by Kelly Oram
“Right,” I sneered.
Seth’s entire demeanor was completely different now. He was much happier and way too comfortable. “Angela just sees what you can’t for some reason,” he said.
“And what’s that?”
The corner of Seth’s mouth pulled up into a smirk and he turned, angling his body toward mine in the booth. “That it’s only a matter of time before I get what I want.”
Seth looked as if he were the one caught in a spell this time. His gaze was so intense that I shrank back as far as the booth would allow. It wasn’t far enough. He cupped my jaw in his fingers, brushing his thumb across my lips.
“Get your hands off me.” I was surprised when I actually sounded dangerous because that warm tingly feeling I got whenever Seth touched me was trying to convince me I didn’t really want him to stop.
Seth sat back with a sigh and pushed my shake a little closer to me. “You should drink that. It’ll make you feel better.”
“Actually, going home would make me feel better.”
“Won’t you at least try to have a nice time today?”
“If you would at least try to act like a normal person, I might.”
Something flashed in Seth’s eyes. “And what’s normal?” he snapped. “Breaking people’s noses and having to be forced to wear clothes that actually fit? You’re not exactly one to talk, you know.”
I was so taken aback by his outburst that the only thing I could think to do was take a sip of milkshake. A really long sip.
I knew Seth was watching me. After what he’d said, I couldn’t help feeling completely self-conscious. I shrank back wrapping my arms around myself, my temper completely depleting. Stupid Angela and her stupid shirt.
“You look very nice today,” Seth offered suddenly. I glared at him, hating that he could read me so easily. His face filled with regret. “I’m sorry—I lose my temper sometimes.”
I didn’t say anything, even though I probably should have apologized to him too.
“Let’s not fight,” Seth said, attempting to make amends again.
“Whatever,” I grumbled and then did the only thing there was left to do—I reached for the basket of fries sitting between us and dunked a really long one into my shake. After shoving the fry in my mouth I noticed that Seth was watching me with that completely amused sparkle back in his eyes.
Once I got to the car dealership I started to relax. I was buying my first car, after all. Even with Seth around I was kind of excited. Plus, it was easier to deal with Seth when I wasn’t trapped in a small booth with him anymore.
“So,” Seth said as we wandered over to the used half of the dealership. “Did you have anything specific in mind?” Seth raised his eyebrows and opened the driver’s side door to an F150. “You strike me as the truck type.”
I tried not to smile at that and climbed behind the wheel. Seth joined me in the cab and watched me as I tried to get a feel for the truck. “You know what’s good about a truck,” he said eventually.
“Plenty of room to haul all your gear when you go camping.”
“I suppose that’s true, though I wouldn’t really know. I’ve never been camping.”
“Never?” I asked.
“Nope.” Seth slid across the cab toward me. “I have, however, been to the drive in.” He slipped his arm around my shoulders with a grin. “Bench seats are nice, don’t you think?”
I swallowed hard and hopped out of the car so fast that Seth fell over. “No trucks, then?” he called as I slammed the door in his face.
I was already looking in the windows of a Focus when Seth caught up to me. I took specific note of the bucket seats up front and then climbed behind the wheel. Seth settled himself into the passenger seat.
“This would get much better gas mileage,” I said.
“It’s kind of small, though.” Seth wiggled uncomfortably and then scooted his chair back.
I glanced around the car and tried to picture the J’s all cramming into the tiny car. “True,” I agreed. “Let’s go try that one over there.”
Seth followed me to a Fusion. As I got comfy behind the wheel, he didn’t say anything, except “much better.”
“Definitely,” I agreed, glancing over my shoulder. “And way more room in the back seat.”
Seth turned to look at me with his eyebrows cocked way up. “Ellie,” he said, laughing. “You just freaked out over the idea of a bench. I don’t think you have to worry about needing a spacious backseat.”
When I caught his meaning I blushed. Why are all guys such horn dogs? “I didn’t mean I plan on making out back there. I was simply thinking of the J’s. They fully expect me to drive their sorry butts to school in the fall.”
“Yeah, and they fully expect you to get busy in the back seat with them too.”
“Shut up, they do not.”
“Oh, yes they do. They’re guys. And you’re not. It’s that simple.”
“They’re my best friends. We’ve grown up in the same neighborhood together our whole lives. I guarantee none of them is interested in me.”
“Not that they’d tell you. They’re probably afraid of getting their butts handed to them on a spoon. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t thinking about it. At least one of them is. My money’s on Josh.”
“What makes you say that? You’ve never even met the guy.”
“Yeah, but who else would spend so much time playing something as lame as Skateboard Pro 2000? I hate to break it to you, but the guy’s not obsessed with beating your score. He’s hoping you’ll get bored and jump his bones.”
“First of all, gross. And second of all, Skateboard Pro 2000 is not lame.”
“I’m afraid it is, Ellie. In fact,”—Seth shrugged apologetically—”your entire video game collection pretty much sucks. Grand Theft Auto, MX vs. ATV Racing, Madden Football? Where’s the action? The suspense? The danger?”
“I play Halo,” I said defensively.
“Halo?” Seth laughed. “Give me a break!”
