by Kes Trester
o are you into Von?” After last night, Hayden probably wasn’t the only one wondering what was going on between Von and me.
The entire third floor was enjoying a relaxed Saturday afternoon. Most doors along the corridor were thrown open, ours included, so people dropped in randomly to gossip or ask questions about a given assignment. Several girls I shared classes with had come and gone, the friendly atmosphere a nice change from the pressure cooker we all lived in during the rest of the week. Quinn had yet to spoil things by showing up, which was both a relief and unnerving. At least if she was around, I knew what she was up to.
“I like him, but I don’t know if I like him like him,” I answered.
The truth was a lot more complicated. Putting duty before desire, I’d avoided Sam for the rest of the party, though his eyes had followed me as I moved about.
Von hadn’t questioned his good fortune at finding me unattached and remained glued to my side the rest of the night. It was easy hanging out with him; he was funny, cute, self-deprecating, an outrageous flirt, but most of all, he was safe. There wasn’t this constant magnetic pull like I felt with Sam, which was all the more reason to stay as far away from Hayden’s ex as possible. But Von also felt solid, like he’d have your back if you ever needed to ditch a body, no questions asked. Kissing him might even be fun.
Shaking off the unexpected flush of heat, I tried to refocus on the chemistry textbook propped up in front of me, but it was no good. My mind turned to the Pathways program, and what the electronic mole might have dug up on Quinn. I didn’t dare access the program where Hayden could so easily catch a glimpse of my screen, but my stomach churned with the possibilities. Part of me hoped there were no secrets or embarrassing confessions, so I wouldn’t have to decide what to do with the information. Protecting Hayden from foreign threats and ensuring our country’s security was a noble cause. Blackmailing some girl on a power trip was a bit sketchy.
“McKenna’s on the floor!” Quinn ducked through the door, barely glancing at Hayden before zeroing in on me.
“Hmmm,” Hayden murmured from the depths of a novel, completely unconcerned.
I realized immediately why Quinn had waited until this moment to drop in. She wanted a ringside seat for the room search we both knew was on its way. McKenna didn’t disappoint, sailing though the door less than a minute later. With her was Officer Wieringa, the buttoned-up security guard who’d been stationed outside Major Taylor’s office.
“Room check,” McKenna announced.
Imitating Hayden, I lounged on my bed, pretending to be engrossed in the details of molecular collisions.
“Would you ladies please stand up?” The guard was as cordial as if he were asking for a dance.
We made to rise, but McKenna waved us off. “Oh, that’s not necessary,” she assured the officer. “Let’s just do a closet sweep. I’m sure there will be nothing to find, right girls?” Her glance encompassed Quinn, who looked a little too pleased with the situation.
Alarm bells went off. McKenna’s quick arrival at the barn last night was suspicious, and now she and Quinn had exchanged a blink-and-you’d-miss-it moment. Had McKenna directed Quinn to plant the weed in my closet? Was Quinn her informant? Come to think of it, the administrator hadn’t checked Hayden’s cup last night; was that part of Quinn’s deal?
I continued to act fascinated by my science homework as the search of my wardrobe commenced. A few minutes later, Wieringa closed the closet doors and shook his head. “All clear.”
Quinn’s reaction was exactly as I expected—momentary disbelief quickly followed by a flash of anger—but McKenna was more understated in her displeasure. She’d most likely expected to reclaim authority over Harrington by booting me out, but other than a burning glance directed at Quinn, she stalked from the room with the officer tagging at her heels. They hadn’t bothered searching Hayden’s armoire even for show.
Quinn stood awkwardly in the center of the room.
“You look disappointed,” I observed.
Hayden’s eyes appeared over the top of her novel, taking us in.
Quinn’s face shut down, all uncertainty erased. “Don’t get too comfortable here. You won’t be staying long.”
I let the textbook drop in my lap. “Really? Is that what McKenna told you when you ratted us out last night?”
Her stunned expression told me I’d hit the mark, and it took her a few moments to come up with a feeble response. “Piss off,” she snapped, before flouncing out the door.
