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But that wasn’t Kota. I stretched my fingers underneath his hand around my phone. “I know. Sorry. I didn’t mean…”
Kota reached around my shoulders, pulling me into him for a hug. I accepted it, surrounding his torso with my arms. He kissed my brow quickly before I moved to lay my head on his shoulder.
I sighed into his neck, breathing in the sweet spice that was so familiar to me now. “I feel bad that I haven’t been able to help Luke,” I said.
“It’s not your fault,” he said. “Things happen and some of it is out of our control.”
Maybe he was right, but I hated to ask for Mr. Blackbourne’s help when he had so much on his plate. “Would it be okay if I talked to Mr. Blackbourne about him?”
Kota rubbed his hand smoothly along my back, his breath hot on the side of my head. “If you’d like. You’ll have to tell him everything.”
“Okay,” I said, pulling back a bit.
Kota released me, but kept a hand on my back, rubbing soothingly. “Have some of that cocoa and then you should probably call him tonight.”
“Should I tell him about the masks?”
“Yes,” Kota said. “Tell him everything.”
“Is Dr. Green okay?”
He looked down, turning to grab his own mug, staring down at the liquid. “I think so, but I’m more worried about what might happen. I’m worried that Mr. Hendricks is panicking and may expose a lot of people and take off, but I don’t think he started it…”
He was about to say more when North and Nathan came in. North dropped a pile of masks onto the table and sat down heavily into one of the chairs. He flicked some rain droplets off his brow. “Eight of them,” he said.
Kota raised an eyebrow, and then reached over, tracing a finger over the mask on the top of the pile. “Again? Are there eight windows?”
“No,” Nathan said, picking up his mug. He walked around to the sink with it. “There’s twelve, unless you count the tiny bathroom windows, and then there’s fourteen. Do the sliding glass doors count as a window?”
Kota frowned and then picked up a mask, inspecting it. “So why eight?”
“Ask Luke,” North said. “Maybe he found the set we threw away and that’s just how many he had.”
“I kept two,” Kota said. “So unless he found the ones I hid in my room…”
“Wouldn’t be the first time he borrowed stuff from someone’s rooms,” North said.
Kota adjusted his glasses and then flipped over the mask to check the back and then back to look at the front. He frowned. “Are these the same type?”
“Looks like them,” North said.
Kota flicked his eyes between North and Nathan, asking them silent questions but no one said anything.
Finally, Kota looked at me, and then slid my phone back at me. “I guess you know what to do. Let me know if your phone still won’t work, okay?”
I finished my cocoa, and excused myself to get ready for bed and to make the phone call.
My nerves started to rattle when I realized I’d promised to call Mr. Blackbourne before going to bed. I brushed my teeth and lingered in the bathroom, but the longer I put it off, the more nervous I got. It wasn’t that he’d yell at me, but I didn’t want to bother him, and I also secretly worried I would freeze up as soon as I heard his voice.
The boys continued to talk in the dining room. I went to Nathan’s bedroom and closed the door behind me. I left it unlocked, not wanting to forget and fall asleep after the conversation and lock them out.
Not that the lock would keep them out.
I sat on the bed, looking at my phone. To make sure he wasn’t in the middle of anything too dangerous, I sent a quick text message.
Sang: Hi. If you aren’t too busy and have a moment, could we talk?
I knew it was a copout, but I waited with the phone in my hands for a text or answer of some sort. Part of me hoped he’d say he was busy.
Moments passed and I was worried maybe my phone wasn’t working again. I considered leaving another message, or asking Kota for help to check and make sure.
I hoped nothing was wrong.
When the phone vibrated in my hands, my heart leapt into my throat. For a split second, I thought he was calling. The vibration somehow seemed stronger, like my phone understood that if it was from Mr. Blackbourne, it was too important to miss.
Mr. Blackbourne: I’ll be there in thirty minutes.
I gritted my teeth, sucking a breath through them, suddenly filled with energy. I stood up, pacing the carpet in my bare feet in front of Nathan’s bed. I held the phone, looking at his message again.
He was on his way. Had my message sounded that desperate?
My body shook where I stood. My eyes darted from Nathan’s dresser, the closet, the bed, as I tried to figure out what to do.
Should I change? I looked down at my clothes, at North’s pajama pants and the T-shirt. They were still a bit damp from the rain.
I went ahead and changed into a set of my own pajamas, feeling too awkward to change into proper clothes so late at night. I selected a pink T-shirt, and some soft gray pajama pants. The outfit would almost pass for normal clothes, if a little casual. I made sure to put on a more comfortable bra, one I could sleep in.
After that, I sat on the bed and waited. But then nerves got to me again. I decided I would lie in the bed. There was no way I would fall asleep knowing Mr. Blackbourne was on his way.
I stared at the ceiling with the pillow underneath my head. I thought about how he would enter and probably talk to the boys. They might think I asked him to come here.
I sighed. If it was inconvenient for him to come, he wouldn’t have, I was sure. I felt silly now for having been so nervous to call. I did feel a little better that I could talk to him face to face, though.
Sure that they’d call for me to come into the kitchen when he arrived, I allowed myself to try to relax, to warm my body and wait.
???
A gentle touch on my shoulder woke me. My eyelids parted, taking in the darkness and the ceiling above me as my brain struggled to catch up.
“Miss Sorenson,” said a quiet, yet powerful voice.
I breathed in sharply through my nose, and started to sit up in a rush, even before I realized it was Mr. Blackbourne. Syllables came from my mouth, but nothing that resembled actual words.
&nb
sp; Mr. Blackbourne was sitting on the edge of the bed, turned toward me. He hadn’t turned on the light, but even in the darkness, I could see the jacket of his usual gray suit was gone; I spotted it draped over the foot of the bed. His tie was a little loose, but other than that, he was still perfect. The black-rimmed glasses masked his gray eyes, and it was difficult to tell his mood in the dark.
How could I have fallen asleep? I swallowed, clearing my throat of sleep. “Mr. Blackbourne,” I said.
“May I turn on a light of some sort?” he asked. He motioned to the closet. “Will the closet light be too bright for you?”
“It’s fine,” I said, warmed that he was being so thoughtful. Where were Kota and the others? I glanced at the time, ten-thirty. It wasn’t incredibly late. I didn’t hear any voices coming from the rest of the house. Had they all gone to Kota’s?
Mr. Blackbourne stood up and went to the closet, closing it partway. He flicked the switch, a sliver of light brightening the room a little.
The glow reflected from his glasses. While his clothes were what I was familiar with, I noticed a few wrinkles in his pants, like he’d been sitting for a while.
“Is everything okay?” I asked quietly. “How’s Dr. Green?”
“He’ll be fine,” Mr. Blackbourne said, but offered nothing further as he turned back to the bed.
I shifted my legs to sit cross-legged on top of the blanket, giving him room.
This time, he sat closer. His outer thigh brushed up against my folded knees.
My cheeks heated as I was very close to his face now. I recalled a time he’d sat with me on my own bed, back when I still lived with my parents. Had he been that close then?
“Are you extremely tired?” he asked.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly through my lips. “Unless there’s been a change, I’ll still be in in-school suspension tomorrow. There’s not much to do; I’ll be fine.”
