Loving Lies

by Linda Kage

  Bailey sniffed but didn’t respond to that. “What’s his room number?”

  “One-eighteen,” Tess answered distractedly as she searched for more links with Jonah’s name. But the only thing she could find now were articles about football stats, which might as well be Arabic to her poor, sports-ignorant eyes.

  “Well, that explains it.” Bailey flipped a page on her magazine. “He’s on a completely different wing and floor than us. I’m sure there are plenty of people living in that part of the building we’ve never met or seen before.”

  Experiencing the itching need to physically do something for Jonah, Tess pushed her laptop off her knees and stood up. “I’m going to his room. Maybe he has a roommate who’s willing to visit him at the hospital.” She arched her eyebrows. “Want to come with?”

  She honestly thought Bailey would hop to because they always did everything together, but Bailey surprised her by snorting. “No.” She wrinkled her face into a look that told Tess she shouldn’t have even bothered to ask. “And why are you going to so much trouble? I’m sure the proper authorities will eventually locate his next of kin.”

  But it had already taken them two weeks…and Jonah was suffering.

  “Because…” She shrugged helplessly. “I’m his girlfriend. This is what girlfriends do.”

  “His fake girlfriend,” Bailey reminded her with a concerned wrinkle in her brow. “Tess, you do remember you lied about that part, right? I mean, you’re kind of going a little over the top here. You don’t know the first thing about this guy. You don’t owe him anything.”

  “I know. I just…no one deserves to be alone, Bailey. And he’s alone. Totally, completely, utterly alone. How would you feel if you woke up and didn’t know anyone, yourself included? I’d be completely freaked out right now.”

  “God, he must be really hot.” Bailey shook her head and went right back to reading.

  Tess scowled at her. She didn’t want to confirm it—though, yeah, Jonah had been super, gorgeously hot—because that was not why she was doing this. Huffing at her friend for her lack of support, she slipped on some flip-flops and left their room. By herself.

  She shuddered as she hurried along the hall toward the wide stairs at the main entrance of the dormitory. Rubbing her arms, she glanced behind her to make sure no one was following. She hated walking alone through this corridor. Watching eyes seemed to shadow her every step. Ever since the shooting, she’d been doubly freaked to go anywhere on campus by herself. Thankfully, she and Bailey were nearly joined at the hip, and her best friend was the fearless type. Tess rarely had to worry about anything with Bailey around. Without her buddy, however, her heart pounded and anxiety reigned.

  Trying to calm her breathing, she skipped down the main steps and shivered again, almost expecting Einstein, the creepy boy genius, to pop out from under the stairwell.

  Whenever Tess had left the building with her suitemate, Paige, Einstein had always appeared out of nowhere to puppy-dog Paige around. Tess swore he’d practically lived under those stairs, waiting for Paige to pass by.

  But Einstein was dead now. Sixteen years old, a junior in college, and he’d gone off the deep end, killing eleven people and then himself in the Granton University Massacre.

  When she passed the shadowed nook he used to haunt, the ghost of his creepy self seemed to slither out toward her with a waft of cool air. Tess muffled a small squeak of fear and skipped into a terrified run until she was panting down the hall, a good thirty feet from the staircase.

  “God…” She hugged herself again, hoping she wasn’t the only person skeeved by the memory of him always hanging out there.

  Realizing she wasn’t paying attention to room numbers, she lifted her gaze to find she was almost to her destination. But when she found the door to Room 118 covered by yellow police line tape, she slowed to a stop and gaped. After checking the entire hall in front and behind her, she noticed no other room had the same adornment.

  “What the heck?” she whispered. Jonah couldn’t be the only person from Grammar Hall who’d been hurt in the shooting. Could he?

  No, of course not. Einstein was gone too. And he’d lived somewhere here on the first floor, she was sure.

  So, why had the police cordoned off only Jonah’s room?

  When a door across the hall and two rooms down opened, Tess jumped. A lanky guy exited and pulled to a surprised halt when he saw her gawking.

