"Me too." I agreed and smiled. Every time my heels hit the pavement, I counted my steps. Please don't trip. Please don't trip.
"It's nice to have someone to talk to, especially after what happened yesterday." I was so fixed on watching my steps that I didn't process what Terrence was saying.
"Yesterday?" He sighed, and with hands in his pockets I saw a look of remorse come across his face.
"Stacy. She was supposed to be my date tonight." My eyes went wide as I saw Stacy's stiff body in my head again.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Tonight must feel weird."
"I'm ok. Honestly between you and me, I didn't know her very well." I stared at his mouth. His accent was like a spell. I was mesmerized when he spoke. No wonder every girl in school was crazy about him. Every girl has dreamt about a guy like Terrence at some point in their lives. He's the caring, sexy foreigner that sweeps you off your feet.
"What do you think happened?" My curiosity about Stacy wouldn't go away, no matter how much Terrence made my stomach leap. Terrence shrugged. I really wish I could read his thoughts right now, I thought.
"I have no clue. Maybe it was an accident?" I nodded but I knew better. Stacy was murdered; there was no doubt about it. And someone had tried to keep her death a secret.
"I guess." Scattered thoughts were being pushed into my head. We were standing in the doorway of the school gym. Music blasted from inside. It was loud enough to keep the voices from making me crazy, at least for an hour or two. But the overload was sure to give me a migraine.
I stood up straight in my green dress, feeling like the entire school was glaring at me. I kept my chin up and tried to act like I didn't notice. The judgmental thoughts from my classmates came into my head anyway. Terrence came with her? What makes her so special? I bet she's not even a real blonde.
I touched my hair and felt my cheeks getting hot. It was one thing to hear people's thoughts. But it was another to be the main act in everyone's head. I was starting to get uncomfortable and Terrence must've noticed. He grabbed my hand, sending chills through my body.
"How about I get us something cold to drink?"
"Yeah, ok." Terrence smiled and left me standing in the corner. I looked down at the floor. Students were eyeing me up and down from every direction. I now knew exactly what Emma had meant. The 'evil eye' sucked. I was getting it from girls I didn't even know.
A hand touched my shoulder and my stomach leaped again. Why couldn't I just forget about all this Stacy stuff and enjoy my night with Terrence? He was hot. And so far, he wasn't a sex-crazed animal like the rest of the school. I turned around and was greeted by a pair of green eyes, hidden by thick glasses.
"You," I whispered. My heart pounded. It felt like yesterday all over again and I wanted to throw up.
"I have to talk to you." His eyes kept shifting around the room. I brushed his hand away and tried to act like nothing had ever happened.
"Listen, um . . ."
"Rory."
"Yeah. Look, I really appreciate what you did for me yesterday but don't think that we're suddenly BFF's or something." Rory looked confused. The thought of us spending time together had crossed his mind, but that's not what he'd come for. "Is this some kind of black mail thing cuz I'll deny everything!"
"No." Rory was getting frustrated. It was clear that he didn't want to be seen talking to me. I folded my arms.
"Then what do you want?"
"Meet me by the bathrooms in ten minutes."
I looked around for Terrence. He'd be back any minute with our drinks.
"No, ok! This is a very important night for me and I won't let you spoil it." Great. Another brainless Terrence admirer. That dude sure gets around. Rory's thoughts hit me hard.
"Hey!" I exclaimed, slightly offended. Rory looked confused again.
"Bridget, please!" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Terrence walking across the dance floor. He did his best to say hi to everyone that gathered around him, without making me wait too long.
"Fine," I murmured as I pushed Rory out of the way. I twirled my hair and watched Terrence move closer with two drinks in his hand.
"Here you go." Terrence handed me some punch. I took a small sip and watched Terrence stare at the dance floor.
"So, I see you've made a lot of friends." I smiled but Terrence's face remained expressionless. Why can't I hear your thoughts? You can't stay thought-free all night. That would be impossible!
"Everyone wants to know about the new guy, you know," he replied. "Do you, uh?" He tilted his head towards the dance floor. My heart pounded, but this time it was a good thing. I was hoping he'd ask.
