Page 28 of Stop and Seek (Our Childish Games #1)

When was the last time Theo looked forward to anything?

Not the bland, fleeting, oh this could be a fun waste of time .

Really looked forward to it. Those anxious-nerves that made his skin tingle and his heart race a little too fast. The pulse pounding, giddy excitement flooding through him was cringe at best but—screw it.

“Are you like, dancing over there?” Alyssa’s voice sounded muffled as hell, competing with the thumping bass line in his ears.

Theo pulled the headphones down, still bebopping along when he turned.

She waved the book in her hand. “Don’t stop because of me. Bust those moves.”

Walking back to the circulation desk—where he could actually see what the fuck Alyssa was holding—he scanned the barcode.

Overdue as shit.

“It’s cheaper to buy this than pay the fine,” he mumbled.

“Your girl has no cash. Card?”

He set his chin on his fist and smiled. “I have cash. ”

Alyssa swatted at one of the curled pigtails when they fell in her face.

“Alright, Teddy. What do you need? I got stock.”

“Not here. I have a reputation to uphold.” Theo fluttered his lashes—she punched him in the shoulder, hard enough to sting. “You going to the party… thing tonight?”

“Um, yes? Hello. Why do you think I look like a superstar? For funsies?” Alyssa spiraled part of the curls around her finger.

“Oh my god,” she gasped after a second. “Wait. Hold the phone. You’re going?”

“Yeah.”

“Did someone put a gun to your head? I’ll beat a bitch.”

Theo patted his palms on the desk, debating exactly how much he should tell Ms. Blabbermouth herself.

“Noah invited me.”

“That’s like,” Alyssa paused dramatically, hand clutched to her chest. “ The cutest thing. I’m so happy you’re getting along with someone.”

She leaned over the desk. “Really, Theo. Ray’s been worried.”

No shit.

“Is he the reason you’re a-movin’ and a-groovin’?” she asked.

Saying it out loud made it too real. Theo couldn’t even admit it to himself . He’d kept pushing last night further and further out of his head, but it came back anyway. Vivid. More detailed. The thought made his face hot.

“Let’s carpool,” he said, slapping the desk again. “Your car.”

Alyssa tapped her long, black nails against the stack of books he hadn’t gotten around to putting away. “Why my car?”

“I’ll give you a hundred bucks. ”

“For what?”

“Goods. Gas. Split it however you want, I don’t fu—” Theo caught himself mid-sentence. He pressed his lips together before he continued. “I don’t care.”

Alyssa laughed. “Your mouth is going to get you in trouble one day.”

“It already has, trust me.”

“Counteroffer. I want to drink—” Alyssa lowered her voice. “—and you sound like you want to get very fucked up, so.” She straightened, shrugging back the pigtails. “Twenty bucks and you’re treating for a rideshare.”

“Sold.”

Standing with his body shielding Alyssa’s backside as she dug through her front seat should have been considered a tip. An unavoidable service charge for being her friend.

Theo sighed, staring into the mess, but his eyes kept going down to the glitter.

“Your thong is like, fucking sparkly,” he said. “How the hell can you wear that without having heart palpitations?”

Alyssa glanced over her shoulder. “It’s a bikini bottom, you absolute boy . Not a thong. It’s cute, right? I went to the mall with Max and Noah yesterday, and she picked it out for me. I think I’m in love.”

Nope .

No.

There were not butterflies when someone mentioned Noah’s fucking name. Definitely not.

Theo forced a laugh. “Don’t swing your butt at me. It’s cute, fine. Clean your car.”

“I’ll clean my car when you get your life in order,” she shot back and—

Damn if that didn’t sting.

Alyssa sat, tucking the tiny skirt under her thighs. “There we go. Hand.”

“How much am I paying for one, ma’am?” Theo asked. “Are you price gouging me?”

She popped the little white pill into his palm and he swallowed it dry.

“Shrinkflation,” he added with a snort.

“I’m not—” She smacked his knee. “Jerk. Sir Asshole. I’ll hand you the rest later. You have like, zero freaking chill. The last bag I gave you—did you take both?”

“Yeah.”

“Uh-huh. And the time before?”

Theo squinted. “What color were those again?”

“Blue.”

The life savers from Monday .

“Well,” he choked back an embarrassed laugh. “Uh… also yes. Big yes.”

Alyssa threw her arms over the steering wheel.

“There were five , Theo,” she groaned. “See? It’s like letting a kid roam free in a candy store. You get them when I give them.”

Theo opened his mouth—

Alyssa beat him to it.

“No.” She held out her finger. “Don’t start pouting. I’m immune to the puppy dog eyes. You should’ve been set for a week, not like, two damn days.”

Admitting she was right…

It was easier not to go there at all.

As soon as they were in the car—not even pulled out of the library’s goddamn parking lot—Alyssa started in.