  She sent him a tense, guilty smile and pointed toward Jonah’s door. “Do you know why that tape’s there?” she asked, hoping she looked sweet and timid enough not to appear intrusive.

  A shuddered, troubled expression immediately clouded the boy’s face. “Because it was his room,” he mumbled and brushed past her rudely as if he found her question insulting.

  She turned to watch him hunch his shoulders in a defensive manner, letting her know he clearly didn’t want to talk about it.

  But she had to know. Crinkling her brow with confusion, she called, “Whose room? Jonah’s?”

  He stumbled a step as if not expecting that inquiry. Then he glanced back briefly. “No. Well, yeah. His too. But it was also his room.” When Tess only blinked, he rolled his eyes and whispered, “Einstein. It was Einstein’s room.”

  Chapter Four

  HER STOMACH FULL OF KNOTS, Tess chewed on a hangnail as she watched Bailey haphazardly sling books and papers into her bag. Tess had been ready to go for ten minutes. Physically ready, at least. Mentally, she was absolutely not ready at all.

  For the first time since the shooting, the campus was beginning their regularly scheduled classwork again.

  She hadn’t known anyone who’d died in the shooting. Well, except the quarterback, Dorian Wade, but she’d only spent, like, half an hour in his company, and she’d been too drunk most of that encounter to remember much about him.

  Oh, and Einstein. She’d kind of known Einstein. But she refused to go there.

  To say the least, she hadn’t known anyone enough to really mourn their loss. That didn’t stop her from feeling really freaked out about attending classes, though. Her level of security had plummeted in the past two weeks. She glanced around most places she went, on the lookout for some crazy person with a gun, knife, baseball bat, or even a threatening leer.

  Some days, she was able to push those unsettling feelings down and let her usual perky self take over. But today was not one of those days.

  “Ready?” Bailey asked, zipping up her backpack and slinging one strap over her shoulder, apparently unconcerned by what they were about to do.

  Tess scowled at her, really hating it that her best friend had to be so utterly fearless. “Aren’t you freaked out at all?” she demanded.

  Bailey gave a clueless blink. “’Bout what?”

  “Oh my God. Dozens of people were shot down mere days ago, Bailey. It’s like a…a war zone out there. We’re going to be trampling over ground where people were slaughtered. How can you act so blasé, like it’s just any other day?”

  “I’m not acting. It really is just another day. Geesh, you big coward. Nothing is going to happen.”

  “I bet you thought that two weeks ago too.” Tess fiddled with the strap of her bag, loath to sling it over her shoulders. After her first class with Bailey, she had to go her own way. By herself. She didn’t want to do anything by herself today.

  “Seriously, sweetie. The campus is probably safer today that it’s ever been. I bet we’ll see a campus cop or some kind of uniform as soon as we step out the front door.”

  And they did, too, damn it. Bailey sent her a smug, told-you-so smirk as they exited their dormitory and saw a handful of men in army fatigues just outside the entrance of Gibson Hall, the main cafeteria.

  “Shut up,” Tess muttered, even though Bailey hadn’t said a word.

  With a laugh, Bailey bumped their hips together and started up a conversation about homework assignments, which helped drag Tess from her anxiety. But as soon as they reached their Psychology r
oom, a note taped to the entrance told them their professor had cancelled class for the day.

  “Geez Louise.” Bailey scowled as if offended she couldn’t learn all about physiological and neurobiological processes. “I wonder if every professor is going to cancel today. I wouldn’t have gotten out of bed if I’d known we weren’t having class.”

  Too relieved to answer, Tess turned with her friend and followed her back toward their dorm.

  “Want to hit up Gibson and get some breakfast while we wait around?” Bailey asked as soon as they dumped their bags on their beds.

  Tess shook her head. She couldn’t eat now if she tried. “I’m not very hungry.” She’d never been much of a breakfast eater.

  “Well, I’m starving. This break in my schedule has me all out of whack. I’m going to go stuff my face.” Bailey paused at the door and glanced back at Tess. “You going to be okay?”

