by M. F. Lorson
“I intend to!” said Robyn digging into her purse. She pulled out two lipsticks. One was bright red and the other a beige glossy sort of thing. She pointed to the beige. “This is you” as she positioned me directly behind the art building. “And this is me” she said setting the red beside the beige.
“Wait a minute! How come you get to be red and I’m the color of skin?” Robyn rolled her eyes.
“Moving on!” She was digging around in her purse again. A wry smile crossed her face as she placed the next object on the table. “And this, this is Wanda.” I laughed so hard I snorted. I couldn’t help myself. A look around the lunchroom revealed that all eyes were on us. It didn’t matter. I could care less how crazy we looked. Wanda and her two minions were two tables away staring in mock disgust. Little did they know that the cheap tampon laying on our table was actually their fearless leader. “Shoot” Hollard Robyn. “I need one more person.” I looked around the table for something useful. Scowling, I handed her my half eaten apple.
“Use this.”
“Gladly.” Robyn placed my apple next to “Wanda”. “That’s Hayden.” My eyebrows shot straight up.
“You never said anything about getting other people involved.” Robyn looked down her bottom lip beginning to pout just a little.
“It’s necessary” she whispered.
“What if we get caught? We’ll all get strikes. You and I can risk that but it's not fair to ask Hayden too. Wanda’s no threat to him and you and he hardly even know eachother.”
“You know him. That’s enough. Besides, no one is getting a strike because nobody’s getting caught.” She was dead serious. I knew that whether I helped her or not she was going to go through with this and since that was the case I didn’t really have a choice. I promised I would help and I wasn’t going to back down now. Hayden on the other hand I didn’t know about. I didn’t want to involve him but she was right. If there were three of us we had a better shot. I was racked with guilt. The last thing I wanted to do was put Hayden in danger of expulsion. Not when he’d been so loyal to me. He had plenty of his own school work to worry about and yet he never let me down. I could count on him which unfortunately for him meant that he would help us against his better judgement.
The way Robyn had it worked out we each had a designated role. Robyn would play lookout. She would position herself outside of the art building, but out of sight. If Wanda or anyone else attempted to return to the building she would chuck a rock at the window. Not a huge one, we didn’t want to break the thing. She just needed to make enough noise to let me know that it was time to bail. My job was to get inside find the pieces of Robyn’s necklace and get back out without getting caught snooping around with Wanda’s property. I had the riskiest job but it made the most sense that way. I was the fastest. If Hayden or Robyn got caught in the art room their chances of escaping without being recognized were about fifty-fifty. Whereas I could kick it into high gear when needed. I didn’t tell Robyn so, but it wouldn’t be the first time I had gone looking for something that didn’t belong to me. My job may have been the riskiest but I wouldn’t trade roles with Hayden for a million bucks. What he had to do was downright despicable. Just thinking about it put the taste of bile in my mouth. While Robyn and I were doing the job Hayden had the unfortunate task of entertaining Wanda. And he had to do it in a way that was convincing enough to keep her out of our way long enough for us to beat her back to the barracks. It would all be for nothing if Wanda knew we were out when her stuff went missing. Undoubtedly she was going to suspect who did it but so long as she was preoccupied during the actual job we could feign innocence until she put the pieces together.
Surprisingly ,Hayden was all smiles at the prospect of our endeavor. Why I couldn’t guess. It certainly wasn’t the extra time with Wanda. He could have that with her anytime. It was no secret that Wanda had had her eye on Hayden since the first few weeks of school.
“Your disturbingly chipper about this. Care to explain”.
“Anything to help a friend.” He looked like the cat that ate the canary.
“Bullshit!” Hayden laughed.
“Suppose I wanted something in return.” I raised one eyebrow.
“What kind of something?”
“A date with a girl I like” My heart was pounding so loud, it seemed impossible that he couldn’t see it’s rhythm pulsating through my shirt. I liked Hayden a lot. He was crush material in every way. Except, there was someone I wanted more than Hayden and even if I wasn’t ready to act on it. I certainly wasn’t going to risk things by starting something with someone else.
