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I felt at home.
“Hey,” Tara said, leaning into my shoulder. “Why’s that kid staring at us?”
She nodded to the dorm building. Standing at the foot of the stone steps, twirling a cigarette between his fingers, was Leo.
He must’ve been looking at me for a long time, because when I’d looked up at him, he’d already made eye contact. As soon as I saw him, he pushed away from the railing and began walking toward us.
I stopped and held my breath.
“Hey,” Tara said, slowing down. She glanced back over her shoulder at me. “Do you know him?”
“Yeah,” I said a little absent-mindedly, already taking slow steps past her. “Hold on a sec, I just need to…”
What was he doing here? Did Elliot send him?
“Hey,” I said as we approached each other, meeting in the middle of the quad. He took a drag on his cigarette and held it up to me. I shook my head, refusing the offer. “Cut to it. What do you want?”
“What do I want?” Leo laughed, his voice deep, raspy. “Come with me, and you’ll find out.”
He didn’t need to give anything more. Turning on his heel, he stuck his cigarette in between his lips and headed across the grass.
“Hey!” I called, but he didn’t turn back. Letting out a huff, I turned around to give Tara an explanation. “Look, he’s… an old friend of mine. Igottasee what he wants,” I said, fumbling for the right words. “I’ll meet up with you at your room. Okay?”
Tara shrugged. “Fine by me.”
Letting out a breath, I left Tara’s side and strode across the grass, closing the distance between me and him as I reached out my arm and grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to pause.
“Hey,” I said, unsure of what I was intending on saying. Leo whirled around, smirking.
“Yes?”
Shaking my head, I let go of his shoulder and continued walking. “That was quite a feat you pulled,” I replied, letting a smile slip past my lips. “Red lookedgoodon her.”
“You’re welcome.”
Just as we were about to cross the sidewalk that separated the quad from the rest of the buildings on campus, I asked, “Where are we going?”
He nodded to the dorm building. “You’ll find out.”
Whatever.
I followed him past the entrance and around the side of the building where Tara had told me to throw away the bottle. Leo speed-walked past the trash bins and over to where a fire escape wove up between the darkened windows of students’ rooms and supply closets. He hopped up onto the first rung and turned around to offer me a hand.
Rule number one of dealing with LeoBorowski—always,always, check his eyes before taking his hand. I swear, the phrase,eyes are windows to the soul, was created just for him and his baby blues.
I looked up at him, and the smirk still hung beneath his wicked, glittering glance. Despite acting casual, his gaze gave it away—he had a plan, and he’d manipulate me into following through with it, one way or another.
“Your choice,” he said, as if reading my mind. “I can only guarantee you won’t die.”
“What exactly are we doing?” I said, laughing a bit. I couldn’t help but cringe at my own reaction to his vague words.
“Come on,scaredy-Kat,” he said, grabbing my wrist before I had the chance to back away, and pulled me up the steps of the fire escape.
My heart jumped a little, and I bit back the fear in me as I followed him up the flimsy steps, gripping the handrails of the ladder as if I’d fall into something much worse than a flat sheet of concrete.
“So,” I called, finding that he was a couple yards up ahead of me. It took all my restraint not to glance down, and thrill alone motivated me to continue climbing after him. “Whose idea was it? Yours, or Elliot’s?”
“Are we still talking about drowning your roommate in a vat of hair dye?” he called back. Even twenty feet below him, I could hear the smirk in his tone. It made me shudder with excitement.