  No. Tess didn’t feel as if she’d ever be okay again. Her world was no longer the safe, protected haven she’d always thought it was. Bad things happened. People went crazy and killed strangers for no plausible reason. Innocent bystanders died horrible, awful deaths just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And she could’ve easily been one of those unlucky bystanders.

  But she bit her lip and nodded. “I’m good.”

  Bailey rolled her eyes, letting Tess know she totally didn’t believe her, but she pulled open the door anyway. “Okay then, liar. See you later. Love ya.”

  “Love you too.” As the door closed, Tess slumped down onto her mattress next to her backpack and picked at a chip on her fingernail polish. She hadn’t repainted her nails since the weekend before the shooting, when her family had gone snow skiing with Bailey’s family.

  Everything seemed to be timed for before and after that day. She hated how important it had become.

  When noises from the room next door told Tess her suitemate was home, she blew out a sigh of relief and padded through her bathroom to knock on the door on the other side. One of her suitemates, Mariah, had dropped out of Granton the day after the shooting, just as quite a few other students had. The other suitemate—

  “Come in,” Paige’s voice called.

  “Hey, sweetness.” Tess bulldozed inside. “Bailey went out for breakfast, so I’m all alo—” She gasped to a halt when she realized Paige had company. “—lone,” she finished lamely.

  She still wasn’t used to Paige having a boyfriend. And Logan Xander just had to be one of those hot specimens that rendered her brain-dead.

  “I…I’m sorry.” She backed her way into the bathroom and hooked her thumb over her shoulder. “I didn’t realize you—”

  “It’s okay.” Paige smiled, waving her back. “Come on in. We’re just kicking back for a minute.”

  She sat cuddled on her single-sized bed with Logan as they held hands. With his arm in a sling, he looked tired and pale as he rested his cheek on Paige’s shoulder. He’d only been out of the hospital for a few days, but Tess wondered if he’d left too soon. He didn’t look well at all. She hoped he was getting enough sleep and eating right. The first step toward good health was making sure to take care of the basic essentials.

  Not that she’d ever have the courage to say any of that to Logan’s face.

  “Did your first class of the day get cancelled too?” Paige asked.

  Tess dragged her gaze away from the yummy mess that was Paige’s boyfriend and nodded. “Yeah. You guys?”

  They both nodded. Logan closed his eyes and sank closer to Paige while she idly sifted her fingers over his short hair. “Want to keep us company?” she asked, glancing toward Tess.

  “Umm…” Tess shook head. “No thanks. Actually…” An idea struck her. “Actually, I need to do a little research. Have either of you heard of a football player named Jonah Abbott?”

  “No, I haven’t,” Logan answered, opening his eyes just enough to glance up at Paige. “You?”

  She wrinkled her brow and murmured, “No. I don’t think so, but that name sounds kind of familiar for some reason. Maybe…no. Sorry, I just can’t place it.”

  Tess didn’t dare tell her about his association to Einstein. Paige had been the only person to try to befriend Einstein, and it was anyone’s guess what bringing up his name would do to her. Actually, Tess just feared speaking his name aloud, period. Bad juju and all that. She hadn’t even been able to tell Bailey that he’d been Jonah’s roommate when she’d found out last night.

  It still sent a spooky shiver up her spine every time she thought about it. No way would she be able to tell Jonah himself he’d roomed with the very boy who’d tried to kill him.

  “Well, Jonah was shot three times in the…in…” Tess stumbled when both Logan and Paige winced. Logan’s hand flitted toward his own healing bullet wound on his chest. “Anyway, I met him yesterday when Bailey and I volunteered at the hospital. And I guess he hit his head pretty hard when he fell after being shot. He was in a coma for a week or so, and when he woke up, he had amnesia. None of his family or friends have come to visit him. I was trying to find out as much about him as possible so I could, I don’t know, give him a file of information about himself to maybe help jog his memory.”

  “Well, that’s sweet of you,” Paige murmured. “But, wow, that poor guy. It’s hard to believe he hasn’t had any visitors.”

  “You said he played football?” Logan asked, squinting. “Maybe you could talk to his coaches or other players. I’m sure one of them would want to see him.”