“I can’t believe you’re wearing that,” she grumbled, picking at the sleeve of his hoodie. “Don’t you have a change of clothes? Did Noah mention the word pool party?”

Not at all.

Then again, it wouldn’t have mattered either way.

Being half naked in front of a group of people? That was a sick, twisted punishment.

“I don’t swim,” he said dryly, “and you sound like fucking Rachel. Stop it.”

“She’s right though.” Alyssa shoved at his thigh. “Ugh. Whatev. I’m not wasting my breath on your hobo-looking-ass.”

“Those be fighting words.”

She shrugged. Flipping one of his headphones around, she jammed her ear against it .

Theo pulled out his phone, handing it over to her without a word. She loved scrolling through his bands, and it was a nice change of pace from putting the thing on shuffle.

“Have you ever like, driven past the mansion?” Alyssa asked after a while.

His playlist had ended up on the song “Shut me up” by MSI, and the places Theo’s brain were going? Danger zone levels of filthy.

He chewed on the chapped part of his lip, dragging his head out of the gutter.

“Once, maybe. It’s fucking enormous,” he said.

“Can I be honest for a sec?”

“Go for it. Give me more ammunition to make fun of you.”

“Whatever,” she laughed, nails clicking against the phone screen. “Serious face now. I’m nervous.”

Theo glanced down at the top of her dark head, eyeing the glitter in her hair. “Why? You love parties.”

“I’m not sure. Woman’s intuition, I guess. I have this like, weird feeling I can’t shake.”

Alyssa sat up. She pulled the curls through her hands, littering sparkles all over their drivers backseat. “How’re you doing? Good?”

“I’m fine. Getting a little carsick.”

The happy pill wasn’t doing it’s thing, and he was having second thoughts about why he was going in the first place.

Was it only to see Noah? God that was desperate as fuck. Alyssa was going to be there. And Benji had texted saying he wanted to hang out before he left. Decker had even started sending weird-ass memes all hours of the day and night .

It wasn’t just for Noah.

It wasn’t.

At all.

Theo took his phone back and turned off the music. “How many people are going to be there, exactly?”

“Like, sixty or eighty. Do you ever, ever check the group chat? At all?”

Great.

“I would rather eat glass,” he said flatly.

The car lurched when it rolled up the hill and he closed his eyes to fend off the new wave of nausea.

Reaching over, he groped for her hand blindly. Squeezed.

“You’ll be alright,” he murmured. “If you need me to rescue you, let me know.”

“My knight in Goodwill clothes,” she teased, but her grip tightened.

Theo couldn’t help but laugh.

The car slowed to a stopped in front of what looked like a fucking castle.

Theo rolled down the window, sticking his head out.

Castle? That didn’t even seem like the right word for this monstrosity. What the hell was bigger than a fucking castle ?

The house could have swallowed their entire high school whole. Twice. Maybe three times if he counted whatever the hell was on the sides.

If the front was wild, the light show happening in the backyard should have been an epilepsy warning all on its own, and it wasn’t even dark yet. The neon beams cutting through the dusk felt like it belonged in a much bigger place than Ohio.

The driveway had two other cars in it, one of which Theo recognized as Noah’s.

Where were the rest of the people? Did they park somewhere else or did they get dropped off too?

He didn’t even have time to ask if it was the right place before Alyssa was chirping out her thanks and dragging him out of the backseat.

As the driver pulled away, Theo couldn’t be bothered to move. His feet were glued to the rough stone walkway, his head permanently lodged to the side. The windows were so big he could see entire rooms.

Holy shit .

Alyssa grabbed his elbow. “Yes. Max is richer than most people you’ll ever meet. Stop staring and let’s go.”

“You’ve—you’ve been here before, haven’t you?” Theo stammered out. He still couldn’t shut his mouth.

“I was here yesterday helping set up.” She pulled him forward. “After Noah ditched us, Max needed the extra hands. It’s kind of a museum inside, though.” She paused. “Oh, and don’t like, smile at the catering staff. They’re super weird. Like, weirder than weird. ”

“I’m sorry, the fucking catering staff? You told, you—you asked if I’d ever driven by!”

“I wanted to see if you knew where we were going, gosh. I thought it wouldn’t shock your system as bad.”

That was the understatement of the year.

Theo didn’t belong.

The nicest place he’d ever stepped foot in was The Cheesecake Factory when he’d visited Indiana with friends years back. That was a luxury.

This was a different planet with its own orbit.

“If you’re going to be sick babe,” Alyssa said, “there’s fifteen bathrooms.”

She tugged him around the side of the house, oversized trees and rosebushes bracketing the path.

The backyard had to have been four times the size of the front. And in the middle of the Olympic sized swimming pool? Decker’s tall ass. Reclined on one those ridiculously large unicorn floaties.