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“Well done, Miss Van der Zee,” the prof calls as we’re leaving. Malia’s cheeks turn red and she ducks her head so that her now dry hair falls forward and blocks her face. “Bhodi? A quick word?”
“Wait right outside the door for me?” I ask Malia. She nods and leaves without a word. “What is it?” I ask as soon as the room’s empty.
“There’s been a breach of security. I need you to take Malia somewhere safe.”
“To the beach house?”
“No. I’d prefer everyone to stay on campus right now. Reef and Cove are working with the authorities and I’m about to join them.”
“What can I do?”
“Keep Malia safe. Take her somewhere public, but private. Not her dorm. Distract her if you have to.”
“If she asks questions?”
“Lie.”
Unease settles in my gut. I don’t like lying to Malia. She’s going to know something is up. I quickly wrack my brains to come up with a plausible solution. Somewhere I can take Malia that’s public and on campus, but affords us some privacy.
I nod to the prof and pull out my phone, quickly texting Betsy in the library to ask if I can pick up an extra shift and bring Malia along. She replies agonisingly slowly but the messagethe more the merriereventually comes through. I pocket the phone and tell the prof my plans.
“Good plan. I’ll message you when it’s safe to take Malia back to her room, or if there’s a change of plan and she needs to go to the beach house, I’ll call. You might have to get some dinner, this could take a while.”
“Sure.”
I find Malia in the hallway waiting for me and she gives me a sympathetic smile. “Are you in trouble?”
“Nah. Well…nothing too bad anyway. Do you have plans?”
“Not really. I was going to go to the library to make a start on the next essay.”
“Perfect. Me too. Well, actually, old Betsy has asked if I can help out, but I’m sure if you give me a hand, we can get it done nice and quick and then have plenty of time to work on the assignment together.”
“Sounds good.” She gives me a warm smile that makes me feel like shit for deceiving her, but if the prof is right and she’s connected to potentially two disappearances on campus, then I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe.
She links her arm in mine and leads the way, talking about the essay the professor just set us the whole time.
“There’s my favourite boy!” Betsy calls like a proud nana, throwing her hands up in the air when I walk in with Malia on my arm. She gives me a twinkling smile and moves way too spritely for someone of her undisclosed age. She pulls me into the standard hug I get every time I come in here, and then turns to Malia, beaming. “You must be Malia! The special girl Bhodi made breakfast for. It’s lovely to meet you, and I’m so happy you can help us out in the library today.”
“Hi, thank you for having me,” Malia replies, suddenly bashful, but still polite.
“Bhodi will show you the ropes, my dear. Do you mind if I go for my break?”
“Take all the time in the world,” I tell her. “We got this.”
I catch Malia grinning at me. “What?”
“You said Cove was crazy for Betsy, but I think you’re the one who’s sweet on her.”
I laugh. “You caught me. I love her.”
“She seems to love you too.”
“Ah, don’t be jealous, little dot. Betsy might be working her way to my heart with her breakfast station, but I’ll let you in on a little secret…”
“Oh?” She leans in and I bend down to whisper in her ear.
