“Relax for fuck's sake, Amelie. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Heard that before,” I snipe, unable to help myself. Onyx gives me a withering look, but doesn’t say anything. Truth hurts, asshole. “Put me down. I’m fine. I just tripped.”
“Over what? We were on a flat path!” Amazingly, he actually listens to me and sets me gently on my feet. There’s no way in hell that I’m telling him the truth about how I fell.
“I’m clumsy.” I shrug dismissively.
“So are we doing this?” Onyx asks.
“Doing what?” I brush my palms on my legs to clear them off.
“Running again. Together.”
“I’ll be running here every day at 6:00 am.” I evade answering his question as I start to take off running once again.
Together sounds too...well, together. And my heart does weird things in my chest when I think about that.
Cautiously, I go to find the school archives. I think the whole Debbie thing is a bust. What could a dead chick tell me about anything? Damn Baxter and his damn riddles.
I know a school as old as this would have old ass books, I remember Kalen cracking a joke about an old library that no one ever uses anymore since technology replaced the need for using actual books. So I hunt that down. I can’t believe how many places on campus I still haven’t visited or found yet. I never returned to the Lake where Kalen and I…well, anyway.
The building is old and looks like a church from a million years ago; the stained-glass windows would have been spectacular when it was first built. The old wooden door creaks under the pressure as I push it open sending dust particles flying around the darkened room. I manage to find a light switch and gasp when I get the full view of the place: bookshelves line the room; tables and sofas still wait for students to fill them. Sadly, students abandoned the beauty of this place a long time ago. I love it.
Hours tick by. I search for everything I can think of, including cults, because you never know. But everything I try proves fruitless. I sigh, push the latest book I was scanning away and decide that I need to stretch my legs.
An old room, probably a teachers’ meeting room or office catches my eye, the rubble around the room indicates that whoever was here last trashed the place. A floorboard creaks under my weight, the sound a familiar one. I kept a diary when I was a kid and Aadi would find it and read it, so I found an old floorboard that was loose and hid it from him. If he ever foundit he never mentioned anything, and then when I became older I would stash my weed in there.
I search the room for something to pry the boards apart with. An antique letter opener catches my eye and I kneel down and force it between the gaps until the single board comes loose. Putting my hand into a dark hole is probably not a wise idea, but luckily for me no rats or spiders jump out to get me. My hand does run over something though, I pull a small leather-bound book from the gap and slip the board back in place.
Footsteps approaching send me into a panic. I shove the book into the waistband of my pants behind my back, pulling my jacket over to make sure it’s covered. I scramble behind the old desk.
“Amelie, come out. I know you’re in here.” My anxiety eases at the sound of Sawyer’s voice.
“How did you know I was here?” I say popping up from behind the old desk.
“Your phone is tracked, and after your attacks we have all been linked.”
“You mean those asshole brothers of yours can track me?” My nostrils flare in anger. “It makes sense now, how Kalen keeps showing up out of nowhere.” I move from behind the desk coming to a stop in front of Sawyer.
“It’s for your own safety. If it makes you feel any better Kalen knew you would be pissed and you can now see where we all are too.” Damn him for knowing me so well, but at least now this can work in my favour...no more surprise visits from Kalen.
“What was this place?” I ask gesturing behind me.
“This was actually my grandfather's office. He preferred it here over the administration office. He said he loved the smell of old books, and it made him enjoy coming to work everyday. Though after he retired, no one ever came here and it has been left to sit.”
“It’s beautiful in here. I wonder if Monty will consider opening it back up as a place to study? I’m with your grandfather.”
“You can ask him at Sunday dinner; we’ve all been summoned to attend again. Now let's get you changed, we have training to get to.”
Ugh, my legs are still sore from running with Onyx, but any chance to spend more time with Sawyer is a bonus. It sucks not seeing him around the halls everyday, even if he did spend a lot of last term avoiding me.
We walk back to my room together and easy conversation flows about our week. He is amused by Kalen’s dedication to getting my forgiveness, but doesn’t make any comment on me actually doing so.
A group of girls are gathered in the foyer of my dorm building when we approach. A smirk reaches one girl's face. I’m pretty sure her name is Becca, and I have seen her trying to hang off the twins at lunch.
“Her mum is screwing the headmaster, so she gets a free pass to screw his son and it gets swept under the rug as if it isn’t illegal.”
“Just ignore them,” Sawyer says but I can’t. I have tried all week to let it go.
