Life After Theft
Page 41
“You’re only saying that because you didn’t think of falling forward to get farther,” I said, wrapping my arms around her and picking her up to spin her around. Once we were both too dizzy to spin anymore I took her hand and pulled her to the hill we’d walked up after the party. I sat down on the cool grass and patted the spot beside me. She smiled and joined me and I put my arm around her shoulder, drawing her close and laying my head against her hair.
“So was it a good do-over?” I asked, more serious now. “Can we just forget that the other night happened?”
She hesitated and I got a little nervous.
“Is it going to happen again?” she asked seriously.
“What? Going to a Harrison Hill party? Uh, no. Believe me.”
“Not just Harrison Hill,” she said. “Are you going to keep partying?”
I laughed. “You make it sound like I have a habit. Even back in Phoenix, I didn’t go to many parties.”
“I don’t mean it like that,” she said. “I just . . . I’ve tried a lot of stuff.” She chuckled softly. “A lot of stuff. And . . . it’s all bad news, Jeff. It’ll mess you up. It messed me up,” she added softly. “And in the end, I got off easy.” She swallowed hard and for a second the secret-filled silence chilled me. “I think you’re great, but . . . I can’t get involved in that world again. Not even through you. So if getting toasted every weekend is your idea of fun, then . . .” She let the sentence hang.
Although my brain was screaming at me to ask her what a lot of stuff was—combined with what the other cheerleader had just said about watching out for her—I knew this wasn’t the time. “The hangover sucked big time,” I confessed. “I think I’m off that kind of partying for a while. A long while.”
“Okay,” she said, turning and leaning her head against my shoulder.
“Now can we forget it happened?” I asked.
“Forgotten,” she whispered. I lay back on the grass, wishing I’d thought to bring a blanket, and Sera curled her body against me and rested her forehead against my cheek. One of her hands rested on my chest for a moment, then after a bit of hesitation, she pushed her hand under my shirt, laying it against my bare stomach and awakening pretty much every nerve in my entire body.
“My hand is cold,” she offered as an excuse.
That was just fine with me.
I brushed her hair away from her face. “Thanks for rescuing me.”
“From the party?” she asked.
“That, too,” I said, leaning close. I wanted this kiss to mean something—to show her how much she meant. I didn’t quite know how to put all that into a kiss, but I tried.
Somehow, she seemed to understand. Beneath the vanilla of her lip gloss I swear I could feel how much she wanted me at that moment, and the thrill of it made me light-headed. I wasn’t just kissing her—she was kissing me. And she really, really meant it.
And that made everything else worth it.
Nineteen
“ARE YOU CRAZY?”
Khail’s words echoed in my ear even though I pulled the phone away.
“Khail, just lis—”
“We cannot break into the school!”
“Quiet!” I hissed. Who knew who might hear him in his house?
Sera, at the very least.
“I told you he wouldn’t go for it,” Kimberlee said from the passenger seat.
“You’re the one who wanted to do this with style,” I said into the phone, waving at Kimberlee to hush. Not that anyone could hear her.
“That’s, like, a professional job, though. And illegal,” he added, as though I hadn’t thought of that.
“And easy when you’re working with an invisible person,” I said.
That stopped him. “Kimberlee? Seriously?”
“Yes! She can get us all the security codes, watch for anyone coming, make sure the school is empty—you know, all that stuff.”
“Just one problem, brain-boy. Master key. Alarm codes are all well and good, but all those doors still need a key, and from what I understand, your little friend can’t touch anything.”
“Bailey,” I said, naming our assistant principal. “She’s got keys to everything, but she’s never in charge of actually locking up. I bet we could steal her master key and she wouldn’t notice it missing for weeks.”
Khail was silent for a long time.
Since he wasn’t arguing with me, I took advantage of it. “Think about it: We go in at night, like, Monday, maybe, open the front doors, you go put in the alarm code, I start unlocking classrooms, we leave a stack of stuff on every teacher’s desk,” I said, grinning even as I laid out the coup de grâce.
“Why the hell would we leave stuff on the teachers’ desks,” Khail said flatly.
“That’s the beauty of it. The thing about getting stuff back is that, like you said, sometimes it’s really important stuff. If even a fraction of the stuff we give back to the teachers is important, they’re going to stop caring so much about catching us and we can take a bunch of student stuff back in the process.”
