Page 98 of Bewitch

“The janitor,” I say in a rush. I don’t want to be late for class, which isn’t even in this building, but I also don’t want this opportunity to go by.

“He’s harmless,” she says, her gaze shifting from me back to her laptop.

“Did you know that he dropped that piece of trash that he asked you to pick up?”

She sits back in her chair. “So? I’m sure it was an accident.”

“Maybe… only he did that to my friend too.” I stand.

The girl rolls her eyes. “He’s just an old man trying to work. I’m sure it was an accident—”

“Once, maybe. Twice? Asking others to pick it up? Only girls?”

“There’s nothing there,” she says firmly. “Who do you think you are, making accusations—”

“I’m not accusing anyone of anything,” I say firmly. “I’m glad he doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable, but that’s not the case for everyone.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “He reminds me of my grandpa. If he needs help with something, I’m going to help him.”

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t,” I tell her.

She rubs her chest as if she’s uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry I bothered you,” I say, my shoulders slumping. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

I stand and turn to go, hoping she’ll call me bac and admit… I don’t know what… but she doesn’t.

One girl not having an issue with Carl doesn’t mean that there’s nothing there.

I hurry off to my class. I’m late but only by a minute, and I force myself to concentrate as best as I can. Thankfully, the teacher basically is just going over what we need to do for our next paper and has a handout that covers everything he’s saying. Once class is over, I head right back over to where Carl works, and I watch him from afar.

And the more I watch him, the more certain I am that he really does seem to be watching female students. Almost all of them ignore him, and there’s only a select few that he approaches. He doesn’t seem to do much of anything obviously untoward to any of them, but why would he risk that in public? Maybe he’s trying to wear them down or get them to trust him so he can lure them away to… what? What does he want from them? Is that girl from earlier right that there’s nothing there? Maybe he’s just a lonely old man.

But still, why only girls? Why isn’t he ever looking at guys? Something isn’t adding up, and I feel like I’m no closer to the truth than when I first started.

Am I going to screw this up, too, just like I did things with Lucas?

CHAPTER29

Despite feeling enough apprehension that my stomach is all twisted into knots, I force myself to drive to the gym. I almost wanted to call to see if Lucas was working today, but I didn’t.

Maybe he was out yesterday for a reason completely unrelated to me. How egotistical am I to thin that it had been because of me, his being out yesterday? He called off before because of his father, after all.

Pamela’s easy smile has me smiling back at her as hope blossoms in my chest. Maybe he is back today.

“Hey, how’s—”

“You didn’t bring in any protein balls today,” Kelly says, hurrying over. “I’ve heard so much about them, but I haven’t had any yet.”

“Oh, sorry. I’ve been a bit busy and haven’t been baking much lately. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize.” Kelly laughs. “I’m sorry. I probably sound really ungrateful. You shouldn’t feel like you need to make food for us all.”

“They are so very good,” Pamela says. “They’re absolutely amazing. I’m sorry you missed out on them.”

I rub my forehead. “I’m sure I can figure out a time to make more soon. The balls went over better than the brownies?”

“Wait, you made brownies?” Kelly asks. “I so want to try that!”

---