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”
“You really think I’m such a bad guy?”
“That’s not it at all” I said, not quite sure what was supposed to come next.
“If you’re going to drag me along on this mission. The least you can do is hook me up with Robyn. I’m talking a date not the alter.” I laughed, feeling relieved and just a tiny touch disappointed all in one.
“I’ll see what I can do”.
“You thought it was you huh?”
“Shut it!” Hayden roared.
“You sure did! Gosh Kate, so vain” He clapped his hand on my back. “It’s alright, if I were as good looking and spunky as you. I’d have assumed the same thing too.” Maybe it was wishful thinking but I was pretty sure I had noticed Jordan’s eyes dart up from his computer screen at the sight of Hayden’s hand resting on my lower back.
Chapter 13
With Hayden on board there was no backing out. I hadn’t mentioned the whole date thing to Robyn, not yet anyway. I figured she was more likely to say yes if she didn’t know it was extortion. After the initial discussion with Hayden a week went by which Robyn liked to refer to as “The Observation Period”. During this time the three of us kept tabs on Wanda and her minions. Our plan would be completely useless if Ariel or Liz were in or near the art room when we moved into action. Some investigation had been required to ensure this wouldn’t happen. Since Robyn and I couldn’t probe Ariel and Liz without causing suspicion it became Hayden’s job to gather as much information on them as possible. He wasn’t able to talk to them directly. If he had even attempted it would piss Wanda off. And if Wanda was pissed people were bound to suffer. Not to mention the fact that she probably wouldn’t be too keen on spending any extra time with Hayden. The key was to make her feel special and that’s exactly what Hayden did. For one solid week Hayden pulled double Wanda duty. He sucked up, he flirted, he sat next to her in class, all horrible and unimaginable things in our perspective. He was laying the groundwork well so that when the time came she would be anxious to go with him. Hayden was good at getting Wanda to talk without making it seem like he was leading the conversation. By midweek we knew everything we needed. Liz’s skill was vocal. She was in no way a solo artist but she understood music in a profound way. She would be a great addition to any choir because she could harmonize with anything, according to Wanda of course. It wasn’t great news because the arts building housed both the fine arts department and the performing arts. However, from what Hayden had gathered Liz liked to get her practice over with in the morning. Which was easy enough to verify because Liz was always first in the shower and first out of the barrack. Ariel on the other hand was a bit of a loose cannon. As far as we knew she had yet to discover a skill. A reality that gave Wanda great grief, considering that first cuts were less than a month away. Robyn tailed Ariel for three days in order to determine her schedule. Between nine and ten pm she had no consistent pattern. Sometimes she stayed in the library. Sometimes she loitered around the barracks keeping Liz up with useless chatter about boys she dated back home. We had a strong suspicion that they only existed in her mind. Ariel was an uncontrollable variable. The most we could do was hope to stay out of her line of sight.
Wanda, on the other hand was like clockwork. Every evening from six to eight thirty she worked in the art building. Room 201 housed all of the jewe
lry equipment and she rarely strayed to do anything outside of use the bathroom. She may have been a world class bitch but I had to admit, she was dedicated. If her grades received half as much attention as her craft did, then she truly was a contribution to the school. I hated to admit it but maybe Huntley and Drake really was the second chance she needed. Maybe she deserved it. Whenever I thought this way, I quickly pushed it aside. She swiped Robyn’s necklace. How reformed could she really be?
We were doing it Friday night. There was only one thing left to take care of. I needed to tell Jordan that I would not be running with him. In the last month we hadn’t skipped a single night. It was a given that he would have questions. What made matters worse was that Friday nights were his duty nights. He was going to be on the lookout for trouble and I was going to be that trouble. Also, Hayden couldn’t exactly stroll into barrack A. There was absolutely zero leniency on the same sex only policy in the barracks. If he was going to keep Wanda busy he was going to have to do it outside, right under Jordan’s nose. It wasn’t going to be easy, keeping Wanda “entertained” with Jordan stalking them. There were about a thousand reasons this plan wouldn’t work. But for Robyn none of them mattered. We were going to be successful, we were going to get her necklace. It was not negotiable. I admired her enthusiasm but in my opinion the whole thing was a suicide mission. Even if we were successful, I wasn’t so sure the gain was worth the risk.
