“Did you hear me?” Cal asked. “I want you to be safe, Brooke.”
I nodded, looking up at him. He looked at me with the deepest concern, and I forgot that he was a bad guy. He didn’t sound like one now. He sounded like he wanted to protect me, take care of me, and I almost believed him.
Almost.
Five
The stairs at the end of Hallway D curve down so that it’s impossible to stand on the top landing and see someone standing on the bottom landing. Even if you hang your body over the edge and strain your neck. The stairwell is accessible by a door on the top and bottom floors. Secluded, and I imagined couples dipping under the stairs for quick make-out sessions between classes. The stairwell was creepy when you found yourself in it alone, always a little darker than the rest of the school, like the janitors reserved the leftover, low-quality bulbs for this section of the building.
I was on the last stair heading for the first floor hallway when I heard the door to the top floor open and a chorus of hushed voices talking in urgent whispers. My instinct was to move quickly and soundlessly under the stairs, so that’s what I did.
I heard a deep male voice. “Is anyone in here?”
I remained silent.
There was a brief pause before the low talking resumed.
“Dude, we can totally trust him. He wants in,” the same deep male voice said.
“How’d he even find out?” another asked. “I didn’t tell him. Are you running your mouth?”
“No, man. He found that slip of paper with your name on it.”
“What the hell? I told you we shouldn’t draw names at school.”
I couldn’t make out how many boys there were, but it sounded like three. Possibly four.
“Dude, it was convenient. No one could meet outside of school,” the first boy said.
A new voice piped up. “When are you sending us the score sheet?”
“Fuck the score sheet. We’re not talking about the score sheet right now. I wanna know what Aaron knows,” the second boy said.
“I only told him that it’s a secret club, and that we’d have to discuss his initiation,” the first boy replied.
“Well, if he wants in so bad, he can go fuck that sophomore virgin on the cheerleading squad. Then we’ll talk.”
A few chuckles.
“Man, her ass is so round and perfect. She’s hot.”
“How do you know she’s a virgin?”
“I’ve got a spy. Anyway, I’ll have to think about it. I don’t know about Aaron. There’s something about him that rubs me wrong.”
“Maybe the fact that his swim times are better than yours?”
“Screw you, man.”
“I’m only joking. Look, I know you’re all concerned about people finding out, but I’m not stupid. I wouldn’t bring his name up if I didn’t think we could trust him.”
“It’s Cameron, right? She’s your spy?”
“Dude, shut up.”
“Parker, when are you sending the score sheet? I’ve got a date this weekend.”
“Man, stop deleting shit from your email. I’ll send it when I send it.”
“I’ll send it,” the first boy said.
“So it’s Cameron, right?”
“Shut up! Everyone just shut the hell up! Let me sort this out.” It sounded like Parker’s voice. “You know, it really pissed me off when Cal put me in charge of all this shit.”
I listened as they walked down the stairs and shuffled into the first floor hallway. I took a deep breath. Secret club. Score sheet. Initiation. Sex with a virgin. What the hell was going on? And who could I talk to about it?
I crept out from under the stairs and pushed open the door leading to the first floor hallway.
“Parker, grab mine, too!”
I bumped into Parker, who was headed back into the stairwell, and he glared at me, shocked. Then his face changed from shock to agitation and suspicion. Shit. I don’t think I put enough time between our exits!
He pushed past me and headed up the stairs, leaving me to wonder if I’d been found out and if my plan had just been thwarted.
***
If I thought I could go the rest of my life without seeing Finn again, I was living in a fantasy world. He attended my old high school, so at least I didn’t have to see him on a regular basis. But I worked at a fairly popular diner frequented by people from all over town. He was tactful enough to steer clear of my house, but I knew eventually he’d find out where I worked and show up, all under the guise of simply wanting to eat.