Page 60 of Forever We Fall

Last week, I decided what that thing was. This week, I have to follow through with it.

I’ve told him how I feel.

Tonight, I’ll show him.

Only two months are left until summer break, so I can’t put this off any longer.

I pull the black jumper over my head and situate it on my body. It matches the black pants and shoes I’ve worn since lights out three hours ago.

Not a peep seeps from the hallway. Out my window, I saw the last light in the professors’ dorm, a fresh form of hell on earth, turn off one hour and twenty-three minutes ago.

Pushing back into the darkness of my room, I grab the duffel bag with the tools we need, slide the strap over my head, and secure it across my chest. I snatch the other pile of dark clothes from my bed and head to Arlo’s room.

He sleeps soundly tonight, and I wish more than anything that he could stay that way. That I could go alone and spare him what’s to come. I know he’d never forgive me for it.

“Iku jikandesu. It’s time to go.” I keep my voice low but firm.

His sorrowful eyes meet mine in an instant. One brow quirks in question.

“Put these on.” I toss him the clothes. “Then meet me in my room.”

“Wh…What?” He sits up and looks at the clothes and shoes in his lap and then at me. “Where are we going?” He speaks quietly.

I place my palms flat on the edge of his bed and level my eyes with his. “To do a job we should have done before the last school break.”

“Hota.” He pushes the hair back from his eyes. “You can’t?—”

“If you waste one minute telling me I can’t, I’ll go by myself and show you that I fucking can.” I snarl at him in a way I haven’t done before. Not with him. “In fact, I’d prefer it.”

Arlo tosses the covers back, shucks his shirt, and pulls on the black jumper in seconds. I straighten and leave him shovinghis feet into the black pants while simultaneously trying to maneuver a black sock onto his other foot.

I open my window and poke my head out. There isn’t a hint of movement outside except for the gentle breeze rustling the leaves.

My suitemate comes skittering into the room with one shoe on and the other in his hand.

“You don’t have a cell phone I don’t know about, right?”

“No.” He frantically laces up one shoe. The one that’s on him.

“Good. I’m leaving mine. I don’t have any identification either.”

He pats the pockets of the pants I gave him. “Me neither.”

“Good.” I tilt my head toward the door. “Mine’s locked.”

“Mine too.” He nods.

“Great.” I sling my leg out the window.

“Wait!” Arlo whisper-screams.

“No, I’ve done this six times in the past week. No one has caught me. Not even you.” I grab onto the thick pipe that runs up the side of the building and swing myself out of the window. “After you come out, close the window.”

The latch is so old, there’s no chance of it accidentally locking us out. It took me hours to get it moving the first time I opened the damn thing.

I don’t wait for him to respond. I shimmy down the three stories and crouch behind the hedges that line our building. I scan the area for any lights, people, or movement and find none.

Arlo is next to me almost immediately. I motion him to follow and slink down the side of the building, keeping behind the bushes. At the corner, I wait for a full minute before walking toward the back of campus.

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