“Should I ask?” Hayden said.
“Probably not,” I said, my tone conveying it wasn’t worth the bother. I’d already decided it would be best to keep my mouth shut about Quinn because if Hayden was forced to choose sides, I wasn’t all that sure I would win.
I tossed my homework aside. “Want to hit the gym?” The question wasn’t simply a diversionary tactic. The lack of regular exercise was making me feel claustrophobic in my own skin.
She shook her head, settling back into the romance novel that wasn’t required reading. “I’m good.”
I threw on workout clothes and went in search of the equipment room. The school’s map showed it was in the cluster of buildings dedicated to athletics, which would take me near the MMA gym.
Autumn leaves crackled underfoot as I trotted down the path. Approaching from the other direction came one of the dog patrols occasionally spotted on the outer reaches of campus. I often heard an occasional “woof” at night as they did their nocturnal duty. Like the others, this was a beautiful German Shepherd. She was a poor excuse for a guard dog though, wiggling from head to tail as I neared.
“Now, Scout,” the handler admonished as the dog eagerly tugged at the leash. She lunged at my legs, sniffing delightedly at all the new smells presented for her olfactory pleasure. Her joy was infectious, and I laughed.
Her handler, a stout woman with brown hair haphazardly gathered into a ponytail, gently scolded her. “You are hopeless, dog.”
I leaned down and rewarded Scout with a blissful scratch behind her ears. “She says work is boring, especially when there’re so many other fun things to see and smell, huh, pretty girl?”
The woman sighed in frustration. “I’ve never met a dog less interested in work. She’d better get it together, or I’ll make sure she’s given to a family of vegetarians. How would you like tofu for the rest of your life, Scout?”
Scout’s tail said that was fine with her. With a final pat, I continued down the path, hoping the other dogs were better trained and wouldn’t confront intruders by licking them to death.
Arriving at the door marked SPORTS CLUB, I yanked on it several times in disbelief. How could it be locked during one of the few times students could actually get over to use it? Frustrated, I scanned the fading sky, but a cold breeze made running less than appealing.
The crunch of footsteps caught my attention. A guy in workout clothes let himself into the MMA gym. Of course that door was unlocked.
“Thanks a lot, universe,” I growled, stomping toward the door he’d just disappeared through. Maybe Sam wouldn’t be there. And I sure as hell wouldn’t be sparring with anyone unless I was dressed like a nun.
Guys packed the place but were too busy sparring, punching bags, or running on treadmills to notice when I slipped in with head down. Trying to blend into the scenery, I grabbed a pair of gloves and warmed up by taking out my frustrations on a solitary bag hanging in the corner. I didn’t want to think about Quinn and what her next move would be in her bid to take me down. I wiped Sam from my mind, and the dangerous potential he had for complicating my life. One by one I let all my worries and desires fade away, letting the blaring music eclipse the noise in my head, and allowing my body to take control.
Hit. Kick. Jab.
Sweat drenched my T-shirt, so I yanked it off and kept going. The rhythm of the music filled me, pushing, driving, releasing.
Hit. Kick. Jab.
“Bend your knee a bit more before you str
ike. You’ll get more power that way.”
I drew up with a start, the trance broken. Mirrors covered the walls, revealing Sam standing directly behind me with arms crossed, as if he’d been observing for a while. “Go on, try it again.”
Shaken from my daze, I angled my knee as he suggested and kicked the bag.
“That’s right. Did you feel it? Here, face me.”
The next few minutes were more like a charged dance than a training session, though if he felt it, he didn’t let it show. He kept up a running dialogue of encouragement and instruction as our bodies met and parted. A blocked hit turned into an embrace; a spinning kick delivered in slow motion became a caress as his hand turned it aside; a corrected stance ended with his fingers sliding over my glistening skin.
We were both facing the mirror, his hands on my hips, when he fell silent. Our eyes locked in the reflection, and slowly, deliberately, he splayed his fingers across my naked torso and pulled me against his body. To any casual observer it looked like merely another correction of my form, but then his cheek brushed my hair like a cat marking his turf, and a shiver ran through me.
