Curiosity gets the best of me, and I walk towards the front gates. Eyes land on me, and I can practically hear their thoughts. This is your fault.
I round the corner and see the steel bars. The usual attendants stand alert, checking IDs as cars enter campus. The newest addition is two police officers at each station. They walk around every vehicle that enters, running metal detector wands along the undersides of the bumpers.
Officer Striker stops a few yards away from me.
“Should make you feel safe, Miss Weston.”
“Actually, the exact opposite.” I cut my eyes to the front entrance. “Gates and metal detectors may keep evil out, but it doesn’t stop the evil already lurking amongst the student body from harming someone.” I wave as I walk away from his creepy stare. “Have a good day.”
“Tell your boyfriend to watch his back!” he yells. “They’re coming for him.”
Who’s coming for him?
Racing away from Officer Striker, I almost run into Delaney. She’s playing with her golden hair, putting it into a high ponytail. Her shirt is wrinkled, and she missed a button along the way.
“There you are!” she shrieks. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“Why do you look like you just woke up?” I beg the question, reaching forward and fixing the buttons on her shirt as she attempts to force her hair to conform to academy standards.
“Because I spent the better half of my evening, sitting between my parents, while they debated who I would be living with going forward.” She laughs. “As if I’m not almost eighteen years old and going off to college.”
“College,” I whisper.
This one word triggers the weight of a thousand elephants on my chest.
“Did you forget we’re seniors?” Delaney giggles.
Only problem is I’m not laughing with her. College. It’s what I should be worried about right now, focusing my attention on school and studying for exams to ensure my GPA stays where it needs to be. Extra-curricular activities should be beefing up my applications. I’ve been accepted to most of my choices for early admission, but that’s under the blanket of me keeping my shit together. I think we can agree I haven’t been doing the best job at that.
“I’m fucking everything up,” I say, twisting to look at my best friend.
At the sight of my unshed, desperate tears, she wraps her arm around my shoulders, tugging me close to her.
“You’ve been a little distracted, but it’s not too late.” Delaney’s always been good at encouraging those around her. She’s a soft spirit, wrapped around a firecracker. “Which brings me to why I’m looking for you. What happened on that rooftop?” she asks.
I choke on the lump that appears in my throat, coughing through a poor excuse for a breath. Delaney eyes me suspiciously.
“Breaker said you might need me this week. Something about you not coping with things the way you should.” She shrugs. “I figured it may have something to do with that.”
“Of course, he did,” I whisper, cursing Breaker Davenport’s name.
“I’m your best friend, Palmer. I know when something’s going on. This has something to do with the attack that happened after the football game, right? Reed’s mysterious notebook?”
“Maybe, but the night of The Festival of Beginnings, after I threw my heart into the fire, I raced out of there as fast as I could. Someone attacked me, and my instincts told me it was Marek, but when I got deep into the forest—”
“You never run into the forest. Rookie mistake,” Delaney cuts in.
“Well, I did, and once I thought I was safe, Marek approached me.”
“So, it was him.” Her tone says she’s not surprised.
“No, it wasn’t.”
“How do you know?”
“The man who attacked me said he was after something far more important than my body.”
“The notebook of uncracked puzzles.”
“I think so.”
“So, how did you end up on the rooftop?” Delaney asks the question I’ve been fearing.
“Delaney, if I tell you something, do you promise to keep it between us?”
“To the grave.” She draws an X over her heart. I believe her. She’s given me no reason to doubt her trust.
I give her the CliffsNotes version of what happened. The whole time her face is unmoved. I may as well be reading off a grocery list by how unaffected she appears. Once I finish, the first sign of her hearing me is a slow blink.
“This stays between us,” I plead.
I’m taken aback when she pushes past me and stampedes through campus. I run to catch up to her, but her stride is long and determined. Slowing my own, I follow her at a steady pace without losing sight of her. When I see Marek and Breaker sitting outside one of the buildings, I realize what has her in such a hurry.
I’m one step away when she explodes.
“How could you?” Her hand winds tight, and with a force I can hear, she smacks Breaker across the face. Marek slips out from beside him, watching her every move. “She’s my best friend.” Delaney points behind her, where I stand. “You son of a bitch!” Another slap echoes off the brick buildings. Every single time her dainty hand hits his tattooed skin, a new tear forms, sliding down my cheek to meet the others on my blouse.
Breaker stands still, taking everything Delaney has. She’s losing it, as I unknowingly do the same. Marek inches towards me, but I put my hand up. This isn’t about me. This is about her. I’ve been so wrapped up in my own crazy that I haven’t realized what it may be like for Delaney. Outside of Reed, she’s all I have, and I’ve had plenty of time to adjust to my new normal.
Right now, Delaney is learning how much has changed, and out of protectiveness and loyalty, her emotions are running wild. Breaker happens to be her punching bag of choice.
As she sobs, Breaker wraps his arms around her, holding her to his body like a vise. He whispers his apologies, running his hand over her hair to calm her.
Delaney’s outburst has gained us an audience none of us want. My eyes shoot to Marek, begging him to fix this, to save us from our own secrets.
“Okay, assholes!” he shouts. “There’s nothing to see here. Keep moving.” A man of his people, he circles Delaney and Breaker, pushing their audience away, like the leader he is. I mouth a thank you, and with a dip of his chin, I yearn to reach out to him.
Too smart to fall into that trap, I ease away, turning my attention to my best friend and Breaker. He’s holding her like she could save him. He cups her face in his hands and kisses her forehead. Everything about him shows his defeat.
“I fucked up. We all did. Some more than others, and I’m sorry.” Breaker’s eyes cut to Marek. “I don’t know what else to say.”
“You’re such an asshole, and to think I thought I saw something worthy inside your eyes.” Delaney spins out of his grasp and storms past us.
Breaker and Marek stand opposite of me. We are a tripod of disfunction and distrust.
“Palmer,” Marek whispers my name unlike anything I’ve heard before.
“No, don’t.” I hold a hand up, warning him not to come closer, then I bolt.