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When the car pulled up in front of the school, I got out of it gratefully. Sitting beside Noah had been uncomfortable. He was clearly upset, and I was worried he’d lash out if anyone tried to talk to him. Thankfully, Dean Crowe seemed to pick up on this and didn’t attempt any further small talk after his initial question when we got in the car.
“Thank you for the lift, Dean,” I said.
“My pleasure, Sarah. Noah, would you like to come back to my study for a coffee?”
I was relieved that he didn’t include me in the invitation. I just wanted to go home and give my parents big hugs.
“No, thank you, Dean,” Noah said. He surprised me by taking my hand. We walked through the school to the courtyard. I tried to turn us toward the West Dorm, but Noah shook his head. “I should walk you home.”
“No need and you look exhausted.”
“The boyfriend walks the girl home. Come on, Sarah.”
I didn’t argue. He seemed really fragile at the moment. Like if I protested, he might cry.
When we reached the apartment building, we stopped.
“Sarah, thanks.”
“For what?”
“For putting up with my mother, for standing up to her even. I’ve never seen her this awful before.”
“She really cares about you.”
“How can you say that?” he asked in angry disbelief.
“I know it might not seem like it to you, but why else would she go to the trouble of finding you a nice girl? Why would she be so interested in who you are dating? It’s because she cares.”
“Gah, you’re like so good. It’s almost sickening. You don’t know my mother. She doesn’t care about my feelings. Trust me.”
“What about your older brother?”
“What about him?”
“If she really cared about herself only, no one would know about his difficulties. Your family could’ve easily covered it up. But instead, didn’t she donate money to that substance abuse non-profit? She spoke about how drugs affected your family.”
He shook his head. “She used him. He was her cause of the week. She doesn’t care about helping people, only about making sure she looks good. She didn’t even try to get to know you. She doesn’t like you because you don’t have the proper connections.”
“I didn’t really try to endear myself to her.”
“You shouldn’t have to! She should be happy with whomever I bring home. Or at least pretend to like them!”
I had no counterargument. If Patricia had treated a real girlfriend of Noah’s like she’d treated me, the girl would have been devastated. But then again, if he had presented a real girlfriend, the girl would’ve been from a better family. Someone more suitable. I was the worst girl to pick as a fake girlfriend, never mind the fact that I had no interest in dating Noah. I was not his social equal at all. I had no special talents or wealth. Any other girl at Noble would’ve been a better choice than me. I began to wonder if he’d picked me because he’d known how angry it would make his mother.
“You should get back to your room. It’s late and we do have exams tomorrow.”
“You’re right, but can I have a hug?”
His request surprised me. I had no idea how to answer. He seemed so down. He looked like he needed a real hug, but I wasn’t sure if I should be the one to give it to him. I took too long to protest. He pulled me into an embrace. I let him, still unsure if this was a good idea. I realized it had been a mistake when I felt his lips on my cheek and saw the flash. I pushed him away.
“What did you just do?”
He was looking at his phone and smiled. “Perfect.”
It was obvious he had taken a picture. “Delete that!”
“But it turned out really good.”
He turned the phone toward me to see. His lips were on my cheek. Someone would think I was happy, but I knew I was only confused and unsure. I tried to snatch the phone from him, but he pulled it back and held it over his head. I jumped to grab it, but I couldn’t reach it.
He was laughing at my attempts.
“You can’t post that!”
“Too late.”
“No!”
I dug my fingers into his side, and he folded under the tickling. I wrestled the phone from him but was greeted by a lock screen. “What’s your passcode?”
“Like I’d tell you!”
I shoved his shoulder. “Come on! This isn’t funny.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Dear God, your mother is going to order a hit on me. She’ll probably contract Mr. Jones.”
“Don’t be a drama queen.”
“Says the boy who won’t even meet the nice girl his mother has picked out for him.”
“That’s not drama queen-ish. It’s self-preservation.”
I gave back his phone. There was no way I was going to crack the code. It probably had fingerprint recognition as well. “Just remember, you sleep in the same building as Damien.”
“That’s why I didn’t kiss you on the lips.”
“You swore you wouldn’t kiss me.”
“Sorry. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”
“Next time just let the opportunity go on by with no physical contact whatsoever.”
When I got home, my parents were on the sofa waiting for me.
“Hello,” I said feeling out-numbered.
“Where did you go tonight?” Mom asked.
