by Jo Cassidy
I handed her a pen. “I’m fairly certain it’s neither of you, so you can cross your name off the list.”
“Obviously.” Jenna snatched the pen and scribbled over her name to the point you couldn’t read it anymore. She moved her pen to cross out Brendon’s name, but he stopped her.
“Leave it there.” His lips twisted in a smile. “It makes me more mysterious.”
Keeping her glaring eyes on Brendon, Jenna drew a line over his name. But it was still obvious his name had been on the list.
Brendon motioned to the bat on his shirt. “You’re right – Bruce Wayne wouldn’t want people to even suspect him.”
Jenna turned the paper over and saw the empty page. “That’s it? This is your list?”
“They’re all the people I interact with during the day.”
“What about your friends?” Brendon picked at his Band-Aid. “People you hang out with outside of school. I know you want to trust them, but you need to consider every possibility.”
Jenna scanned the list again. “Who do you hang out with, anyway?”
When I didn’t respond, they both stared at me. I kept my voice low. “I’m really busy outside of school. I don’t have time for friends.”
“Doing what?” Jenna asked. “Do you play a bunch of different sports or instruments or something?”
My finger trailed Husky. “Family stuff.” I took a deep breath. “Can you help me or not? I don’t have time after school, but I really need the journal back. It’s extremely important that I get it back. Very, very, important.”
Jenna shook the list in her hand. “Yeah, sure, I’ll help. I’ll interrogate the crap out of these people.”
“Thanks.” I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I noticed the time. “When did the final bell ring?”
“Uh, when it always does,” Brendon said.
I was already out of my chair, trying to stuff my notebook into my backpack. I couldn’t be late. Especially not after finally being released from timeout. I didn’t want to be thrown back in. My sanity couldn’t manage it.
“Slow down,” Jenna said.
“I can’t. If I’m late…” Daddy would punish me. “Thanks. Bye.” I took off running, going as fast as I could. Jenna shouted my name, but I kept on sprinting, pushing past all the students in the hall until I reached the front of the school.
"Cora."
I came to a complete stop, whipping around, my shoes squeaking against the linoleum floor.
Mr. Mendoza stood there with his hands in his pockets. "Where have you been? You've missed four days of school." His eyes managed to look uninterested and interrogating at the same time.
"Sick." Sick of being locked in the basement. Sick to my stomach of my secret being exposed.
"Better now?"
No. I nodded. "Yes, but I'm running late."
His eyebrows furrowed and then released. "Busy life."
"Yes, sir," I said.
He glanced around at the students passing by before turning his attention back to me. "I'd like to see you on Monday. Since we didn't get to talk this week."
"We're talking right now." I fiddled with my backpack straps, itching to leave.
He took a few steps toward me. "A real conversation, Cora. Monday."
I wanted to say no and tell him to stay away from me, but he worked for the school. I couldn't raise suspicion. "Monday."
Someone bumped into me, but when I turned around, there were students everywhere. Anyone could have done it. It was probably just an accident.
Looking down, I went to straighten my shirt so I would look good for Daddy. A note sticking out of my pocket caught my eye. I scanned the area, but no one was paying any attention to me. With shaking hands, I pulled the note out of my pocket.
I know your secret.
The piece of paper crumpled in my death grip. I frantically searched around, but all I saw was student after student leaving the school. No one paid me any mind.
Even though fear consumed me, I had to leave. I'd made Daddy wait too long. He'd be upset with how late I was running.
Daddy’s van caught my eye in the line of vehicles. I didn’t have to see his face to know he was mad. I could feel it radiating from him. The air had shifted. There was a high possibility of going back into timeout for the weekend, making my heart sink.
His hands were wrapped tightly around the steering wheel. His chest rose and fell with his deep breathing. “Where. Were. You?” Daddy asked the second I sat down in the passenger seat. When he’d already cranked the volume on his angry tone, it was never a good sign.
