kid.
I smacked his hand away with a laugh. “God, Jase. Cut it out.”
He was already reaching for my ear again when he stopped midreach and lowered his hands to his sides.
“What?” I asked.
“You called me Jase.”
Crap! Lesson number eight, Sloane, I reminded myself. Don’t get complacent.
It had always been like that with Jason, easy when everyone else required a little more work. Being around him was effortless. Now, that was dangerous.
You have to stay on your toes if you’re going to pull this off. And you need to pull this off. So stop making mistakes!
Before I could come up with an excuse for using my childhood nickname for him, Oliver Clarke appeared trailing behind his scavenger hunt partner. I didn’t know where he’d come from, but the deserted hallway was long enough that it was possible he’d seen my whole exchange with Jason, ear yanking and nickname calling included.
Oliver eyed us as he approached, pressing his lips together to hold back a laugh. He remained silent until he was right next to us, then said in a low voice meant only for me, “Hey, Sweet Potato.”
The snort escaped me before I could stop it.
Oliver’s eyes lit up.
I knew I was supposed to be avoiding him because of the whole gossip and mean ex-girlfriend thing, but no one else was around other than Jason and Oliver’s teammate, a guy I recognized from the a cappella group. And I couldn’t just ignore him after a reaction like that. I tipped my head in his direction. “Choir Boy.”
Oliver’s mouth dropped open. “Insults are not a good start to our friendship. I think you mean Singer of Very Manly Songs.”
I pointed at the corner his partner had just disappeared around. “Or maybe I mean Misplacer of Teammates.”
“Oh, shoot,” Oliver grumbled as he hurried around the corner.
I shook my head and peeked at Jason, who was biting his lip, watching the spot where Oliver disappeared. “Sorry about the Jase thing,” I said. “I have a cousin named Jason and that’s what I call him. It just slipped out.”
“It’s okay. It’s what my mom calls me.”
I know. She stole it from me. “That’s because it’s a good nickname.”
Jason smiled. “Yeah, it is.”
“So.” I clapped my hands together. “We need to find some bees, right?”
He raised one eyebrow. “Are you done basking?”
“No, but the basking can continue on our way to the office.”
When I opened the office door, Mrs. Zalinsky smiled at me from behind the tall counter. “Sloane, dear. Back so soon?”
The genuine warmth in her voice melted away my lingering annoyance at her part in giving me a First Day Buddy. She was only trying to help and it hadn’t been that bad. “We need a picture of your bees for the scavenger hunt,” I explained, pointing to Mrs. Zalinsky’s nameplate for Jason.
“Ah,” he mumbled. “I never would’ve gotten that. I haven’t been in here in forever.”
Mrs. Zalinsky eyed Jason as he took the requisite picture. “I told you you wouldn’t need that map,” she whispered to me.
I leaned closer to Mrs. Zalinsky, like we were old friends sharing secrets. “Trust me, I need a map for that. I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“Are you two done chatting?” Jason asked, suppressing a grin. “Because we’ve got a scavenger hunt to win.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Z!” I called as I followed Jason out of the office.
We sprinted for the courtyard, but when we arrived, we found Mrs. Thompson sitting on a bench with a line of about ten pairs already waiting for her to verify their photos, including Sawyer and Livie three groups ahead of us.
I groaned as Sawyer and Livie did a ha-ha-we-beat-you dance. I pulled Jason in line on the off chance everyone in front of us ended up disqualified. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have spent so much time basking.”
“It’s okay,” Jason said with a shrug. “We didn’t actually bet on anything, so all Sawyer gets is bragging rights. Plus, I liked the basking.”
I peeked in Mrs. Thompson’s direction, trying to see if she was eliminating anyone, but my gaze caught on the brick wall behind her instead. I rubbed the back of my neck and studied it.
“So what was with you and Mrs. Zalinsky back there?” The smile in Jason’s voice didn’t match the tightness forming in my chest.
“That was girl talk,” I said lightly, not taking my eyes off the faded bricks. It was the same brick wall I’d stood in front of the night we’d broken into the school. It had the same dark wet patches, this time due to the early morning rain. And looking at it again was giving me the same creepy feeling.
“How can you already be having girl talk with the secretary? You just got here.”
The air shifted, more thick and humid than it had been a second ago. I sucked in a ragged breath as my fingertips started to tingle, like I’d just scraped them along something rough. I balled my hands into fists.
“Sloane?”
I knew it was coming. But my breath still caught in my throat when I saw a flash of blue against the faded red of the bricks.
Something brushed against my arm and I jumped.
“Did you hear me? The pair with those Team Hot Stuff shirts won.” Jason nodded at the students around us, slowly making their way back toward the school.
“Oh yeah, sorry. Let’s go.”
But as Jason hurried to catch up to Sawyer and Livie, I took one last look at the brick wall and shivered.
Because I hadn’t just seen a blue blur against the bricks. I’d heard a voice inside my head. A voice too insubstantial to identify, yet familiar enough to make my heart trip. A voice that said three little words: You can’t hide.
I’d remembered something.
Not the recurring nightmare or the flashes I got when it felt like someone was watching me, but something new. I was certain. But I wasn’t certain I wanted to tell Mark about it. Not after the conversation we’d had that morning about remembering.
I pulled open the screen door after school, still debating what to do, when Mark’s voice stopped me.
“She doesn’t know anything.”
I
