“No, you’re in danger.” She gets up and walks out of the room and my fists clench.
“This person might want to hurt me, but who the fuck knows what they want to do to you? You’re not going.”
“I’m going. There will be lots of people there tonight. I won’t be alone.”
“Do you honestly think that I’m letting you go without me?”
“Yes, because you are the one he wants to hurt.” She grabs her bag, then turns to face me, crossing her arms over her chest.
“No fucking way. Either I go with you as planned, or we both stay here.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“I’m being ridiculous?” I bark out a humorless laugh. “Doll, we just found out that the person stalking you works at your school, and you’re fighting with me, because you want to go to the fucking school.”
“Nothing is going to happen.” She spins on her heels and heads out the door, leaving me no choice but to follow.
“If something happens tonight, I’m going to lose my shit,” I growl, opening the passenger door of my truck for her to climb in.
“Nothing is going to happen.” She looks down at me, and I see something working behind her eyes that sets me on edge.
“What are you up to?”
“Nothing.” She turns, placing her feet in the car. “We really need to go before we’re late.”
“Right.” I press the button on the key fob that will arm the alarm while we are away, then get in behind the wheel and drive us to the high school, wondering what the fuck is wrong with me.
“WHAT DO YOU think the chances are they’d notice if we took off?” Tony asks, and I drag my eyes off May and Toya, who got roped into doing some dance with a group of girls, to look at him.
“They’d spot us before we even made it to the door.”
“That’s what I figured,” he grumbles, and I grin as I scan the room, not sure what I’m looking for. When we arrived, May introduced me to the teachers who were helping out this evening, four women and three men who all seemed nice enough.
“So you’ve known May for a while. Can you think of anyone who’s had a crush on her?” I ask Tony, and he frowns.
“You mean besides Zach, who you met.”
“Yeah, besides him.”
“I don’t know. She’s a cute girl, so I imagine that list is pretty long.”
“That’s what I figured,” I mutter, scanning the dance floor for May when I notice she’s no longer with Toya.
“Why do you ask?” he questions as I spot her across the room, disappearing out one of the side doors.
“Fuck, I’ll be back.” I take off across the gym and shove open the door she just left out of, finding the hallway empty. When I hear a door shut to the right, I head that direction and look into each classroom as I pass, searching for any sign of her.
“Hey, is everything okay?” I turn at that question and find a kid standing at the end of the hall wearing a tux and recognize him from May pointing him out earlier in the evening and explaining he’s one of the seniors who helps her out in the library.
“Have you seen Ms. Mayson?”
He looks around, then shakes his head. “No, wasn’t she in the gym?”
“She was, but she stepped out a minute ago.”
“Do you want me to help you look for her?”
“No, I’ll find her. Go back and enjoy the party,” I tell him, not sure what she’s up to but positive it’s not good.
“All right.” He tucks his hands into the pockets of his slacks before turning and heading back toward the gym. I continue down the hall, and when I reach the end, I spot a light on in one of the classrooms and open it, stepping inside.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I ask May, finding her standing in what looks like a closet, and she screams as she spins around to face me, looking like a deer caught in headlights.
“You scared me.”
“Good, I hope you’re fucking scared.” I scrub my hands down my face. “What are you doing, sneaking around the school alone?”
“What do you think I’m doing?” She rolls her eyes. “I’m searching for the person who’s after you.”
“Doll.” I shake my head. “You are not Nancy Drew.”
“Maybe not, but something Zach said the other day came back to me, and I wanted to see if I could figure out who he was talking about.”
“What’s that?”
“He said that he works with someone who is a huge fan of yours.”
“And?”
“And what are the chances of that?”