“Sorry.” I panted and wiped sweat from my brow. I wanted to unfasten the top button of my shirt to let some air in, but he wouldn’t like that. “We were assigned a project at the end of French. We had to decide groups before we left.” Weave a lie. “I don’t know anyone in the class, so I waited until everyone had picked and then had the teacher put me in a group.”
Daddy fumed next to me. His fingers drummed along the steering wheel. He slowly moved forward in the line, trying to make his way out of the chaos. “Smart thinking.”
Inside, the fear melted. At least I wouldn’t make it into timeout again. My hand gripped the seat, clinging on for life. My heart needed to calm before Daddy suspected anything – before he figured out I was lying.
“Anything else happen at school?” he asked.
My eyes wandered to the sea of students pouring out the front door of the school. I spotted Jenna and Brendon both standing near a large ash tree, watching me and Daddy. They both wore frowns, their faces masks of confusion. What must they have thought of me?
Mr. Mendoza stood near the top of the stairs, also staring at the van. His eyes locked with mine. All I could see was concern with maybe a slight hint of uncertainty mixed in.
Sweat formed on my palms, soaking the crushed note. It would probably shred into a million pieces when I finally pried it from my hand.
“No, Daddy,” I said. “The day was perfectly free of excitement.”
Chapter 11
Sunlight radiated through the kitchen window, warming up the air near the sink. Sunday afternoons were my favorite. Daddy would mow the front and back lawns, giving me some free time. He'd also been working on a new project. For years he talked about building me a swing set in the backyard. Somehow my latest trip to timeout caused him to finally want to start.
Spring was coming to an end and summer was well on its way. Sweat glistened down Daddy's head as he worked. He lifted his cap, wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, and put the cap back on. When he glanced over at the kitchen window, I gave him a little wave, which he returned.
On the outside, I was calm and happy, appearing to be the perfect child. Inside, I writhed. Someone out there knew my secret. Mine and Daddy's secret. If they told anyone, my life would fall apart. I'd be torn away from Daddy, never to see him again. How would I survive that?
I needed to focus on something else before I broke. It was too early to start dinner, so I decided to bake cookies. Oatmeal raisin. Daddy's favorite. I preferred chocolate chip, but he didn’t like chocolate. The preheated oven warmed the kitchen, so I turned on a fan standing in the archway, the breeze cooling my skin.
I had just put a cookie tray in the oven when someone knocked on the front door. Hurrying over to the window, I peered outside to see if Daddy had heard the noise. Over the sound of his saw, he hadn't heard.
Normally I didn't answer the door. Daddy didn't allow it. But he had been waiting for a delivery, so I went to the sliding glass door and yelled out to him. He didn't hear me. My foot only made it an inch outside when I noticed I wasn’t wearing shoes. I couldn't go outside without them. Daddy took that rule very seriously after finding me with no shoes on the day he'd taken me.
The person knocked again, louder. Daddy didn't flinch. I hesitated a few seconds before I finally shut the backdoor and went to the front, peeking out of the peephole.
My breath caught in my throat. Turning around, I slammed
my back into the door and wiped my cookie dough covered hands on my apron. Why were they at my house? How did they know where I lived?
With a deep breath, I placed my shaking hand on the doorknob and opened the front door just a crack.
"Good, you’re back.” Jenna smiled brightly at me. Her color of the day was red, and it looked amazing on her. "Aren't you going to open the door all the way?"
"What are you doing here?" I hissed.
The smile on Brendon's face dissolved. "We have a project to work on, remember?"
"You left so fast on Friday." Jenna tried to push her way inside, but I held the door firm. "What's with you?"
"You need to leave." I tried to shut the door. Brendon used his foot to block me from closing it. "Please. Leave."
“It won't take long.” Brendon shoved the door open and came inside. "Do I smell cookies?"
He started for the kitchen, so I took hold of his arm to stop him, which made me turn my back to Jenna.
Her fingers ran along my fishtail braid. “Oh, going fancy today. I like.”
