Page 32 of The Monster I Am
“You’re so sweet sometimes,” I murmur with a small chuckle. Pulling back, my eyes instinctively move to seek out Lannister. His forest green gaze is already glued to me, and I wait for him to spit some snarky remark, but he stays uncharacteristically silent.
“Alright. Let’s get this over and done with,” Arch leads. “So, what’s the plan again, Bex?”
Chapter ten
Bexley
“It seems like we have two options really,” I start. “We need to scope out the building. We either stick together and try to cover as much ground as possible or separate into groups to spread out further.”
Tai strums his fingers along his jawline. “We should stick together. There’s nothing to say we can’t come back another night.”
“Except for the fact that if whoever is responsible gets wind of us being here and come back to finish the job, then we’re fucked,” Parker scoffs. “We should split up.”
“No.”
I gaze at Rylan, taking note of his strong disapproval. “Parker’s right. It’s better we split up. At least to check the outer areas of campus. Definitely together when we hit the library, though.”
That hole has been haunting me ever since we found it. Did I really miss it in all my years at Cedar Heights? What’s down there?
The Willowbrook men share a heated look, but they know I’m right. Begrudgingly, they give a simultaneous nod of reluctant agreement.
Grabbing my phone out of my shorts, I start creating a group chat. “I’m going to add us together into a chat. I’m sending a map and a copy of areas to avoid due to structural damage. No one is being rescued this time.”
Even without glancing up, I feel Lannister’s eyes burning into me. But after surviving the literal fire here, the idiot can glare all he wants.
“There,” I finish, their phones collectively dinging at the same time. “Pairs?”
“I’ll go with you,” Arch offers before pausing. His eyes flicker to Parker who shrugs, unbothered about being stuck with one of the Willowbrook members of the group.
Rylan moves closer to me. “I’m going with Bex. It makes more sense if we split into three groups of two, one person from each academy. No one is getting lost either.”
“Wait,” Tai mumbles. “Why can’t I go with Bexley then?”
“Because I beat you to it,” Rylan shoots back. “You can go with Archer.”
Archie snorts. “I’ll go with Lannister,” he says matter-of-factly, raising his eyebrows knowingly at me.
I bite back a laugh. Yeah—probably best not to put Lannister and Parker together. The only way this could get worse is if a murder occurs. That’s an extremely likely outcome with those two.
Again, Parker shrugs, motioning for Tai to follow him. “Hurry up. Let’s get this over with. We’ll cover the east side.”
Pouting slightly, Tai nods, and they disappear through the entrance doors which Arch and I cleared earlier, removing all the panel boards placed there after the fire.
“Arch, I’d feel better if you handled the quad and central area.”
He frowns. “Are you sure? I’m happy to take the west.”
I shake my head slowly. “I’ve got this. I’ll be okay.”
“What’s wrong with the west?” Rylan asks, clearly confused.
Before I can answer, another voice beats me to it.
“It’s the closest section to the auditorium.”
Rylan whips his head to look at Lannister, almost as if his best friend might be making a bad joke at a time like this. “Seriously?”
Lannister nods. “It’s fine, though. Just don’t let her run off. That’s what fucked us up last time,” he mumbles before stalking off toward the entrance.
