Shadow Hills

by Anastasia Hopcus

  “It was probably a shadow of a tree branch or something.” Toy shrugged.

  “But it moved!” I whispered. I was totally freaked out, but I still didn’t want to wake up any of the on-campus teachers.

  “It could have been the wind.” A gust of cool air blew back Adriana’s hair as if to illustrate her point.

  “Okay,” I relented. “But let’s hurry up and get to the party spot.”

  Once we were surrounded by the thick cover of the trees, Toy turned on a little flashlight. It should’ve been comforting to see where I was going, but it just made me more apprehensive. The tiny beam of light illuminated only the ground directly in front of us, which didn’t do much beyond keeping us from stepping in a hole and twisting an ankle. It didn’t stop the inky darkness from creeping in all around, and it didn’t warn me before an errant tree branch brushed against my neck like cold, sharp fingers.

  The path we followed seemed scarcely traveled, though Toy assured us that students had been using it for decades. We continued along, stepping over fallen logs wrapped in the emerald velvet of moss and crossing shallow creeks that were littered with boulders. The sound of the water normally would’ve been relaxing, but every unexpected noise sent my heart jittering around in my chest.

  After almost twenty minutes, we finally arrived at the secluded clearing. I hadn’t realized how tense I had become, until I saw the other boarders milling around and I felt my muscles relax.

  “You guys made it.” Graham got up from where he was sitting, talking to Brody and some other guys I didn’t know. He grabbed the duffel of booze from Adriana’s hand.

  Setting it down, he opened a cooler full of ice next to him and handed us each a Devenish cafeteria cup. After Adriana mixed me a Grey Goose and Sprite, I walked around the small area, checking it out. Students had obviously been dragging rocks and tree trunks over here for years, and now there was a circle of seating around the perimeter of the clearing. There was more than enough room for the fifteen or so people who had shown up tonight, and it was so far from the school that I wasn’t worried about the noise reaching back to the dorms.

  I looked around for someone to talk to. Adriana was griping to Toy about some problem with her computer, and Graham was chatting with some red-headed jock-type guy.

  That was it. Three friends. All occupied. At least in L.A., I’d had acquaintances for when Ariel was busy. I felt a sharp tug of homesickness, mixed with another kind of longing.

  I wish Zach was here. I didn’t want to be obsessing over a guy I wasn’t even dating, but I couldn’t help it. I kept picturing the way he’d looked the other day, when it had felt almost like he was going to kiss me.

  “Phe!” Graham was walking toward me, his friend a few paces behind him.

  “This is George.” Graham nodded his head at the jock guy. “He said he wanted to meet the hot new girl from California.”

  Heat rose from my cheeks all the way up to my hairline.

  “Have you seen her around anywhere?” Graham made a show of searching the woods.

  “Shut up, dude,” George said, punching him in the arm. Judging from the size of George’s biceps, I had to imagine it didn’t feel spectacular.

  “Oh, I see how it is.” Graham rubbed his injured shoulder. “I do a good deed. Introduce you to some chicks. And what do I get in return?”

  “I believe it was punched,” I chimed in. “I’m Phe, by the way.”

  “Nice to meet you, Phe. Like this moron said, I’m George.” He ran a hand over his bright auburn hair. “My sister and I just moved here from Greenwich, Connecticut. Luckily, we met Graham in the quad, and he told us about this little soirée.”

  “Hey, Howdy Doody! I see Sybil coming!” a random guy yelled at George.

  “Howdy Doody, my favorite unimaginative nickname.” He grinned. “If you’ll excuse me, it seems my sister is here.”

  “Yeah, sure.” I smiled back. “And for the record, I like red hair.”

  “Thanks. I keep waiting for my parents to get divorced and remarried so I can be an honest-to-God red-headed stepchild.”

  “I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.”

  He laughed, then made his way over to an attractive girl with strawberry-blonde hair. So this was Sybil. I had spotted her leaving orientation on Monday. Her porcelain doll features and striking height were memorable. Sybil was even taller than Corinne and willowy thin in her black Chanel dress. Obviously Sybil, like Adriana, thought beauty was more important than being warm.

