He still hadn’t responded to any of my texts. My eyes wandered toward the hallway, to the door of his bedroom. I could, I could always just, but that—
That didn’t ... No.
Just no.
Even in these, the gravest of circumstances, I couldn’t handle the idea of knocking on his bedroom door. Not hungover, with a tear-stained face, dead fish in my hands.
Instead, I retreated into the numbness of my own mind. I wrapped Gaston and LeFou in a plastic bag and set them gingerly in a corner of the freezer. Then I took on the impossible task of notifying Lucas. I couldn’t bear the thought of giving him the news over text, so I grabbed a page from the pad on the counter.
The fish are dead,I wrote. Then:They’re in the freezer.
Oh fuck.They were dead before I put them in the freezer.
This was a disaster. I crossed everything out, crumpled the note, and began again on a new page.
It’s not my fault.
No,my condolences, bloody hell,something’s happened. How was this getting worse?
In a desperate attempt to be done with this task, I scribbled something nonsensical onto a fresh note and slapped it on the side of the empty tank.
I focused on getting dressed and presentable in time for Finch to collect me. Then ignored his concerned inquiries about my welfare and his comments on the fact that I was, once again, visibly hungover.
“Are yousureyou don’t want to go to the doctor? The campus clinic does walk-ins, and you’re lookingreallypale—”
“Titch.” I groaned helplessly. “Justdrive.”
Finch was unrelenting in his attempts to get me talking right up until the moment he realized that if he followed me to the classroom, he’d likely have to face Skyler again.
“I. Um. I can’t make it to class today, emergency rehearsal,” he said, in a deeply unconvincing manner, before abandoning me at the entrance to the arts building, just as I was having a realization of my own:
Skyler!
Perhaps Skyler had heard from Lucas. Perhaps he knew what had happened—I hurried to the classroom, then sat on my desk and tapped one of my heels against its side until Skyler finally showed up.
The moment he walked through the door, I stood, nearly toppling over in my eagerness. “What’s happened!”
Skyler froze on the spot. “W-what?”
“What’s happened to Lucas?” I squawked. “Gaston and LeFou are dead, man,dead!”
It was at this point that I heard myself and sat down heavily, putting my face in my hands and trying to pretend the last few seconds had not happened.
“The fish?” Skyler muttered sadly. “Really?”
I peered up at him over my fingertips, hoping against hope that he had somehow missed my ridiculous outburst. “Aye, they were floating belly-up this afternoon. Have you heard anything from him these past few days? Anything at all?”
Skyler worried his lip and fidgeted before pulling out his mobile. “No, but I can call Cheyenne and ask if there’s been any news.” He held it to his ear, and I could hear the ringing mocking my anxiety.
“Who’s Cheyenne?”
Skyler mouthed,His mom.
Hismum?
“Oh, hey, Cheyenne.” Skyler stepped away. “Have you heard from Lucas lately? Oh.” His eyes widened, then, as I watched, his entire face slowly softened. “Wow. And that’s ... good? That’sgood. Okay, thanks. No, no, that’s— Thank you. Heh. Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Then he hung up, slipped his mobile back into his pocket, and gave me an uncertain smile. “She says they had a fight, but that it’s a good thing. She says he’s fine.”
I gaped at him. “You know hismum?”
