Touch of Death (7 page)

Matt grabbed my arms. Somehow in the commotion, we’d both dropped our bottles of water. “What did he do to you? Are you okay?” I wanted to get through one day where he didn’t have to ask me that.

“He yanked me away from you. I guess…” I shook my head. “I guess he didn’t want us kissing or something.”

“That’s it. I’ve had it with this guy. He’s obsessed with you, Jodi.” Matt was so angry, angrier than I’d ever seen him get. He was always so nice and friendly. This was a side of him I wasn’t used to seeing. I was glad I hadn’t told him about Green Eyes ransacking my room. “Listen, I want you to go to the ladies’ room. Stay there until I come get you.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to find that guy and get his ass tossed out of here.”

I nodded, and Matt pointed to the bathroom. He watched me go inside before he turned to find Green Eyes. I almost felt sorry for Green Eyes. Matt was fuming. And since his cousin was the bouncer, Green Eyes didn’t stand a chance.

I went to the sink and stared at my reflection. I almost expected to see a wrinkle or a gray hair after the couple days I’d had. But I still looked like me, and I had to admit Melodie was right about this outfit.

I washed my hands out of boredom. What else was I supposed to do while I waited for Matt? The stall behind me swung open, but I didn’t think anything of it. I reached for a paper towel. After I dried my hands and threw the towel in the garbage, I went back to the mirror to check my makeup. My reflection wasn’t the only one in the mirror.

“Looks good to me,” Green Eyes said behind me.

I whirled around, my heart in my throat. “How did you get in here? This is the ladies’ room!” But he was Green Eyes. What made me think a little sign on a door would stop him?

“Like I told you before, we need to talk.”

“Talk, huh? Is that why you left the dead rat in my bedroom after you rifled through it?” I crossed my arms in front of me, trying to pretend I wasn’t terrified of him.

“Was the rat dead?” he asked, not denying any of it.

What a weird question. “You left the stupid thing there. Shouldn’t you know if it was alive or dead?”

“The question is, do you know?”

“What?” This guy was one riddle after another.

“Algernon didn’t get up and run across your room or anything, did he?” He said it like he knew it was true. Like he knew the rat had come back from the dead or something. I stepped closer to the door, not answering him. He followed me. “We really need to sit down and talk. Somewhere else. Somewhere people can’t walk in on us.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you. You’ve been stalking me and leaving dead rats in my closet.”

“I have to explain a few things to you. Starting with this place. Do you know where you are?”

“Do you?” I motioned to the ladies’ room we were standing in.

He smirked. “Cute, but we need to be serious. This place, did you notice the name?”

“Serpentarius. So what?” I wasn’t sure why I was even still talking to him. I should’ve bolted for the door, but I had a feeling he’d beat me to it.

“Don’t pay attention in school, do you?”

“Speaking of school, what were you doing there? I know you’re not a student. Mr. Quimby had no idea who you were, and the front office didn’t either.”

“Mr. Quimby knows who I am. He’s the one who told me about you. He’s the one who asked me to follow you.”

“What?” I shook my head. “This is crazy. I’m leaving.” I turned for the door, but he grabbed my arm, twisting me around to look at him.

“Do you know what will happen to your boyfriend if you get too close?”

“Are you threatening him?” I tried to yank my arm free, but his grip was too tight.

“Actually, you are. One kiss and he’s history. He’ll be as stone cold as the nurse who examined you after your accident.”

My stomach dropped. What exactly was he saying? The bathroom door opened, and a girl in a leopard print halter top walked in. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”

I shook my arm free from Green Eyes. “You’re not interrupting anything. I was just leaving.” I glared at him one more time as the girl stepped out of my way.

“The name’s Alex,” he said. “I know you’ve been wondering.”

The girl squinted at me. Great, now she thought I was hooking up with a random guy in the bathroom. A guy I hadn’t even bothered to ask his name. I was so not that girl. I shook my head and bolted through the door.

