Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 112892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
"All right then. I’ll find out more about the scavenger hunt,” Aaron said. “It starts at noon, so can you meet here at ten thirty tomorrow?"
"Yes. That’s after my chemistry class."
Of course, that meant I wouldn’t be able to go out for coffee with Cody afterward, but he might not want to go anyway, given how the last time ended.
"All right, well... ten thirty it is."
"Good." Diego stood up. "Good luck on your travels. Do our house proud." His voice was a trifle sarcastic, but it honestly seemed like he was pleased by this development.
I shook my head as he left. What the hell had I just agreed to?
"Happy Halloween," I told Cody at the end of chemistry class the next day. Though he hadn’t exactly sought me out after class, for the first time, he didn’t look like he wanted to dash off. In fact, if I hadn’t known any better, I’d say he was waiting for me to walk up to the back row.
"Oh yeah. Halloween. I forgot."
I laughed. "You did notice that Professor Beringer had on a black cape and false vampire teeth, right?"
He frowned, looking to the front of the room, but our professor had already left. "No.”
Was he ever going to listen in class? “I guess it was a good day to tune out. The fake teeth made him lisp the entire time."
“Not sorry I missed that.”
"I’m going back to the house to meet Aaron. Are you going there, or headed somewhere else?"
He was silent for a moment, thinking it through. I didn’t want to set up the expectation that we would do something after every single class. That might make him feel suffocated. To be honest, I didn’t know if that’s what I wanted either.
But I liked the fact that he didn’t look ready to bolt.
"The house."
We didn’t say much on the walk, but it was nice to be side by side. It was a pretty day, too—at least while leisurely walking along the uncrowded sidewalk. I somehow doubted the scavenger hunt would be this peaceful.
That peace ended the moment I stepped into the house.
"There you are!" Aaron rushed over. Cody gave me a quick glance and jogged up the stairs.
"I’m not late, am I?"
He looked upset, and his brown hair was sticking up at odd angles, as if he’d been absently running his fingers through it. "I’ve got some bad news. Two pieces of bad news, actually."
"Uh-oh." I set my bag down on the floor by the door, and then remembered we weren’t supposed to leave them there. I hung it on the hook behind the door instead.
"What’s the first one?"
"All scavenger hunt teams have to wear costumes. Since it’s Halloween."
"Costumes? I don’t have a costume."
"It doesn’t have to be much. Like, you could wear an eyepatch and call yourself a pirate."
"I don’t have an eyepatch, either." The only thing I did have were the cat ears on a headband I’d worn to the party three weeks ago—and no way in hell was I ever going to wear that again. Especially not anywhere Diego might see.
This scavenger hunt was starting to be more trouble than it was worth. "Wait, you said there were two pieces of bad news."
"Yeah. Um... I can’t participate because I’m on the student council."
"What? You can’t?” To my surprise, I was a little disappointed. I’d been looking forward to spending the afternoon with Aaron. I liked the idea of the two of us being a team.
We walked slowly to the dining room. Diego sat at the end of the table with a pile of books in front of him. He looked up when we came in. I didn’t want to bother him while he was studying, but Aaron had no qualms and sat down at the opposite end. A moment later, I did too.
"I didn’t have anything to do with planning it, but they say I’m still not allowed to do it.”
"Well, that’s okay.” I mentally rearranged my afternoon, trying to figure out a way to keep Aaron a part of it. “We can do some homework. And maybe later, we could watch television,” I whispered the last word. “As long as Diego doesn’t find out.”
Diego looked up from his work and shot me a quick grin. To my surprise, he had on black-rimmed glasses that I’d never seen before. They looked good on him.
But Aaron wasn’t on board. "No, I want you to still get to do this. I think you’ll have a lot of fun. We’ll just have to find someone else to go with you." His brow wrinkled as he thought it over. “What about, uh, that friend of yours... Terry?"
"Tori? I don’t know what she’s up to today, and she lives about 45 minutes from school, so... I don’t think she could get here in time. It’s okay, Aaron. I don’t need to—"