Student Body (Nightmare Hall) (13 page)

“Please!” I begged into the lobby telephone. I didn’t want Nat to hear me, so I’d told her I was going downstairs for a cold drink. I’d have to remember to bring one back upstairs with me. “Please, Eli. I need you to be there, too. Anyway, you promised Mindy.”

“That was before.”

“Before.” What a lovely word! If only it were still “before.”

He finally gave in. “Bay’s going to be really ticked if you and I spend all our time together trying to figure out which Sigma Chi is Most Likely to Be a Killer. You know his temper.”

“That’s Hoop,” I reminded Eli, “not Bay.”

Eli laughed. “Haven’t had a real argument with Bay yet, have you, Tory?”

“Yes, I have. And he
didn’t
lose his temper.” Well, not really. Not ranting or raving or throwing or breaking things.

“Well, he has one,” Eli cautioned. “I’ve known him longer than you have. So if you see someone you think seems suspicious, just give me a sign and I’ll meet you out on the terrace. And if I were you, I’d make sure Bay didn’t see you leave.”

Ridiculous. Bay knew Eli and I were friends. Why would he care if I met Eli on the terrace? I was going to tell Bay everything that had happened, anyway.

Telling Eli I’d see him at the Sigma Chi house, I went upstairs to shower and dress for the party.

M
INDY LOOKED BEAUTIFUL. SHE
was wearing a strapless red dress that contrasted perfectly with her pale blonde hair, which she had piled high on her head and fastened with a pearled comb.

Nat looked perfect, too, in a black sheath and heels. Me, I couldn’t have cared less. It was all I could do to throw on a skirt and sweater.

“You’re a cinch to win,” Nat said as Mindy climbed into her car. Bay and Eli were meeting us at the Sigma Chi house. “You look fantastic!”

“It’s just not going to be the same without Hoop there,” Mindy said mournfully from the backseat. “What kind of Sigma Chi Sweetheart shows up at a party without a date?”

I couldn’t tell if she was mourning the loss of Hoop or simply the loss of a date. Deciding I was being too judgmental, I said consolingly, “Everyone knows why you don’t have a date, Mindy. Actually, you’d lose more votes if you
did
show up with someone else.”

That cheered her up, at least until Nat asked her if she’d called the hospital recently to see how Hoop was.

“He’s just the same,” Mindy answered. “No change at all. But at least he’s still alive. I talked to that Nurse Lovett person. I don’t think she likes me.” She sounded really hurt at the thought of someone not liking her. That was something that didn’t happen to Mindy very often. Maybe never. “She made some nasty crack about me not calling very often. But you know, I don’t like to bother them. I know how busy they are in ICU.”

“She doesn’t have a really terrific bedside manner,” Nat agreed. “Still, you found out what you needed to know, right? That Hoop is … okay?”

I glanced over at Nat, thinking, “Okay?” I would hardly call Hoop’s condition “okay,” and I was positive Nurse Lovett wouldn’t, either. Maybe Nat was just trying to keep Mindy’s spirits up.

Nat turned her attention to me. “You never told me why you were such a mess when you came back to the room today. We were so busy getting ready. I forgot about it. But you looked awful. Like you’d just climbed up the incinerator. How come?”

I thought fast. I
should
tell Nat and Mindy everything that had happened. We were all in this together, which meant they had a right to know.

The problem was, I didn’t
feel
like we were in it together. Mindy was all caught up in this Sweetheart business, and I was still annoyed that Bay and Nat had been discussing me at breakfast. I couldn’t get over the fact that they’d thought I might fink on everyone. My telephone conversation with Bay about the party had been brief and curt. He had wanted to know where I’d been all afternoon, and I’d just said, “Out.” When he persisted, I’d added, “Down by the river.” That was pretty close to the truth. Sort of.

The only person I felt close to at that point was Eli.

Still, Nat and Mindy had a right to know about the mummy-thing. True, it hadn’t come near them yet. But it might. If it was angry about Hoop, it wouldn’t be targeting only Eli and me. The others had been in the park that night, too. Everyone knew we did practically everything together. Nat and Mindy should be warned.

Right. But
after
the party would be soon enough. I’d let Mindy have this night, and then I’d tell them.

