It seems he has a knack for off-the-wall things that seem to usually land him in trouble. And now, it’s literal breaking and entering.Into the administration office.
Maybe Aaron knocked him upside his head a little too hard in that fight. Because there is no way he thought this through. Right?
When I said I wanted his help getting information, I was thinking more along the lines of maybeaccidentallystumbling across his dad’s emails. Or, I don’t know, maybe just ask questions. Not committing a freaking felony.
He just went from zero to a hundred, passed go, and did not collect two hundred dollars.
And I get it. His father practically owns this school, and he’s like a god around here. But, if we get caught, it won’t be a slap on the wrist for me. It’ll mean getting expelled.
Yeah, this is a bad, bad idea.
“Alex.” I crouch low to the redbrick wall like a bandit in the night while throwing my gaze around to make sure no one sees us. “We can’t do this.”
But he keeps moving, ignoring me as he peeks around the corner.
“Alex,” I whisper-shout, my fingers tingling as numbness pricks at my skin.
“Come on, the guard just walked down the hall,” Alex announces over his shoulder with a wave of his hand and the tilt of his head.
Before I can protest, he’s on the move, staying close to the building, occasionally shifting his gaze across the courtyard. My chest tightens, and every step feels like a countdown.
I should leave. Right now. Thank him for his consideration and get the hell out of Dodge.
I move, but not in the opposite direction. I find myself closer to Alex.
Walking away would be the right thing, the non-criminal thing. But then, I’ll never get my answers, and the suspicion around my scholarship will drive me insane.
I pause, flaying tentatively, battling between turning around and trekking forward. And then out of nowhere, shouts erupt in the distance.
I flinch, and my throat drops into the pit of my stomach. I snap around, my nerves now a fragile mess. Across the quad, there’s a group of students, six of them, all in a world of their own. They’re swaying and laughing among one another, clearly having had a little too much to drink.
The sound of a lock clicks, and I turn to Alex slowly inching the door open and scanning the area. He doesn’t need words to tell me to follow him.
I hesitate for a beat, knowing that the moment I step into this building, there’s no turning back. And even though he hasn’t asked for anything in return, it would be foolish to think this could just be labeled as a good deed.
No. Allowing him to do this for me gives him leverage. He’ll own me. There will be no escaping him. I’ll be bound to him despite how much we dislike each other.
But the alternative is never getting answers, never knowing the truth. So I throw caution to the wind and step in behind him.
I’m careful not to touch the door, using the sleeve of my shirt to keep from leaving fingerprints behind. But not him. He just raw-dogs the door, his prints all over it.Amateur.Not leaving proof is Burglary 101. Not that I would know.
The lights are out, save for the neon red signs above all the exits, and the lights flooding in from outside. The lobby is hollow, the soft pads of our footfalls bouncing off the walls.
“Stay close,” Alex whispers while turning his head from one direction to the other.
I huddle in behind him, grabbing the tail of his shirt to keep from losing him in the darkness. My eyes have yet to adjust, and I end up running into his back.
He grunts. “I said stay close, not run me over. But if you wanted to be that close to me all you had to do is ask, Sunshine.”
“Shut up. I couldn’t see.”
Alex chuckles and I just know he’s got that stupid, crooked smile plastered to his face.God, he makes me sick.
He takes out his phone, fumbling around with it before the flashlight beams onto the wall. I feel small under the scrutiny of the decades of academic scholars whose portraits hang on the walls. I feel their eyes following us—judging us.
“If we get caught, Alex, I’m going to kill you,” I announce.
“Do you want the information or not?” he says as we approach the registrar’s office door.
