Page 14 of Stop and Seek (Our Childish Games #1)

“P—pair,” Theo gasped, inhaling too much stale gymnasium air at once. The floor tilted . “Pair these to my phone, please.”

He held out the earbuds, every ounce of his goddamn pride focused on making his hands not shake.

“Did you like, go run a mile?” Alyssa asked, squinting through her lashes. “Are you okay?”

Theo shook his head. Then nodded. Couldn’t tell which was worse—lying, or saying too much.

Alyssa eyed him, uncurling each of his fingers from the earbuds and taking his phone from his back pocket.

She didn’t say anything.

Thank god , she didn’t say anything.

After a minute, she handed them back. “Do not break, do not lose, do not breathe funny on these, you feel me?”

Theo nodded again.

His heart finally slowed. Breathing hurt, but it would have to do. He had to hold himself together—breaking down in public was the bane of his fucking existence.

Instead, he focused on his breaths as he scrolled through his saved bands.

MSI, Foxy Shazam, Hate in the Box, Rancid —the usual suspects. Any of those were going to send him into cardiac arrest.

“Keep them safe,” Alyssa said. “Or the next time we talk, I’m upping your charge, like, thirty percent.”

It was supposed to be a joke.

It was supposed to be funny .

And god, Theo just needed a little bit of normalcy right now.

He opened his mouth to shoot off some lame-ass comeback, when someone grabbed his elbow.

His head fucking spun when he turned.

Don’t be Jagger.

God, please, let it not be Jagger.

I can’t handle this right now.

Not Jagger.

Noah .

“What…” Theo trailed off. Shaking his head, he yanked his arm free. “What do you want?”

“I need to know if—”

“Can I have all my adorable hiders gather?” Decker announced, and Theo had never been more grateful to hear his annoying voice.

“Good luck,” Alyssa whispered, her hand on his back.

Noah hadn’t moved, though. He was doing thing again—the same thing Max did earlier. That dead-eyed stare like he was trying to peel back layers of skin to see what was underneath. Eye fucking someone was one thing. Visually unzipping someone’s flesh was another.

The whole thing gave Theo goosebumps .

“Move,” Theo said. Of course, his voice cracked. Because that was his life.

For a split second, it was like a light went off in Noah’s head.

“Are you good?” Noah asked.

Theo almost laughed.

Good? Good?

No, thanks. I’m four seconds away from having a mental crisis.

Noah must have taken the fucking silence as an answer, because he didn’t say another word when Max hauled him over to the bleachers.

Max whispered something to him, and Noah gave her this look before he grinned. She didn’t smile back.

It was like high school all over again. Where everyone seemed to be in on some joke Theo wasn’t a part of. Either that or he was the joke. He hated both options.

Rubbing his hands over his arms, he mentally willed Decker to talk faster, but the hyper prick was droning on about eliminated people, the next rounds….

Start the game already.

When the pop gun sounded, Theo couldn’t get out of the gymnasium fast enough. He raced down the two sets of stairs that led to the freshman wing they’d sectioned off when he started.

Halfway down the second one, someone shoved him forward and he stumbled, catching the locker before he went down. When he gathered his balance, he saw Benji hauling ass in the opposite direction.

Good. He didn’t want company, anyway.

Normal shit. Focus on the normal shit .

Where the fuck was her room?

Mrs. Bean’s. That damn chemistry teacher.

Who introduced chem during freshman year? All of his online friends had said it was a sophomore or junior class.

Eunice was a special sort of hell.

Theo jogged down the hall, feet sticking with every step.

There . Finally .

Something in his life was going right. For once.

For right now, anyway.

He fished the two hairpins out of his pocket, leaning his ear against the half glass door.

God, did he even remember how to pick a lock? It had been years since he broke in anywhere. He didn’t have a lot of time to figure it out on the spot, either.

He crammed the bottom one in, turning it, and then the top hairpin. Whatever he was feeling for didn’t seem keen on moving, and his hands shook like crazy.

Was it against the rules? Technically, no.

Technically .

Decker had told them they couldn’t pass the surrounding fence, but the rest of the grounds were fair game. He didn’t say anything about unlocking rooms, and Theo wasn’t damaging school property. He was just… bending the rules.

The second pop went off and he still couldn’t get the knob to turn.

Holy shit, come on.

The sound of sneakers on linoleum sent adrenaline crashing through his veins .

Finally—fucking finally— the rest of it clicked into place, and the door swung open.

He choked on spit when a hand grabbed onto the back of his shirt.

“Look at you, being naughty,” Noah whispered against his hair, and Theo’s heart plummeted down to his toes.

“ Let. Go.” Theo gritted out, reaching over his head to grab Noah’s hand.

“Aw, c’mon. Now’s as good time as any to talk.”