I hadn’t told them where I was going. I’d let them assume I was staying on grounds. “The Hasbrook.”
“And who did you go with?”
The fact that they asked and didn’t assume it was Damien meant they’d gotten some information from somewhere.
“How many times has he called?”
“Five.”
“What were you doing with Noah Nash?” Mom asked. I knew she didn’t like him, and I approved of her dislike, but it would make the mess I was in trickier to explain.
“His mother wanted to meet me.”
“Why would she want to meet you?”
I had to tell them. There was no way to avoid it. “Because I’m pretending to be Noah’s girlfriend.”
“Sarah, why?” Dad asked. I knew Mom wouldn’t like it, but his disappointment surprised me.
“His mom wants to set him up with some girl. He doesn’t want to meet her, so he asked me to pretend to be his girlfriend.”
“Why would he ask you?” Mom’s question hurt a little like I wasn’t good enough to be Noah’s girlfriend fake or otherwise.
“Because I don’t have a crush on him. A lot of girls like him. He wanted someone he didn’t have to worry about falling for him. He doesn’t want a relationship right now.”
“Damien is pretending to date Angela, and you’re pretending to date Noah. Why can’t Angela and Noah pretend to date each other?” Dad asked.
He made a good point, but he didn’t know about Noah’s former mega-crush on Ang. “That wouldn’t work. There’s some history there.”
“What type of history?” Mom asked. I realized she was thinking he had done something awful to Angela. If I wanted them to go along with this ruse, I’d have to tell them almost everything.
“Noah used to have a huge crush on Angela. He actually wanted me to help him break up her and Damien. He found out at the West Estate that Ang is gay. Anyway, he figured pretending to date me will help me too by making people less suspicious of Damien and me.”
Both parents’ mouths formed silent “O”s of comprehension.
“Still don’t like this,” Dad said.
I couldn’t tell them about the blackmail or give them any hint of it. If they knew, they would insist on confronting Noah to make him stop, and even if he liked my parents like he claimed, he wasn’t about to listen to them. “It’s not a big deal. Promise.”
Neither Mom nor Dad challenged me on my statement, but they didn’t look like they believed me either.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
THE NEXT DAY WAS A reading day. I had to prepare for my English and History exams. I wished they weren’t on the same day. Both were going to be primarily essays. Prof. Lowell had given us a list of possible essay topics. We wouldn’t know which ones exactly would be on the list, but if we prepared rough essays for a few we should pass easily. I was rereading an article we’d been given to help formulate an argument for one of the questions. That morning, I’d coordinated with Angela a meetup in Prof. Edward’s classroom to study. Both boys joined us. We hadn’t had to tell them where we were studying. They both just appeared. I think they tried to race each other into the room.
We had pushed four desks together into a group. When Damien saw the desk by me was empty, he shoved Noah aside to reach it first. Thankfully no one else was in the room to see his odd behavior. He sat beside me triumphantly and smiled widely at me. It was cute but totally inappropriate. While Noah pulled out his laptop, Damien’s desk stayed empty. I gave him a long look. This was a bit of a test. He’d helped me study before, but I wasn’t sure if he could manage two days in a row. I also suspected he’d had some sort of sugary cereal for breakfast or a pot of coffee. He almost vibrated in his seat.
“So how did last night go?” Angela asked me.
I side-looked Damien. I suspected he’d prompted this question.
“It could’ve gone better. Noah’s mom doesn’t like me.”
“So are you breaking up?” she asked, that was so obviously Damien’s question. I hoped she was being compensated for asking these coached questions.
“Sarah was perfect,” Noah said.
“Perfect?” Damien repeated with a frown.
“She didn’t let my mom steamroll her, she stood up for herself, and best of all, she ate.”
I didn’t understand the last part. “It was dinner. Was I not supposed to? The food was good.”
“My mother has a thing about eating.”
I waited for him to continue, but he didn’t.
“What thing?”
“She doesn’t think anyone can eat while upset,” Damien said.
Damien answering the question threw me off. “You’ve met her?”
“He was invited to the house once,” Noah said. He had a small smirk on his face.
“But not re-invited?”
“The insurance company wouldn’t allow it.”
I turned to Damien. “What did you do?”
“Don’t you need to study?” he countered.
“What did he do?” I asked Noah.
“He didn’t eat. And it took a special team to get the stains out of the fresco.”