"Of course." I sat my drink down and held out a hand. Terrence grabbed it again. His hands were warm and his skin was soft. He pulled me to the middle of the dance floor and the two of us swayed to the slow song that played. Terrence stared into my eyes. I looked away.
"Why do you do that?" Terrence looked intrigued.
"Do what?" I laughed. My cheeks hurt, but I still smiled.
"Try to avoid having a good time."
"I don't do that." I gave him a playful shove.
"Oh but you do!" Terrence grinned. "Whenever you start to get comfortable, you always get quiet all of a sudden, like you're purposely holding back."
"Well maybe I'm just shy." I blushed and looked down at my shoes. Terrence's hand reached for my face. He lifted my chin and studied my eyes.
"You're not shy. You're . . . mysterious. I like that." My cheeks went rosy again. Another song started and we continued to dance. Sorry Rory, but this is more important than whatever you had to say.
We danced and danced until my feet started to hurt. I laughed and took off my heels. My feet were covered in red marks. Terrence chuckled and I laughed again. He grabbed my hand and led me outside for some fresh air. The cool wind was a relief compared to the stuffy smell of BO in the gym.
"My feet look terrible! Really, I'm just not used to wearing heels!"
"You're right." Terrence grinned.
"Huh?"
"Your feet are hideous!" he stated. I giggled and lightly punched his arm. I took a giant breath of the chilled September air. Being with Terrence made me feel like a totally different person. I had no worries, and I had no freaky thoughts being pushed into my head. I was starting to understand what it felt like to fall for someone. I couldn't get enough of the thrilling pulses in my stomach. I'd missed out for too long.
There was a ringing that broke our conversation. Terrence reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone.
"Sorry, I have to take this," Terrence said looking apologetic. I smiled and nodded as Terrence answered and walked out of sight. I looked up at the stars. They were covered by gray storm clouds, but I could still spot a few stars that shone through the cloud cover.
"Pssst!" I jumped and turned around to see Rory with a disappointed look on his face.
"I thought we agreed ten minutes?" He looked upset.
"Well, I was sort of busy. And I'm still busy so . . ."
"Bridget, this isn't some stupid high school game. We've got problems." Rory was sincerely worried. I could feel his fear and his thoughts turned dark. The giddy look faded from my face. Something was seriously wrong, and it involved me.
"Ok," I said in a low voice. "Give me a sec?"
Rory nodded. I got up and walked back towards the school. Terrence had just hung up his phone. His face lit up when he saw me.
"Terrence, tonight has been . . . well, amazing. But I have to go." I hated the frown that formed on Terrence's face.
"What? Now? Is everything ok?"
"Everything's fine. I'll explain later!" I ran back to find Rory. Crap, I screamed at myself! I hope I didn't just ruin everything!
I ran with my heels in my hand. Chipped rocks dug at my feet but I sprinted towards Rory's old truck. He was waiting and watching the parking lot with a paranoid glare. I pulled open the passenger's rusty handle, and climbed in.
"Ok," I said out of breath. "Let'
s get this over with." But inside I knew this was easier said than done. This'll never be over with.
"I know the last thing you probably want to talk about is Stacy . . ."
"Good guess," I interrupted.
"But," Rory said in a louder voice. He took a piece of paper out of the glove box and dropped it in my lap. His hands were a bit shaky and the fear passing through his thoughts was making me nervous. "I think you should see this." I carefully opened the piece of paper and saw simple handwriting – writing I didn't recognize. Two sentences was all that'd been written but it was enough to make me panic. My whole Junior year was about to change for the worse. I saw what you did, and I'll be watching. If you go to the police, you'll be sorry. I could feel my heart dropping. The note's warning found a permanent spot among the memories in my head.
"Where did you find this?" I too couldn't help but look around the parking lot. Someone could've been watching all night, even right now. Just thinking about it made me shudder.