  A nasty little knot of envy burned inside me. I wondered if Zach had met this girl who could be a model. Curious to see her closer up, I walked over to where she and Adriana were having a staring contest.

  “Looks like a catfight is brewing,” Graham whispered as he came up next to me.

  George checked out Adriana, then whistled. “The girls never dressed like this in the woods back home.”

  “Please, George.” Sybil rolled her eyes. “You make us sound as if we’re from Virginia.” She might as well have said “seventh circle of hell,” from her tone.

  Wow, this girl was good. I didn’t dare make eye contact with Adriana, but I could see her clenching her fist in my peripheral vision.

  “It’s okay.” Sybil laughed. “We’re not.” She gave Adriana the once-over. “I just love your boots.”

  “Thanks,” Adriana said through her teeth.

  “Marc by Marc Jacobs, right? I think it’s great that they started that little secondary line.” Sybil shrugged one shoulder. “Not everyone can afford his real designs.”

  I saw the flash of anger in Adriana’s eyes, and I grabbed her elbow before she could say anything.

  “Okay, time to go.” Graham took her other arm, and we pulled her back over to where Brody stood. Toy trailed behind us, her brows knitted together, as if she didn’t know what had just happened.

  “That new girl reminds me of someone.” Brody squinted at Sybil.

  “Nicole Kidman?” I suggested.

  “More like Satan.” Adriana refilled her drink almost entirely with vodka. “And I do own real Marc Jacobs.” She pointed her cup accusatorially at Brody. “These are my casual shoes.”

  “Okaaay.” He held his hands up in surrender. “Did I say something about her shoes that I don’t remember?” Brody asked me out of the side of his mouth.

  “She practically called me poor white trash,” Adriana went on.

  “No, she didn’t.” I shook my head. This was obviously a sore spot for Adriana. The way she’d talked about her aunt gave me the feeling that her mom’s embarrassment over their family background had been instilled in Adriana, too.

  “Did you totally miss the whole Virginia comment?” She glared at the group of guys who had focused their attention on Sybil.

  “I bet she doesn’t even know you’re from Virginia,” I soothed.

  “You’d be surprised. My dad’s political ads center around the all-American family portraits.” Adriana snorted derisively. “’Cause nothing says I love my kids more than dumping them at boarding schools.” She threw back the rest of her drink, which was basically an enormous shot. If she were Ariel, this would be when I’d drag her home.

  “I brought dominos.” Brody pulled a small travel pack out of the back pocket of his baggy jeans. “Anyone want to play?”

  “I guess I could do that.” Adriana shrugged.

  “Looks like Brody distracted the bull,” Graham whispered as we followed them over to the edge of the clearing. Two logs had been placed on either side of a large flat rock, forming a makeshift table. Graham had snagged one of the many camping lanterns that were illuminating the area, and he set it on a stump next to us so we could see more clearly. Once everyone had settled in and drawn their dominos, Adriana inspected our “table.”

  “Here, give me that.” She motioned at Toy’s drink, which was now mostly ice. Adriana added a large helping of vodka. “No one should be walking around with an empty cup at one of my parties.”

&n
bsp; “I guess it’s a good thing we’re at your party then.” Brody pulled out a pack of Camels and lit one. Smoke curled up into his brown eyes, making them crinkle. Gripping the cigarette between his teeth, he reached back into his hoodie’s pocket and extracted a flask.

  “Jesus Christ. How much crap do you have on you right now?” Adriana held out her hand. “And don’t you know it’s impolite not to ask anyone else if they want a smoke?”

  “Sorry, Emily Post. I’ll have to write that one down in my etiquette notebook.” He deposited a cigarette in Adriana’s waiting palm.

  I raised an eyebrow as she crossed her legs toward Brody. Anyone who’d ever read a magazine knew this was body language for “I’m into you.” Brody must have felt my gaze because he tore his eyes away from Adriana’s thighs and trained his stare on his dominoes.

  An hour later, we were still playing.

  “Twenty-five!” Toy slapped down her last domino and beamed as Graham marked her points on our impromptu scoreboard by placing five sticks under one of the columns drawn in the dirt.