“What does that mean?”
Damien was not happy that I was still asking about this. He twisted himself up and tried to shrug off my question. “They didn’t have any food I liked.”
“So you decided to paint the walls with it?”
“Don’t you need to study?” he asked again.
I could tell pursuing this story was just going to upset him more, and he was right I needed to study. I let it drop and started re-reading the handouts I’d received in English.
“Which essay questions are you working on?” he asked.
I pointed to three that I’d starred on the handout. “These ones are all kind of similar so I should be able to use a lot of the same sources for them to write my essay.”
To my surprise, he took a couple of the printouts. “I’ll highlight the bits that will be useful,” he said.
That would be a huge help. I gave him a highlighter and started reading again.
We studied quietly for an hour. It was surprisingly comfortable. Damien even stayed on task, highlighting bits that he thought would help me. Even though I knew he got straight A's, I rarely saw him doing actual schoolwork. Most people probably thought the teachers let him coast, but I had seen his tests. All of them were almost perfect. Maybe he was too smart to be normal.
“Damien, when do we leave for Hawaii?” Noah asked.
He pretended not to hear him. But we did need to discuss it.
“Have you talked to your parents?” I asked.
He pretended to not hear me either.
“If you can’t go to Hawaii, you and your parents can come to the chalet,” he said, clearly baiting Damien.
“Skiing and hot cocoa sound nice,” I said playing along.
“I'll even share my stash of mini marshmallows with you.”
We grinned at each other, but our smiles were fake. Damien, though, had not snapped at our bait like I'd expected. His silence was beginning to concern me.
“Did your parents say no? It’s fine if they did. I've always spent winter break at Noble. It’s fine.”
He finally responded, “They didn’t say no.”
“So you have asked them?”
“I asked them.”
His reticence on details was worrying me more and more.
“And?” I prompted.
“They said yes. Everything’s fine.”
His answer at face value was perfect. It was exactly what I wanted to hear, but his tone belied his words. He’d sounded defensive. He was hiding something.
“Damien, just tell her,” Angela said.
“Are they insisting on coming?” I asked. I knew that if the Wests were there, my parents would not want to go.
“No. They can’t make it.”
I opened and closed my hands as my frustration mounted. “Then what’s the problem?”
“There’s no prob—“
“They want him home for Christmas,” Angela said.
“I’m not going!”
“But it’s Christmas,” I said.
“I’m not spending the holiday with them. They can ship me their gifts.”
“You should be with them,” I said.
He looked at me in disbelief like I’d betrayed him.
“Where do they want to spend Christmas?” Noah asked.
“The West Estate,” Angela answered.
“So you’d still be close to Sarah. You could still see her Christmas day,” Noah said.
“But I’d see them,” he said.
I couldn’t believe the fuss he was raising. “Grow up, Damien.”
He sputtered in surprise. “How can you—“
“They’re letting you take your friends to a tropical island for New Year’s. All they’re asking is to spend Christmas with you. They’re your parents. They love you, and you’re being a spoiled brat.”
He stood up violently. His chair tipped over behind him. “And here I thought I’d rather spend Christmas with you. I guess I was wrong.” He stalked out of the room and slammed the door behind him.
I let out a loud sigh.
“He’ll be fine,” Angela said.
“It’s safe to say he’ll leave you in peace for the rest of exams,” Noah offered.
Angela glared at him.
I turned back to my handouts. “I guess the Hawaii trip is off.”
“No, Sarah, I’m sure that—“ Angela began to say.
I held up my hand to stop her. “It’s okay. It seemed too wonderful to be true anyway.”
Damien didn’t need to take Prof. Edward’s exam, but he didn’t show up for Prof. Lowell’s exam either. His absence alarmed me because while he had an ‘A’ in English, getting a zero on the exam would tank his grade. I texted Angela as soon as I was done.
*Do you know where Damien is?*
I didn’t get a reply. She was probably still taking her exam. I went to the West Dorm and punched in the code for Damien’s floor. When the elevator doors opened, it revealed a dark suite. I turned on the lights. “Damien, are you here?” But I could already tell he wasn’t there. I checked his bedroom anyway. I opened his closet and saw his suitcases were missing. He’d left?
I pulled out my phone and dialed Dean Crowe’s office.
Mrs. Wolt, the dean’s secretary answered the phone. “Hello, Sarah.”
