Page 37 of Inception

First period History turned out to be a free-for-all the minute word came in that Mr. Bradley was out sick and that a substitute was on the way. It took Taylor all of thirty seconds to ditch her usual seat next to Nikki and grab an empty desk in front of me on the opposite side of the room.

Naturally, Ben pushed his desk in closer to us. It was like Taylor had some sort of gravitational pull on him.

“So Carly’s having a house party next Saturday and everyone’s going to be there,” she said, her blue-gray eyes sparkling at the possibilities. “It’s kind of a big deal.”

“Tis the season,” said Ben as he crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair.

“And what season would that be?” I asked, curious, but mostly just grateful for the much needed distraction.

“Spring Fling. It’s like a month long event around here,” sang Taylor. “There’s house parties, carnivals, and of course, Spring Formal!” Her eyes nearly doubled in size. “You’re going to love it. Make sure you can get Saturday off,” she ordered.

I nodded that I would, already fairly certain I wasn’t on the schedule next week-end anyway.

“Don’t look now, but Nikki’s throwing spears at your head again.” Her lips barely moved when she said it.

I had no intentions of looking at Nikki, now or ever again.

“What’s the bad blood with you two anyway?” asked Ben as though he had just noticed the tension, even though it was thick enough to slice with a machete.

“Isn’t it obvious?” answered Taylor, undeterred by the fact that the question was directed at me. “There’s only one Trace and two of them.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Way to fuel the fire.”

“My bad,” she laughed unrepentantly. “No one heard.”

“So essentially, Nikki’s tweaking out because our new little fish here,” he said affectionately as he swooped his arm around my shoulder, “is swimming around in her pool?”

“Exactly.”

“No,notexactly. I’m not swimming in anyone’s pool, least of all Nikki’s pool, nor do I have any intentions of getting in her pool.” I struggled to keep my voice at a whisper. “This whole thing has just gotten completely out of hand.”

“I think you two should mud-wrestle it out,” said Ben, trying to make light out of the situation. “Winner keeps Trace.”

I knocked his arm off my shoulder. “Pass.”

“So what does Trace think about her anyway?” asked Taylor, leaning in closer to Ben. “He must have said something to you, you guys are like BFF.”

“Contrary to what they keep telling you inCosmo Girl,” he said, shuffling forward in his chair. “We actually don’t stay on the phone all night talking about ourfeelings.”

“What?” she said, feigning shock. “What about the slumber parties? Don’t tell me those are a lie too.”

“Only one way to know for sure,” he grinned. “Maybe you should come over tonight and find out.”

“And do what? Stay up all night watchingThe X Fileswith you? No thanks, Skully,” she scoffed, picking up her cell phone.

“Skully was the girl!” he said aghast. “And don’t knock it ’til you try it.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. The way they went back and forth, it was like a ping-pong match—only interesting.

“Speaking of the unexplained,” he said, changing the subject. “Did you guys see the paper this morning? They found another body out by the Falls.Mutilated, just like the last girl. They’re talking serial killer.”

“Shut up,” cried Taylor, her phone frozen mid-air. “Who was the girl? Oh my God, Ben, did we know her?”

He shook his head. “They haven’t released her name yet.”

“How many girls have there been?” I asked, taken aback.

“This is the second.”

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