“Roger that, Mr. Student Council President,” the twins report, saluting Church in unison. Ranger frowns heavily, but doesn’t protest, and Ross claps his hands together.
“Oh, it’s like a Hardy Boys adventure. Or more preferably Nancy Drew.” Ross pauses then, his smile quivering like he’s about to lose it. I’m assuming the guys have already filled him in on everything that happened. That, and I’m pretty sure he’s at least half in love with Spencer Hargrove. “When I find that boy, I’m going to spank him with a paperback copy of each, just for good measure.”
“You be sure to do that,” Tobias says with a roll of his eyes, and Micah sneers. He really believes Spencer is dead, doesn’t he? I look away because I can’t stand the hopelessness etched into his pretty features; it’s too much. Hope is the thing with feathers, right? It gives you wings, and I really, really could use some wings right about now.
The twins each take one of my hands, and we start off toward the ominous darkness of the woods. I'm not particularly keen on going back in there, not after the bullshit from last night. But as I slip my laptop in my bag, I’m reminded that I've got my knife, my Taser, and what’s left of my pepper spray with me. That, and there's no way in fuck I'm going back in those underground tunnels ever again.
We should be fine, right? The six of us together. It'll be fine.
Keep telling yourself that, Charlotte. This is a bad idea, and you know it.
The thing is, Spencer is worth it. I'd … walk into a thousand shady looking forests to find the guy. “You lied to me, and I hate being lied to.” The shock and sadness on his face will haunt me the rest of my life if I don't find him. I can't imagine that being the last interaction we ever have.
“Fuck,” I murmur, my feet squishing in the wet dirt beneath the trees. That was some rainstorm. The whole campus is soaked, flooded with huge puddles that drown half the walking path.
“What?” Micah whispers, but I'm having a hard time making words that aren't profanity.
“I just … Spencer and I … I don't want the last experience he ever had in life to be a fight with his friends. A fight that I started by not telling him the truth sooner.”
Micah makes a sound, but nobody else acknowledges that I've even spoken. I realize in that moment that I'm an invariably selfish person. Like really fucking selfish. This is not about me, none of this is. In fact, I'm the person who has the least right to Spencer. Chemistry and vibes do not a relationship make.
Releasing the twins' hands, I scrub my palms down my face as we pause near a row of cabins. The windows are all dark, ominously so, and there are several cabins that look like they're in the midst of construction. Church removes a key from his pocket, just like that, and unlocks the first one.
“Where did you get that?” I whisper as Ranger turns on the flashlight he's been carrying and sweeps it around the room.
“Spence?” Ranger shouts, not bothering to keep his voice down. I cringe a little, but I figure we've made about as much noise tromping through the woods as a Mack truck driving through a nuclear power plant, so why bother to be subtle now?
“We stole it from the teachers' lounge,” the twins reply in unison, and I roll my eyes. It's such a normal gesture that I'm instantly overwhelmed with guilt. Things shouldn't be normal if Spencer is … well, dead.
My stomach clenches, but I push it down, waiting for Ranger to clear the cabin. It's only one story with two twin beds, two desks, and a kitchenette in the corner. It doesn't take a thorough search to see that nobody's here.
We move onto the next cabin, and the next, and then the next. When we get to the last one, with the tarps over the windows and roof, we find a broken window in the back, and a piece of wood nailed across the front door.
“Do you think the board was put here to discourage students from breaking in?” I ask as we circle the cabin in a group. This isn't a horror movie, okay. There's no way we're splitting up.
“No.” Ranger shines his flashlight across glittering pieces of glass on the ground. “The window was broken from the inside. Besides, why this one cabin? None of the others are boarded up.” Ranger and Micah help lift Tobias up and into the window. I'm worried the whole time that he'll cut himself, but he seems okay, no blood just yet. The flashlight sweeps around the room as Church and Ranger boost Micah in next.
