Page 112 of Notice Me, Jameson Hart

“What the—” I lunge for it, forgetting about everything except the impossible reality that it’s here. “Adam!”

I burst out of the bathroom and sprint down the hall, my brain too full of questions to register the cool air on my skin. I shove open Adam’s door without knocking.

“Adam, you found it! How did you?—”

“JESUS CHRIST, KEVIN!”

Adam’s sitting at his desk, and the second he sees me, he slaps both hands over his eyes hard enough to send his eyeballs shooting out of the back of his head. The force of the slap sends his chair tipping backward. He catches himself on the edge of his desk with his bare foot while keeping his eyes firmly covered.

“WHY ARE YOU NAKED?!” he bellows.

“Huh?” I glance down at myself and let out a strangled yelp. In my excitement about the bracelet, I forgot a rather crucial step: covering myself up.

“I—the bracelet—I forgot—” I dart behind his door, using it as a makeshift shield. Only my head and one arm stick out, the bracelet dangling from my fist. “You found it!”

“I can’t see anything!” Adam’s still covering his eyes, his face the color of a fire truck. “Are you dressed? Please tell me you’re dressed now.”

“I’m behind the door!”

“That’s not dressed! That’s hidden!” He spreads his fingers slightly, sees I’m still there, and snaps them shut again. “Kevin, what the hell?”

“The bracelet was on the bathroom counter! Did you find it? Did you go back to the creek?” The words tumble out in a rush. “I thought it was gone forever, but it was sitting there like magic, and?—”

“I’ve been in my room this whole time!” Adam’s voice cracks. “I haven’t left! And even if I had, I wouldn’t have snuck into the bathroom while you were showering! What kind of weirdo do you think I am?”

“But then how?—”

“Clothes, Kevin! Clothes first, mystery solving second!”

Right. Priorities.

I duck back into the hallway, clutching the bracelet in one hand while using the other to preserve whatever dignity I have left. The bathroom door is still open, steam billowing out, and I grab the towel I should have wrapped around me.

“Okay, I’m decent!” I call out, returning to Adam’s room.

“Define decent.”

“I have a towel on!”

“That’sbarelydecent.” He lowers his hands, though he’s carefully looking at me as though I might lose the towel at any moment. “Dude, we need to establish some boundaries if you’re going to keep living with me in my room. I’ve seen things tonight that can’t be unseen.”

“Drama queen. You have the same thing dangling between your legs.” I hold up the bracelet. “Focus on this, not on your trauma.”

Adam takes the bracelet from me, examining it under his desk lamp. His expression shifts from one of residual horror to one of curiosity. “It’s wet. And muddy.” His forehead creases as he studies it closer. “This is mud. I’d recognize that smell anywhere.”

We look at each other, the same thought hitting us simultaneously.

“Someone went back to the lake,” I whisper.

“In the middle of the night,” Adam adds. “Searched for it in the dark, found it somehow, and put it in the bathroom while you were showering.”

“But you said you didn’t.”

“I didn’t.” Adam sets the bracelet down carefully on his desk. “And Dad went to bed before we got home, so he has no idea you even have this. Which means…”

The silence stretches between us. Down the hall, I hear the faint sound of Robbie’s music playing.

“Robbie,” I breathe.