"It was in my locker. I was here earlier working on a science project." Rory swallowed. It was so loud I could hear it. He knew that whoever had written the note wasn't joking. Since yesterday, he'd already felt like he was being followed. This note was proof he wasn't crazy. Someone was following him.
"Well, this could be anything," I lied, trying not to sound alarmed. But I was. My brain searched for an answer that didn't involve Stacy. It wasn't successful. "How do you know this has to do with yesterday?" Rory looked at me like I was an idiot. He was thinking it too.
"If they saw me, they saw you." He spoke with confidence. I was quiet for a minute. The killer had seen me. How?
"But I didn't get a note," I protested. Rory shook his head.
"Have you checked your locker?" He gritted his teeth as he impatiently waited for my response. I shook my head.
"It's Saturday," I answered. "Some of us have lives." Rory rolled his eyes.
"Look, I was just trying to warn you, okay. You don't have to be a jerk about it." Rory sighed. He had a lot on his mind. He was worried, but not so much about himself. He was worried that something might happen to his mom and his little sister.
"You're right. I'm sorry. So, what do we do now?" I hoped that Rory would have a good answer, because I sure didn't. He thought for a minute.
"We find out who did this before we end up like Stacy," he replied. My thoughts turned to the bracelet.
"Do you know of anyone name Dru? Spelled D-r-u?" I studied Rory's face as he shook his head. His mind searched through a list of friends and classmates but none had the name Dru.
"No, why?" He scanned the parking lot again when a threesome of giggling girls stumbled towards a nearby car. The image of the bracelet was permanently burned into my brain. It had been lurking behind every thought since yesterday. At the moment, Rory was the only one I could mention it to. Rory paused and waited for me to speak. The words were a lot harder to form in my mouth than I'd thought.
"Yesterday, when I found . . . Stacy." I didn't know why but saying the name of a dead person out loud felt weird. "Something fell out of her hand. It was broken like she'd ripped it from her attacker."
"What was it?" Rory whispered.
"A bracelet. It has a charm on it with the letters D-r-u, and some symbol is stamped on the back." Rory's eyes went wide. But the name Dru still didn't ring a bell.
"If only we knew more about how she died." Rory had been just as stumped as I was when he saw her body. To the naked eye, Stacy's body looked normal, apart from the whole dead thing. There was no blood, no bullet wound, just a strange look in her eyes and burn mark on her uniform.
Rory started wishing he could get his hands on the police report. But the only way to do that would be to steal it. Rory wasn't willing to take things that far. He'd never stolen in his life, and he didn't want to start with a confidential police file.
"Yeah, but we don't." I tried to interrupt his thought process but his brain was spinning so fast, I couldn't keep up. I tried to stay away from his web of reasoning. It was hard not to get stuck.
"You're a science geek," I quickly began, hoping to ease his mind a little. "Can't you like take the note to your lab and dust for fingerprints or something?" Rory gave me a scolding look.
"You're being a jerk again," he muttered.
"That wasn't an insult. That was a question." A thought popped into my head, my own thought. I could read minds! If I could find a way to run into the police detective investigating Stacy's murder, I could read his or her thoughts. It was worth a try. "I got it! We go and ask."
"What?" Rory scanned the parking lot again. No one was in sight. "Are you serious?"
"You got a better idea?" It was true. My plan was stupid, but I was secretly wishing that my idiotic suggestions would encourage Rory to come up with something brilliant. He had it in him. He was smart, with a brain oozing creativity.
"Look, maybe we should give the letter to the police."
"And tell them what, Mr. Anonymous phone call? That you found Stacy dead but fled from the scene." I cleared my throat while Rory rethought that option. Technically, he'd only received a threat. Maybe this person was just trying to scare him silent.
"Good point," he agreed.
"Come Monday, we'll see if there's anything new about Stacy in the paper. In the meantime, watch your back."
"And you watch yours," Rory replied. I looked at the time. I'd managed to survive homecoming for almost two hours. But I could feel a migraine starting to surface. It was time to go home, cover my window, lock the doors, dream about Terrence, and hope that my locker was empty.
