I shook my head. “No, you look good. It looks good on you. I mean, it’s all good.”
His smile widened. “Good.”
And then he moved in closer, getting rid of any space that might have existed between us, his arms going around my middle, his cheek close to mine, his breath heavy on my hair.
My entire body was suddenly filled with awkward energy. Was I stepping on his feet? Was my deodorant holding up okay? Where was I supposed to put my hands? I suddenly had to concentrate on the simplest of tasks. Like breathing. I inhaled the spicy scent of what was definitely cologne this time.
“Relax,” Chase whispered in my ear as if he could read my racing mind. “I don’t bite.” He paused. “Unless you want me to.”
Oh boy.
I stumbled, tripping over his foot, and twisting my ankle beneath my too-high heels.
Chase caught me. “Dude, I was kidding,” he said, teeth showing as he grinned at me.
I nodded. “Right. Yeah. I know.”
“You okay?”
“Great. Fine. Dandy. Just… it’s a little warm. I’m gonna go hit the bathroom.”
“Okay, I’ll come with you,” he said, grabbing my hand again.
I quickly pulled it back. “I think I can manage by myself.”
“I’ll walk you there.”
“I’m fine. Geez! I’m just going to pee, okay?”
He paused. But instead of looking hurt, he just grinned again. “Okay. Go ‘pee.’ I’ll wait here.”
“Thank you.”
I quickly scuttled from the dance floor, ducking my head so that my red cheeks didn’t telegraph the mix of sensations rolling around in my belly right now. God, what was wrong with me? Clearly the tiara was cutting off circulation to my brain.
At the back of the cafeteria was a short hallway that ended in both the girls’ and boys’ bathrooms. At the moment it was nearly empty, since most of the school was out on the floor slow dancing.
While I needed a few minutes to get away from the heat, the truth was I did have to pee. Being nervous did that to me. And dancing with Chase had made me way nervous.
I turned down the corridor and made a beeline toward the bathroom.
But I never made it to that blue cutout of a girl figure on the door.
Instead, I felt something come at me from behind, a blinding pain erupting behind my right ear as bright spots danced in front of my face. The ground rushed up to meet me, my heels buckling under my feet, as the world went black.
Chapter Twenty-Two
THE FIRST THING I NOTICED WHEN I WOKE UP WAS THE HIPPO squatting on my head. Or at least that’s what I assumed was happening based on the pressure building to a blinding pain between my ears. I took several beats, slowly breathing in and out, willing the hippo to go away before venturing to open my eyes. I slowly blinked one, then the other open, cringing through the pain.
It was dark. A faint glow from somewhere just outside my field of vision was the only light illuminating the area. I realized I was outside, a cool breeze whipping over my bare arms and making me shiver. It smelled faintly of chlorine, making me think I was near a swimming pool. I could hear faint sounds in the distance-crickets, music, the rumble of the freeway.
I blinked a few more times, slowly letting my senses come alive again, and realized I did not, in fact, have a large water mammal on my head, just a really bad headache. I guess being brained from behind will do that to you.
I wriggled my hands and fingers as I tried to get my bearings, and quickly realized I didn’t have much wiggle room at all. My hands were tied together behind my back. Ditto my feet. Whoever had hit me over the head had done a bang-up job of making sure I couldn’t respond in kind.
As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I could see a metal utility shed in front of me, and the outline of the top of the math building. I was at the school. If I had to guess, near the swim team’s pool.
And the faint glow of light I’d seen was coming from underneath the door of the utility shed. Someone was inside.
I moved left, then right, then realized not only were my hands and feet tied up, but I was tied to something. I craned my head around in the dark, coming up against a starting block. I wriggled back and forth. The bonds at my wrists were some sort of rope, strong and tightly knotted. No way was I going to break them before whoever was in the shed came back. I kicked my legs, twisting, but it was no use. I was stuck there.
And even worse?
The door to the utility shed was slowly opening.
I held my breath, watching as a shadowy figure backlit by the shed emerged. I blinked against the onslaught of light, trying to make out features. But it wasn’t until he shut the door again that I was able to see his face clearly.
I let out a sigh of relief so loud, I swear they heard me all the way in the cafeteria over the blare of the DJ.
“Mr. Tipkins!” I breathed. “Oh, thank God. You’ve got to help me. Someone hit me on the head and dragged me out here and tied me up, and I think they might have killed Sydney, though I’m not sure, but it’s highly possible because I said I was gonna blow the whistle, but I’m not really, ’cause I don’t know who they are, but if you untie me, we can find them, and we will know!”
I paused for breath, taking in a big gulp of chlorine-tinted air, ignoring the pain at the sound of my own voice echoing through my throbbing head.
Mr. Tipkins took a step toward me.
I wriggled, showing him my bound wrists. “Can you see the knots?” I asked.
He nodded slowly. “Yes.”
“Can you get them undone? Do they look too tight?”
“They look very tight,” he responded, his voice flat.
“Well, there must be something in the utility shed sharp enough to cut these. A knife or scissors or something? I’m sure if you just go look…”
But I trailed off as I looked up at his face. It was calm and impassive, definitely not the reaction you’d expect from someone finding a student tied up to a starting block in her homecoming dress.
Realization must have been plain in my eyes as my throbbing brain struggled to put the pieces together, because the corners of his mouth slowly turned upward, curving into a big wicked smile that showed off the coffee stains on his incisors in all their glory.
“You aren’t going to untie me, are you?” I asked.
He shook his head slowly back and forth.
“Because you’re the one who tied me up.”
The grin grew wider as he nodded. “That’s the first smart thing you’ve said, Miss Featherstone.”
Dread hit my stomach in one swift punch. “You hit me over the head.”
He crouched low, coming to eye level. “I did,” he admitted.
“Just like you hit Nicky?”
He shrugged, palms upward.
“And you killed Sydney?”
“Sydney killed herself,” he shot back, anger suddenly flashing through his eyes. “She was stupid and self-absorbed. That’s what led to her downfall.”
“But you’re the one who committed Twittercide.”
He frowned. “What?”
“Death by Twitter?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just pushed her into a pool.”
Part of me did a happy dance that I finally knew who had killed Sydney. The other part of me, the more logical part, told me I was tied up and all alone with a killer who was confessing his crimes. That did not bode well for my future.
I looked past Mr. Tipkins to the school buildings beyond. I could hear the faint sounds of dance music coming from the cafeteria. It was so close, but a million miles away for all the good it did me. There was no way anyone could hear me scream from here. My calls for help would be swallowed up long before they could reach the partygoers, even if they didn’t have top blast music drowning me out.
I was on my own.
With a murderer.
“Why did you kill her?” I asked. Not that finding out was my top priority at the moment. But the more time I could buy, the better chance someone might wander this way. Surely there was some couple at the dance who would go looking for a private corner to make out in, right? Possibly near the pool?