Page 6

Chapter Six

RUTH

T he click of the lock echoes through the empty apartment, reverberating off the walls. I pause in the entryway, waiting for Georgie to come barreling out with the inquisition, but all I hear is the low hum of the dishwasher filtering in from the kitchen. I tiptoe through, not wanting to break the quiet. The streetlight outside casts a soft glow over the appliances as I sit at the dining table, drawing in a deep breath for what feels like the first time all night.

Maybe Georgie is out looking for me? I scramble to plug in my phone in case she’s been calling. Marshall brought it back to me when he showed up, but the battery was long dead. My foot taps out a frantic rhythm against the linoleum as I wait for it to power up. She must be freaking out so hard.

Just as my phone blinks to life, I hear a low rustling coming from the half-open door to Georgie’s room. I stand, the chair behind me scraping painfully against the floor. A rumpled-looking Georgie emerges, rubbing her eyes like a cartoon.

“Oh hey,” she rasps out, “you’re back late.”

I gape at her as a pit opens in my gut. She frowns as I stare at her. “Everything ok?”

“I… Uh, yeah. I guess,” I sputter out, not sure how to respond. Did she even notice I was gone?

“Good night?” she throws over her shoulder, crossing to the sink and filling a glass of water.

“Um, not really,” I mumble at my feet.

“You okay?”

I don’t know how to answer that, I’m not even sure I know. Am I okay? None of it’s really hit me yet, but fuck, tonight was horrible. “I sort of got kidnapped.”

“Sure.” She laughs in disbelief.

“No, I’m serious.” The back of my throat itches with the threat of tears.

“What?”

“I got kidnapped by the Beaufort team.”

“What the fuck?” She’s still laughing, not seeing the tightness I can feel on my face.

“It was kinda scary actually.” I shrug, remembering how it felt when those arms first came around me. Georgie’s expression falls.

“Shit, Ruth.” I let myself be pulled into a hug as she closes the distance between us. “Are you okay? What happened?”

For a moment it’s hard to speak past the lump in my throat.

She wasn’t looking for me.

“I don’t know, it was some weird hazing thing.” My voice is thick as I fight back tears. The whole evening is catching up with me as I think about what could have happened, how badly things could have gone.

“Holy shit, Ruth.” Georgie’s grip tightens. “Are you hurt? Did anything happen?”

“No,” I mumble into her shoulder. “It was just scary.”

“Oh my God. Do we need to call someone?”

“No, I don’t think so.” I pull away and slump into one of the dining chairs. “It was all so fucked up.”

Georgie works to fill a glass of water before falling into the chair across from me and pressing the drink into my hands. Looking down, my fingers tremble against the condensation.

“Tell me everything.” She adopts the classic ‘Georgie-pose,’ arms crossed over her chest, one leg other the other as she leans back and pins me with her patented stare.

She waits patiently, not moving an inch as I drink the water, leaving a few lonesome ice cubes in the bottom of the cup. There’s a moment where I almost chuckle as I remember Rowan trying to tip the liquid down my throat.

By the time I’ve run through the whole night, the ice in the glass has long melted, and Georgie has a dumfounded expression on her face.

“They were supposed to get the actual toad.”

“Yeah, I guess there was some confusion.”

“No shit.”

“What the fuck am I gonna do now?” I press my forehead to the cool wood of the table, feeling like my body’s given up.

“You could report them?” Georgie offers. “They shouldn’t get away with that.”

I know that she’s right. What they did is a crime. But as much as I want them to be held accountable, I don’t know if I can deal with the ordeal of reporting them. I’ve seen how schools like Beaufort and Allbreck protect their athletes. Am I really expecting them to rake these guys over the coals when I didn’t even get hurt?

And I guess if I’m being honest with myself, the thought of Rowan getting in trouble fills me with unease. All he did tonight was try to make me feel more comfortable. I don’t want him getting dragged into this as some kind of unwitting accomplice.

“I’ll think about it.”

She reaches across the table to squeeze my hand, her face sporting a sympathetic grimace. Once she seems satisfied that I’m not going to burst into tears, she takes a deep breath and grins, ready to change the subject.

Ever since we started living together freshman year, she’s always been someone absolutely determined to look on the bright side, and it doesn’t appear that something so trivial as a felony is going to break that habit.

“So, Marshall came and got you?” She smirks.

“Yeah,” I let out a bemused chuckle, “he was acting really weird.”

“Weird, how?”

“Like, all protective and stuff.”

