Page 19 of Plaything

“Some people are too stupid for their own good,” Aiden mumbled, marking a test in red pen.

Looking back at one of my students’ assignments, I chuckled at his bitterness. We all sat around the living room, grading our students’ work for the past week. I preferred getting all my work done by Saturday night so I could relax on Sunday.

For the fifth time in the past hour, I glanced down at my watch. It was almost midnight, and I was getting nervous. Odette said she’d be back before midnight, and I hadn’t heard from her.

I pulled out my phone to text her. Maybe she needed a ride home? I’d be more than happy to go get her. When I opened my messages, I saw a text bubble before it disappeared.

I raised my eyebrows, relieved she was going to send me some kind of update. I felt like a teenager again, excited about a pretty girl texting me. The bubble kept popping up and going away as she wrote and erased whatever she planned to say.

“What are you looking at?” Wyatt asked, gesturing to my phone.

I held up my phone, hoping he could see my screen across the room. “She’s been typing for about three minutes,” I explained.

Wyatt pulled out his own phone like he expected a text from her himself. His shoulders dropped, probably noticing there wasn’t a notification from her. “She’s probably heading home soon, then,” he assumed.

Hopefully.

My phone started ringing, her name at the top of the screen. I answered eagerly, placing it on speaker, knowing Aiden, Wyatt, and Dominic would want to hear.

“Odette?” I began, ready to be out the door to pick her up.

“Hello?” She said back in a confused tone like I was the one who had called her.

“You’re the one who called me?” I cocked an eyebrow.

“Oh,” she breathed out. “Sorry, I tried to—with the buttons, but they’re blurry, and I couldn’t see,” she slurred.

“Are you drunk?” I chuckled. Music played in the background, but I didn’t hear anyone else, so I didn’t think she was at a party. Wyatt said she went to her friend’s house.

“I think so.”

“Do you want me to come get you?” I asked, selfishly hoping the answer was yes.

“No,” she said quickly. “I think I’m just going to spend the night here; I don’t feel good,” she explained. Her words were slow like she was concentrating on speaking clearly.

“Are you sure? I really don’t mind,” I tried again.

“It’s not that. Henry can drive me,” she said quietly.

I pushed my eyebrows together, sharing a confused look with the guys. If she had a ride, why wouldn’t she come home? “What is it then?” I questioned.

It was quiet for a few seconds, and I heard rustling before she sighed. “Dominic already thinks I’m some crazy partier who will tell other students answers to questions,” she said quickly.

Dominic’s eyes softened, looking at my phone.

“Coming home like this would not make a good impression,” she explained.

She was worried about what we’d think? I did much worse things than have a few drinks with a friend when I was twenty. I was pleased to know that she cared what we thought; I just wish it weren’t about something so dumb.

“Odette, come home. None of us will think any less of you if you’ve had a few to drink,” I said more sternly than I intended.

“Promise?” She asked softly.

“Yes.”

“I’ve got the yearbook!” I heard in the background. It was a woman’s voice, also slightly slurred and high.

There was rustling again and a slight thud, like the phone was placed on a hard surface. “It doesn’t matter what he looks like; my circumstances were a hundred times worse,” Odette slurred in response.

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