his hands tight around hers. Could she believe anything he had said? Everything had been so great up until now. Maybe it was too great. Of course: it had all been one big joke.
“You thought you’d just lock us in for a few minutes? And that would somehow be funny?”
“I was going to put the pin back, I swear.”
“But you were still going to make me late for curfew?”
“Yeah, I guess. I wasn’t thinking about curfew. I was on a secret mission with you. No bell was going to take me away from that. Don’t hate me. Please?”
Devon took in his eyes, wide, eager and fearful at the same time. “You didn’t have secret creepy plans?”
He smiled and shook his head. “No secret creepy plans. Swear.”
“I appreciate the apology and all.” Devon took a deep breath. “Maybe you didn’t have ulterior motives, but I’m not sure I can trust you again.” She flinched at her own words. It felt like she was cutting out a member of her team, the only member. Without Hutch, it would be a lonely team of one.
“You know what? You don’t have to decide now. I’m going to go to that corner over there and face the wall until you make up your mind if you want to be friends again. I just ask that you weigh all the good things that happened tonight against the one little, stupid, stupid mistake I made before we really started talking.” He let her hands go. “Just consider it. Friends allow friends a mistake every now and then.”
Devon wanted to smile, his desire to make things right did seem genuine, but it seemed too important to maintain her angry composure.
Hutch nodded, as if understanding, and went to his corner.
October 8, Present Day
RAVEN’S HAIR LOOKED PARTICULARLY rat’s-nest-like today, piled high on top of her head. The rubber band keeping that black tangle together in one place deserved an award. Devon couldn’t tear her eyes from it while sitting a few rows behind Raven in their morning assembly. She hadn’t been able to get Maya’s words out of her head. How did Maya know what Isla was talking about? And who was Maya to know anything about Raven? Devon had never seen the two of them exchange a word—even as players on the same lacrosse team.
The pregnancy test Hutch stole remained an unanswered question. Devon knew he wouldn’t steal anything unless it was for a good reason. Not wanting Bodhi the pharmacist to know about his possibly pregnant sister seemed like a good reason. But now Maya seemed to be implying that Raven wasn’t the mysterious pregnant girl. Had Maya seen the pamphlets in Raven’s car? Who else explores pregnancy options except a pregnant girl? There was also Raven’s shaved head boyfriend to consider. Was it possible she had gotten pregnant with Hutch if she was already with someone else? Someone who had a formidable right hook, if Devon remembered his beach fight with Matt correctly.
At the front of the assembly, Mr. Lee was saying something about the Chinese students having a traditional Chinese dinner if anyone else wanted to come. Devon had been served a bad helping of orange chicken last year, so no, she would not be attending. Across the assembly hall Devon spotted Maya’s black hair in a perfect French braid down her back. Even from across the room she knew not a single hair would be out of place. There was more Maya wasn’t letting on. Her argument with Eric Hutchins was only a piece of the puzzle. And Maya was keeping all the other pieces to herself.
Headmaster Wyler called an end to the assembly and everyone shuffled out of the auditorium to their next classes. Devon fell in line next to Raven as they headed toward the circle of classrooms. “Hey, you doing okay?”
“Yeah, it wasn’t anything a few hot baths wouldn’t cure.” Raven shrugged. “But, I think they’re going to have to start paying me to get in that goal.”
“No kidding. They should.” They walked in silence as the crowd around them thinned out. “You know, Isla’s not in a good head space right now. What happened, I’m sure, had nothing to do with you personally.”
Raven stopped. “Damn straight it had nothing to do with me. Why? Do you think I asked for it? I asked to randomly get attacked by a chick I have zero relationship with? I don’t even know what the hell she was talking about.”
This could go two ways: keep Raven in the dark or actually try to find out what you need to find out, Devon. “Well, it’s not like you have zero relationship with her.”
“Whoa, hold up. What are you saying?”
“It’s just that you and Isla were both close with Hutch. That’s all. Isla’s just got it in her head that you and Hutch.…” Devon looked around. No one seemed to be in earshot, except Devon could see a classroom nearby filling up with students. The bell would ring soon and she and Raven should be inside.
