Last Breath (7 page)

Involuntarily, Cassidy’s head swivelled and she found herself looking straight into Travis’s dark eyes. He was nodding knowingly, as if Professor Bruin had said aloud, “Cassidy Kirk, I’m talking about
you
!”

Maybe she is, Cassidy thought as she flushed and looked away, maybe she is.

C
ASSIDY WAS SO BUSY
Thursday and Friday, she hardly had time to catch her breath. There were two meetings of the dance committee, a science lab, two essays to write, dinner at Vinnie’s (a popular pizza hangout), a movie with Sawyer Thursday night, errands to run. She had dry cleaning to take into town and one bicycle tire needed a slow leak fixed before the next Hike and Bike Club ride.

All of it seemed to take far more concentration than usual, and every time she walked across campus she found herself glancing around for any sign of the black car.

“Delegate,” Sawyer suggested. “Quit trying to do everything yourself. You don’t leap tall buildings in a single bound, do you? And I’ve never seen you changing into a blue caped outfit in a telephone booth. Delegate, Cassidy, it’s the answer to a long life.”

She decided he was right. She didn’t need to do it all herself. So she asked Talia to take her sweaters to the dry cleaners when she took her own clothes in, and she asked Sophie if she would take Cassidy’s bike to the campus shop to have the tire fixed.

She didn’t ask Ann to do anything.

On Friday morning, Dr. Bruin asked her to stay after class.

Cassidy felt everyone’s eyes on her. She groaned silently. What had she done now? She’d handed in the essay on the fragile human mind. Hadn’t she done a good job?

“You have a test to make up,” the professor reminded her when everyone else had left the room. “I gave it while you were sick. I’m a little surprised you haven’t made arrangements to take it.”

“I didn’t know,” Cassidy began, but she was interrupted.

“Be in my office at four this afternoon.” With that, Professor Bruin picked up her leather attaché case and left the room.

Four o’clock? Cassidy made a face. Darn! No one had said anything about a test being given while she was out sick. Well, at least she’d have time to take the test and still get back to the Quad early enough to get ready for the party at Nightmare Hall.

As she left the room, she hoped she was prepared for whatever questions Dr. Bruin might throw at her.

She didn’t
feel
prepared. For much of anything.

Sawyer was waiting for her out in the hall. “Bad?” he asked sympathetically.

“No, I guess not. I have to make up a test. Why didn’t you guys tell me she hit you with a pop quiz while I was out sick?”

“Forgot. Sorry. Listen, I can’t see you tonight. Got some heavy-duty studying to do. Test in physics tomorrow morning, crack of dawn. How about tomorrow night? If we win the game with State tomorrow, there’ll be a lot of celebrating. Wouldn’t want to miss that, would we?”

He wasn’t coming to the party at Nightmare Hall? Cassidy’s disappointment was intense. It wouldn’t be nearly as much fun without him. Unlike Travis McVey, who took life far too seriously, Sawyer knew how to have a good time.

But since Sawyer already seemed to feel bad, she didn’t see any point in rubbing it in. As for partying two nights in a row, she’d earned it. She’d had worse weeks, but she couldn’t remember exactly when or why. “Sure. What time?”

When they had made their plans, Sawyer kissed her good-bye, and she headed straight for the library to cram for the psych test.

But when she got to Dr. Bruin’s office that afternoon at four o’clock sharp, she received a second shock.

“Oh, heavens, I’m not giving you the test now!” the professor said as Cassidy unearthed a pencil from her backpack. “I have a faculty meeting. I only asked you here to set up a time for the test.” She leafed through a thick, black notebook on her desk. “Seven o’clock tonight, here,” she said briskly. “Be on time.”

“Tonight? Seven o’clock tonight?”

“Would seven o’clock tomorrow morning be preferable?” the professor asked sharply, closing the notebook and standing up.

Seven a.m. the morning after the party? She’d have to get up at six. No way. “No, it’s…” The test couldn’t take that long. An hour? She could go back to the Quad now, shower and shampoo, dress in her party gear, come back and take the test and leave for the party from here. “It’s okay. I’ll be here.”

“On
time
, please,” Dr. Bruin repeated. “I have an engagement this evening.”

