The Monster Within

CHAPTER TWENTY

I CHECKED to see who the message was from, but the number was blocked. I’d just gotten this phone. No one had the number except Ethan. Yet I knew who the text was from. Dylan. He’d found Rebecca’s body, and he knew I was the one responsible for her death.

I felt sick to my stomach, and I needed some air. I raised my hand, but it was lost in a sea of hands. Damn those girls and their attempts to impress the hot teacher.

“Mr. Ryan,” I said, not caring about calling out or speaking out of turn.

“Yes, Ms. Smith.” He motioned for the other girls to lower their hands.

“I’m not feeling very good. May I use the restroom, please?”

“Absolutely.” He wrote me a pass, and I took my bag with me.

“Thank you,” I said, taking the pass.

“I hope you feel better.” Mr. Ryan gave me a sympathetic smile, which elicited angry glares from the girls in the front row.

I walked quickly out of the room and headed for the girls’ bathroom. I ducked into the first stall and took out my phone.

Should I text him back or ignore it? If I didn’t answer, maybe he’d think he had the wrong number.

The phone vibrated again, and I jumped. My heart pounded.

Bathroom break. Meet me by the boys’ bathroom in the English wing.

Ethan. I sighed, relieved it was him.

Make it the girls’ bathroom. Already here. I texted back.

I put the phone away and stepped out of the stall. A head peeked into the bathroom.

“Come in,” I whispered. “No one else is in here.”

He rushed inside and scooped me into his arms. I giggled, and he put his finger to his lips. “Shh.” He pulled me into the handicapped stall and locked us inside.

I reached up on my toes and kissed him. This was what I’d missed out on all those months I couldn’t go to school because the cancer had me bedridden. This was what it was supposed to be like in high school, sneaking visits in the bathroom with your boyfriend.

We kissed until I was out of breath. I pulled away, needing some air. “This was a nice surprise.”

“Yeah, well, history was boring.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “You love history.”

“Okay, I missed you. We went to bed angry last night, and I didn’t get to spend any time with you.”

“Sam withdrawal.” I nodded. “That’s a serious condition.”

“I know.” He gave me a devilish grin and kissed me again.

My cell phone vibrated in my bag, making a metallic rattling sound against the stall door.

“What was that?” Ethan asked.

“Um, I think I hit the volume button on the side of the phone. I must have leaned on it. It happened in class, too. Almost got in trouble for it.”

Ethan leaned in to kiss me again, accepting my lie, but then the bell rang.

“Oh, crap!” he said. “How am I going to explain this? The halls are going to be crowded. I’ll never get out of here without someone seeing me.”

“Go, go, go!” I opened the stall door and pushed him out.

“Well, look at this,” Shannon said.

Ethan and I froze. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to keep from exploding. Why did it have to be her?

“I’m sure Mr. Ryan will be interested to hear your stomachache is gone.”

“What do you want, Shannon?” I narrowed my eyes at her.

“I want you out of this school, but since I doubt that will happen, I’ll settle for out of Mr. Ryan’s class.”

“Why?” Ethan asked.

“Because for some reason, he likes her.”

He turned toward me. “You said he didn’t like you like that.”

“He doesn’t,” I shrieked. “He’s a teacher. That’s totally disgusting.”

“He’s hot, and you know it,” Shannon said.

“No, I don’t.” I looped my arm through Ethan’s, not even caring that we were in the girls’ bathroom together anymore. “Come on. We’re going to be late for our next class.”

Ethan came with me, but I could tell he wasn’t finished with the Mr. Ryan subject.

“We’re not done here,” Shannon yelled after us.

I didn’t even acknowledge her.

“Are you sure there’s nothing else to this thing with Mr. Ryan?” Ethan asked as we walked to Sculpture.

“Yes, I’m sure. It’s just Shannon’s overactive imagination. You should hear what her brother told me about her.”

“I didn’t know she had a brother.”

“A twin actually, but she tells everyone they’re cousins.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“She’s a peach.”

Ethan laughed. “You know your grandmother is the only one who ever used that expression.”

My grandmother used to call me a peach all the time. “Actually, Gloria says it, too, and I like it.” Of course when I’d called Shannon a peach, I was being sarcastic.

“Why does she hate you so much? Was it the diner incident?”

“No, she decided she hated me the first time she saw me. I think it’s just because she’s an evil bitch.” Too bad she wasn’t an evil witch. I immediately cursed myself for even thinking that. I didn’t mean it at all.