Noah shoved him through the door before Theo had a chance to blink. To breathe .

“What’s wrong.”

It wasn’t a question.

Noah didn’t ask, and Theo had no fucking clue what Noah was even talking about.

At first.

“Tag me out,” Theo said. He backed up two steps.

Click.

Was that—

Was that the fucking lock ?

Did Noah lock them in here?

That was against the rules. Plain and simple.

Noah tilted his head to the side. “Seriously? What’s this doing? Is it—is it helping you? I don’t think so. Just tell me.”

Theo’s hands were still shaking. He clenched his fists, digging his nails into his palms.

“I’m. Fine . Tag me out.”

Getting into Jagger was going to send him right back into that place he’d just crawled out of .

No.

Not happening.

Noah took a slow step forward, bulky-ass body blocking out whatever light coming from the hallway. Now it was too dark.

The walls pressed in—hungry, tight, waiting.

“You’re fine? ” Noah asked. “I don’t think so. You know, you don’t gotta keep pretending. I can tell when you’re lying.”

How?

“ I don’t know you,” Theo spat, the words coming out before he could stop them. “I don’t! We went to high school together, ten fucking years ago!”

Noah took another step forward, and Theo took one back.

“Here’s the thing!” Noah said. Too loud. Theo flinched. “You do know me. You just haven’t put the pieces together.”

It felt like that one time Theo mixed speed and coke—everything jerky, bright, and about to blow.

His bones were threatening to leave his body.

This was nuts.

Noah was nuts.

But Noah was still moving forward, and when Theo hit the desk behind him?

That was it. He couldn’t go any further.

Noah leaned over him, hands sliding onto the top of the desk until he was so fucking close Theo could watch his pupils dilate and contract.

“You wanna play a guessing game, Theo?” Noah asked in some screwed-up sing-song tone.

“N-not really…”

“Then you wanna tell me what has you looking so spooked? ”

Not at all.

Noah’s breath touched his cheek. “It’s just us here. I swear I won’t tell a goddamn soul. You trust me, right? I know you do.”

Theo didn’t know what scared him more—Noah’s carefree, confident , bullshit, or the part of him that didn’t immediately scream no.

His whole body locked up. “ Tag. Me. Out .”

“I gotta admit, I kinda love when you play hard to get.”

“Time’s up!” Decker’s voice came through the PA system. “How’d we all do?”

Noah leaned back some—

Good enough.

Theo slid under Noah’s arm.

Unlocked the door.

And ran.

Fresh air had never felt so good.

Claustrophobia? Never heard of her. Hadn’t crossed Theo’s mind. Until Benji asked him to come outside for a smoke and he almost started sobbing when he stopped onto the pavement. Outside was good .

As long as he wasn’t alone.

“You look like a sheet,” Benji said, chuckling when he tossed the lighter over. “Close encounter of the third kind? ”

“You have no fucking clue,” Theo mumbled, lighting the cigarette and taking a drag. “I thought my heart was going to explode.”

He coughed, handed the lighter back. Nicotine wasn’t his thing. It tasted like he licked the inside of a grill. But it stopped the hamster wheel inside his head for a couple minutes.

“You told me earlier that the blueprint was wrong, did you mean it was out of date?” Benji asked. “Do you have a better one?”

Theo nodded. He pulled his phone out. Wiped his sweaty hands on his pants and held it out.

“Put your number in.”

“Thank you,” Benji murmured, eyes glued to the screen after Theo sent the file.

“I wanted to apologize for eleven years ago,” he paused. “Twelve? I’m sorry, I can’t remember if it was sophomore or junior year.”

Theo raised an eyebrow.

What the hell is this about?

Benji glanced up, crushed the dead filter against the wall and lit another.

Freight train.

“I wasn’t the greatest person in school,” Benji continued.

“I remember a couple of times with you: the locker incident, the bathroom, your desk, the gym… I could go on, but we don’t have enough time.

My parents were divorcing, and I ended up in the middle of a lengthy custody battle.

I don’t think it’s an excuse, but it’s all I have. ”

“That was you?” Theo choked. The cigarette burned down between his fingers, forgotten.

He’d assumed Benji was short for Benjamin, but it wasn’t an uncommon name, and that guy had been so damn round . Chunky. Bad, popular hair cut and glasses so thick Theo probably wore a lighter prescription.

The Benji in front of him looked like he’d walked out of a GQ shoot—expensive clothes, slicked-back hair, lean as hell.

Good god , what did he fucking do? Sell his soul?

Where are the sign up forms?

“Rendezvous is up! Please gather back in the gymnasium!” Decker’s voice crackled through the ancient PA system, the speakers popping and hissing.

Theo snatched his jaw off the ground.