I waited till Thursday to tell Jordan. I didn’t want him having a whole week’s worth of time to think of questions I couldn’t answer. My ability to lie was non-existent. When I was little, if I broke something or got into something I wasn’t supposed to, all it took was one line of questioning and my mother had me doing dishes for a month. We were on our second lap when I broached the subject.
“So hey, no big deal but I can’t run tomorrow night. I’m way behind on that sociology project. Can we resume on Saturday?” Jordan slowed to a stop, turning to face me head on. He spoke with caution.
“We can…where will you be studying.” It was an odd question and not one that I had expected. It was easier than why though so I leapt at the chance to take the conversation in a different direction.
“The library. Bill’s helping me. I suck at research” This lie wasn’t so hard. Technically Bill was helping me with that project and I did suck at research.
“Bill’s helping you?”
“Yep.” My reply hung in the air for a long while before he spoke again.
“That would be somewhat inappropriate don’t you think?” My pulse was speeding up.
“That’s his job.”
“Yes” Said Jordan, “It is, except that he doesn’t work Friday nights.” Shit Shit Shit this was why lying never worked. You made something up off the top of your head and nine times out of ten whatever you said was completely implausible
“Are you gonna tell me what you're really doing?” I couldn’t look him in the eye anymore.
“No”
“That’s what I figured.”
“I’m sorry it’s just..” Jordan cut me off.
“We’re not best friends. This isn’t a love thing. I really don’t care what you do or don’t do. It’s preferable to me that you don’t lie. But if that’s what you want to do that’s your choice.” I knew it was my fault and that I deserved this reaction. But it hurt all the same.
“I’m sorry”.
“Like I said. It doesn’t matter. But if you don’t mind I’m gonna cut things short tonight. There’s some junk I need to do.”
Jordan was jogging off to barrack B long before I had the opportunity to respond. I couldn’t tell if he was hurt or pissed. All I knew was that Operation Necklace Redemption had already cost me more than I would've liked and thus far I had nothing to show for it.
Try as I may I couldn’t stop Friday from coming. And I did try. Problem was, apparently once someone comes up with a diabolical plan there's no going back. Once it started it was as if the whole day was running on fast forward. I tried to slow things down, chewing each bite of my lunch thirty-two times, dragging my feet as I walked from class to class but it was all no use. Before I knew it it was eight thirty and I had to meet Robyn behind the art building. We were in no way in stealth mode. How could we be? Huntley and Drake had a strict uniform policy. It was gym clothes or uniforms. No exceptions. So there we stood in the bushes. Me in bare legs and blue shorts, Robyn in her khaki skirt, her white tights practically iridescent in the moonlight. Real thieves and conspirators would be in all black, quietly perched in the darkness. Not us though. It was a cold night and as much as we wanted to tough it out and remain still we had to move around a lot just to stay warm. In Robyn’s hands were a set of thick garden shears. We hadn’t talked about any kind of tools.
“What are we supposed to do with those?”
“You’re gonna need them once you get inside. Wanda keeps her stuff locked up. All of the art students do. She’s locker 401. I couldn’t get the combination so you are just going to have to clip the lock.”
“How do you even know about this?” I asked. Robyn rolled her eyes.
“Every night while you and your lover are lounging in the stacks, I’m here observing our prey.”
“Wow, super creepy when you explain in that way.” Robyn was different than anyone I’d ever met. She was unpredictable. I had never even thought to wonder what she did every night. Now I was curious. What had she done before her necklace went missing? What would she do after? There was no time to ask.
