“Well,” he begins, lowering his voice and stepping forward. One of his cool, dry palms comes up to cup the side of my face as his eyes meet mine. “I don't need to marry an heiress. My family is wealthy beyond all reason.” Church leans down toward me, and I feel myself start to tremble at the thought of him kissing me. I mean, he's a damn good kisser. My mind strays back to that night at his parents’ house, the way his hands roamed up under my skirt, the heat of his lips against mine. “And what is money for, if not to provide some level of freedom and control over one's life?” He levels his gaze on mine, speaking directly against my lips. “You've met my parents. They don't believe in arranged marriages, or convenience marriages—they believe in true love. They're fanatical about it.”
He releases me and steps back without actually following through with a kiss, and disappointment fills me the way that ice-cold water filled the tunnels beneath this creepy school.
Don't get embarrassed, Chuck, stick with the snark! That's our thing.
I flick some of my blond hair back from my forehead and give Church a saucy Monica-inspired look.
“Don't you think they'll freak when they find out?” I ask as Church lifts a few of the boxes marked Miscellaneous Crap from the floor to the top shelf in the closet. I'm too damn short to reach it.
“Find out about what?” he asks as he raises his arms up, and his pajama top climbs just high enough to show off the muscles in his lower back. I reach up to wipe drool from my lips, even though it's just a metaphorical move in the first place.
“That we're not actually …”
“In love?” he questions, looking back at me just before the door opens and Spencer appears, Ranger not far behind. Spence’s hands are tucked in his pockets as he moves into the room and looks around like he's sizing up the place. Then his attention lands on the uniform lying across my bed, and his mouth twitches.
“In love?” he says, repeating Church's words back to him. “And with a schoolgirl uniform just waiting to be put on? Come on, what am I supposed to think about this?” At least he's smiling when he says it. Ranger, not so much.
“I can't believe we were written up during senior year. Your dad's an asshole.”
“Yeah, sorry about that …” I say, tapping a finger against my lower lip. “Come to think of it, I really shouldn't have talked back to him like that. He's going to go out of his way to make this year a living hell for me.” I pause as Spencer unzips the garment bag and fingers the pleats of the skirt, and Ranger steals a coffee from Church's little red mini-fridge. “And also, probably for you guys, too. Apologies in advance.”
“Eh, you're worth every write-up,” Spencer says, lifting his turquoise eyes from the uniform to my face. Heat strikes through me like lightning, and I find myself shifting nervously in front of him, suddenly self-conscious about my baggy California Love sweatshirt and matching sweats. The way Spence looks at me, you'd think I were wearing a ballgown and a full face of makeup. He coughs suddenly and turns away, back to the stupid uniform again. “You know, now that we've got a lead on Mr. Murphy for the notes and … Mr. Dave for … Church stabbing him …” Spencer trails off and Ranger makes a grunt of protest as he sits on the edge of his best friend's bed. “What I mean to say is,” he lifts his head up to look at me, “why not just go as a girl now?”
“What?!” I blurt out as Church closes the closet and turns back around with that contemplative look on his face. Where are the fucking twins anyway? I wonder as all three guys stare at me like they're actually considering this nonsense. “I can't go as a girl! Newsflash: one of our teachers has been leaving me threatening notes, another one of our teachers got stabbed by someone in a hoodie, and there was a dead kid in the woods. Not to mention the creepy people in fox masks.”
“Yeah, but it's pretty clear at this point that it isn't femicide,” Ranger says, his blue-streaked black hair shiny and razored into an edgy rock star look. He puts just enough gel in, that one might think he spends zero time in the mirror. Now, I don't know for sure, but since the twins each spend an hour perfectly mussing their hair each morning, it wouldn't surprise me if Ranger did, too.
“Femicide?” Spencer asks, also snagging an iced coffee from the mini-fridge. Church snatches it right out of his hand, and he rolls his pretty turquoise eyes as he goes in for another.