Silence again, and I forced myself to breathe slowly as Khail considered it. “Okay,” he said slowly. “I get it. This . . . this’ll work! See, this is why you’re the brains of the operation. That is genius, Jeff. Genius!”
I decided against telling him it was Kimberlee’s idea. Her great dream to pull off a true heist.
“So was it a good do-over?” I asked, more serious now. “Can we just forget that the other night happened?”
She hesitated and I got a little nervous.
“Is it going to happen again?” she asked seriously.
“What? Going to a Harrison Hill party? Uh, no. Believe me.”
“Not just Harrison Hill,” she said. “Are you going to keep partying?”
I laughed. “You make it sound like I have a habit. Even back in Phoenix, I didn’t go to many parties.”
“I don’t mean it like that,” she said. “I just . . . I’ve tried a lot of stuff.” She chuckled softly. “A lot of stuff. And . . . it’s all bad news, Jeff. It’ll mess you up. It messed me up,” she added softly. “And in the end, I got off easy.” She swallowed hard and for a second the secret-filled silence chilled me. “I think you’re great, but . . . I can’t get involved in that world again. Not even through you. So if getting toasted every weekend is your idea of fun, then . . .” She let the sentence hang.
Although my brain was screaming at me to ask her what a lot of stuff was—combined with what the other cheerleader had just said about watching out for her—I knew this wasn’t the time. “The hangover sucked big time,” I confessed. “I think I’m off that kind of partying for a while. A long while.”
“Okay,” she said, turning and leaning her head against my shoulder.
“Now can we forget it happened?” I asked.
“Forgotten,” she whispered. I lay back on the grass, wishing I’d thought to bring a blanket, and Sera curled her body against me and rested her forehead against my cheek. One of her hands rested on my chest for a moment, then after a bit of hesitation, she pushed her hand under my shirt, laying it against my bare stomach and awakening pretty much every nerve in my entire body.
“My hand is cold,” she offered as an excuse.
That was just fine with me.
I brushed her hair away from her face. “Thanks for rescuing me.”
“From the party?” she asked.
“That, too,” I said, leaning close. I wanted this kiss to mean something—to show her how much she meant. I didn’t quite know how to put all that into a kiss, but I tried.
Somehow, she seemed to understand. Beneath the vanilla of her lip gloss I swear I could feel how much she wanted me at that moment, and the thrill of it made me light-headed. I wasn’t just kissing her—she was kissing me. And she really, really meant it.
And that made everything else worth it.
Nineteen
“ARE YOU CRAZY?”
Khail’s words echoed in my ear even though I pulled the phone away.
“Khail, just lis—”
“We cannot break into the school!”
“Quiet!” I hissed. Who knew who might hear him in his house?
Sera, at the very least.
“I told you he wouldn’t go for it,” Kimberlee said from the passenger seat.
“You’re the one who wanted to do this with style,” I said into the phone, waving at Kimberlee to hush. Not that anyone could hear her.
“That’s, like, a professional job, though. And illegal,” he added, as though I hadn’t thought of that.
“And easy when you’re working with an invisible person,” I said.
That stopped him. “Kimberlee? Seriously?”
“Yes! She can get us all the security codes, watch for anyone coming, make sure the school is empty—you know, all that stuff.”
“Just one problem, brain-boy. Master key. Alarm codes are all well and good, but all those doors still need a key, and from what I understand, your little friend can’t touch anything.”
“Bailey,” I said, naming our assistant principal. “She’s got keys to everything, but she’s never in charge of actually locking up. I bet we could steal her master key and she wouldn’t notice it missing for weeks.”
Khail was silent for a long time.
Since he wasn’t arguing with me, I took advantage of it. “Think about it: We go in at night, like, Monday, maybe, open the front doors, you go put in the alarm code, I start unlocking classrooms, we leave a stack of stuff on every teacher’s desk,” I said, grinning even as I laid out the coup de grâce.
“Why the hell would we leave stuff on the teachers’ desks,” Khail said flatly.
“That’s the beauty of it. The thing about getting stuff back is that, like you said, sometimes it’s really important stuff. If even a fraction of the stuff we give back to the teachers is important, they’re going to stop caring so much about catching us and we can take a bunch of student stuff back in the process.”
Silence again, and I forced myself to breathe slowly as Khail considered it. “Okay,” he said slowly. “I get it. This . . . this’ll work! See, this is why you’re the brains of the operation. That is genius, Jeff. Genius!”
I decided against telling him it was Kimberlee’s idea. Her great dream to pull off a true heist.