I saw Matt heading this way. “I couldn’t find him. It’s like he disappeared.”

“Yeah, he disappeared in there.” I motioned over my shoulder to the ladies’ room.

“What?” Matt started toward the door.

I grabbed his arm. “Please, don’t. Let’s just get out of here.” He was gritting his teeth and breathing heavily. “Please, Matt.” I pulled him toward the exit, and luckily he let me. We got in the car without saying a word. Matt waited until we were halfway to my house to start asking questions.

“What happened back there?”

“Alex—that’s his name—was waiting for me in the bathroom. Somehow, he knew I’d go there. I don’t know how. Nothing’s making sense.” I wanted to tell Matt about my room and the rat, but I couldn’t relive it all right now.

Matt pulled into the driveway. It was only 9:45. Home way before curfew. Wouldn’t Mom be proud?

I turned to face Matt. “How long has Mr. Quimby been teaching at Lambert?”

“Mr. Quimby? Why? What made you think about him?”

“Something Alex said.” I shook my head. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. It was probably all lies anyway.” I reached over and touched his hand. He pulled back slightly. “Sorry about tonight.” I stared into his eyes. “I don’t suppose you want to try again sometime?”

He lowered his head and laughed. “I think I’m crazy for saying this.” He looked at me and smiled. “But yeah, let’s try it again. Tomorrow?”

I nodded. I thought about kissing him goodnight, but somehow it didn’t feel right to have our first kiss on the same night that all this had happened. “Call me,” I said, opening my door.

Matt opened his door, too, ready to walk me to the porch, but I reached for his arm. “Stay. It’s starting to rain.”

He nodded. “Tomorrow,” he said with a smile.

“Yeah, tomorrow.” I got out of the car, amazed at my bad luck. So much for my perfect night out with Matt. I turned and waved to him before I went inside.

“Home already?” Mom asked, walking into the living room, holding a cup of steaming hot tea.

“Any more of that?” I pointed to her mug.

“Yeah, I’ll pour you a cup. Go sit.”

I flopped down on the couch. Why couldn’t I be like every other girl at Lambert? Out with the guy she likes on Friday night. Was it too much to ask?

Mom returned with two mugs of tea this time. I sat up and took one from her. I sipped it, loving the feeling of the scalding hot tea on the back of my throat.

Mom sat next to me. “Now, tell me what happened. Did you two break up or something?”

“We aren’t even officially together. I mean we’ve been out a few times, but can you really call someone your boyfriend if you’ve never even…” I took another sip. Mom and I talked about everything, but was kissing boys too much for a mother-daughter relationship to handle?

“Oh,” she said, hiding her smile behind her cup of tea.

“It’s not funny, Mom. Matt must think I’m a complete dork.”

“Well, honey, if you aren’t ready to kiss Matt, then he’ll just have to wait.”

Of course, that wasn’t the problem, but I wasn’t about to tell her that I was dying to kiss him. I finished the rest of my tea in three big gulps.

“You know you’re supposed to sip tea. Enjoy it.”

“I like it hot. If you don’t drink it quickly, it gets cold.” Like my relationship with Matt was going to get if I didn’t kiss him soon. I put my mug on the coffee table and stood up. “I’m going to bed.”

“This early?” Mom looked at her watch. “Why don’t you stay up with me? We can talk more. Or watch a movie, if you’d rather.”

“Thanks, but I think I’m going to let this day end.” I hugged her and went upstairs. I didn’t even feel like showering, but I didn’t want to add “dirty” to the list of adjectives that described my life lately. I made it quick and kept the water scalding hot. I threw on my pajamas and checked my cell. No call or text from Matt. But why would there be? He was probably talking to some other girl from school. One who didn’t have a stalker and one who’d kiss him the first chance she got.

No, I didn’t really believe that. Matt was nice. He wouldn’t date someone else without telling me first. Although, I really wouldn’t blame him if he did.