  Tess bit her lip thoughtfully. Talk to hot jock guys? Yeah, that would be unlikely. “That’s a good idea,” she said, sending Logan a stiff smile. “I have his parents’ address, too. When I have some free time…” Her words drifted off as she realized she probably had time now. “Oh! You know, with all the professors cancelling classes today, I think I’ll go see if I can talk to them right now. They don’t live that far away. Will you guys let Bailey know where I went, if you see her?”

  Tess hated GPS navigation systems. When she needed their guidance the most, they led her out into the middle of a cornfield. Literally. Gritting her teeth, she pressed the gas until she came to the next intersection with a county mile marker, telling her she was indeed on the correct road.

  Hmm. That was odd. Going straight, she drove on until she reached the next house another half a mile down. Squinting at the mailbox, she saw that the freaking navigation system had been right. Tess pulled Bailey’s car into the driveway and turned around to head back the way she’d come. When she didn’t see another house for two more miles, she decided Jonah’s permanent address should lie between this house and the last one she’d passed, which just couldn’t be, unless the university had had the wrong information posted.

  Frustrated and not sure what to do now, she started back home. Passing through the small town of Bristol, she stopped at their one stop light and waited for it to turn green as she tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. Talk about a total waste of the day.

  When the light changed, she pressed the gas and rolled through the intersection. But as she passed a convenience store, she pulled in. There might be one more option she could try before leaving town. After the three-hour round trip this was going to take, she wanted to be absolutely certain she’d tried every possibility before giving up hope on Jonah’s family.

  She filled up Bailey’s car, since Bailey didn’t mind if she borrowed it as long as she topped it off with gas. Then she went inside to pay. The clerk behind the counter had a phone book, thank God, and he was kind enough to let Tess borrow it. Thirty seconds later, she found the address and phone number for Ted and Phyllis Abbott. And it had been nowhere near the address in the school directory.

  Which made everything even stranger.

  “Excuse me.” She smiled hopefully at the clerk. “Do you know where Whispering Pines Road is?”

  He scowled, looking slightly confused. “I know where the Whispering Pines trailer park is.” He winced and raised a hand to rub
the back of his neck, then used his free hand to point and give her general directions to the trailer park.

  “Thanks.” Giving him a grateful grin, she handed the phone book back. “And you should try a new pillow.”

  Blinking, he said, “What?”

  “Your neck.” She pointed to his hand as he continued to massage his nape. “It’s bothering you. The same thing happened to my dad. He went to chiropractor after chiropractor to fix his neck problems. But it turned out he just needed a new pillow.”

  “Huh.” He shook his head and grinned. “I never thought of that. Thanks.”

  “No problem.”

  After leaving her simple advice and returning to Bailey’s car, it didn’t take much for her to find the trailer park where Jonah’s parents lived. The trailer in question seemed to need the most repairs. Since it was still winter and the grass was dead, it wasn’t long and seedy, but she could already picture the yard overgrown and neglected. The blue and white paint had long ago bleached down to show patches of rusted metal underneath. Both windows in the front were broken and duct-taped together, and the front screen door hung at an angle from one hinge.

  She would’ve assumed the place was abandoned if she hadn’t heard muffled music coming from within.

  Tess paused when she reached the steps. They looked too rotted to hold her weight. So, she bit her lip and strained to reach past them, balling her hand and giving a hard knock.

  Immediately a dog, a little one from the tenor of his high-pitched yip, began to bark inside.

  “Shut that damn mutt up,” a man roared.

  Seconds later, the barking ceased, and another second after that, the door cracked open a few inches.

  A timid feminine voice squeaked through. “We’re not buying anything. Sorry.”

  Arching onto her toes, Tess leaned forward until she saw a haggard face with a dark purple bruise circling one eye. “Oh, I’m not selling anything. But…Mrs. Abbott?” She went out on a limb and said, “I’m actually here about your son. Jonah?”

  She hoped Jonah was their son. Or at least she hoped this woman would somehow be related to him, or at least know who he was, to correct her.