Sculpture was actually kind of fun. I had no idea what I was doing on the pottery wheel, but Ms. Matthews let Ethan work with me. We spent more time with our fingers interlaced in clay—which is way more romantic than it sounds—than making sculptures. When our turn was over, we washed up and headed back to our table.

“Hey, you got a text while you were gone,” Beth said, motioning toward my bag with her pencil.

“I did?”

Ethan gave me a look, but I shrugged my shoulders. I reached into my bag, keeping the phone well hidden inside and checked the message. There were two. One from when I was in the girls’ bathroom with Ethan and one from a few minutes ago.

Attack another witch and you’ll wind up back in your grave.

Attack another witch and you’ll wind up back in your grave.

Why was he sending me the same text over and over again? Was he trying to scare me?

“Who was it?” Ethan asked.

“Um, some set-up message from the phone company.”

“Really?” He took his phone out of his pocket. Ms. Matthews was very laid back, and as long as we got our work done, she didn’t care if we had our phones out in class. “I wonder why I didn’t get one. Can I see yours?”

“I already erased it.” When would the lies end?

A hall monitor showed up with a pass for one of the guys in the class. I knew he was on the football team because he carried a ball everywhere.

“There goes another,” Beth said.

“Another what?” I wasn’t even a little surprised she knew what the pass was about.

“They’re calling down all of Trevor’s friends. He’s officially a missing person now, and the cops are trying to find a lead on where he ran off to or who might have kidnapped him.”

So far I’d managed to avoid almost all talk about my victims. Trevor and Rebecca were the only ones who had actually been from this town. The investigation meant I wouldn’t be able to forget what I’d done to Trevor—not that I really could anyway. But now it was going to be in my face until the police ruled the case closed.

At lunchtime, I was starving. I couldn’t remember eating dinner last night. Though I’d certainly had enough glasses of water to fill me up, thanks to Gloria’s attempts to keep me hydrated. Ethan got on the lunch line, claiming he had a craving for chocolate milk, but I saw they had giant soft pretzels and knew he was going to surprise me with one. I played along.

Beth was chatting away with the girl sitting next to her. I couldn’t remember her name. Actually, I didn’t remember the names of any of the kids sitting with us. Beth always did all the talking, and everyone else pretty much listened.

I used the distraction to text Dylan back. Not that I wanted to. I just didn’t want him sending any more obnoxious texts while Ethan was around. I’d have to figure out how to block a number on my phone, but until then, I hoped this would shut him up.

Wrong number.

It vibrated almost instantly. What, did he sit on his phone, waiting for it to ring?

Sam?

Nope. Wrong number.

Silence. Hallelujah! I tossed the phone back in my bag, satisfied that was the end of that.

Ethan returned with two soft pretzels and a chocolate milk. “Surprise!”

“Aw, thank you.” I kissed him lightly on the lips.

“You two are so cute,” Beth said. “How did you meet? I mean, you both just moved here, but you get along like you’ve known each other for a while.”

Damn her and her ability to figure things out.

Ethan squeezed my hand under the table. “We met the day we both got here. In the general store. When I saw her, I knew I had to meet her.”

It was times like this that I understood what my mom had always said about Ethan. He was romantic beyond his years.

“And of course she couldn’t resist my charm,” he added. And there was the typical seventeen-year-old boy attitude.

“Actually,” I said, “it was his goofiness that attracted me to him. He knocked over an entire display of toilet paper.” I was amazed how the lies just rolled off my tongue. Even Ethan look shocked by how quickly I’d come up with that story. “We’ve been inseparable ever since.” I popped a piece of soft pretzel into my mouth before I took the story too far. After all, it wasn’t the same story we’d told Mrs. Melrose in the guidance office. Not that I was worried any students would be gossiping with her.

“Totally cute,” Beth said. “I’m predicting you two are still together at prom.”

Ethan and I smiled. If only she knew that we’d already been to one prom together. My parents hadn’t wanted me to go, but since I was running out of time, they couldn’t exactly say no to me.

I finished my lunch while Beth went on and on about Shannon and how she had practically thrown herself at Mr. Ryan in the hallway. The girl had no shame. I just hoped she hadn’t mentioned finding Ethan and me in the bathroom together. Seeing Mr. Ryan was going to be awkward until I knew for sure. I was kind of surprised he wasn’t avoiding me after Shannon’s last rumor about me having a crush on him, but apparently he was used to the female student population acting this way and got over these things quickly.