“What does Isla have in her head?” Raven’s teeth clenched.
“Hutch apparently got someone pregnant. And Isla thought it was you. So.…” Devon let her words trail off, hoping Raven would pick them up. She didn’t.
“And you think she’s right?”
“I don’t know. No, I don’t think she’s right, but I don’t know for sure. All this Hutch stuff has made me question everything. Even you.” Devon knew she sounded like a hypocrite. One day she’s friends with Raven and the next she’s accusing her of something horrible. No wonder she was short on friends these days. Then again, there was no easy way to accuse someone of a secret pregnancy with a dead guy who may or may not have been murdered.
The bell rang. They were late for class. Devon waited. Their conversation would soon become a welcome distraction for the students filing into the nearby classrooms. “Okay, for the record,” Raven hissed. “No. Hutch was like a brother to me. I would never. Sure, I thought I was pregnant for a minute this summer, but that was with my boyfriend, Drew, not with Hutch. Anything else you feel like you need to know about the contents of my uterus?”
Devon nodded. She deserved that. “Raven, please don’t be mad. I’m just trying to figure this one out.” She kept her chin low, hoping her sheepish composure would soften Raven’s anger. “There’s still a pregnant girl out there that we don’t know about.”
Raven shifted her backpack to her other shoulder. Her long skirt swayed and the hem held onto a few dried leaves on the stone walkway. “Okay. You’re right. And I’m sorry. Seriously, it wasn’t me though.”
“I know,” Devon said quickly.
“But you really think Hutch has a baby out there?” Raven asked.
“Let’s talk later,” Devon said. Heads were turning in their direction. Naturally, it was time to be in class. But one of those heads was Maya’s.
WE HAVE TO TALK.
Devon passed Maya the note as Raj stumbled through an answer about recurring motifs in A Tale of Two Cities. Maya tucked it in between the pages of her notebook without a glance Devon’s way. When Mrs. Freeman dismissed the class, Maya stayed in her seat to apply a fresh layer of coral lipstick on her lips. Devon stared, but Maya focused on smoothing her hair back into place. She’s going to ignore me as long as she can, Devon thought. Devon was almost out the door when Maya whispered behind her, “Tonight. After curfew. We’ll talk.”
Devon paused, her back still turned. Okay, at least that was something.
AFTER THE FINAL RUSH through the Bay House halls, after Mrs. Sosa had knocked on every last door and said good night to each girl, Maya crept into Devon’s room. Only her desk lamp was on, turned away from the door. Maya was wearing her robe and a plush pair of slippers. She stood in the middle of Devon’s room, awkward, waiting.
“You can sit down,” Devon whispered.
“I guess I’ve never been in your room before,” Maya said. She sat in Devon’s armchair and tucked her legs underneath her. Even with the bulky robe and fluffy slippers, Maya looked small and childlike in the oversized chair. “It’s cool,” she added automatically.
“I spoke to Raven,” Devon started.
“I can’t believe Isla did that.” Maya sighed, casual, relaxed, like she and Devon were two regular friends chatting.
Was Maya stall
ing for some reason? It like a game of chicken. Who would reveal what she knew first? Devon sat up straighter in bed. It might as well be her. “Raven isn’t the one that’s pregnant with Hutch’s baby. And like you said, we both know that.”
Maya swallowed hard and stared down at the floor. Let the subject fill the silences. Devon had gone first, now she would let Maya finish. The words tumbled out of her mouth in a terrible rush.
“I’m ten weeks pregnant. I found out just as school was starting. Hutch got a pregnancy test for me because I was too scared to be seen buying one in Monte Vista. You’re the only one that knows.” Maya slowly looked up. “I don’t know what to do.”