“You feel it, too,” he whispered in my ear.
He left me breathless, and it had nothing to do with the workout, but what did it matter? I only needed to keep it together for one short year, and then I’d be free. Ivy League colleges that wouldn’t have looked at me twice would now consider my application because I’d be a Harrington graduate. I’d no longer be a friendless desert rat, but an equal. Doors would open, opportunities presented, friends made. And all I had to do was resist a gorgeous, smart, and interesting guy because hooking up with him would royally piss off my reason for being here and endanger my objective.
I broke out of Sam’s embrace. “I can’t.” I had the gloves stripped off and my jacket zipped up within seconds. I only had so much resolve, and it would be best to be long gone before it died. Slamming out the gym door into the crisp twilight, I fled in the direction of Watson Hall.
He caught up to me before I’d cleared the sports complex. “Riley!”
I halted and reluctantly turned to face him. He’d grabbed a sweatshirt before dashing out after me, but neither of us was dressed for the weather. I shivered, this time from the cold, and he stepped closer. The light was quickly dying, but I could read the uncertainty in his expression.
“You still owe me a secret.”
I pulled my jacket closer and fiddled with the zipper. How tempting it was to let it all spill out, to unburden my fears and concerns, my reason for being there. But what would I say? That the State Department had foolishly chosen me to watch over the daughter of their resident genius, but had neglected to tell me she might be in real danger? That it was odd her former roommate had stashed a broken phone where it should never have been found on the same day she died? That Quinn had most likely teamed up with McKenna and might even now be planning ways to get me tossed out of school? Even if he didn’t think I was a total head case, it wouldn’t be fair to unload on him.
I settled for a version of the truth. “Hayden is the reason I got into Harrington. I owe her.”
His face fell. “So that’s it? We pretend there’s nothing going on between us because a girl I broke up with three months ago won’t like it?”
“There is nothing going on between us,” I said. If this didn’t end here and now, I would end up doing something I’d live to regret.
“Really?” He slowly wrapped his hands around my waist, and my heart thudded. We’d touched each other a dozen times in the gym, but the darkness lent new intimacy to our conversation. “You feel nothing when I do this?”
“No,” I said breathlessly.
I didn’t resist when he gently tugged until our bodies touched in too many places to count. “How about now?”
I shook my head, not trusting myself to speak.
His eyes locked on mine. He lowered his face until our lips were a mere inch apart. He paused, giving me time to say the word that would stop him from going any further, but my thoughts deserted me.
“Liar,” he murmured before he pressed his mouth to mine.
Dinner would have to come out of the vending machines because there was no way I could face anyone tonight. My face burned every time I thought of the kiss, my first kiss, and I alternated between complete giddiness and berating myself for being a fool. Who knew what Sam thought because when our lips finally parted, I’d run back to the dorm like my hair was on fire.
After I refused a second invitation to go to the dining hall, Hayden finally left the room. First I grabbed a quick shower, and then my laptop. Flopping across the bed, it was time to see if there might be anything useful in Quinn’s phone. I no longer had any qualms about blackmailing her if it would get her off my back.
“You’ve got to be freaking kidding me,” I breathed a few minutes later.
Overconfidence is the most dangerous form of carelessness, Benson would say, though I was pretty sure he’d stolen that from a Star Wars movie. Still, Quinn obviously thought she was above suspicion. She’d recklessly left an electronic trail proving she’d been the one to sell the private pictures of Hayden to the tabloids. The texts detailing the transactions went back for over a year. The prices negotiated weren’t pennies, but neither was it the kind of cash that would impress a girl who wore Hermès and Gucci in excess. Selling the pictures was an offense worthy of expulsion; why would she take such an awful risk?
It took several minutes to capture screen shots of the evidence, and all the while I debated how best to use what I knew. It would earn me brownie points with Karen, but she wouldn’t jeopardize my cover to nail a money-grubbing classmate unless they discovered there was more to Quinn than greed.