I ignored her, terror the only thing on my mind. "Please, Brendon, I'm begging you. Leave." If Daddy saw them, timeout would be the least of my worries. The thought of them being locked in the basement flashed through my mind, but I pushed the image aside. I couldn’t dwell on the unknowns. They drove me insane.
"Cora, why are you so afraid?" Brendon asked me. His eyes wandered over my body, searching for something. "Is he here?"
"Is who here?" Jenna asked. She came into view with her hands on her hips and a frown on her mouth. "I thought we were friends, Cora. First you bail on my birthday party, which was so much fun by the way."
"Yes, it was." Brendon wiggled his eyebrows at Jenna, who returned the gesture with a slap on the arm.
"He wasn't there," Jenna said. "Cora, now you're bailing on our project? That's so not like you."
“I’m not allowed to have friends over on Sunday,” I said. The back door opened, and a cold, nauseating fear swept over me. "Hide. Now." I shoved them down the hall and went into the kitchen, forcing a smile onto my face and hoping my friends obeyed my orders. "Hey, Daddy. Do you need a drink?"
Daddy used a kitchen towel to wipe off his face and neck. "Where were you?" His eyes flickered toward the entryway. Some people looked more youthful and fun when they wore baseball hats. For Daddy, it made him appear more suspicious and stern than he normally was.
"Had to use the bathroom." I peeked inside the oven. "First batch of cookies are almost done." My hand froze on the oven door handle as Daddy walked to the hall and stared down it. "What are you doing?" Please let them be hidden.
"I thought I heard something." His eyes grilled mine, trying to find the truth. He needed to stay in the kitchen. He couldn't know Brendon and Jenna were in the house.
I released the oven from my death grip. "Oh, I opened the window in my bedroom. Wanted to get a small breeze going. You probably heard the blinds being ruffled by the wind." After wiping the sweat from my palms onto the apron, I rolled the dough into balls and placed them on a clean cookie sheet. "How's it going outside?"
He took a step down the hallway. A hurricane of anger raged in his eyes. He'd just taken another step when the timer buzzed. A breath of relief escaped over my dry lips.
"Daddy, can you get the cookies out of the oven?" I wiggled my doughy fingers. "I'm a mess."
He hesitated before he tromped into the kitchen, grabbed an oven mitt, and removed the cookie tray, setting it on the counter. "Not too much longer out there." He took a glass from the cupboard and filled it up with water from the sink.
I set another ball of dough on the sheet. "Good. I'll start dinner after I finish with the cookies. Is chicken and rice okay?" It was one meal I loved that he didn’t mind.
"As long as there are brussels sprouts." Daddy downed his cup of water and then set the cup in the sink. "Wash that when you have a moment." He eyed my hair. “Why is your braid in back?”
I’d been so distracted that I hadn’t thought to put my braid in its place up front. “I like to keep it back there while I bake so I don’t end up with dough in my hair.”
Grabbing it with his fist, he lifted my braid and rested it over my right shoulder. “Just be careful and you’ll be fine.” He gave me a kiss on the forehead, for once his lips warm from the sun, and then returned to the backyard.
I made sure he was fully engaged in his work before I ran down the hall and into my room. The horror pounding in my heart multiplied when I walked in and saw Jenna and Brendon standing there, gazing over all the pink. What had I done?
"Daddy likes it this way," I whispered.
Jenna jumped at my voice. "Cora!" She cleared her throat. "Your room is very . . . I mean, it's, you know . . .”
"Pink." Brendon peered into the dollhouse in the corner of the room and pulled out a miniature poodle.
I hurried over and took it from his hands, putting it back where it belonged. "How did you know where I lived?" Had I put my address in my journal? Some of them had it, but I couldn't remember if it was in my latest one.
Jenna smirked. "I aide in the front office. I may have snuck into the student files."
My tension relieved the slightest bit. There was still a chance neither of them had taken my journal. "You can't be here. You both need to leave."
"What about the project?" Jenna sat down on my bed. "I kind of like this canopy." She closed it around her.
"Excuse me, Cora Bora." Noah grunted. "Who is this strange creature on our bed? She’s so bright it’s blinding me. And what on earth is on her teeth?"