My phone vibrated in my hand. Melodie. “Hope you’re having fun!” the text read. Yeah, fun. I vaguely remembered what that was. I didn’t respond. I was supposed to be on my date, so she wouldn’t expect a response anyway. Of course, she would expect a call at the end of the date. I really wasn’t up to that. I put my phone down and walked over to the window. I needed some air. I had to sidestep the faint bloodstains on my carpet. Mom must have tried to get them out while I was gone. Any excuse to wear latex gloves—the woman loved to clean. I could still see some discoloration. Just what I needed. A constant reminder of the present Alex had left for me.

Luckily, it had stopped raining, so I opened the window and let the cool air hit me in the face. It felt great after the hot shower. I heard shouting and realized the Sandersons must have been having another one of their fights. They were the two most miserable people on the planet. All they did was fight, but they refused to get a divorce. They thought they were doing the right thing by staying together for the sake of their kids. Somehow, they missed the fact that their kids were never home. They did everything they could to avoid being around their parents.

My eyes fell on my car. I had totally forgotten to ask Mom if she had any idea when we could get it fixed. I was sure the tow truck alone had cost a small fortune. I made a mental note to refuse my allowance this week. If Mom even offered it. She might not have enough cash after the tow truck expense. I turned back to the Sandersons. I could see them in the downstairs window now. Maybe they were right to stay together. At least they didn’t have money problems to worry about.

My parents hadn’t tried to stay together. I didn’t even know my dad. According to Mom, he’d left right after he found out she was pregnant. She said being a teen parent was too much for him to handle. Like it was easy for her? She did the best she could, and I did my best not to complain when I couldn’t have the things other kids my age had. Grandma and Grandpa had surprised me with the car for my birthday, and Mom had started giving me an allowance to cover gas money.

I sort of zoned out, but something moved by the bushes. At first, I thought maybe it was a bear. We had a resident black bear that liked to go through our trash sometimes, but then I remembered it was February. The bear usually only came around during the summer. I squinted to get a better look. That was when he stepped into full view. Green Eyes. Alex. We stared at each other, neither of us moving.

I didn’t know what scared me more—the fact that he was standing there watching me or the fact that I wasn’t calling the cops on him.

Chapter 7

Alex took out his phone and started texting. My cell vibrated on my nightstand. “You’ve got to be kidding.” I shook my head at him and went for my phone. I flipped it open.

“Come outside.”

I didn’t want to text him back. He might take it as me talking to him. So, I flipped the phone shut again and went back to the window. He stared up at me. I slammed the window closed and pulled the curtains together. I let out a deep breath. This had to stop.

I didn’t sleep well at all. I kept having nightmares about rats with green eyes. They chased me throughout the house, and all I had to defend myself was a stupid trash can. I was actually glad when the sun came up. I threw the covers off and got dressed. Mom was already drinking her morning coffee in the living room. We never sat at the kitchen table. Every meal happened in front of the TV. Some people may think that’s weird, but it worked for us.

“You’re up early,” Mom said, putting a waffle on a plate for me.

“Couldn’t sleep.” I sat down next to her and saw she was watching the news. Normally, I’d change the channel immediately, but the reporter was talking about a rabid deer. I turned up the volume.

“Last night a deer terrorized the animals at Stanton Farm, leaving nothing but destruction everywhere it went.” The camera panned out, showing a broken fence and patches of grass covered in a reddish black substance that could only be dried blood.

“Ugh,” Mom said, “turn that off.” She reached for the remote, but I moved it away.

“Hang on.”

“The deer is assumed to be rabid or suffering from some other disease, as its stomach was extremely swollen and its mouth was dripping thick saliva,” the reporter continued. “Cameramen were able to get these close-up shots.” The screen switched to still pictures of the deer. The first one was of the deer’s side. All bloated and discolored. That was bad enough, but the next one was the deer’s face. Blood was caked on its cheek and white foam oozed from its mouth. I could just make out two stumps on its head. I turned away in disgust, thankful that I hadn’t touched my waffle yet.