“What’s wrong with Halo?”
“Um, it’s boring. You just run around and shoot at anything that moves. Your sister could probably beat that game.”
“Oh yeah, and what’s your favorite video game?”
“Assassin’s Creed.”
“Assassin’s Creed,” I repeated dryly. Of course it is. I shouldn’t have asked. “Excuse me if I find murdering people disturbing.”
“It’s not about killing people, it’s about the challenge. You can’t just go in and blow off everyone’s heads. You get points for stealth and creativity. Blowing up a bunch of aliens is whatever, but pulling off the perfect murder? That’s an accomplishment.”
“No. It’s creepy is what it is.”
“It’s not that creepy,” Seth argued. “Otherwise why are there so many crime novels and cop shows out there? People are fascinated with murder.”
This conversation had taken a turn for the weird really fast, but it was more of a conversation than Seth and I had ever had. Well, a conversation that wasn’t about him trying to seduce me, anyway. That’s why I encouraged him to keep talking.
“People aren’t fascinated with murder,” I said, knowing he’d argue.
“Sure they are. Take those two girls your parents were talking about at dinner for example. The media is fixed on them right now. This city is just waiting for another girl to end up dead because there’s nothing like a good serial killer to liven up the conversation around the water cooler.”
He had to bring that up. Suddenly Heather Monroe’s face was flashing through my brain and I shuddered violently. “It’s not a serial killer,” I said. “And come to think of it, I’m really more of an SUV type of girl.”
Seth scrambled to catch up to me after I jumped out of the car. I’d hurried off so fast I wasn’t even sure what kind of car I’d climbed into next.
“You don’t think those two deaths were related?” Seth asked me.
“The cops already said they weren�
��t.”
“Then they’re lying.”
“What makes you so sure?” I didn’t think I wanted to know Seth’s answer, but at the same time I did. I had to know if there was really a serial killer out there snatching girls who looked exactly like me.
“It’s the number of stab wounds,” Seth said matter-of-factly. “Both girls were stabbed over thirty times.”
I suddenly felt sick. “Could be coincidence.”
Seth shook his head. “For most people who commit crimes like that it’s about the pleasure they get while the victim is still alive. The murder is just a means of cleaning up. But for serial killers, it’s about the killing. No way two different guys would attack two different girls who happen to look so much alike and stab them so excessively. If they had been regular murders, the attackers would have wanted to kill the girls as quickly as possible. Even if the guys had no idea how to properly use a knife, there are way too many vulnerable places on the human body to miss them all. Five or six stab wounds and chances are the girls would be dead. Why would two different guys continue to chop up someone who’s already dead?”
I was ready for this conversation to be over, but I couldn’t get a word in. Something had taken over Seth. I’d never seen him so animated.
“Not only are the two killings definitely related,” he continued, “but it’s a game for this guy. The second girl was stabbed seven times more than the first. My guess is he was trying to keep her alive as long as possible. See if he could out-do his last death. You watch. I’ll bet you that there is another murder tonight, and the number of stab wounds will be close to or higher than the last.”
I gaped at Seth, but he just kept going.
“I’d also bet the killer is annoyed that the two killings haven’t been connected. He’s got to be proud of his work—that many stab wounds is really quite impressive. I bet this time he’ll leave some kind of message or calling card so that they have to rule it a serial killing.”
Seth was so caught up in his theory that he hadn’t noticed just how excited he’d become, or how absolutely crazy he sounded. He also didn’t seem to realize that I hadn’t said a word for minutes and was on the verge of throwing up.
He was startled back to reality when I flung the car door open. I heard him call my name but I didn’t answer. I slammed the door shut and headed quickly for the office.
“Ellie, what’s wrong? Where are you going?” Seth asked when he’d caught up to me.
When I didn’t answer him he grabbed my wrist and spun me toward him. “What’s the matter with you?”
“Let go of me!” I demanded.
“Not until you tell me what your problem is.”
“You!” I shouted. “You’re crazy! Sick!”
I could see the anger flash through Seth’s eyes the same way it had back in the restaurant, but he let go of my arm.
“There is something seriously wrong with you,” I said. “I’m going home.”
I got about two steps before Seth grabbed my wrist again. “Ellie, wait.”
He sounded more hurt than angry now, but I didn’t care. “Let go of me right now or I’ll start screaming. My mom knows the manager of this place. He’ll have you arrested quicker than you can say psychopath!”
Seth let go without another word. I didn’t look back, but I could feel him watching me as I stormed into the car dealership.
My mom didn’t ask me about it when I called her from the car dealership and asked her to come pick me up, but I’m sure my face said enough. When she got there I simply told her I didn’t find anything I liked and we drove home in complete silence. After that I grabbed a bunch of snacks and locked myself in my bedroom for the rest of the day.
I’m sure my mom and Angela probably thought that Seth and I had gotten into some huge lover’s spat or something, but I didn’t care. I didn’t want to talk about Seth to them. It’s not like they would have listened or believed me if I’d told them the truth. No. I’d just be poor little naive Ellie nervous because a boy actually liked her for once.