  “See, I told you we shouldn’t have let her play. Computer people are way too good at math.” Graham bumped her with his shoulder and grinned.

  Toy giggled. She was looking a bit bleary-eyed. Which wasn’t surprising, what with her tiny size and Adriana’s heavy-handed pours. Her giggles quickly turned into hiccups.

  “Hey, I gotta go to the bathroom,” Toy said in between hiccups. “But there’s no bathroom here.”

  “I’ll go with you.” I stood and offered her my hand. “We’ll just head into the woods a bit.” With my help, Toy got to her feet, albeit unsteadily. “I know going behind a tree isn’t glamorous, but it’s pretty much the only option right now.”

  We found a secluded spot out of sight, and I stood lookout for Toy.

  “Sorry.” She hiccupped again as she zipped her jeans back up, leaning against her chosen tree for support. “I don’t drink very much, and it always gives me the hiccups.”

  “Here, hold your nose and bend over at the waist,” I instructed. “Now, breathe in through your mouth while I count to twenty. Breathe in the whole time, okay?”

  “Okay.” Toy’s muffled voice floated back up to me. I started counting slowly, and by the time I reached twenty, her hiccups were gone.

  “Thanks.” She stood, swaying a little.

  “No problem.” I smiled. “You might want to slow down, though.” Toy’s cheeks were bright red, and her normally perfect pixie cut was disheveled.

  “I didn’t mean to get so drunk. When I’m nervous I drink more and …” Toy looked to the right and the left, as if she was checking to make sure we were still alone. “I’ve had this huge crush on Graham since last year, and sometimes I get nervous when he’s around. I know I shouldn’t; we’re just friends. And he’s got this genius older girlfriend at MIT. I’m being totally stupid.” Toy hung her head.

  I wasn’t sure if she was sad or just tired of holding up her head.

  “It’s not stupid. He likes you, I can tell.” Toy was into all the guy things Graham was into—but it seemed like there was more between them than that. “Plus, I don’t think he’s very happy with his girlfriend,” I continued. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they broke up soon. Not that I’m saying you should wait around for him. But if no one else catches your eye …” I shrugged.

  “So you don’t think it’s totally hopeless?” Toy stepped carefully over a tree root as she followed me back to the clearing.

  “No. I really don’t.”

  “Thanks.” She yawned widely as we sat back down. “I feel kinda tired.”

  “You want to go back to the dorm?” I was starting to get bored anyway, sitting in the woods watching other people flirt when Zach was nowhere around.

  “Yeah.” Toy tried to stand, coming back down hard on the tree stump.

  “Okay, here we go.” I put my arm around Toy, supporting her as she got to her feet again.

  “I’m gonna walk her back,” I said. Adriana and Brody were still playing dominos, but Graham was watching the two of us.

  “I’ll come with you guys.” He handed his cup to Brody. “Here, finish this for me, okay?”

  “Sure.” Brody set the cup next to his other drink.

  “See you at breakfast tomorrow?” Adriana asked as I picked up Toy’s messenger bag and slung it over my shoulder.

  “Of course.” I gave a little wave to her and Brody as we tromped back into the woods, Graham holding the beeping GPS unit.

  After only a few minutes of walking, I felt Toy getting heavier on my arm.

  “I think she’s falling asleep,” I murmured to Graham. Toy was tiny—almost half a foot shorter than me—but even so, I was about to collapse under her dead weight.

  “Got it.” Graham swooped her up in his arms like a parent carrying his kid out of a late-night movie. “I’ve never seen her this wasted,” he whispered.

  I wanted to tell Graham to wake up. He clearly cared about Toy, but if he kept screwing around, hanging on to this other relationship he seemed unhappy with—well, it couldn’t be long before some more perceptive guy saw the hotness lurking under Toy’s geeky demeanor. But I knew she would kill me tomorrow if I spilled about her crush. Maybe I can do some recon instead.

  “So how’s the girlfriend? I haven’t heard you mention her in a while.” Or ever, I added silently.

  “I don’t know actually.” Graham’s voice was sour. “She thought we should take a few weeks off from talking. You know, until she gets settled into the school year. Whatever the hell that means.”