Chapter Four
Taunted
Strolling through the halls of Mountain View High School the day after homecoming was chaos. I thought I'd have a hard time listening to thoughts about Stacy, but everyone's focus was far from her. My locker was in sight and I clenched my fists together as I got closer. I didn't want to open it for fear of what might be inside, but I'd have to eventually.
"So?" Emma stepped in front of me. She wanted to know all about my night with Terrence.
"Uh, so what?"
"How did things go with you and Terrence?" she asked. I shrugged. Things were perfect. At least until Rory showed up.
"Fine, I guess."
"It had to have been better than that. You didn't catch a ride home with us." Emma would be shocked if I told her that Rory gave me a ride home. Actually, she probably didn't even know who Rory was. Up until Friday night, I myself didn't know who he was.
"Right," I muttered. "Uh, we can talk about it at lunch? I'm running late." Emma sighed, and immediately started formulating a plan to prod the details from me. She was dead set on getting the scoop no matter what.
"Ok but I'm gonna hold you to that!" Emma smiled and I chuckled. She kept walking and once again, I was left alone at my locker. My palms got sweaty as I twisted the lock. I could feel someone watching, so I paused and let myself listen to bystanders. A stranger's thoughts entered my head, and I nearly choked when I realized I was right. Someone was watching me – watching and waiting. Come on, just open it already. What are you waiting around for? I quickly turned around catching Rory off guard. He almost tripped backwards into a nearby garbage bin.
"I'm trying ok," I muttered between my teeth. "Just give me a second." Rory wiped the surprised look off his face and came closer. His eyes were fixed on my fingers. I turned around again, letting my hair whip him in the face. "I can't do this with you hovering like that."
"Want me to do it?" Rory was impatient. He just wanted to know if I'd received a similar note and he wanted to know now. I was so nervous that I nodded and took a step back.
"Be my guest. Just don't go snooping through my things."
"Like I would ever touch your stuff." He rolled his eyes and twisted the lock as I whispered the combo. Rory opened the locker but I still couldn't bring myself to look inside. He let out a huge breath.
"What? What is it?" I poked Rory in the shoulder. His thou
ghts weren't forming fast enough.
"Nothing," Rory replied. "You're all clear." I looked in my locker and moved my books around. No note.
"Phew! That's a relief." I felt like a burden had been lifted from my shoulders. Rory looked at the floor. He wasn't as relieved as I was. "I mean, we're going to figure this out."
"Yeah." Rory turned and walked away dragging his feet. I searched for words that might cheer him up but he was already out of sight. I was safe and he wasn't. Rory was afraid - even more so now that he had to face this psycho alone. I didn't blame him. He'd been walking the halls all morning and looking over his shoulder. There was a ticking clock in his head. It counted down the minutes before his stalker would strike again.
The bell rang and I slammed my locker shut. My next class was around the corner; Biology. Mr. Wellborne would flip if I was late again. My bag was heavy but I managed to run to class just in time, taking my usual seat. Today I'd be forced to sit through a boring lecture about the digestive system.
"Hi Bridget." The girl sitting next to me smiled. She'd never spoken to me before now. In Biology class, I usually kept my head down and doodled in my notebook. Sometimes I had headphones on. And if Mr. Wellborne ever called on me, he was usually thinking of the answer he was looking for. That was my system and I stuck to it every class.
"Hey," I replied trying to sound polite, though I knew why she was suddenly friendly. Her thoughts entered my head, making it hard for me to keep smiling. She's the girl that snagged Terrence.
"I saw you at the homecoming dance. Your dress was so pretty." She flicked her long curls over her shoulder and kept on smiling. It was clear that she only wanted one thing: the scoop on Terrence - how I'd gotten him, and why he liked me.
"Thanks." I turned my head forward and broke eye contact. I could still feel her staring.
"Alright class, it's review time!" Mr. Wellborne was at the front of the classroom shouting over the giggles and whispers. "Listen up! Or fail come test time!" The room quieted down a little, but not completely. I opened my notebook to a fresh page and started drawing. The redhead sitting up front always knew the right answers. Come test time I'd just focus on her.
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