Page 56 of Script Swap
Bobby’s hands tightened around his mug.
“Did you see anyone else out there?”Millie asked.“OH MY GOD, DID YOU SEE A GHOST?”
“Nobody saw a ghost,” I snapped.
“There wasn’t anybody else out there,” Keme said.And then, “I could have killed Dash, like, three different times.”
“Why would you brag about that?”I asked.“What is wrong with teenagers these days?”
“Push him into a ravine, smash his head with a rock, break his neck with my bare hands.”
“Are you kidding me?Where’s Indira?Someone punish him.”
“I don’t want you leaving the house until we know what’s going on.”Bobby put down his hot chocolate so fast that it slopped over the lip of the mug, and he said again, “Someone tried to kill you tonight.”
“Bobby—”
“It’s probably WHOEVER KILLED KYSON!”Millie’s face was alight with excitement.“AND THEY’RE TRYING TO STOP DASH FROM SOLVING THE MYSTERY.”
“Yes, obviously, Millie,” I said through the ringing in my ears.“But let’s be realistic—”
“Realistic?”Bobby said.“You want to be realistic?”
I opened my mouth.I shut it again.In that moment, I didn’t want to be realistic.I wanted to be invisible.
“You need to rest,” Bobby said as he stood.He glanced at Keme.“You’re okay?”
Keme nodded.
With a firm grip on my arm, Bobby marched me upstairs.
He shut the bedroom door behind us.Hard.He sat me on the bed.And then he dropped down next to me.He gripped his knees, and he stared straight ahead.
“I know that was scary,” I said, “but I don’t get why I’m in trouble—”
“I need a minute.”
He sat perfectly still, and he was so tense that veins popped out along his arms.The wind batted at the house, playing with the shutters, and something—a hinge, a weathervane, a flue—sque-sque-squeaked.Bobby’s hands opened once and then tightened again around his knees.He took deep breaths through his nose.I could almost hear him counting them.
When he finally spoke, his voice was lashed down and rough.“I’m sorry.I’m sorry I said that about not leaving the house.I’m sorry I talked to you that way.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, Dash.”He rubbed his face.“It’s not okay.Obviously you can leave the house.”
I pulled his hands down.Wrapped them in mine.
Bobby took several long seconds before he dragged his eyes up.He took a breath.“I was scared.”
For anybody still in the dark, here’s the thing about Bobby: he has lots of feelings.Big feelings.And he’s been working hard over the last year to overcome a lot of macho-man conditioning in his life so that he can, you know,sharethose feelings.(Yes, even the negative ones.)
“That’s okay.”
A longer pause followed before Bobby said, “Iamscared.”His voice was thick, and the words sounded broken off.“God, Dash, I’m terrified.If Keme hadn’t been there tonight—”
His next breath was uneven.And the one after that was even shorter, and it sounded high in his chest.
“But I’m okay.I’m right here.”