Noah had never seen braces before. Daddy didn’t want me to have them. He said society put too much pressure on appearances and we should be proud of our natural look. It was why I couldn’t wear make-up, dye my hair, or paint my nails.
I wanted to glare at Noah, tell him to butt out, but Brendon came close to me and ran his fingers along my fishtail braid. He almost looked mesmerized by it. I took a step back, knocking into the dollhouse and rattling everything inside. I hated that my life caused me to act this way. I couldn’t even have someone in my room without freaking out. Maybe Noah had been right. Was this how I wanted to live my life?
Brendon kept his voice low so only I could hear. "Why can't we be here? And don’t give me the ‘it’s Sunday’ excuse."
"I can't," I murmured. "I can't talk about it. Please, Brendon, leave. For me. I don't want to get in trouble." I couldn’t believe how close he was standing.
"Will he hurt you?" Brendon asked. His breath smelled like spearmint from the mint in his mouth. It rattled against his teeth as he moved it around.
My head nodded on its own accord, and I desperately wished Brendon hadn’t thought to ask that question. He sensed too much.
"What are you and that guy talking about?" Noah asked rather loudly, making me cringe.
Jenna hopped off the bed and appeared at our side. "What are you two whispering about? Should I leave you alone?"
"No!" Heat rushed to my cheeks. "I'll see you both Monday, okay? We can work on our project during lunch or something." I took a moment to put the dollhouse in its proper order and then left the room, hoping they would follow. When I got to the entryway, I peered around the wall and looked outside. Daddy was still busy working.
Brendon opened the front door and ushered Jenna out. Before he closed the door, he slipped a piece of paper into my pocket, which reminded me of the blackmailer. "Call me if you ever need help. Any time of day or night."
"Okay." I'd never call him. Daddy checked the phone records.
"Promise me." His eyes pleaded with me.
So I lied, which I hated to do. "I promise." I only made promises to Daddy. Well, only promises I kept.
Brendon gently squeezed my hand before he closed the door and left. Warmth lingered on my skin from his touch. I stared at my hand thinking I’d see a glow that matched what I felt inside, but it remained the same.
My hand tightened into a
fist. That had been too close of a call. Why had they gone so far as to break into the school files to get my address? Maybe going to public school had been a mistake. Too much was unraveling and I couldn't control any of it.
The oven buzzer went off, and I jumped. I hurried into the kitchen and retrieved the cookies, trying to push Brendon and Jenna from my mind.
Chapter 12
I’d wanted to compare Brendon’s note to the one the blackmailer had given me, but my sweat had obliterated it. Even if I hadn’t ruined it, Brendon’s note was mostly numbers, so there was a chance I couldn’t tell anyway.
Monday during lunch, I found an empty table in the library and sat down. A part of me held some hope that Brendon and Jenna would forget about working on the French project. Maybe they'd just want to get it over with so they would do it without me. I also hoped Mr. Mendoza would forget about meeting with me, but I wasn’t about to hold my breath.
"There you are." Jenna plopped down in the seat next to me. Using her finger, she wiped some pink lip gloss from her braces and then ran her tongue along them. “I can’t wait to get these things off. They’re seriously ruining my life.” She’d clipped a strip of pink in her hair that brought her entire spunk-slash-pink outfit together.
Brendon sat down in the chair on my other side and placed a blue floral gift bag on the table in front of me. He was wearing a red shirt with a black spider on it. It was the first shirt I didn’t really care for. I hated spiders. They reminded me of the basement.
"Happy birthday!" he said.
"It's not my birthday," I said, looking at the bag. He'd gotten me a present? The only person who’d ever given me a present was Daddy. At least, that I could remember.
Brendon laughed, running his hand over his fohawk. "Okay, so I have no idea when your birthday is. I just saw this at the store and thought of you."
Something inside of me stirred. He'd been thinking of me outside of school?
"Open it!" Jenna clapped her hands in excitement.
The librarian held up a finger to her lips. “Shhh!”