Page 46 of Dare To Break

“She has it tight in her grip. I think it’s safe to assume she’ll be there tonight.”

“Nice.” He rubs his hands together. “What’s the plan?”

“We watch. We wait. We get a glimpse of our prize.” I lick my lips. I want more than a glimpse, but I have to be patient.

The evening is a repeat of every evening at Churchill Bradley. Dinner is followed by clubs. Sports, music, arts—whatever a student wants to learn is made available. At eight, the cafeteria opens for ninety minutes, offering evening snacks and hot drinks for those who want them. For seniors, nine-forty-five is curfew, when everyone needs to return to their dorms, and ten is lights-out. For other years, it’s earlier. Either way, it means that by ten thirty, everywhere is quiet.

Arabella’s latest dare tells her to leave the dorm at midnight, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. She’s to jog to the bench, where she will face the trees and remove her bra. It’s her choice whether she takes off her top to do it or not. The bra is to remain on the bench.

Kellan thinks she’ll stay covered. I’m not so sure. Her diary talks about being watched by a stranger while she undresses. I think she’ll get her tits out, and secretly hope someone is watching her.

I fully intend to be that someone.

I reach beneath my bed to pull out her diary and flick to the page in question.

I dreamed about him again last night. My masked stranger. I couldn’t see him, but I knew he was there … watching while I stripped out of my clothes. I woke up drenched. Why does the thought of someone watching me make me feel so hot? Am I crazy? Weird? A freak? I don’t know. But I like it. I like the thought of someone in the dark looking at me, seeing me.

She doesn’t say whether she played with herself when she woke up. I think she did. I would put money on the fact that her fingers were on her clit before she opened her eyes. It makes me wonder whether she’ll run back to her dorm tonight and get herself off.

My cell alarm goes off at eleven, and I roll off my bed. We’re both dressed in black sweats and a t-shirt. I hand Kellan a ski mask and he tucks it into a pocket.

“Ready?” I ask, already knowing what the answer will be. He’s bouncing on his toes, his grin so wide I’m surprised his face doesn’t split.

We leave our room and make our way through the building as quietly as we can, heading up to the fifth floor, where there’s a panel on the wall that leads into one of the secret tunnels which will take us beneath the building. They all connect at various points underground, with four different exits around the site. The only one I’m interested in tonight is the one that comes out by the cemetery. So, we head left, until we reach the section that links to the one from the restroom and follow it to its end. It’s eleven-thirty by the time we’re at the bench and we separate, each finding a place either side of the path, with the bench in the middle, giving us a view from both angles.

We’ve agreed to film what happens, just in case one of us misses something. The only thing we can do now is wait …

Chapter 29

Arabella

I check the time on the screen under the safety of my blanket for the millionth time. Twenty minutes until midnight.

I bite my lip hard, before I take a few deep breaths to calm my racing heart.

It’s go time.

Pushing back the blanket, I swing my legs over the side of the mattress and feel for my sneakers. The second my toes find them, I shove my feet into them, and tiptoe across the dark room. I find the door and slip out into the hallway. I’m prepared this time for when the lights flick on automatically. The silence in the hallways is almost deafening.

How many times can I do this without getting caught?

The thought only adds to the sense of danger enveloping me.

Scurrying along, I keep going until I’m outside. The black lycra shorts and thin matching t-shirt I’m wearing barely keep me warm. I scan my surroundings, watching for a telltale sliver of light but seeing none in the darkness.

Good. Security must be on the other side of the campus.

I keep to the shadows and get as close as I can to the grass, before I take off across it. I run flat out and push myself faster until my legs are burning with exertion and my lungs heave with each breath. Gaze locked on the inky black tree line, I don’t stop until I’m past it.

My feet come to a juddering stop. I wrap my arm around the trunk of a tree to keep myself steady, fighting to suck down air. Sweat saturates my hairline, the salty drops trickling down my forehead.

I glance back at the silhouettes of the buildings. They look as though they are pieces cut out of the dark. It looks so eerie. Lifeless.

The breeze raises goosebumps over my sweat-slick skin, and I shiver.

I check the time on my phone. Eleven-fifty. I walk slowly through the trees, trying to get my bearings in the blackness. The cemetery isn’t far, but I’m wary of every root and tree branch that could be on the path.

Leave your dorm at midnight, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. Jog to the bench and face the trees before removing your bra. It’s your choice whether you take off your top or not. Once completed, leave the bra on the bench.

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