CHAPTER 16
Wednesday, October 10
Devon wondered why she’d even bother coming to the library. Studying or concentrating was out of the question. She sat at one of the wooden tables with the old green lamps, the ones that burned so hot they threatened to singe the arm hair on anyone who dared to touch the power switch. So, Hutch had gotten Maya pregnant. Well, Maya hadn’t said those exact words out loud, but it was clearly not Immaculate Conception. Instead she talked only about the baby. She was determined to keep it, but knew she would start showing in a few weeks. How would she explain it to her parents, the school? Who should she tell first? Mrs. Sosa? Nurse Reilly? Was there a Keaton hierarchy of whom to tell first? Would Maya be kicked out? Devon realized she was as clueless as Maya was. Once again, there wasn’t a clear guideline on how to handle secret pregnancies. Maybe once this was all done Devon would submit a new chapter for the Keaton Companion. Beyond Rules Anyone Could Imagine: A Guide for the Unexpected.
The Keaton display case kept drawing Devon’s eyes. Tres abbitas. Three trees, according to the old Latin dictionary she’d consulted. Why had the logo for Keaton changed from three trees to one? Sighing, Devon stood up and approached the case.
1946: Francis Keaton broke ground on what was to become The Keaton School. A framed picture from the Santa Cruz Sentinel showed a smiling Francis, thick dark hair slicked back to a pointed widow’s peak, with his foot on the edge of the shovel. Devon had never really looked at any of this Keaton history before. A portrait of him, much later in life, hung in the admissions office. But that gray hair was slicked back the same way.
She looked more closely at the picture. Nothing but lush mountains and open sky behind him. No vineyards on the hillsides just yet. Behind him, three people smiled and watched as he posed. The caption read, Mr. and Mrs. Reed Hutchins, Edward Dover. Edward Dover? As in Maya’s father, Eddie Dover? No, this guy would be too old, wouldn’t he? But, if he had a son, Edward Junior … yes, that could be Maya’s father.
Next to Edward, Devon recognized a younger Reed Hutchins: cowboy hat in one hand, his arm around the waist of beautiful woman with light hair. She must have been Athena. Devon could almost see Hutch in his grandmother’s smiling pose.…
“Where were you?” a voice barked.
Devon whirled to see Matt standing behind her. His black eye was fading into a greenish half-moon at the top of his cheekbone. He scowled. “I showed up for our session and Robins was sitting in your chair.”
“Did he tell you why I wasn’t there?” she asked meekly.
“He said you were out of the program. He thought I’d talk to him instead. Why the hell would I do that?” Matt wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead.
“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything before you met with him,” Devon said, and she meant it. “I wanted to tell you, but after our last session, I wasn’t sure if you’d even show up.”
Matt chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Don’t you ever just want to disappear for a bit? Clear your head?” Devon wasn’t sure how to answer that. Matt shook his head. “Whatever, don’t mind me. I wanted to tell you something. In session. But here’s OK, too.” He sat down at Devon’s table and waited until Devon was sitting, too. “I gave it up. All of it.” He raised an eyebrow, waiting and holding his breath until she responded.
“All of it? Like.…” Was he saying what she thought he was saying?
“All of it. I’m not supplying anything to anyone. Bodhi wants to get back at me, rat me out. His loss. He’s got nothing. I’m not taking anything either. Seemed like I maybe needed to get my head straight again. I don’t feel great, but at least I’m clear.”
“Wow. So, no more pills? Matt, that’s.…” Don’t judge. Or was this about reinforcing positive behavior? No, that was dog training. “That’s great.”
“It’s all gone, except, I’m keeping one piece of leverage over Bodhi if he ever wants to mess with me.” Matt smiled to himself. He still thinks the book is under Hutch’s mattress, Devon realized. “But I’m out. So, stop asking me for drugs all the time, okay?”
His smiled widened, and Devon smiled, too. They sat there for a beat, holding each other’s gaze. The tension between them in the Peer Counseling room was gone. Strange: Matt had been right; the last time they’d spoken was their freshman year camping trip. Then, it was a brief flicker of a friendship that never materialized, but now there was something new. Something tangible. I think he respects me.
Could that be right? The thought was unfamiliar, like trying a new language. Devon was used to being out of the loop, on the fringe of everything. It was almost comforting to know that her place would always be as an observer, not the observed. But now something had shifted. Matt wasn’t looking for her to simply reflect his personality back to him. He cared what she thought. For the first time, she mattered.
