Escape Theory

CHAPTER 15




Sept. 10, 2010

Freshman Year



The cookie sailed past the metal coffee can and sent crumbs skidding across the floor.

“Take a sip,” Hutch said.

Devon held up her nearly empty glass of milk. “I can’t. So full.” Her eyelids were getting heavy; even the cold cement floor was starting to look like a comfortable bed.

“Better start making some shots then,” Hutch smiled at her and launched a piece of cookie into the canister. “Swish!” he said, arms raised to the ceiling, cheering his victory. “You’re not falling asleep on me, are you, Mackintosh?”

“No, not at all.” She tried to stifle a yawn. “Okay, maybe a little. What time is it?”

Hutch looked at his watch. “One twenty-seven in the morning.” He squeezed his eyes shut and then blinked several times. “We’ve been in here for what? Almost three hours.”

“They’re never going to find us. We’re going to be in so much trouble.” Devon couldn’t get through the sentence without yawning again. Her fatigue had become more overpowering than any fear about getting caught. She curled up on the floor, tucking her arm under her head as a makeshift pillow and allowed her eyes to close. “We should just give up and sleep here.”

“Here, use this,” Hutch said. He lay down behind her and shoved a paper towel roll under her head.

“Thanks.”

“You warm enough?” Hutch asked.

Even half-asleep Devon could tell this was a flirtatious hint. She smiled and opened one eye. “Why, you gonna keep me warm?”

“Only if you want me to.” Devon could hear the smile in his voice.

“Yeah, I want you to. But bring your own paper towel roll.” Hutch crawled across the floor toward her. Devon felt him wrap an arm around her waist; he pulled her close to him. She relaxed into his grasp, feeling his knobby knees behind her calves, his chest inhaling and exhaling, and his breath on the back of her head.

“Isn’t it weird that we just met?” Devon said.

“Technically we met earlier this week.”

“You know what I mean. Three hours ago I wasn’t sure if you knew my name. And now we’re here, like this, and it seems like it’s always been that way.”

“Yeah, like we’ve been here this whole time. Not, like, in the kitchen, but comfortable like this.”

“It’s nice.”

“It’s better than nice.” He ran his hand up the whole side of her body, stopping at her head to pull her hair back. He kissed her neck just behind her ear.

Devon opened her eyes. The flashing starbursts in her mind bled into the moonlight reflecting off the glossy floor. The locked metal door loomed large on the nearby wall. The metal hinge at the top caught the outside light. For the first time Devon saw words near the top of the door. REPLACE PIN TO UNLOCK.

“Replace pin to unlock?” she cried, suddenly wide awake. “Did you see that before?” Devon stood and scrambled to the door. She ran her hands along the frame. Hutch stood up and dug his hands into his pockets. “Maybe the pin fell out. I need your height over here,” Devon said. Fully stretched her arms couldn’t reach the v-shaped hinge at the top of the frame. “What? Did you see the pin or something?”

“Um.…” Hutch started, but Devon noticed he wasn’t making eye contact.

“Hutch. Did you see the pin?”

“It’s not like it matters anyways. Tino locked the door. We’re still stuck.”

“What do you mean, still? As in we weren’t stuck until Tino came along? Hutch? What aren’t you telling me?”

He reached into his pocket and fished out a slender metal pin with a loop at the top. He walked over and slipped the pin into the hinge. It fell into place easily. “That’s what I wasn’t telling you. I pulled it when you reached for the switch. I thought it’d be fun for a minute.”

“You thought it’d be fun to lock me in a kitchen?” Devon pressed herself against the door. Even with the pin in the hinge, the deadbolt still kept the door firmly closed. “Do you know how freaky that is?”

“I know, I know, I’m a total a*shole. I was only going to let it go on for a few minutes, until we got the milk, just for fun. But then Tino came along and kind of made that decision for me. Devon, I’m not some creepy rapist guy, really.”

“This whole night then.…” she couldn’t finish the sentence. Didn’t want to finish the thought. Everything she had told him. Kissing him. It was all a lie. Feeling safe with him? Gone. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing would come out.

“Devon, seriously. Everything about tonight was true. I just wanted a little time alone with you without all of them getting in the way.”

The ripple of moonlight on the cement floor made Devon feel dizzy. She slid onto the floor. “You know what really sucks? Meeting you made me feel like I could survive here. Like everyone wasn’t always going to feel like a complete stranger and I had something to look forward to. But now … now all I can see is four years of being trapped with people I hardly know.” She glared at him. She wanted him to know that he would be just another cog in the Keaton wheel to her.

Hutch sat across from Devon on the floor. He took her hands in his. “I know I screwed up. I missed my opportunity like three hours ago to tell you the truth and then it was too late. But you gotta believe me, everything about tonight was true. I really like you, Devon. I thought I had a really cool plan until you figured it out and now I look like a total stalker freak.”

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 stalling 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.”