When the J’s called me later that evening I couldn’t stop thinking about what Seth said, so when Josh finally got hold of the phone I asked him if it was true. Well, sort of. “Hey, is my video game collection lame?”
Josh’s answer came so easily it startled me. “Of course. Why?”
“No. For real.”
“Yeah. For real, Westley, it’s pretty lame. You don’t even have Call of Duty or anything.”
“So then you don’t like Skateboard Pro 2000?”
“Ugh, it’s the worst. I wish I could punk that stupid sport for existing and forcing us all to be subject to such lameness.”
I gripped the phone receiver so tight in my hand I half expected it to crumble to pieces. Just because Josh hated Skateboard Pro 2000 didn’t mean Seth was right. It just meant I needed to expand my X-box horizons.
“If my game collection sucks so bad, why do you always insist on hanging out at my house?”
“Hey guys,” Josh called out. “Ellie wants to know why we hang out at her house so much.”
It was quiet for a second, and then Jesse and Jack sung out in unison. “Angela!”
“My sister?”
“Duh,” Josh said. “She may be wretched, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t mind catching her getting out of the shower one of these days.”
“You’re sick,” I teased, but I felt much better. Clearly Seth was wrong about the J’s. And if he was wrong about them, then maybe that meant he was wrong about the murders too.
“Anyway, we gotta go,” Josh said. “Wish you could be here, Westley. You’d seriously love it.”
“Yeah!” Jesse yelled in the background. “We’re gonna have to figure out a way to make you grow a pair by next summer!”
Well. They may have been a bunch of tools, but at least they were consistent.
That tincy bit of normalcy made me relax a little, but I still kept a close eye on the house across the street. Seth’s car was still gone. He’d waited around at the dealership sulking until my mom got there, but he didn’t follow us home and hadn’t come back yet.
When Seth didn’t come home by midnight I started to feel bad. I hadn’t exactly been nice to him and he was obviously upset about it. I waited all night—couldn’t sleep. I even quit peeking out the window after a while and actually climbed out onto the roof needing some air.
Around 4:30 a.m. a pair of headlights came shining down the street and I dove back into my room. I shut off my TV and even covered my alarm clock so that my room was pitch black. Then, through the tiniest crack in my window shade, I watched Seth climb out of his car. He seemed exactly the same as he always did as he went inside. The light turned on in his room for a few minutes and then it went back off. Nothing to see. No strange behavior. And now that he was home, I realized it was nearly dawn and was able to finally pass out.
“Ellie, you’re still alive, right?”
I woke up to the sound of Angela’s voice, which is always unpleasant, but it wasn’t as antagonistic as it normally is. I groaned something that sounded close to, “Go away.”
“No can do, little sis. Mom told me not to bother you, but if you stay in your room much longer she’s going to come in here, and trust me you don’t want her to. She keeps using the word puberty.”
I grumbled something completely unintelligible this time.
“If it helps, I brought breakfast—double fudge chunk.”
I sat up and Angela climbed onto my bed holding two pints of ice cream and two spoons. When I tried to take one from her she pulled it back. “This doesn’t come without a price,” she said. “You are going to tell me exactly what happened yesterday.”
I rolled my eyes and snatched the ice cream from my sister’s hands. She sighed, took a bite out of her own pint and then asked, “Seriously Ellie, what went wrong? Because Seth likes you. I mean he really, really likes you. He’s come over three times today asking for you. He even brought you new roses becau
se you forgot to put the ones he gave you yesterday in water and they wilted. Look, see?” Angela pointed to the bouquet on my dresser. “These ones came already in a vase.”
“He’s come over three times? What time is it?”
“Almost one. I tried to ask him what happened but he wouldn’t tell me. Ellie, he looked upset.”
“Upset-angry?” I asked.
“More like upset-frustrated,” Angela said. “I don’t think Seth gets angry.”
“Ha! Angela you don’t understand. He’s not the same around you as he is around me. He has problems. He’s seriously crazy. The way he looks at me, and touches me all the time...” I felt my face heat up. The blushing was definitely not going to help my case any. “It’s like he’s restraining himself from hog-tying me and dragging me out to the woods.”
“Come on, Ellie, that’s a little harsh, don’t you think? He’s just being a guy. You’ve just never had a guy interested in you before.”
“No, that’s not it! Listen, when we were at the car dealership he started talking about those girls. But he wasn’t just talking about them. It was like he was obsessed with them. Like he understood what happened because his brain works the same way.”
“What girls?”
“Those two girls that died. The ones mom was talking about with his aunt at dinner.”
“Oh, them. Actually it’s three girls now. And they’re saying it’s definitely a serial killer.”
“What?”
“It’s been all over the news today,” Angela said.
As I turned on my TV Angela frowned. “Wait. Are you saying you think Seth’s brain works like a fifteen-year-old girl?” she asked.
“No, I’m saying he thinks like a serial killer.”
I held my breath when I turned to CNN and saw that Detroit’s new serial killer had made national news. Sixteen-year-old Olivia Harvey from South Lyon had been found in a park this morning, beaten and stabbed 41 times.
“At least she doesn’t look quite as much like you.” Angela’s voice startled me so badly I jumped. “Did you see the last one? That girl looked like she could be your twin.”