Page 39 of Waysider
Word must have reached Professor Green about Cass—the woman left her place by the fountain, walking toward where Cass and Sinister stood. The other students parted to let her through. A wide-eyed Bradley was close behind, and he halted beside Cass as their teacher asked, “I was just informed that you answered the first riddle, Miss Ryan. Were there any witnesses to your interaction with the revenant?”
“I witnessed it.”
Cass jumped at the sound of Sinister’s voice, clear and strong. Shock rippled through the crowd, and the night once again filled with murmurs and whispers. Cass couldn’t tell if they were surprised because of what he’d said, or the fact that Sinister had spoken at all. She looked back at him, but the Shadowripper kept his eyes on Professor Green, his profile sharp and solemn.
“Extraordinary,” Professor Green said, shaking her head. Her dark eyes shone with wonder. “Congratulations, Miss Ryan. Well, I suppose this concludes the annual Else & Bellows scavenger hunt! Back to your houses, everyone! Thank you for participating.”
While the crowd scattered, Professor Green clasped Cass’s cold hands between her own small, warm palms. “The student who wins the scavenger hunt usually goes on to do great things, and no one has ever managed it with the attic riddle. I’ve got my eye on you, Miss Ryan,” she finished with a wink.
“Thanks.” Cass paused, trying to think of something else to say—she knew she should’ve had a thousand questions—but her mind felt slow and dim. A stilted silence fell.
After another moment, Professor Green just gave Cass another kind smile. “I’ll notify the office in the morning. Your prize will be available to pick up once you’ve concluded your Haunting. Congratulations again, Miss Ryan.”
Professor Green nodded at the boys and walked away. Cass stared after her, mentally rewinding what the professor had just said. Wait. Cass would get the prize money after she went on a Haunting? Her stomach sank, and Cass cursed silently in her head. There went her plan of pretending to be sick…
A rush of anxiety hit her like a bright, roaring semi truck. Suddenly Cass wanted to run. She wanted to go back to House Wayside, with its wooden walls and the low, soft sounds of her roommates, all the corners glowing with buttery light. She wanted to trade in the dark sky above for the ceiling of her bedroom, with thick blankets wrapped around her as tightly as Cass’s father used to do when she was a child.
She wanted to talk to Cal.
Working to control her expression, Cass turned to Sinister. With the tips of her fingers, she touched her chin, then moved her hand toward him. It was the only sign language Cass knew, but the movement was as familiar to her as breathing. She used to sign it every day to the bus driver, before her and Cal got their licenses.
“Thank you,” Cass said, raising her gaze to Sinister’s. She shoved her hands in her pockets and shrugged. “For… sticking up for me, or whatever.”
Sinister echoed her gesture, and as usual, his face revealed nothing. A breeze stirred the dark hair at the nape of his neck. You’re welcome.
He didn’t say anything else, but their conversation felt… unfinished, somehow. They looked at each other for another beat, and something passed between them. It was the same feeling Cass had gotten in the chapel when she first spotted Sinister, and again in the dining hall when he’d walked past. Attraction, maybe, and curiosity. A sense of beginnings. The possibility of more.
Sinister turned away first. Heat rushed to Cass’s cheeks, and she hurried to turn away, too. Her shoulders hunched as she returned to one of the walking paths and started in the direction of House Wayside. Her thoughts went back to everything that had happened tonight, and the Haunting she wouldn’t be able to get out of. She ignored the stares coming from a cluster of Pennyseekers. Once they thought she was out of earshot, the whispers started.
Any other day, Cass probably would’ve marched up to them and said something. But not tonight.
She was dimly aware of Bradley walking beside her. He’d been silent this entire time, but his eyes still hadn’t gone back to their normal size. Cass could still see the whites around his dark irises when she finally looked over at him.
“When?” she managed to say.
Somehow, Bradley understood what she was trying to ask. “The Haunting? They happen randomly. You’ll get a slip in your room a day or two before you’re supposed to report for duty.”
“Super,” Cass chirped. The flyer hadn’t mentioned emotional torture. They really should’ve put that in the fine print. Cass scowled and quickened her pace. Bradley was gangly, but his legs were long. He kept pace with her easily.
In her peripheral vision, Cass saw the boy tilt his head. He studied her for a moment. She kept her focus on the path, eager for a familiar mailbox to appear in a tangle of ivy. “What made you do the attic one? For the scavenger hunt, I mean,” Bradley said.
Cass laughed, the sound harsh and abrupt. Her fists tightened in her pockets. “Tammy told me it was the easiest.”
Bradley frowned. “She said that?”
“Yeah.” Cass finally registered what Sinister had told her. She looked at Bradley again, and now she was frowning, too. “Has that chalkboard really been there since 1926?”
He nodded. “It’s infamous at E&B. The school policy is to free every revenant that’s reported, so the riddles in the scavenger hunt are different every year, seeing as there aren’t many objects or places that we allow revenants to stay attached to. But no one has been able to untether the chalkboard revenant, or even learn its name. Famous voyants from around the world have tried—it’s like our version of Excalibur. So the revenant stays up there, year after year. No one tells the freshmen that the riddle is impossible to solve, because they think it’s funny to watch us try. One year, a student got so pissed at the chalkboard that he broke his hand trying to punch it.”
Cass processed this silently. There was a lot about the events of the day that she didn’t fully understand, but one thing was clear—Tammy had been trying to sabotage her with the oh-so-helpful “tip.” Cass doubted it was personal. Her roommate had probably just wanted to win. That didn’t mean Cass would let this slide, though. She’d be having a little chat with Tammy next time their paths crossed.
“Hey, wait up.”
Cass and Bradley stopped at the same time. Bradley’s eyes widened again, but Cass’s face was carefully blank as she turned and watched Sinister close the distance between them. Now that her mind wasn’t clouded by shock or terror, she’d realized that the Shadowripper never answered her when she asked what he’d been doing in the attic. Had he been following her? Trying to get her alone? But why?
Once again, Sinister signed as he spoke. “My house is throwing a party on Friday night. You should come. Bring a friend, or a few, if you want.”
He nodded at Bradley, who made a strange sound that Cass thought was supposed to mean, “Me?”