“I was down by the river, and I slipped on the riverbank and fell,” I said in answer to Nat’s question.

“Did the fire reach that far?”

“No, why?”

“Because you looked all sooty. Not muddy. Sooty. And you smelled of smoke.”

“That whole area smells of smoke, Nat. And there was a lot of ash by the riverbank. The wind must have blown it for miles.”

As we got out of the car, I said, “Listen, if anyone inside says or does anything weird, tell me, okay?”

They both looked at me. “Weird?” Mindy said.

“Well, I mean …” This was impossible. I shouldn’t have brought it up since I wasn’t ready to tell them the whole story. “I just meant, some of those people inside think we’re lying about not being with Hoop the night of the fire. If anyone gets nasty about it, just tell me, okay?”

They shrugged and nodded, but I could tell they didn’t understand.

Well, why should they? I didn’t understand what was happening myself, and I had a lot more information than they did.

Sigma house was a mob scene, and the noise was deafening. Conversation with Eli was going to be just about impossible.

He was waiting just inside the door. He looked very nice, in slacks and a navy blue blazer, an outfit I’d only seen him wearing once before. Usually, he looked a bit awkward, in baggy jeans and T-shirts. Bay was definitely better-looking than Eli. So why was I so glad to see Eli standing there, and why didn’t I notice that Bay was right behind him until several seconds later?

To make up for my screwed-up feelings, I gave Bay a big hug and told him I was glad to see him.

But my eyes, over Bay’s shoulder, were on Eli. He caught my gaze and nodded. He hadn’t forgotten what we’d talked about earlier, and I knew he’d be keeping his eyes open for anything suspicious.

Bay and I headed into the living room to dance. I felt as if I was walking straight into enemy territory, and judging by the looks we were getting, it wasn’t my imagination.

“They don’t believe us,” I whispered as we began dancing. “They don’t believe we weren’t with Hoop in the park. Some of them don’t, anyway. I can tell by the way they’re looking at us. They know we lied.”

“They don’t
know
we lied,” he argued. “They can’t know that for sure. They’re just guessing. And as long as they’re just guessing, we’re okay.”

I didn’t feel okay. I didn’t feel the tiniest bit okay.

And although Mindy “sparkled” the way she was expected to, every once in a while I caught a glimpse of her as she danced by me. She was laughing up at the guy she was dancing with, but she wasn’t laughing with her eyes. Mindy wasn’t okay, either, not really. I wondered what effect the suspicions about us would have on her chances of being picked Sweetheart of Sigma Chi. Everyone liked Mindy. But if some of the Sigmas suspected that we’d been with Hoop the night of the fire and were lying about it, wouldn’t they suspect Mindy even more? Hoop sometimes went places without Eli, Nat, Bay, and me. But he
never
went anywhere without Mindy, except maybe out on the basketball court. Even then, she was on the sidelines in her cheerleading uniform.

Mindy was certainly doing her best to stay cheerful. I had to hand it to her. Her only bad moments came when people asked her about Hoop. She got shaky then, and was finally brought to tears by a particularly sympathetic comment from a girl in a white dress.

Bay was being a royal pain, grilling me about where I’d been that afternoon, who I’d been with, and what I’d been doing.

It finally hit me why. He was afraid I might have gone to the police and ’fessed up. I couldn’t believe it. What did I have to do, take a blood oath to prove to him and to Nat that I wasn’t a fink? Didn’t they know me better than that?

“I don’t have to tell you where I was this afternoon,” I said coldly, pulling out of his arms on the dance floor. “But I’ll tell you this much. I did not, at any time today, go near the Twin Falls police station or the campus security office. Satisfied?” And I turned on my heel and stalked off the dance floor.

I went looking for Eli. I found him out on the terrace, standing at the stone railing overlooking a huge back lawn. The air was a little too chilly and windy to suit most people, so he had the covered patio to himself.

“Anything?” I asked, coming up behind him.

“Nope, not a thing.” He didn’t turn around. “You?”

I shook my head. “There
are
people acting weird,” I said, moving up to stand beside him, “but no more than usual. But I’ve been thinking, Eli.”

“Shouldn’t do that,” he joked. “Dangerous. Could get to be a habit.”

