The Hidden

reached out a hand to feel my forehead.

School. Crap. I ducked out of her way. “I’m fine, Mom. I just forgot. Whatever you want to make is fine.” I’d probably end up just buying something from the cafeteria, but if Mom wanted to make herself feel better by putting together a lunch, that was fine with me.

“I’ll make you a hoagie,” she decided. “Italian?”

“Sounds good.” I gave her a wide grin and kept the smile on my face until she left. As soon as she was gone, I dragged over a giant stuffed beanbag chair from my closet and sat it next to Caspian. “I can’t believe school starts tomorrow,” I said, flopping into it. “Who starts school on a Friday? Why not wait until Monday?”

“Are you ready to go back?” he asked.

I shifted, and the chair made a squishy sound as the stuffing moved around. “I guess. I mean, I’m not exactly looking forward to it. Exams. Homework. Everyone trying to cram college stuff down my throat.” I shrugged.

“It’s the last first day of high school you’ll ever have.”

“In more ways than one.” I glanced over at him, but he scowled.

“I meant because of the fact that you’re a senior. Not because-”

“Because of the fact that I’ll be dead?”

“God, Abbey.” He pushed back his paper and stood up from the desk, looking upset. “Can’t we have just one conversation where that doesn’t come up?”

I looked down at my jeans. “I didn’t mean to-”

“I know you didn’t mean to. It just seems like that’s all you can talk about lately.”

“I’m sorry. I just want to be ready.”

“I need to go for a walk,” he said suddenly, moving to the door.

Panic shot through me. Why was he leaving? Should I tell him no, that I needed him to stay? Or would that make me look weak? I finally settled on, “How are you going to get out? You can’t just open the front door and leave that way. My parents are down there.”

Caspian stopped pacing and looked at the window. “Will you leave it open for me?” he asked, gesturing to it.

I nodded. And bit my lip, trying not to cry.

He went to open it, and hooked one leg outside. I turned back to my desk. Everyone needs their space. Don’t be a baby.

“Abbey,” Caspian said softly. So softly that I almost didn’t hear him. “Love.”

I turned my head.

“I’m not mad. I want you to know that, okay? I’ll come back in a little bit, I swear. I’m just going for a walk. That’s all.”

I couldn’t trust myself to speak, so I just nodded again, and then he left.

It was fine. No big deal.

When I woke to Mom’s voice calling up the stairs that it was time for me to get up, I noticed immediately that Caspian was back. He was sitting there on the bed, next to me.

I sat up quickly and tried not to act too relieved.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he said. “Sorry I didn’t make it back before you fell asleep.”

“That’s okay. I’m just so glad you came back.” The words spilled out of me, and I glanced down at the sheets, incredibly embarrassed that I’d just said that.

“I told you I would.”

“What took so long?”

“I ran into Uri at the cemetery. We decided to see if Vincent might be hiding out there.”

I got up and stretched my arms above my head, then went over to the bathroom. “No luck, huh?”

“None yet.”

Grabbing a towel, I turned to shut the door behind me. “Going to take a shower,” I said. “See you in twenty.”

“Let me know if you need me to do any back scrubbing,” he called through the door.

I just laughed. “You wish.”

Thirty minutes later, I was clean and dressed. “Are you sure this looks okay?” I asked, turning to Caspian. “I don’t want to look like I’m trying too hard.”

I smoothed down the edges of my white shirt and readjusted the black vest I’d thrown over it. My four-leaf clover necklace was the last touch, and I re-knotted the ribbon at the back of my neck to make sure it stayed put.

“I’m not a fashion guy, but you look great to me.”

I smiled at him and slid my book bag onto my shoulder. Mom yelled for me to hurry, that we were leaving in five minutes, but suddenly I was loathe to leave Caspian behind. “Who needs school?” I said. “I can just stay here. With you.”

He pointed to the door. “Go. Have fun. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

I plodded slowly out of the room. He followed after me, and I turned back. Reaching out a hand, he cupped my face. Or as close to it as he could.

“I’ll miss you,” he said.

I nuzzled my cheek into the low buzz. “Me too.”

I picked up my necklace and kissed one side of the smooth, cold plated glass, then held it up to him. He kissed the same spot, letting it linger at his lips for a moment. When he returned it to me, I touched it gently.

I pulled away from him after one last call from Mom, then reluctantly trudged down the stairs.

Senior year started off with a bang. Literally. Someone’s car backfired in the parking lot right after Mom dropped me off, and half the students that had been milling around went running and screaming that someone was outside shooting. The whole school was put on lockdown, and we didn’t get to home-room until after lunch.

After the situation was settled, and our lockers were assigned (which is pretty much a joke since we all end up with the same locker year after year), I stood twirling my padlock and staring into the teeny, tiny space my stuff would call home for the next nine months, when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

“Excuse me,” a voice said. “I need to get in there. I don’t think the bell is going to hold off much longer. And while I’m normally cool with just hanging out, the hallway isn’t my first choice of places to do that.”

When I turned around to find bright green eyes, I paused in the middle of saying “Yeah?” to think about Caspian for a moment. I wonder what he’s doing. Is time going fast for him again? Or slowly, since he’s awake? Or is he even awake? Maybe he’s sleeping.

Hair was the second thing I saw. Her hair was long, even longer than my own, but not quite as curly. And red. Impossibly red. I snapped back to reality. “Oh! Sorry. You need me to move?” I glanced around. “Where?”

She looked down at a piece of paper clutched in one hand. “I’m 9-C. So I need to get in right there. Beside you.”

My stomach dropped to the floor, and my book bag slid out of my grip, spewing books everywhere. “Beside …” My throat seized up, and I coughed. “Beside me?”

She shifted her books, and something else she was holding. Something that I couldn’t get a glimpse of. “Yeah. Beside you. That’s how numbers work here, right? You’re 9-B, so 9-C comes next, right?”

“But that’s Kristen’s locker.”

“It’s already taken? Shit.”

I shook my head. And then found my voice. “It’s not. Taken, I mean. Kristen’s dead. It was just … It used to be her locker.”

There was silence, and then the unmistakable sound of the bell buzzing overhead.

“Shit. Twice,” she said, throwing one hand to point up. “There goes the bell.”

Glancing around me at the scurrying students, I realized that I was going to be late for class too. And my books were still all over the floor. Dropping to my knees, I started to gather them.

The new girl bent to help me pick one up. “I’m Cyn, by the way. And before you ask, no, ‘Cyn’ isn’t short for Cynthia, or Cynder, or Alicyn, or any of those. It’s just Cyn. Sweet. Short. C- Y-N. Got it?”