I grabbed his chin to tip his face up to mine, “You don’t see yourself the way I see you. I think the crazy girl who sees dead people hit the jackpot.” I kissed his lips, but my mind started to spin. Trying to imagine him as a dog in high school. As “that” guy, who used girls… My lips slowed as a thought formed. “Tyler, how many girls have you slept with?”
He froze, shifting away from me, “Um, ok we’re going to go there?”
I adjusted a bit, and he pulled a blanket to cover me up a little. I waited, not going to let this drop.
He sighed, running his hand through his hair, “Savanah, I was an ass, can we just leave it at that?”
“Ballpark it for me. Just a guess.”
His eyes rolled and his shook his head slightly, “Why does it matter? I’m not that person anymore.”
“More than five? Less than ten?”
His expression slightly tightened, and he looked away.
Wow, more than ten. I took a quick breath, trying to hide my surprise.
“More than twenty?” I felt my pulse quicken at the question.
“Savanah, it doesn’t matter. Seriously.”
Holy crap.
He grabbed his shirt pulling it on, obviously uncomfortable with this conversation. “I’m not talking about this.”
I shrugged, “Ok, but just so you know. My list is a bit shorter. It would be zero.” I grabbed my shirt, pulling it on, mad at myself for killing the mood, and derailing this whole vibe we were on.
“Well, I kind of figured that.” He grabbed my arm lightly, “please don’t push this. I don’t want to talk about who I used to be. I don’t want you to know that person. He wasn’t great.”
“You know everything about me. You know about all of the crazy voices, the erratic fainting, heck you don’t bat an eye if I’m yelling at a stalker in the hall.”
“Wait, what stalker?” his energy shifted into defensive mode. “Someone’s bothering you?”
I blushed a little, “Yeah, but I’m the only one who can see him. So that’s fun.”
His fingers trailed down the side of my face. “This is the weird dorm guy? He’s back?”
“Yeah, but I was able to make him go away. I used the phrases that Dr. Eyebright told me to use, and it totally worked.” My face fell, “But there were some girls who saw the whole thing, so likely it will be going around that your girlfriend’s crazy. Sorry.”
He wrapped his arm around me, “I already knew that.” He pulled me into his chest. “I like you crazy.” His lips kissed my hair. “Hey, I got a thing tonight. Some of the guys are headed to bowling. Did you want to come?”
My face crinkled, “Bowling? No, I think I’m good.”
“You sure?” His tone sounded like he really wanted me to come, but Elizabeth lingered in the back of my head.
“No, I’m going to spend some quality time in the library. Research.”
His fingers trailed down my arms, moving to my stomach, and up the side of my body. “If you are sure.” He let his fingers travel up to my hair, turning my head towards him. “I mean if you’re really sure.” His lips claimed mine, and his grip on my hair tightened.
I exhaled with a little sigh. I pulled back slightly, and breathed, “Yeah, I’m sure.” It took such willpower to pull back. I didn’t want to leave his lips, his hands. I sighed a bit wistfully. “I am totally sure.” I said out loud to make my commitment feel more solid.
He kissed me one more time, but this one was different. His lips were gentle and light on mine. Like wings, they barely fluttered on my skin. They reached my ear, “You deserve better.”
He pulled back slowly; a thoughtful expression crossed his face, “I’ll text you later, just to check in.”
“You don’t have to, just have fun. Go be a guy,” I laughed thinking that being a guy meant bowling.
He stood up, crossing to get his phone from the other desk. Unplugging it, he smiled, “I’ll text you later.” He held his phone up. He leaned down and kissed me lightly. “Stay away from invisible stalkers. You have a boyfriend for hell’s sake,” he winked at me, and I blushed. My door shut and I flopped back on my bed. Why was it he affected me like that? It should have been illegal.
The library had emptied. Most of the die-hard students were holed up in corners, frantically working on projects, but the majority of population had given up, and dispersed to other areas of campus and beyond. I chose a small table tucked in the far side of the most populated areas. I pulled open my computer, typing in Blachley Hall in the search engine.
Nothing of substance.
I tried different angles, but seriously came up with nothing.
Finally, I tried searching for “The College of Idaho girl dies,” just to see if some historic papers would have something.
I swallowed hard. The search results first entry read, “Hennessy/ Derringer… Derringer’s girlfriend was attending a camp on The College of Idaho campus…. Karson Hennessy died from her injuries”
I exhaled deeply and clicked on the story.
Brock Derringer and Karson Hennessy had been high school sweethearts. Brock graduated from Kuna High School when Karson was a sophomore. They continued their relationship after he graduated, but as Hennessey approached her senior year, Derringer became even more jealous and possessive, stating once that he would never let her leave him. He would kill her first. In June of her senior year, Hennessy won a prestigious science competition, resulting in an invitation for a science camp program held at The College of Idaho. Days
