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Kota’s phone lit up in his hand and he tapped at the screen, grunting. “Never ends,” he said.
“Bad news?” Luke asked.
Kota glanced up, scanning. “I may need to go with Silas and North to the party. They need a third. And Dr. Green wants you...” he checked over his shoulder again to see if anyone was listening. “You need to break into John’s locker and then check his house to see if he has any more of the JH stuff. Apparently he’s had two doses in one day, according to North. They still let him play football. I don’t know how he’s taking it but he’s pretty sure this is it. And take Gabriel.”
“What about Sang?”
“She’ll have to go home with Nathan. Gabriel can’t drive after dark anyway so he’s the only one left. And Nathan can’t go to the party.” He tapped at his screen, typing in a message and then checked over his shoulder again. I followed his eyes to see Nathan check his phone and then he looked at us and nodded, encouraging us to get going.
“I thought only the team could go to the party,” I said, standing as they did and following the stream of people toward the bleacher steps.
“We need to break this rule,” Kota said. He fell behind me, talking to the back of my head. “North’s thinking the same thing you are. This is worse than kids taking drugs on their own. Someone’s poisoning people.”
“They don’t know each other,” I said. “Arthur said he didn’t know John.”
“There’s a connection somewhere,” he said.
I followed Luke quietly down the steps, Kota right behind me. When we were at the bottom and waiting on others ahead of us to clear out, Gabriel caught up with Luke. They quietly disappeared in a different direction, heading toward the school.
Kota stayed quiet near me. We were arm to arm as we followed the trail of people to the parking lot. I glanced at him often. He’d meet my gaze with a smile, but drifted to stare off out toward the parking lot. He was monitoring the others. I couldn’t blame him. Someone poisoning the students? Who knew who would be next?
The back of his knuckles brushed against mine. My fingers stretched out, wanting that touch again. I held my arm straight, trying to look normal, but kept close.
He seemed to read my mind and his knuckles again met mine. We were touching, but barely. We walked this way, knocking our hands into each other’s every few steps.
His pinky encircled mine. My heart fluttered and I held onto his finger. I remembered the first time I did this and he knocked my hand away to hold the entire thing. We couldn’t do that now, and after only a moment, as the crowd thinned, he slipped his finger from mine.
I followed him to the parking lot and the crowd dispersed. We found his car and he went to the passenger side. “Nathan should be right behind us,” Kota said as he opened the door. “Stay in the car and don’t go anywhere.”
“I won’t,” I said and sat in the passenger seat. At least this felt over now. We could go home. Maybe I could convince Kota we should sleep at his house, or maybe we could go out to Victor’s house. Anywhere. I wanted to relax, not go back home and worry what would happen if I held hands with Nathan or anyone else in front of Danielle or Marie.
He bent over, sticking his head into the car. “Keep your phone in your hands,” he said.
I took the phone out, and punched one of the buttons, illuminating the surface.
He smiled quickly. He leaned in further while I was quickly checking for text messages. I thought he was trying to look at my phone and I was turning it toward him so he could see.
Instead, his lips met with my forehead, and he kissed me. Slow and long, against my brow.
I froze, loving every moment and yet panicked someone would spot us.
His lips moved to my ear and he whispered. “One of these days,” he said, “it’s not going to be this crazy.”
I didn’t know how to respond, because I didn’t see it not being crazy for a while. I wanted to ask him, though. When? How? How are we going to get out of this mess?
He pulled back and then closed the door for me, looking in. I waved my illuminated phone at him to show him I’d call if I needed.
I wasn’t alone for long, because Nathan was walking toward the car. Kota met with him, talked to him for a minute and then went on to the school.
Nathan got in and wedged himself behind the steering wheel. He slammed the door shut and then sat back for a long moment with his eyes closed. “I really hate this school,” he said.
I wanted to agree with him.
He started the car. For a few minutes, he drove in silence. In the dim light inside the car, I curled up in the passenger seat. I stared out the window for the longest time, not talking. I tried to forget about Rocky, Karen, and the crazy evening. I just felt we needed to get to someone’s house, to become secluded from the world. There were some benefits to hiding away from everyone. No wonder my stepmother felt the way she did. Maybe she took it to the extreme, but I could sympathize.
“Come here,” Nathan said, pulling me out of my thoughts. He lifted the center console and curled his fingers at me.
“You’re driving,” I said.
“It’s okay,” he said. He reached over, snapping the button on my seatbelt. “Sit closer.”
I shifted over until I was sitting in the middle. Nathan put an arm around my shoulders, driving one-handed. I settled into him, putting a hand on his chest.
“See?” he said. “This is better.”
I blushed, unsure if he was right. Kota would probably have a fit about me without a seatbelt and with Nathan driving with only one hand. Since we were so close to the house, I didn’t want to pester him about it. This moment when we were able to be together again felt profound; when Nathan went off to do Academy work or his own thing, I was fine. Being told we couldn’t be together was different and it weighed heavily.
“Just you wait,” Nathan said. “I was talking with Kota earlier. I think I can convince him you and I should move out.”
It took me a few minutes to respond. “Are you sure we should?” I asked. It didn’t sound like a good idea, especially after tonight. What would happen if someone discovered we were living together?
“Why? Don’t you want to?”
I wanted to place my finger against my lip, but I stopped myself. “I don’t know what to do. It just seems so... I mean, it’s a big change.”
Nathan smiled. “You’re really already living on your own, Sang. I’ve been, too. It’d be just like now, except without having to worry so much. Wouldn’t it be worth it just to get out?”
“Maybe I’ll feel better about it after it happens,” I said. “I guess I’m just nervous. I mean after today, after all that happened. And not just the football game but the rumors...”
Nathan squeezed me around the shoulders. “Don’t worry, Sang. I’ll take care of you. If we move you out of the house, we won’t have to worry about Danielle spreading rumors or your dad and what he’s up to. And eventually we’ll figure out the whole school thing. We’ll finally be able to sit in a room without worrying who might walk in on us.”
That did seem like a good idea. It may not solve all the problems, but it sounded like it would help a lot.
Nathan turned onto Sunnyvale Court. “I’m tempted to turn around now and head to Victor’s for tonight. But it’ll serve Danielle right if we walk in on her and some guy.”
“I should check on Marie,” I said.
“You worry about her too much, Peanut. She couldn’t give two shits about you.”
I had my mouth open for a response when Nathan followed the bend in the road. For a moment, I thought maybe Nathan had made a mistake and we were in the wrong neighborhood.
The sides of the street were littered with cars. Nathan had to weave his way carefully to get around without scratching another car.
“What now?” he asked. He gripped the wheel, knuckles nearly turning white. I sensed it, too. More trouble.
The driveway was jam packed with people. The yard had seve
ral cars parked on it. The front door was open. There was music blaring from the house. People were clustered inside the garage. More were gathered around the trampoline in the back yard.
“Shit,” Nathan said. “I can’t believe... fucking shit.”
“Nathan...” I couldn’t believe it either. Marie and Danielle were up to something. He’d been right.
“She planned this.” Nathan shook his head, driving into a neighbor’s driveway quickly so he could turn around and park in Kota’s drive. “Or... shit, you were saying something about the football team having their own thing with just the cheerleaders?”
“Yeah. We couldn’t go...”
“Danielle must have gotten everyone that wasn’t invited to come over.” He slammed his fist against the steering wheel. “Shit.”
I shook at the explosion of frustration and power from Nathan. Had he dented the steering wheel? “What do we do?” I asked, hoping to say we should leave and go to Victor’s after all.