“Is Dean Crowe available?”
“One moment.”
I waited impatiently for Dean Crowe to pick-up. Damien still had his Algebra exam. If he didn’t take that, Prof. Bolkis would flunk him.
“Sarah, how are your exams going?”
“Fine, Dean, but Damien has left school.”
“Yes, I believe he’s gone to Hawaii.”
Hearing that he had gone without any of us made my stomach twist. While the idea of going had seemed unbelievable, I had let myself believe it would happen. I’d been an idiot. I couldn’t talk to Dean Crowe about that though.
“What about his remaining exams?”
“Taken early. He’s passed all of his classes for the semester with a four-point-oh average. Well done.”
I couldn’t take any credit for his academic success. The truth was I needed his help to pass. Hearing he hadn’t skipped out without taking his last exams was a relief. “Thanks, Dean.”
“So I take it he didn’t tell you about his plans?”
“Gotta go, Dean. See you.”
“Sarah—“ I turned off my phone so Dean Crowe couldn’t call me back.
Damien had left. I felt numb. I knew this was probably just one of his tantrums, and he’d come back when he got lonely or bored, but the fact that he’d do it now during exams and so close to the holidays was disheartening. I went home feeling drained. The two exams had taken a lot out of me and I just wanted to veg. I still had one exam to go, but I couldn’t stomach the idea of studying. I just wanted to turn my brain off.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
AFTER MY FINAL EXAM which was algebra, I didn’t feel the lightness and relief that I’d expected. It was due to Damien’s continued absence. I’d sent him texts and left voicemails but hadn’t received a single response. I’d asked Angela if she’d heard from him, but she hadn’t either. I’d had to break the news to my parents that the trip was off. Dad had been disappointed, but Mom had looked vindicated. She said it was probably for the best and that being somewhere tropical during winter would have probably made us sick.
With exams over, Noble emptied out. All of the students went home for the break and the staff cleaned up. Housekeeping was out in full-force. They’d been held back from their full cleaning schedule to not disturb students. Now they vacuumed, mopped, and wiped down everything. Dad and Red had a list of things to do that had piled up over the semester. The biggest project was a number of classrooms needed new coats of paint. I’d always helped Dad during winter break and this one was no different. I carried a bag of rollers and a stack of disposable paint tray covers as I followed him to the first classroom. Red was already in the classroom, applying painter’s tape to the trim and windows.
“Hi, Red,” I said, setting my stuff down.
“How’d your exams go?” he asked.
“I think I passed everything.”
“You think?”
“Haven’t gotten all my grades yet.”
“I’m sure you did fine. You worked really hard,” Dad said. He held up a drop cloth for me to help him unfold and lay down.
We worked through the morning, getting fresh coats of paint on the walls. It was tiring work, but not mentally taxing.
It was actually unseasonably warm that day. Mom had suggested having lunch outside. We met her in the courtyard. She’d made sandwiches and had the table set when we got there.
“How’s it going?” Mom asked.
Red took a bite of his sandwich before answering. “Almost done. We’ll be able to remove the tape when we get back and go to the next room. Sarah’s been a big help.”
As I ate my sandwich, I scanned the courtyard. It felt weird being out there without the students present. While my parents talked to Red, I saw a flash in a window in the West Dorm. It was Damien’s window. He’d come back without telling me. I couldn’t believe the nerve of him. I stuffed the last bite of my sandwich in my mouth and got up. The adults looked at me curiously. “I gotta check something. I won’t be long.”
“You’re on break. You don’t have to help us,” Dad said.
“No, I like helping. See you in a little bit.”
I could tell Mom wanted to ask me what was up, but I didn’t say anything and headed to West Dorm. My direction would be all the information she needed.
West Dorm was on reduced heating like all of the other school buildings. If he intended to stay in his suite for the break, Dad or Red would have to adjust the heat. I sort of didn’t want to clue him in on that. It was petty, but so was he. When I reached the suite, all the lights were off, but I’d seen him. It was stupid for him to pretend not to be home.
“Damien, come out!” I yelled, turning on lights as I searched for him.
He didn’t pop out to confront me. I went to his bedroom. The bed was made, but his computer was on. I wiggled the mouse to get the monitor to come on, but no programs were open.
