“Is it in the fridge?”
Tyler shook his head, “Nah, we used to check that fridge for beer when we were younger, there was no box, trust me we would have found it.”
“But what about the freezer?”
He turned his head slightly. “You don’t keep beer in the freezer, so we never looked. I think there was an ice pack or something in there, but honestly, it wasn’t really used. I think it didn’t work super well.”
“So, it could be in there?”
He shrugged, “Maybe. I need to call my mom.” He pushed off the wall and reached for my hands, “Thank you. I don’t know what else to say, other than thank you. You really are super cool.” He pulled me in for a hug. “And super-hot.”
I laughed into his chest, “Yeah, not so sure about how hot I am, but you are very welcome.”
Chapter Eighteen
Tyler headed back to his room, already calling his mom before he had gotten out of earshot.
I headed straight to the library. Nothing but homework on my docket of fun today. I figured I would spend the majority of the day stuck inside staring at my computer, trying to make sense of papers and assignments due.
I walked into the dorm hoping one of the multiple issues were handled. After several hours in the library, I had put a large dent in my homework list and felt like we had made a huge step forward in the grandpa mystery.
My feet were so heavy as I climbed the stairs. Each step took focus to keep going. I hadn’t realized how exhausted I was.
The hallway was empty, and I couldn’t help but thank my lucky stars. I didn’t have the energy to go to the mat with Brock again. He needed to keep his distance tonight. I fell into bed, barely changing out of my clothes. I didn’t hear anyone come in; I didn’t hear Crystel’s alarm. I didn’t hear Camryn hitting snooze on hers four times before actually getting out of bed.
The room was as silent as it had been when I had gone to sleep the night before. I got up, disoriented from the light filtering. I grabbed my phone. Yep, I’d slept through my first class.
Awesome.
Quickly, I grabbed my shower gear and headed to get ready.
Class barely held my interest today. I felt wiped out, even though I’d slept deeply. My mind kept drifting to other places, tuning out the sound of the professors and even the other students. I couldn’t keep my thoughts far from Karson. I kept playing the movie script scene I had filmed in my imagination. Complete with screams, bloody walls, and terrified co-eds. I faded to the hospital with her parents crying over her young corpse. I wondered if she stood by in that vision. Had she watched her own parents come apart because of her tragic death?
“Savanah.” My name came quietly from the hallway. I returned to the classroom, looking around to see if anyone else had heard that.
Nope. Just me.
I slipped out of my seat, leaving my books, hoping the professor would assume I had a bathroom emergency. I stood in the hallway looking both directions, listening intently. I walked towards the stairs that led to the basement, for no other reason than–well, aren’t ghosts supposed to hang in the basements?
“Where are you going?” Karson stood on the stairs a flight above me.
“I-well, I don’t really know.”
“Come with me.” She turned back towards the stairs climbing slowly.
When we reached the second floor, I asked her the most obvious question. “Where are we headed?”
“Come on, it’s really cool up here. No one gets to get up here-well except me.” She went through a door that I so humanly had to open. It creaked with resistance, and it was obvious that students didn’t realize if you pulled up just right it would open. We were in an attic type space now. “We’re almost there.” She climbed a rickety white ladder that hadn’t seen repair in a number of years. I wondered how concerned I should be about my safety, but it was fleeting and I continued to climb, being sure to avoid the slivers. At the top she walked hunched over toward a trap door in the very low wall. “You have to prop this open or you will be stuck. Trust me, you don’t want to have to explain why you’re up here.”
I pushed the door open and stepped through. The day was cold, but it was completely clear. The sky was the kind of blue found in children’s drawings, with white puffy clouds and a happy sun. The view was beautiful.
“Now, stay away from the edges and no one will know you are here.” Karson stood next to me, “This is where I hang out. No one knows about it, well except you now.”
“This is amazing. I have never seen the campus from this vantage point.”
She shrugged, “They use it for some marketing photos sometimes, but not much.”
I gazed out at the campus with renewed appreciation. I looked over to Elizabeth’s house. I wondered how much had changed since she was here. Everything obviously.
“I never thought he would hurt me” her words were thin, “I mean, yeah, he hit me a couple of times. He said he was really sorry. He loved me, he told me that all the time. He told me we would be together forever. And at first, there was nothing else I wanted more. I gave him everything.” She laughed a throaty chuckle, “But I started to think about the future, you know? Forever is a long time, obviously I know that now.”
