Is it just me, or are things getting TOTES CRAY around here? I mean, Neil’s here to stop some vampire shizz that’s going down, or maybe he is a vampire? And Finn’s flirting hard core? And Jacob got muscles AND is wearing a ring suspiciously like the weird box in Neil’s locker? One ticket to Crazytown, please!
You guys chose: C. suddenly remember you left something terribly important at school, and ask Jacob to drop you there instead. After all, you’ve got a nail file and a couple of hairpins in your purse — how hard can it be to break into Neil’s locker and check out that weird box?
Step inside to read more . . .
Chapter 10: This Hairpin Functions as a Lock Pick
“So. I guess this is slightly more exciting than Freshman Psych, right?”
As you say this, you glance over at Jacob’s profile. He looks worried, and older than you’ve ever seen him. And hotter, too. It has to be said, the boy has definitely blossomed.
Jacob manages a half-smile as he turns onto the main road to get to school.
“No Freshman Psych for me. Instead, I’m fulfilling my father’s fear of pissing my degree away with ‘Comparative Mythology: The Root and Rise of Vampire Lore.'”
“Sounds impressive.”
“Mostly we’ve just watched Bela Lugosi movies so far. It’s the easiest A of the semester!”
You steal a look out of the corner of your eye at Jacob’s right hand, strumming gently on the steering wheel, the antique-looking ring glinting dully in the light. Here goes nothing.
“Is that where you found out about that ring? In your class?”
Jacob whips his heads to the right to look at you questioningly. “What are you talking about?”
“The ring. I noticed it in kitchen. I assume it means what I think it means?”
Please don’t ask me what it means. Please just take the bait.
“I bought it from a street vendor. For a laugh, you know, because it matched the design in the book from my class. And I thought – well, it’s stupid, but there’s someone I thought might like it, but I lost the nerve – but anyway, ever since I started wearing it, I’ve felt . . . compelled, I guess. To come back here. To find out what’s had my mom so concerned with Kayleigh. Is that crazy?”
Mutely, you shake your head. Crazier things have happened today.
“Anyway, how do you know about it?” Crap. As you rack your brain trying to come up with a clever answer, Jacob brakes to a stop in front of the school.
“Uh, I’ll tell you about that later! I really have to go; I, uh, left a Bunsen burner on earlier in lab. If I cause another fire, Principal Snyder will kill me. I’m just going to get my bag; pop the trunk, would you?”
Jacob raises one eyebrow but acquiesces, and you run to the trunk of the car to grab your backpack. And sitting right there next to it is Jacob’s own backpack, with the top of “Comparative Mythology” sticking out of it.
Stopping only long enough to mutter a quick apology, you steal the book and shove it in your bag. Maybe you can finally get some answers.
“Look, Jacob, I really appreciate the ride. Call me when you find Kayleigh. Or if you can’t find Kayleigh. Or just . . . you could just call me. You know. Whenever.”
Not stopping to see whether Jacob has reacted to your ridiculous babbling, you dash up the school steps and through the door. Finding your way to the hall with Neil’s locker only takes a minute, and you set your bag down across the hall and get to work on picking the lock.
It takes longer than it does on Dexter. But finally, the tumblers fall in place, and just as you’re opening the locker door, you hear a sound.
“I tried calling her, Heather, but she won’t pick up! And that crazy freak Kayleigh’s nowhere to be found either. It’s got to be this stupid new guy’s fault, and I’m going to find out what he’s hiding.”
Finn. Crap.
You are struggling to lift the box – which is seriously heavier than it looks, what is it made out of, lead? – out of Neil’s locker, when you hear Finn again, this time coming closer.
“Yeah, I’m going to try calling her again. Maybe this time the geek will actually pick up.”
The geek. That’s you. Finn’s about to call you, and your ringer is turned up all the way. He’s going to find you snooping in Neil’s locker in a matter of seconds, unless you make a move, quick.
Spying the girl’s bathroom across the hall, you can sense your escape route. But you’ll never have time to free the box from the locker, pick up your bookbag, and turn your ringer off in the next ten seconds.
Do you:
A. Free your hands from the locker, turn off the ringer of your phone, and pray that you can get the box out before Finn finds you?
B. Ditch the box, grab your bag, and hide out in the girls’ room?
C. Continue to try to get the box out of the locker? Let Finn find you. Maybe he’s the one telling the truth, anyway.