Well, so do I, Cassidy thought resentfully as she left the office. There just weren’t enough hours in the day, that was all. Maybe she should write to Congress about adding three or four more hours to each day. It was the only way she was ever going to get her life under control.

No one was in the suite when she arrived. A note in Ann’s handwriting lay on Cassidy’s bed.

Where were you? We waited, but Sophie was in a hurry to get to the mall. She forgot shoes last week, of course. What else is new? If she takes as long as she usually does, we’ll have to catch up with you later. Ann.

Cassidy shrugged. Okay, she’d meet them at the party, just as she’d planned. It would have been more fun to leave the dorm together, but her grade in psych was already iffy. She couldn’t afford to blow off this test.

She changed into brown velvet jeans and a cream-colored sweater, piled her hair on top Of her head and fastened it with a tortoise-shell clip, pulling loose small pieces at the sides and back for a more casual look. Then she settled on her bed and munched on an apple while she studied her psych textbook, hoping the whole time that the door would burst open and her roommates would burst in.

They didn’t.

She left the room at ten minutes before seven, remembering Dr. Bruin’s warning about arriving at her office late.

The test took her ninety minutes. She had studied all the wrong things, and had to struggle for half the answers. The class had only been given fifty minutes for the very same test. Still, while Cassidy appreciated being given the extra time, the hands on her wristwatch seemed to be ticking so loudly, she half-expected the professor to raise her head from the book she was reading and say, “Will you please be quiet?” Eight…eight-fifteen…eight-twenty…she wasn’t going to arrive at Nightmare Hall much before nine.

Not that it mattered. Weekend parties were so informal, you could almost arrive any time. And it wasn’t as if Sawyer was going to be there, waiting impatiently.

It wouldn’t be as much fun without him. And if Travis was there, with Ann at his side, it would be even less fun. A lot less.

Cassidy nibbled on her pencil eraser. Maybe she wouldn’t go. She
was
tired, and this test hadn’t helped. Her head ached. If she hadn’t already fixed her hair and changed her clothes, she’d be tempted to just go back to the room and sack out. Everyone else would be at the party, so she’d have complete peace and quiet. A great opportunity to get caught up on her rest. That way, she wouldn’t be risking another asthma attack from fatigue and stress.

But she needed some fun. A little fun might be better medication for her right now than sleep. And all of her friends, except Sawyer, would be there.

She would go.
If
she ever finished this killer test.

She finished. At eight-twenty-five, according to her watch.

“Have a good weekend,” Dr. Bruin said as Cassidy handed her the completed sheets.

Easy for
you
to say, Cassidy thought. You didn’t just blow your psych grade. Aloud, she said, “Thanks. You, too.” Then she left the office.

She thought briefly about going back to the Quad, on the off-chance that her roommates hadn’t left for the party yet. Maybe they’d waited for her. Glancing down at her watch again…eight-thirty…she knew it wasn’t likely. Sophie liked to get to parties early.

Cassidy decided it would be faster to hop a shuttle bus for the short trip up the road. Taking her car would mean fighting for a parking space, and she was so late, the driveway at Nightmare Hall was probably already crammed full of cars.

When the bus pulled up in front of Nightingale Hall, there weren’t as many cars as she’d expected parked in the gravel driveway that curved up the hill from the highway and around in front of the huge, old, dark brick house. Other people, must have had the same idea she’d had…the shuttle bus. And a lot had probably walked, since the weather was halfway decent. Cold, but not raining or sleeting. And it wasn’t about to, Cassidy decided as she trudged up the hill. She could see, through the bare-limbed branches of the gigantic oak trees sheltering Nightmare Hall, millions of tiny, silvery stars shining overhead. No rain tonight.

That seemed like a good omen. It would be nice if Sawyer could yank himself away from his studying to come to the party for a while, but even if he didn’t, she was going to have a good time. She
needed
to have a good time.

As she climbed the wide, stone steps and stepped onto the wooden porch, she could hear laughing and talking inside. Sounded like a good time. Great.

She didn’t bother ringing the doorbell. No one rang doorbells at parties. The door was kept unlocked, and you just walked in. That’s the way it was done. Otherwise, someone would have to keep running to the door every few seconds until all the guests had arrived.

The front hall at Nightmare Hall was huge, with a high ceiling and a faded Oriental runner making its way across the hardwood floor. Cassidy had expected to see people gathered there, as they always were at a party, but the foyer was empty.

