Page 48
Evidence List (So Far)
Time stamps (social posts)
Clown suit
Limited-edition makeup
What is this, your Christmas list?
Stop stealing my binder, please!! (You rat)
A video of students dancing in the hall (not related, but it’s hilarious)
When I wake, there’s something cold and wet on my forehead. The next thing I notice is that the lights are bright enough; they burn my eyes before I even open them. I blink until my vision clears.
Theo sits on a chair beside the firm bed I’m lying in, a pale pink curtain behind him blocking the rest of the nurse’s office. I reach over and peel off the fabric from my head. “A wet rag?” I ask. “What are we in, the Dark Ages?”
Theo laughs, then quickly frowns like he didn’t mean his first reaction. He says, “I know, I used two ice packs until they got warm, and the nurse didn’t want to use another. Cheap for a million-dollar school.”
Reality hits me and I shoot up. Though there is a lack of heaviness or nausea, the movement is fast enough to give me vertigo. Theo places a steady hand on my shoulder. “Whoa,” he warns. “Calm down.”
“How long was I sleeping?”
His mouth becomes a tight line. “It doesn’t matter if it was five minutes or five hours, you’re going to be dramatic about any time that wasn’t spent studying—”
“Five hours?” My voice goes to a decibel that I’m sure can only be heard by dogs.
“It’s been two. And I grabbed all your books from the hall and told your teachers you were sick so you won’t get any absences. And the teachers are going to send over what you missed. The world is still turning.”
That makes the anxiety pooling in my stomach ease—only a little.
I hadn’t realized just how exhausted I felt until now, when there was no tightness in my chest or jackhammering in my skull. It’s enough of a pleasant difference that the annoyance I initially felt with Theo’s appearance has all but evaporated.
“Well, I’m okay now. You can go.” The day is practically over. “Where is the nurse?”
“Beats me,” Theo says. “She told me ‘don’t touch anything’ an hour ago and hasn’t been back since.”
“You’ve been here the whole time?”
He shrugs. “Of course.”
I sigh, then pull away from him to maneuver myself to sit straight, my back against the wall behind me. “Why does this keep happening?”
Theo asks. “You overworking yourself? You trying to send me away? Those are questions I’d love answers to myself.”
I knock the back of my head against the wall. Theo eyes the movement and inches closer as I say, “Why do you keep witnessing me at my absolute worst? Why do you always happen to be around when I’m at my weakest?”
“I don’t think you’re weak,” he says, “but I think you’re making the wrong decisions, which makes you feel that way.”
I groan. “Please don’t lecture me.”
“Not a lecture but a plea, really.” His voice goes softer, gentler. “This isn’t healthy.”
“So I messed up,” I say. “My fault. Really. I overdid it a bit. That’s on me. I just have to readjust. I’m rested now.”
“You slept two hours. People sleep eight every single day.”
“If I could, I’d go back to sleep right now to finish this conversation.”