He tapped his hands on the tabletop and stood. “Anyway, just wanted to tell you. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“Who said I was worrying?” Devon looked up at Matt, an eyebrow raised. Now that she wasn’t in an official role, it was fun to play along. He patted her on the shoulder.
“We both knew you were,” he said. “You suck at lying, Mackintosh. Hutch always said that about you. One of the things that made you different.”
Devon watched as he walked out of the library. It was true, she had worried about him. But she was a better liar than he gave her credit for. Hutch was a liar, too, of course. She was still going to keep that book.
DEVON HAD DEBATED ABOUT whether or not to tell Raven about Maya’s secret, but considering Raven already knew that someone was pregnant, it didn’t seem as big of a betrayal. Maya had asked for Devon’s help, yes. But Devon needed to talk with someone else to figure out how to help her. Preferably that talk could happen off the Keaton campus, away from prying eyes and ears.
The moment classes ended Friday afternoon, the red Volvo whisked her through the Keaton gates.
“I really don’t believe it. Like, really don’t believe it.” Raven licked the end of a hand-rolled cigarette as the car idled at the bottom of the hill. Devon couldn’t help but keep her eyes on the rear view mirror. Getting in trouble for smoking a cigarette or smelling like smoke was not another notch she wanted on her punishment belt.
“Why is it so hard to believe? Maya’s pretty, really pretty. Their families probably know each other. Couldn’t Maya have run into Hutch this summer? And Hutch could have stolen the pregnancy test for her. I did see her barfing that week, could have been morning sickness.”
On instinct, Devon gripped the right iPod speaker as Raven turned up the road toward Reed’s house.
“I’m sure in theory it fits, yeah, but I don’t know.” Raven exhaled a cloud of smoke out the open window. “There’s more to it. I think the Hutchins and the Dover families totally hate each other. Like, full-on Montagues-and-Capulets hate each other. Reed mentioned it once, something about him and Edward moving to California together ages ago, but I don’t know the history there. He wouldn’t go into it.”
“Seems like there’s a lot Reed doesn’t like to talk about.”
Raven took another drag and shook her head. The car pulled into the gravel driveway and she cut the engine. “That’s not true. He just doesn’t waste words. Bodhi’s the same way. It’s a science thing, I guess
.” She and Devon sat in the car a moment longer, looking at the guest house. “Okay, say Hutch bought Maya the pregnancy test, how does that get Hutch killed that same night? They have to be related, right?”
“They don’t have to be related, but it’s hard to imagine the pregnancy didn’t matter. Hutch didn’t have enemies, but getting someone pregnant could change that.” Devon tapped her index finger along her door handle. “It doesn’t fit for some reason,” she said. “Like there’s another piece we don’t know yet.”
“Well, let’s run it by Bodhi. He’s always good for an idea.”
Devon followed Raven through the front door, across the courtyard to the kitchen. French doors were opened on the patio packed with herbs growing in old wine barrels. The thick smell of the basil followed Devon inside.
“Anybody home?” Raven called out to the empty kitchen. She dropped her keys and straw purse on the wooden countertop. No one answered. “Bodhi?” She kicked off her flip-flops and walked down the carpeted hallway. “Help yourself to anything in the fridge!”
“Thanks,” Devon yelled back. She wasn’t hungry or thirsty, but the idea of opening a fridge just to see what was inside was a pleasure she hadn’t had since the summer. It was the small ways that boarding school life was different from being home that caught up with her every now and then. Her heart sank. A half-loaf of sprouted wheat bread with organic peanut butter and seedless raspberry jelly were the only items on the shelf. The jelly looked sticky with congealed globs caked around the lid. PB&J. Hutch probably made his sandwiches for Raven from these supplies. Devon felt sorry for the leftover condiments: pets waiting for a master that would never return.
Bottles on the door shelves jingled. Devon noticed the small green bottles, the cursive ‘G’ on the metal lids. The bottles from the Palace, the imported German label from the car.
“When did you get here?”
Devon popped her head out of the fridge. Bodhi was walking toward her down the hallway, barefoot. He took a seat at the kitchen table.
Keaton School 01: Escape Theory Page 22