“Stop hiding you idiot.” I checked the bathroom and pushed the shower curtain aside to check the tub. Had I been mistaken? Maybe I hadn’t seen someone at his window. Getting frustrated I went back to the main room. I checked the kitchenette. I opened the fridge and let out a cry of triumph at the half-eaten salad inside. It had been put in there recently. It was too fresh to have been there more than a day.
“I know you’re here!” I called out, putting the salad back in the fridge, but then the salad finally registered. Damien hated salads.
Someone was there, but not Damien. Suddenly feeling very vulnerable, I started walking backwards toward the elevator. I had to get out of there. I hadn’t bothered to bring my phone with me. I couldn’t call security.
I pressed the elevator call button frantically. It should’ve opened immediately. It should’ve stayed at Damien’s floor because I should’ve been the only person in the dorm. As I heard it approach, I got scared. What if whoever else was there was coming back? What was I supposed to do? I needed a weapon. I grabbed a tall stool from the kitchenette area, turned out the lights, and took position just out of sight of the elevator. When I heard the elevator ding, I raised the stool above my head.
The doors opened and a man’s shadow entered the room. I could tell it wasn’t Red or Dad.
The person stepped out and I swung down.
Noah was able to lift his arm in time to block the brunt of the blow, but still, he went down to one knee.
“Sarah, what the hell?!”
The stool dropped from my nerveless hands, and I covered my mouth in horror.
“Noah, what are you doing here?!”
“I saw you come into the dorm, I was coming to say hi.”
“Damien’s not here,” I said. I pulled him to his feet and tried to push him into the elevator, but he balked.
“What the hell is going on?” he asked.
“Someone other than him is here,” I whispered. I kept trying to push him to the elevator, but he batted me off him in irritation.
“Hello? Who’s here? I’m calling security if you don’t show yourself!” he shouted.
I waited in fear for a response.
A muffled voice yelled. “Don’t call security. It’s just me.”
The voice had come from the bedroom. I’d been in there with the trespasser! They could’ve gotten me. Noah strode to the room. I followed him with the stool, ready to swing, but we didn’t find a big burly psychopath. We found Angela struggling to climb out from under the bed.
“Ang, what the hell?” I asked in disbelief.
“Sorry. I didn’t want you to know I was here.”
“Why are you hiding in Damien’s suite?” Noah asked.
“Because no one’s supposed to know I’m here.”
“But why?” I asked. My heart still pounded from fright. I couldn’t believe my best friend was the cause of it.
She didn’t answer. I could tell she was upset. I turned to him. “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be with your mom or your dad?”
“And that’s what they think too. Mom thinks I’m with Dad and Dad thinks I’m with Mom. If they called each other, they’d figure it out. I don’t expect them to figure it out.”
There was a hint of bitterness in his voice.
“My parents think I’m with Damien. I thought I’d be with him too, tagging along to wherever he went for Christmas.”
I groaned under my breath. Of course, he would jet off somewhere in a tizzy and not think about anyone who might be put in a bind because of it.
I pulled Angela up off the bed. “It’ll be crowded at my house, but you can stay with us,” I said.
“What about me?” Noah asked.
“You have a suite.”
Angela pulled her hands from my grasp. “No, I couldn’t inconvenience your family. I can stay here.”
“Who the hell is in my rooms?” Damien yelled from the main room.
“Perfect timing,” Noah muttered.
We all entered the main room, and Damien stared at us incredulously. “What are all of you doing here?” He looked tan. He was wearing flip-flops, shorts, and a t-shirt. He’d gone and had a tropical vacation on his own. I couldn’t believe him.
I clasped Angela’s hand. “You’re coming home with me,” I said.
“I guess I have to,” she said softly.
I squeezed her hand. She’d sounded sad. “It’ll be fun. Cora’s arriving today.”
She nodded, but still looked dejected.
“Hello?! Will someone answer me?”
“Welcome back, asshole,” I said and pulled Angela toward the elevator.
“Sarah, wait.” He reached out to stop me, but I dodged him.
Noah slipped onto the elevator with us.
“Are you staying here for Christmas?” Angela asked Damien.
“Yeah, I was planning to,” he said.
“And Hawaii?” she asked.
“What about it? We’re going. Right after Christmas.”
He opened his mouth to say something to me, but the doors closed because I was mashing the close doors button.
The elevator descended.
“The trip is still on. That’s good news, right?” Angela said, but she didn’t sound sure.
“I’m not going,” I declared.