Page 43 of Out of Bounds

"No, something wrong? What could be wrong?" He flashed the Marrs sign. "Go Romans!"

Uh…okay.

"So, here’s what you’re going to do," he told me, gesturing towards the hallway, surrounded by smaller offices. "You’re going to go right down that little hallway over there, okay? You’re going to meet Sandra. She’s the nicest person in the world. She’ll be your point of contact for this office. Do you understand? Do you need me to go with you?"

He wasn’t being passive-aggressive. That was the craziest part. Like, he wasnicebut almost a nervous nice that left me more confused than anything.

"I can…find it," I said.

"You know what? I’ll come with you."

With my new babysitter, we took the twenty-second walk into the office and it was the quietest twenty seconds I’d ever experienced in my life. The silence was so deep, I could’ve swam through it. At least the office was nice. People swiveled in their chairs and chatted with each other in the early work day.

Until my new babysitter introduced me.

"This is Kassandra Ragar," he announced solemnly, a weatherman letting everyone know that the flood was here and there was no escape.

Immediately, everyone straightened up. The chatter died.

"Kassandra." A lone woman stood up from the back and nodded slowly at me, with a huge Twilight Zone smile. Definitely Sandra. "We’re so excited to have you here!"

"It’s—um—it’s Kassie," I told her with a wave.

"Kassie," people around the room started to reaffirm, repeating it. "Kassie, Kassie, Kassie."

"What the hell?" I whispered under my breath as Sandra drew me away from everyone, leading me deeper into the office.

"We don’t officially open until nine, but everyone’s welcome to come in whenever," she gushed, walking past other offices where people tightened up the second they saw me. "Your desk is right down this way."

"Um…I don’t mean to be rude…" I trailed off, tugging at my sleeve.

"You couldn’t possibly be!"

"What’s going on? Why is everyone…talking like this to me?"

She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye and I knew I wasn’t imagining things. "We just want you to be comfortable!"

"Well…I’m real excited for this…opportunity," I told her, meaning every word but still waiting for the taut smile on her face to relax. "I’m just an undergrad but I appreciate you guys making room for—oh."

The office was nice. But no computer. Just a desk and a chair.

"Okay." I sighed. "I feel like…everyone’s scared of me?"

But why would that be? What could possibly make them scared of me, an animation student they hadn’t even met before, unless…someone talked to them first. And who else would do that besides my uptight fake boyfriend, captain of the football team?

I put a hand to my forehead. "Oh mygod. Did Ryan come here?"

"He…did.”

“Christ.”

“And he wanted to make sure you were comfortable!"

"What did he say?" I groaned.

"Mr. Cross was very sweet," she assured me and her eyes darted to the window, overlooking the training center field. "Hewanted us to know how important you are to him and how busy your schedule would be with the Birchwood Conference. Which we’re completely in support of."

I breathed out through my nose. "You’ve got to be kidding me."

---