“By the way” I said “There’s nothing between Hayden and I”
“No? I don’t know about that. No one spends that much time together that isn’t interested in some kind of benefit. You must like him a little.” I wanted to tell her that she had it all wrong, that Jordan was the only person I thought of that way but I felt stupid for even thinking it. Jordan was a junior, a mentor. In every way he was the best guy here. I didn’t have a shot, crushing on Jordan was pointless and so was rambling on about it to Robyn. But I couldn’t blow off her question either. If she thought even for a second that I was interested in Hayden she would never go out with him. I’d had enough lies for the last couple of days so I was upfront with her instead.
“I don’t know why he and I get along so well. I don’t know why he tutors me like he does but he’s not getting anything in return. Not ever” Robyn blushed.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s just you’re my only true friend here. If there really was something going on…..well, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t the last to know.”
“No worries, if my life suddenly fills with romance I promise to tell you first. I expect the same from you.”
“Deal” said Robyn. “But ever? Really, that’s harsh!”
“Harsh but true my frie…” Robyn shushed me. She lowered her voice to a whisper,
“It’s eight twentyfive.” Eight twentyfive was our cue to move under the stairs. Slowly the two of us crept to the front of the building. There was an opening under the front staircase that allowed us to stay hidden while monitoring everything happened outside of the building. The happening at the moment was nothing which was good considering that Hayden wasn’t there yet. Wanda left promptly at eight thirty so we needed him to be there quickly. There was no second shot at this. Skipping my evening run didn’t bother me but keeping the truth from Jordan, hiding things, that just wasn’t me. Above us there was a click as someone closed the art room door behind them. We held our breath just praying that it wouldn’t be Wanda. No luck, her Nike cross trainers were making their way down the staircase. We were sunk and we knew it. We couldn’t go through with it without Hayden. Wanda would head directly back to the barracks and that meant she would know we were absent. Maybe not immediately but, when the necklace turned up missing. She was bright enough to put two and two together. We had all but given up hope when I heard Hayden’s voice call out from across the campus. From where we stood I could only make him out from the neck down. The top s
tair cut off his head yet he was still terribly handsome in his khakis and sweater vest. It wasn’t going to be difficult for him to keep Wanda distracted. In his hand was a single long stemmed rose, a gesture I found incredibly cliché but apparently really did it for Wanda, as she was using every last ounce of composure not to run to him. Instead she walked very briskly. She was facing the opposite direction so I couldn’t read her facial expression but I imagined she looked a bit beautiful when happy. She didn’t let that side of her show in the barracks, no one did. It made you appear soft and soft made for an easy victim. Maybe that’s why Wanda opted for Robyn’s necklace in the first place. Robyn was happy a lot. That’s what made her so easy to be around. While the others growled about being forced to be here or stressed about cuts Robyn treated school as if it were a fresh start. Until she blew up in the barracks I had thought she was the only one on campus not haunted by the past.
Once Wanda and Hayden were a good hundred yards into the distance Robyn gave me the signal. The signal was an incredibly dorky motion that involved touching her pointer finger to the side of her nose. She looked like the last page of the Night Before Christmas and it cracked me up everytime. Robyn slugged me in the arm, “stop laughing” she whispered “This is supposed to be a covert operation.” Even as she said it I could see the laughter bubbling up behind her eyes. “Just get out of here before I start laughing too.” And with that she shoved me out from under the staircase.
“Very covert” I hissed. I did a quick scan of the area. No one was entering or exiting the art building. Here goes nothing. I made my way down the hallway as quickly as possible. There were others going to and from their classrooms so I was sure to keep my head down. If Wanda filed a complaint I didn’t want anyone placing me in the building. The jewelry craft room was only four doors down from the entrance. We were lucky because that made it easy to monitor from the outside. I peeked inside the glass window before stepping inside. I was a little disappointed to find it empty. Even though it went against everything we were out to achieve tonight I had held onto a little hope that someone might be inside and we would have to call the whole thing off. The room was empty so I had no excuse not to go through with things. I closed the door behind me and switched off the lights. It might draw attention from a passerby but it felt safer because if someone unexpected popped in from another classroom I could duck below a desk and wait it out until they left.