I took a small step forward, into the soft glow of lamplight, so he could see me more clearly.
Recognition crossed his face as he took me in, from my shoulder-length light-brown hair to my black wedge boots, then back up to my eyes. He didn’t seem to like what he saw. “Did you really call the cops?”
“No.” I ran my hands over my pockets. “I don’t have a phone.”
His eyes skimmed over my pockets as if he didn’t believe me, then he nodded once and headed toward the bag he’d dropped next to a chair.
I followed after him. “Do you?”
“Do I what?” He unzipped his bag.
“Have a phone.”
“No, I don’t.”
I stared at his bag, not sure he was telling the truth. “I just need to call my parents. They’re probably worried sick about me. Nobody knows where I am.” At least that’s what I was assuming since nobody had come back. “I would just use it to tell them where I am.”
He pulled a sleeping bag from his duffel and spread it on the floor. “I don’t have a phone.”
He brought a sleeping bag to the library? He wasn’t trapped here like me. He’d planned on staying all along? “But you’re not homeless,” I said.
“I never said I was.”
“Why are you here?” I asked.
He crawled into his sleeping bag and then reached up and turned out the light.
“Why were you worried about me calling the cops anyway? Are you in some kind of trouble?”
“Can you keep it down? I’m trying to sleep.”
If my whole body didn’t feel like Jell-O I might’ve kicked him, but instead I stumbled to a chair, sat down, and put my head on my knees. This shouldn’t have surprised me. Dax was secretive at school, a loner—why would I expect him to tell me his life story now?
It didn’t matter. It was fine. I’d be fine. At least I’d established Dax wasn’t trying to kill me or hurt me. Even though Dax was . . . well, Dax . . . it was better not being trapped here alone. And he had to have a phone in that big bag of his. He’d brought a sleeping bag, after all. When he went to sleep, I’d look through his stuff and find it. Now that I had a game plan I felt much better.
My chest slowly relaxed, relieving my burning lungs. This was the weirdest thing that had ever happened to me. It might even be a funny story later. Much later, when I was home with my parents and in my own bed with my nice warm comforter.
It was cold in here.
I stretched and then laid my head on the arm of the chair, pretending to go to sleep. I wasn’t sure if he could see me or if he was even watching, but I wanted him to think I was sleeping. Then, when I was sure he was out, I’d find his phone, call home, and this would all be over.
The clock on the wall read 3:20. My eyes ached from being awake for so long. I wondered what my friends were doing. What Jeff was doing. I’d known Jeff since freshman year, liked him since junior year, and now, in my senior year, had decided it was now or never. We’d both be going away to school the following year, and before we left I’d wanted to see if the tension that hummed beneath the surface whenever he was around would translate into a good relationship.
Had it only been that morning when he’d stopped me in the hall at school? My mind replayed the exchange.
“Autumn!”
I turned, camera in hand, and snapped his picture. He was easy to photograph, his features soft, open, friendly. His smile lit up his whole face, made his green eyes sparkle and his olive skin glow.
He caught up with me. “You might have more pictures of me than my parents.”
I probably did. “I can’t help that the camera loves you.”
“Is the camera asking me out on a date?”
“This camera goes nowhere without me.”
He raised his eyebrows like he wanted me to follow through with what I was implying. I wanted to ask him out. So bad. But if I had to be the one doing the asking, it wasn’t going to be in the middle of a crowded school hallway.
He went on. “So I was thinking about getting a group together to go to the library tonight and work on that history paper Mr. Garcia assigned. You in?”
I probably should’ve said no, but when offered extra time to hang out with Jeff, I always tried to make it work. “Yeah . . . I want to. I’ll have to talk to Lisa. We’re going up to the cabin with Morgan and Avi.”
“Let’s go before that, and then on your way up to the cabin we can stop at a campground and have a bonfire to celebrate finishing our papers.”
I laughed and pushed lightly on his shoulder. “You have this all planned out.”
“I do. So, you can work on the girls?”
“Yes. I’ll make it happen.”