“Aww,” she coos, propping up her head with a fist. All she’s missing are some heart eyes. She’s been on Team Marshall since the beginning. Even everything that went down last year hasn’t quelled her enthusiasm.

“No, it was weird. Like, he tried to start a fight with the guy who was there.”

“He was probably jealous.”

I scoff. “Definitely not that.”

“Ruth, it sounds like he swept in like a knight in shining armor to save you,” she exclaims. “That’s some romance hero bullshit right there.”

“It really wasn’t.” I rub my hand across my face, suddenly feeling my need for sleep overtake me. “I don’t know what he was doing, but it wasn’t like that.”

“If you say so,” she says with a grin. I know she doesn’t believe me, but I’d never go there. Not anymore.

“I think he thought that Rowan was dangerous or something?”

“I mean, the guy does sound kind of weird.”

“No,” I retort, not sure why I feel so defensive of him. “He was pretty nice. I just feel bad that he ended up stuck with me.”

“Why do you feel bad? He’s the one that should feel guilty!”

“He didn’t do anything wrong. He kinda got dragged into the whole thing, and he really did try to take care of me.”

“Was the ‘taking care’ before or after he drenched you and then tried to feed you an allergen sandwich?” Her eyebrow ticks up in question and she knows she’s got me.

I chuckle. “Somewhere in between?”

“Yeah, well, he sounds like a real gem.”

I grin back at her, enjoying the stern look she’s giving me. “I really do need to sleep now,” I groan, seeing the clock that reads 5:08. “What are you even doing up?” Part of me was hoping that she was awake already, that she’d been waiting until I got home the way I’d done for her so many times.

“Couldn’t sleep.”

“Oh?”

She sighs, scooting her chair forward like she’s locking in for a story.

“Me and Steph went out to that place on 17 th . You know, the one with the stripy sign?”

I know the one, we’d been talking about stopping by sometime. I’m surprised that she never mentioned she was going anywhere.

“It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing, but guess who was there?” She leans forward expectantly.

“Who?” I’m trying to muster some enthusiasm for this talk, but honestly, I’m too tired for this.

“Bri!” She slaps the table, the sound making me jolt.

“Oh shit.”

“And she was on a date!”

Fuck.

Four months ago, Georgie and Bri had probably the worst breakup I’ve ever witnessed. There were cheating accusations, screaming matches, and an only narrowly avoided slashing of tires. Bri’s an Allbreck cheerleader, and Georgie heard a rumor that she had something going on with one of the other girls on the squad.

Since then, she won’t come to the games, won’t watch rehearsals, and barely lets me even speak about anything to do with the team. I mean, I get why she’s keeping her distance from all things Allbreck Athletics, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t suck.

“Did you say anything?” I ask, half dreading the answer.

“Nah, Steph dragged me out of there before I could.” Thank God. “But I swear it was that girl.”

“You didn’t see?”

“She had her back to me, but her hair was the exact same.” Her face lights up with a feral kind of triumph, even as I know this must be killing her. “I knew those two were a thing.”

“Are you okay?”

“Of course I’m okay, I was right.”

Oh, Georgie. She’s all forced smiles and tense shoulders, and my heart breaks for her. I hate that she’s been going through this and I haven’t been here.

“You sure?”

“Mm hmm.” She stands to go, giving my shoulder a quick squeeze as she moves past me. “Well, if you’re all good, I’m gonna head back to bed.” She drops the two glasses in the sink and then she’s gone, leaving me back in the suffocating silence.

I stumble into the bathroom and finally peel off the costume, thrilled to have it off my skin. The shower beckons like a siren, but I’m too tired to consider it. I’ll probably regret it in the morning, but I guess I can just add it to the list.

Once I’ve brushed my teeth, it takes a minute of awkwardly scrambling around to find the big red pen I keep in here, but once I do I can tick off tonight on my toothbrushing checklist. I briefly debate taking my ADHD medication now just so I can tick it off-I mean, five thirty is the morning right-but quickly dismiss the idea. I’d need to go out and find something to eat with it, plus there’s no use having a burst of focus right as I’m about to go to sleep.

When I crawl into bed, I try to think about anything other than tonight, but my brain keeps latching onto the feel of Rowan’s hand against my elbow, his wry smile as I made fun of him, the way the blue in his eyes seemed to spark as he assessed every move I made. His stare should have been frightening, especially with the way he’d loomed as he’d scowled down at where I’d sat, but thinking about it now, I’m just filled with a weird kind of warmth that follows me into sleep.