Funny how things can change in the space of just a day. Today I walked into school dreading what was to come. I texted Janet about what I had done, so right on time, she came barreling up to me.
"What the heck did you do," her face was twisted into a horrified grimace.
“I didn’t really have any other choice,” I said defensively, “I’m getting absolutely nowhere and I’m getting desperate.”
She sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Fine, whatever. But if you end up wrapped in expensive toilet paper and chucked out into the dumps on the other side of the city, don’t come crying to me.” She stomped away from me, absolutely fuming while she pushed a few kids away harshly.
She’d be fine in an hour.
Lunch finally came, and I found myself sitting alone at a bench at the edge of the courtyard, away from the eyes of the other students.
“You’re late,” I said, as I saw Dante strolled over, his expensive clothes having not a thread out of place.
“Lunch doesn’t start for another ten minutes,” he said haughtily.
I blanched. “Lunch started twenty minutes ago.”
“Do you think I am any good at time?”
“Didn’t your daddy buy you a five thousand dollar watch or something?”
He looked at me as if I were an urchin. “Since when did you become so sarcastic? Just yesterday you were that mute thing that needed the new guy to be their bodyguard.”
“I’m not mute!”
“Whatever you say,” he shrugged.
I sighed in exasperation. “Are you just going to stand there all day and argue with me or are you actually going to help me? You’ve already wasted enough of my time.”
“First, you came to me, not the other way around. And second, you’re the one that responds, so--”
“Good bye,” I sung, annoyed at this point. If Mr. Rich wouldn’t help me, then fine. I’d find another way.
I made to get up, but he pushed me back down on to the bench, a bit too harshly than needed. “You aren’t going anywhere,” he said, jabbing a finger at me. “You are going to tell me what you need help with and I am going to do it. I did not skip food for nothing.”
“You were late twenty minutes! That’s plenty of time to--” I stopped and calmed myself down before I exploded again. I was wasting time and lunch was almost over. “Look, you’re dad’s a council member, right?”
“Yes,and…”
“I need you to get me access to the town’s library.”
He blinked. “That’s it?”
“Yes,” I said.
“That’s it?”
“Did you not hear me?”
“Oh, no, I heard you perfectly, it’s just you wasted half an hour of my life-”
“Technically, you wasted twenty of those minutes on your own, so…”
“-to ask me to get you into the town’s private library! You couldn’t have said that over the phone when you called me!”
“Would you have done it then?”
He opened his mouth and closed it again. “No,” he decided, his anger coming back to turn his face bright red, “and I’m not going to it now, either.”
“Okay,” I said casually, even though I felt like ripping out his vocal cords at the moment.
“Okay! Okay! There is no way I’m letting you be okay with that! I am getting you into that library!” That is a sentence I never thought anyone would say, yet I practically jumped for joy.
“Really!”
“If you tell me why,” he said. And there it is…
“I need some information.” Not the whole truth, but still the truth.
“On what,” he asked, skeptical.
“Stuff.”
“Like…”
“Stuff.”
He sighed in exasperation. “You will either tell me or I will reconsider.”
So two options here. Option one: tell Dante, possibly think that I’m a stalker, and risk my chances of ever getting what I want because he thinks I’m a psycho. Or, option two: don’t tell him at all and definitely, one-hundred percent not get the information.
I opted for one. “I need information on Colton.”
“Hunter, you mean?”
“Is there another Colton in the school that we missed?”
“Good point. But why him of all people? He’s just the new guy.”
“Exactly,” I said.
“You have people issues. Like, seriously.” Says the guy who almost beat up a freshman when they accidentally walked into his private bathroom. Yeah, he owns a private bathroom in the school.
“That isn’t what I meant,” I said. “Doesn’t he seem a bit… off to you?”
He shrugged. “Maybe a little.”
“Well, I’m going to find out who he is. There aren’t any records of him online or in the public library. The town’s library is the only other place I could think of to look.”
He stood in hesitation, thinking of whether or not to trust me. I needed him to trust me. did I just say that?
“Fine,” he finally said, to my relief. “But-” oh no, “-I want something in return.”
I groaned. “Like?”
“I don’t know yet. How about a favor, for a later date?”
“As long as it’s not out of proportion,” I said.
“I’m helping you stalk someone,” he said, smiling unmercifully, “Trust me, there is no favor that can go as far.” With that, he walked away.
Great. Just great. What have I gotten myself into…