Music, she thought, surprised, where is the music?

The laughter and low-voiced chatter seemed to be coming from a room to her left. She followed the sounds until she stood in the open doorway of a large, square room. It wasn’t an attractive room. The walls were painted a dark color, the window draperies and furniture old and faded. But there was a fire in the fireplace and the soft glow of lamplight gave the room a welcoming look.

There were a dozen or so people sitting on the old furniture or lounging on the carpet.

They looked up in surprise as Cassidy appeared in the doorway.

She took everything in very quickly.

There was no music.

There were no tables loaded with food and drinks.

The floor wasn’t cleared for dancing.

There were no decorations of any kind, and the people in the room didn’t look at all like they were partying. Not one of them had a cup or a plate of food in hand.

If there was a party at Nightmare Hall tonight, it hadn’t started yet.

“Hi,” Cassidy said, frowning slightly. “I’m…I’m here for Cath Devon’s party. Am I early? Did I get the time wrong? I thought the invitation said eight.” Of course, she thought suddenly, feeling a little sick, I thought my
clock
said eight, too. But it didn’t.

A tall, pretty girl with very short, dark hair stood up and came over to Cassidy. “Oh, Cassidy,” Jess Vogt said with a gentle smile, “that party isn’t tonight. It’s not until
next
Friday night.”

C
ASSIDY WAS PAINFULLY AWARE
that everyone in the room already knew that she had recently shown up an hour late for a class. News like that traveled around campus faster than the common cold.

She drew herself up to her full five feet, two-and-a-half inches. “But I’m sure my invitation said the party was tonight,” she protested. Even as she said it, she could hear again her own voice saying, “But I’m sure my clock said eight, not nine.” Right.

But she
was
sure this time. Tonight’s date had been on the invitation, printed neatly in black ink. She remembered thinking that it was pretty short notice for a party. She wouldn’t have thought that if
next
Friday’s date had been on the purple card.

“Maybe Cath made a mistake and put down the wrong date,” Jess said in that same gentle voice. Her dark eyes were sympathetic.

She sounds like she’s talking to someone who is feebleminded, Cassidy thought with a flash of resentment. She was immediately ashamed. Jess was just trying to be kind.

“I didn’t make any mistakes,” Cath Devon said, getting to her feet to join Jess and Cassidy in the wide doorway. “I don’t make mistakes like that. You must have read it wrong, Cassidy.”

As any feebleminded person would, Cassidy heard. She felt suddenly dizzy. “But there are all those cars out there,” she said weakly, wishing the floor would open up and swallow her whole. By morning, everyone on campus would know that Cassidy Kirk had shown up for a party-that-wasn’t.

“We’re having a meeting,” Jess explained. “Student government.”

A meeting. The cars parked along the driveway were there for a meeting, not a party.

Cassidy took an awkward step backward, wanting desperately to escape. So many pairs of eyes looking straight at her, so many voices silenced by embarrassment…for
her
.

I should make a joke, she thought as she valiantly battled tears of humiliation. I should laugh and say something like, “Just wanted to check up on how our student government is doing, make sure you guys aren’t goofing off.”

But some inner instinct told her the joke would fall flat.

“I guess I must have read the invitation wrong, after all,” she squeezed out between clenched teeth. “Sorry I interrupted your meeting.” Then she turned and headed for the front door.

Cath followed. “You’ll come next week, though, right?”

Cassidy almost laughed aloud. She’s trusting me to get the time and date right? she thought bitterly.

“Sure!” she called over her shoulder as she yanked the front door open, hurried across the porch, and ran lightly down the steps, “I’ll be here. Count on it!”

If she hadn’t died of embarrassment by then.

She could feel Cath’s concerned eyes following her down the driveway. The back of her neck felt like it was on fire. Although her legs moved like wooden boards, she walked as fast as she could, thinking that the driveway had lengthened by miles since she first went into the house.

Unwilling to wait for a shuttle, Cassidy began walking rapidly up the road toward campus. There was almost no traffic.
Normal
people who got their dates and times right were inside somewhere having a grand time and wouldn’t be back on the road until it was time to go home. Only Cassidy Kirk, who seemed to be losing either her eyesight or her mind, was trudging along a cold, dark road all alone.