  “Seriously? Why do you put up with that?” I frowned. “You could find a way better girl here.”

  “Hey, you’ve never met her, okay? You don’t know anything about how great she is,” he snapped.

  “You’re right; I don’t.” I lowered my voice, hoping he’d follow suit. We were pretty close to the dorms now. “It just doesn’t seem logical to stay with a girl, no matter how amazing she may be”—I headed off his interruption—“if your relationship and communication is basically nonexistent.”

  “I know,” he conceded. “But we met when I was just a clueless freshman and she was this gorgeous senior who could recite pi to the three hundredth decimal.”

  “Hot,” I teased.

  “It was. And so were we. Now I’m lucky if I get a lukewarm e-mail from her. Whatever. It’s all high-school crap. It’s not even worth talking about.” Graham’s expression was hard as we neared the lights outside Kresky.

  “It’s really none of my business. Sorry.” I’d obviously way overstepped my new-friend bounds.

  After a second Graham made eye contact with me.

  “It’s okay.” He shrugged. “I know you’re trying to look out for me. It’s kinda sweet, in an annoying sort of way.”

  “You are so unlike most guys.” I shook my head.

  “I know. I’m pretty much the most amazing guy ever.” Graham grinned.

  Toy’s room was easy to find, her window being the only one with a sticker that read: THE INTERNET—ALL THE PIRACY, NONE OF THE SCURVY. I pushed open the window and climbed through, then gestured to Graham. He hoisted Toy up and halfway into the room, and I hooked my arms through hers. I staggered back under her weight, and we came crashing down onto the bed. Graham, of course, was cracking up outside the window.

  “Ha-ha.” I rolled Toy off me and got to my feet. I draped the light blanket on the end of her bed over her, then turned back to the window.

  Graham was still standing outside, his arm braced on the sill.

  “What are you doing?” I whispered. “Somebody might see you. Go away.”

  “Do you think she’s going to be okay?” He leaned farther into the window, ignoring my instructions. “I don’t want to get her in trouble, but maybe we should take her to the infirmary, just to be sure.”

  God, Graham was so infuriatingly blind about his feelings for Toy!

  I resisted the urge to shake him. “I was watching e
arlier, and she only had two drinks—granted, Adriana made them, so it’s probably more like three, but still … She’ll be fine.” I looked down at Toy, who was snoring loudly now. She definitely wasn’t having any trouble breathing.

  “Tilt her on her side,” Graham instructed. “Just in case she has to puke.”

  I was glad Toy wasn’t awake to hear this; she would be mortified. I turned her over and put the trash can next to her head.

  “Listen, I’ll get my blanket and sleep on her floor tonight.” Out of vomit range, I thought to myself. “I’ll make sure nothing happens to her.”

  “Thanks, Phe.” Graham, looking relieved, headed back to his dorm.

  As I settled into my makeshift bed on the hard floor, I cursed myself for not thinking to bring a blow-up air mattress to Devenish. But despite my less than five-star accommodations, I fell asleep the moment I closed my eyes.

  Chapter Twelve

  “I think you might be even more beautiful up close.” Zach’s face was centimeters from mine, searching my features, taking in all of my imperfections. “I love the hint of copper in your eyes, radiating out like the sun, turning your pupils into an eclipse.” He ran his thumb down my cheekbone. “The different striations of color, how every band of green is its own unique shade. A shard of a broken Heineken bottle, a blade of grass, moss on a rusty can.”

  “Romantic …” I laughed.

  His hand moved back up, and he followed the curve of my left eyebrow. “I love this little scar next to your eye.”

  “Got it in a knife fight.” I dropped my mock tough-guy voice. “Actually, I got scratched by a kitten when I was little. Apparently he didn’t like me using his tail as a rope for tug-of-war.”

  Zach grinned, his gaze never leaving my face. I studied the darker blue circle that defined the edge of his pale blue-gray eyes. The tea-green starburst around his pupils. I brushed a stray lock of wavy black hair away from his face and let my fingertips trail lightly over his strong jaw. I wanted to memorize every angle, every plane, of his gorgeous face.