Page 56 of Hide and Seek

He gasps, his eyes lighting up in a way that can’t be faked. “Is that you?” he asks breathlessly.

“It’s me.” I expand the window so the camera feed covers my entire screen and lean back in my chair.

“I didn’t think you’d answer.” He bites his lip again. “Hell, I didn’t even know if you were watching and thought I was talking into the ether.”

“I was watching.” I pause, not because I don’t have more to say, but because I have to be careful withwhatI say. “You figured out the clock hands?”

“Yeah.” He puts the statue on his bedside table and lays down so he’s facing it. “Well, I’m pretty sure I did.”

Something about the way he curls up and puts his hands under his head, like kids do when they’re pretending to sleep, is weirdly adorable.

“At first I thought it was a date, like April twenty-second, but it’s a time, right? Four-twenty-two was the start of sunset the day we played hide and seek.” He bites his lip nervously. “Was that the clue? Did I get it?”

“That was the clue.”

He beams a big smile at the camera, then lets out a loud, half-crazed laugh. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

“Not quite,” I tell him before I can stop myself. “But you can call me that if you want.”

He laughs again. “This is so insane. I’m literally talking to my stalker through the camera you planted in my room. You can see and hear me, but I can only hear you.” He shakes his head, a dumbfounded look on his face. “How is this my life?”

“You’re the one who got on my radar,” I tell him. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for what you did.”

“What did I do?” he asks, his eyes wide with innocence.

“If you were me, would you tell you?” I ask.

He makes an unimpressed face. “No. But for the sake of this conversation, I’m going to lie and say yes. I would totally tell you everything if our roles were reversed.”

I can’t stop the low chuckle that escapes my lips. “You’re taking things pretty well for someone who’s speaking to their stalker through the camera I planted in your room.”

“Yeah, probably.” He rolls one shoulder in a shrug. “But considering how messed up everything else is, this is one of the least worrisome and weird things in my life right now.” He chews on his lip for a few beats. “Did the shadow cube mean something more than just a clue to show me where the camera is?”

“What do you think?”

“I think that everything you do has meaning, and you wouldn’t have solved the cube if you weren’t trying to say more than justLook over here, you’re on Candid Camera.”

I huff out a soft laugh. “So what do you think it means?”

He scrunches his forehead up like he’s thinking hard. “The only thing I can come up with is you were either flexing that you can solve them too, or you did it because you were giving me a hint about the other camera.” He pauses, obviously waiting for my answer.

“You’re partially right,” I tell him after a few beats.

“Which part?”

I don’t answer.

“Right, because why would you tell me when the whole point is for me to figure it out?” He chews on his lip again. “Was it a test? I’m assuming you were telling me about the camera when you moved it, but was solving it a way to see if I could look beyond the obvious?”

“You’re getting warmer.”

“Moving it was the clue for the camera, right?”

“Yes.”

He tries to cover his smile, but I see the corners of his lips tick up. “Was solving it a test?”

“Yes.”