Sending it to McKenna would get me tossed out on hacking charges. Even emailing it to her anonymously wouldn’t do any good if Quinn was her snitch. McKenna would most likely delete the evidence before going on a hunt for the perpetrator. If I confronted Quinn privately, how could I be sure she would back off? It might simply motivate her to get rid of me even more quickly. No, however I used the information, there couldn’t be any room for error.
My dad would probably be appalled at what I was considering, but Benson would cheer me on from the sidelines. Before reaching out to him, I did a quick scan for bugs, but the room was clean.
“Darlin’ girl!” Benson’s face appeared on my computer screen, his cheeks pink from his morning shave. “Did you get the box of goodies I sent?”
“Yes, but smoke bombs? Really?” I teased.
“You never know when they might come in handy. Did I ever tell you about the time I was trapped in a blind alley in Bagdad during the Iraq War?”
As much as I enjoyed his colorful stories, Hayden could walk in at any time, so I needed to cut to the chase. “No, but I’ve got a problem.” With each new charge I leveled against Quinn, his jaw clamped tighter until his face looked like it was made of cement.
“It seems pretty cut and dried,” he said when I’d finished. “End them before they end you, remember?”
It was rule #20. “I know, but how?”
He smiled in the way that usually sent the rookies running for cover. “I’ve got just the thing.”
leep was impossible.
It had taken a few days to design a plan of attack as fitting as it was final, and as I lay staring at the ceiling, I knew it was ready. Admittedly, halfway through keying in the senior class’ cell numbers I started having doubts. The plan was rock solid, and exposing Quinn’s sideline business could never be traced back to me, but where did taking defensive action end and becoming a mean girl begin? She threatened my mission and deserved what was coming, but what did it say about me that I was reveling in the anticipation?
Even the dogs were restless that night, with the occasional bark echoing across the grounds from the kennels. Sometimes another dog on patrol answered with a concerned “woof,” but it had the reassuring feeling of a town crier announcing, “Three o’clock
and all’s well!”
Then there was the encounter with Sam. I kept replaying the moment like a song that spoke to the most secret part of me, shivering with quiet excitement each time. He had to know I’d purposely dodged him at Friday night’s party, and my urgent getaway after our kiss wasn’t exactly subtle, so why didn’t he take the hint? Oh, yeah, maybe it was the way I’d kissed him back like he was going off to war.
I bit my pillow as a jumble of conflicting emotions rushed through me, both dreading and welcoming the first streaks of dawn outside my window. By the time the alarm went off, it was a relief to face the day.
Morning classes were a blur. Though I sat there and dutifully took notes, my mind unerringly strayed to the cell phone tucked inside my boot. Call me paranoid, but I didn’t want to let it out of my sight. It felt dangerous and explosive. It would take only two keystrokes to activate the macro that would send all of Quinn’s texts to the entire senior class and McKenna as well. Every phone would chime, buzz, or vibrate with the news Quinn had cashed in on her best friend.
It had to be done, right?
The midday bell chimed. I’d intended to put the plan into action when the class gathered for lunch, but now it felt incredibly heartless. I knew next to nothing about Quinn or what drove her. If I hit those buttons, there’d be no going back for either of us.
Dragging my feet with indecision, I was one of the last to arrive in the dining hall. Making a production out of selecting a tuna sandwich and a bottle of water didn’t change things. The lunch hour was still at its peak, and Von waved to indicate my chair was waiting… right across from Quinn. At the next table over Sam smiled in invitation, but now was not the moment to add more drama to my life. I ducked my head and bee-lined to my usual spot.
The chatter went on around me. A new softball bat with a four-figure price tag had been delivered to Jackie Song from a Division I school dying to recruit her. Stef planned to organize a game of chardonnay pong for the weekend because beer, he said, was just too low-rent. And Von ran down a list of hookup spots to avoid between dinner and study period unless you had company. I started to relax, thinking maybe there was another way to handle Quinn… but then she opened her mouth.