Page 64 of Room to Breathe

I looked back at Beau. He was standing with his arms crossed.

“See you in a bit,” I said.

Only I didn’t see him in a bit. After Cody walked me around the block, I pointed to my car. “I just got it.”

He changed directions until we were standing at the driver’s-side door. He tugged on the handle, but it was locked. I dug my key fob out of my pocket and unlocked the door. He climbed into the passenger seat from the driver’s side and then said, “Let’s get food. I’m hungry.”

I glanced back at Harper’s empty porch, then climbed into my car and drove us to Taco Bell. As we sat in the parking lot eating burritos, Ava texted me.

Where are you?

Food and kissing, I responded before I realized she had texted in the group chat.

Are you coming back??

My chest tightened with guilt.Later.

“I left my backpack at school,” Cody said, pulling my attention away from my screen. “In chemistry. Let’s drive there.”

“To school?” I asked, placing my phone in the cup holder.

“Yeah.”

“You have a homework assignment in there that you need to do or something?” See, he worried about homework too.

He laughed. “No.” But he didn’t tell me what was in there that he needed now.

I started the car anyway and drove to the school. “It’s probably locked,” I said as we made our way to the main doors.

But he bypassed them and headed around the side of the building.

“What are you doing?” I asked, pushing a tree branch out of my way and stepping over a bush to follow him.

“There’s a side window that I keep unlocked.”

“Youkeep it unlocked?”

Sure enough, he was able to pry open a window. He wiggled his eyebrows at me, then held his hands out in front of him as if he wanted to give me a boost inside. I swallowed down my hesitation and climbed my way into the room.

The school felt eerie at night. The room was dark except for some glowing under-cabinet lights. I searched the floor for Cody’s backpack, wanting to get out of here as quickly as possible. He dived through the window behind me with a laugh. Then he was sitting on a table messing with a Bunsen burner, its flame blue in the darkness.

“Where’s your bag?” I whispered. Now I was searching in earnest, looking under the long countertops and in the corners.

Behind me I heard glass breaking. Cody cursed loudly. I turned to see him standing at the glass-doored supply cupboard, one of the panes now broken.

“Cody! What happened?”

“Oops,” he said. “We better run.”

So we did.

Chapter 27

Now

I woke up with astart, gasping for breath.

“It was just a dream. You’re okay,” Beau said near my ear. His arms were around me, holding me tight. I was lying on his chest. The bathroom was still dark.