Page 140 of Neighbors With Benefits

By the time he stopped in front of my house and I jumped out, Jazz was gone. No, wait—there was a flash of neon being dragged into the house across the street.

Voldemort’s house.

A cold calmness came over me. All the other thoughts rattling around in my head dimmed, until I was left with flawless clarity.

Jazz was in trouble.

My fist clenched.

I went inside, hurrying but with calm purpose. Like a soldier who was carrying out his orders. I retrieved the biggest knife from our kitchen. I knew it was dull, but that didn’t matter. I intended to swing it so hard that its sharpness wouldn’t matter.

I jogged back outside and across the street. More neon clothes caught my attention—Aiden and Bash were walking toward me, laughing.

“Dante! I thought you weren’t getting home until Monday.” Bash blinked. “Is that a knife?”

“Voldemort took Jazz.”

“Come again, Hermione?” Aiden said.

“He took her.” I pointed at the house with my knife. “She was walking home. He dragged her inside the house.”

“Oh, fuck!” Aiden said. “What should we do?”

Bash pulled out his phone. “I’ll call the police.”

“Do whatever you want,” I said, opening the gate. “I’m not waiting for the cops to show up.”

“We’ll help! Wait for us!” Aiden insisted. “I’ll grab my bat.”

“Hello? Police?” Bash said into his phone.

The two of them ran across the street to our house.

Ignoring all the warning signs posted on the fence, I stepped onto Voldemort’s property. The grass came up to my waist, but there was kind of a path up the middle. I moved slowly, eyeing the ground with every step. I didn’treallythink he had boobytrapped his yard with land mines… but I couldn’t be certain. Getting myself killed wouldn’t help Jazz.

I glanced up at the windows. Half of them were boarded up from the outside. One of the others was blocked by blinds. I imagined a gun barrel appearing between the blinds, aiming toward me and shooting through the window. I was a sitting duck standing here. If I heard gunshots, I could hit the deck and be protected by the tall grass.

Unless therewereland mines. I swallowed hard.

My fear was an omnipresent thing, but it paled in comparison to my concern for Jazz. The need to reach her, tosaveher, overwhelmed my consciousness until my fear was a dim thing. Like a television whose volume had been turned all the way down.

I reached the front door. It looked totally normal, but I knew the dangers concealed behind the simple wood. Should I try the knob, or just kick it down and barge inside? The element of surprise was probably best.

“Wait for us!” Bash called.

My two friends sprinted across the street, threw open the gate, and hurried up to the front door. “Not afraid of the land mines?” I whispered.

“I don’t care,” Aiden insisted. “We have to help Jazz.”

“Blowing yourself up won’t help anyone.”

Aiden grabbed my shirt in his fist and leaned close. “Iloveher!” he hissed.

Bash and I both blinked in surprise. Both at what he’d said, and the ferocity in which he’d said it.

“I didn’t realize it until right now, but I love Jazz,” Aiden whispered. “Nothing else matters.Nothing.”

“I have strong feelings for her too,” Bash admitted. “I can’t lie to myself anymore. It’s not just casual.”

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