Beth started in on the break-in next. She said the principal had had the camera by that exit replaced since there was no footage of the old man on it. At least one thing had gone in my favor. She also mentioned an elderly man who was reported missing a month back. He didn’t have any family but the neighbors discovered he was gone. Reporters were assuming it was the same guy.

I didn’t want to hear any more so I stood up. “I’m going to the bathroom. Be right back.”

Ethan nodded and took another bite of his pretzel, which he was now dunking in his chocolate milk.

I tossed my trash and headed to the bathroom across the hall from the cafeteria. I went to the sink and checked my teeth in the mirror, making sure I didn’t have any food stuck in them.

“I figured you’d come here eventually. You seem to like the bathrooms in this place.”

I jumped at the sound of Dylan’s voice. I turned to see him standing in the doorway of the last stall.

“You go to this school?”

“No.”

“Then why are you here? And why are you in the girls’ bathroom of all places?”

“Waiting for you, like I said.” He shifted his weight, leaning against the side of the stall. “My turn with the questions. Why did you lie in your text?”

“What text?” I played dumb.

He took out his phone. “Should I call it now?”

“No!” My phone was still in my bag on the bench next to Ethan.

“So, you admit you lied then? I didn’t have the wrong number.”

“Fine. I lied. But only because I wanted you to stop texting me.”

“Why was my texting you a problem? You didn’t want me showing up where Ethan would find you talking to me, so I found a way around that.”

“You sent me that same threatening message three times!”

“You didn’t respond. I thought it didn’t go through. I’m not big on texting.”

“You prefer yellow Post-it notes, right?”

He ventured out of the stall. “Look, we need to talk. I don’t care how. Phone, text, in person, you pick, but we have to clear some things up.”

“No, we don’t. I already know all I need to know about you.”

“From Nora?” He stepped toward me. “She’s lying to you.”

She’s lying to you. That was what the note on the floor of Ethan’s car had said. “The note wasn’t for Ethan. It was for me.”

“Of course it was for you. I have nothing to say to your boyfriend after he beat the crap out of me.” His hand rose to his nose, which was still healing from Ethan’s punch.

The door opened, and before Dylan could get back to the stall, Beth walked in. “Whoa, dude, I think you got the wrong bathroom.”

Dylan glared at me like this was my fault.

“Do you know him?” Beth asked.

“No. He scared me. I wasn’t expecting to walk into the girls’ bathroom and find a guy in here. Let alone a guy that doesn’t even go to school here.”

“Who are you?” Beth asked Dylan. “Did you break in here?” She turned to me. “Another break-in. That’s two in less than a week.”

Dylan stared at me. If he was waiting for me to defend him, it wasn’t happening.

“Stay there,” Beth said. “And don’t try anything.” She opened the door and yelled down the hall, “There’s a strange guy in the girls’ bathroom!”

Two teachers rushed into the bathroom. I recognized them from cafeteria duty, but I didn’t know their names.

“Right there.” Beth pointed, as if they couldn’t figure out which one of us was the intruder on their own.

They asked Dylan a bunch of questions, and he stood there shaking his head at me. Blaming me. One of the teachers radioed the main office, and a moment later, the school cop came bursting into the bathroom.

“You ladies, go back to the cafeteria,” he said.

Beth grabbed my arm and led me out of the bathroom. Ethan was waiting at the cafeteria door.

“What’s going on? I heard Beth yell, and then the cop ran in there.”

Beth patted my arm like I was a dog. “Some guy was in the girls’ bathroom. He scared Sam.”

“Some guy?” By the tone of Ethan’s voice I could tell he knew it was Dylan.

I nodded.

The bathroom door opened, and the school police officer led Dylan out in handcuffs. The kids in the cafeteria went wild, hooting and cheering.

Dylan stared at me. As he passed by he said, “Nothing is what you think.” He didn’t sound angry. More like hurt.

Ethan rubbed my shoulders as I stared at Dylan’s back getting farther and farther down the hall. I couldn’t help wondering if I had things all wrong. Was there a reason I’d memorized his number before I gave Ethan the note? Was there a reason I hadn’t told Ethan about all Dylan’s attempts to talk to me, all his notes?

Had I made a mistake?