I didn’t laugh. “Hoop was burned in a fire. Then I was burned in the tanning capsule. Not like Hoop, of course, but still … then I was burned by the steam from my car. And then you and I were almost burned to death in that burrow. I don’t think for a second that all of that is coincidental. Someone is determined to make us suffer exactly in the same way that Hoop’s suffering. To show us what that feels like.”

“Or worse,” Eli said grimly, nodding. “I agree. The question is,
who
?” He gestured over his shoulder. “Could be anyone in that house. Any friend of Hoop’s. Got any ideas?”

“No. I don’t know Hoop’s other friends that well. Mindy does, though. Maybe I’ll sound her out. I haven’t asked her so far because I didn’t want to tell her what was going on. Not until after the party. If I can’t ask her questions without giving anything away, then I’ll just have to tell her the whole story now, instead of waiting until later. I hate to do that. I think it’s really hard for her, being in this house without Hoop, but I may have no choice. I can’t just stand around here waiting for something terrible to happen.”

“Where is she?”

“Fixing her makeup.”

Eli groaned. “She’ll be gone for hours. You know how she is. Maybe you ought to ask Bay instead. He knows a lot of Hoop’s friends.”

“I don’t
want
to ask Bay,” I said sharply.

Eli looked at me then. “Don’t say something like that and get my hopes up if you’re going to go right back in there and make nice with him.”

“I’m not.” That surprised me. But Bay should have trusted me, no matter what the circumstances were. He should have known, better than anyone else, that I could never rat on my friends, no matter how guilty I felt. He should have known, better than anyone, that if the time came when I couldn’t keep our horrible secret another second, I’d have gone to them first, and told them.

I knew I wasn’t going to be able to forgive him for thinking otherwise.

So, when Eli pulled me to his chest and bent his head and kissed me, I kissed him back.

And that was something I
didn’t
feel guilty about. Not at all.

“I’ve wanted to do that ever since this afternoon,” he said when, smiling, I moved away from him. Then he added quickly, “No, that’s a lie. I’ve wanted to do it ever since I met you, and I’ve been kicking myself ever since for introducing you to Bay. Dumb move on my part.”

Then he reached for me again, but I shook my head. “Eli, I—we—can’t start this right now. Not with all the other stuff that’s going on. I have to find Mindy, and if she can’t help me, then I guess I’ll have to talk to Bay.”

Eli’s thin face clouded. “To Bay?”

“Oh, not to make nice,” I amended quickly. “I mean, about Hoop’s friends. We have to find out who’s after us. So, can we just put
us
on hold for right now?”

“As long as it’s temporary,” Eli said. “I know you’re right. Bad timing, story of my life.”

I leaned over and gave him another quick kiss.

Then I went to look for Mindy. I headed straight for the powder room on the first floor. She was probably still in there.

She was.

But she wasn’t standing at the sink, applying fresh mascara or lip gloss or adjusting the clip in her hair.

Instead, she was lying on the black-and-white tiled floor on her back, her eyes closed, her mouth slightly open, her long, blonde hair splayed out around her head like a golden cloud. Her legs were bent at an angle, her arms were outstretched above her head, as if she were reaching for something.

And she was lying very, very still.

I
OPENED MY MOUTH
to scream, but the only sound I made was a breathy gasp. I wanted desperately to turn, to run, to get out of there and tell myself I hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary. I wanted Mindy not to be lying on the floor, unconscious. For one tiny moment, I was very, very angry with her for letting this happen. Why hadn’t she been more careful?

Because she didn’t know she was
supposed
to be, came the answer. Because
you,
Tory, didn’t warn her.

I knelt to see if she was breathing. When I was sure that she was, I checked for blood, expecting it to be pooling under her head.

There was no blood. And no visible marks of any kind, except that her lips seemed to be bluish.

I did open my mouth again, and this time a cry for help came out. Then another, and another. In just seconds, people entered and began milling around, barking out orders: Call a doctor, call an ambulance, get a pillow, give her air, give her air.

I stood up. Mindy had plenty of help now. What I wanted to know was how she’d landed on her back on the floor in the first place.

It only took a second to figure it out. The sink was full of water. She’d been rinsing off the old makeup, planning to apply fresh. And lying in the water, floating innocently, was a small curling iron. Mindy’s intention had been to put some new life into her curls. The curling iron was still plugged in.