Page 27 of False Idols

My phone buzzes in my pocket while we walk down the hallway but I don’t check it. I’m scanning the hallway and wondering if the bathroom will be empty when we get there. I’m relieved that it is and while Sunny heads for the toilet, I hesitate and almost go double check the showers to make sure no one is hiding back there, but I don’t. We would have heard someone back there by now but there’s nothing but the slap of our flip flops echoing off the tile and walls. We’re alone. I go to the sinks and check on the bruise on the side of my face. It’s not bad and the swelling is pretty much gone. My lip is healed up enough but it’s still hard to smile without it hurting. Both are small in the big picture with what’s gone on today, though.

My phone buzzes again and I pull it out expecting to see a reply from Dean, but it’s not just him that’s messaged me. There’s another name and this one I know because I memorized it the second that I figured it out in youth group when everyone exchanged contact info.

Beau1511

The 1511 is his street address. I remember loving that I knew that. It felt special, even though everyone in town knew what the 1511 stood for. It didn’t matter though, it was special to me. I should open Dean’s message and delete Beau’s, block him even, but I can’t. I’ve waited to see his name on my phone since I was thirteen.

Even though he’s probably threatening to hurt me, I have to open it.

I tap the message and suck in a breath when I see his message.

Are you home?

Another person that I didn’t think would care is messaging me about where I am. It means more to me than it did when I saw it was Minnie. That’s fucked up and I know it. Doesn’t change the fact that it’s true though.

Yes. I’m home.

I send back my message and hold my breath. Only a second later I see the dancing bubbles letting me know he’s typing before Beau’s message comes through.

Not going to ask if I’m home and safe?

I smile and lean against the counter to think of a reply, but just as I’m hitting the button, Sunny rounds the corner. “Hey, who has you smiling like that?” she asks and I almost drop my phone from her sudden appearance.

“What? No one.”

She rolls her eyes and starts washing her hands. “It’s definitely a boy you shouldn’t be talking to if it’s no one.”

She’s got me there.

I want to tell Sunny it’s Beau. There’s no reason I shouldn’t, right? She doesn’t know what he’s told me so far or the way he’s acted. All she’s seen is the forgiving man I wronged. She wouldn’t tell me I’m out of my mind for being excited that it’s Beau. He’s the one that’s put the smile on my face. Not Dean. If I was smart, if I was sane, I’d choose to smile when Dean texted, but I’m not either of those things. It’s Beau that sets my world on fire. Sunny sticks her tongue out at me in the mirror while she washes her hands and I decide it would be safe to tell her. Maybe it’s the trauma of today that has me feeling this way, I don’t know. What I do know is I want normalcy. I want to pretend that I’m just a normal girl in her freshman year, getting to hang out with her roommate and talk about boys while they have a movie night.

“You really want to know who it is?” I ask her.

Sunny bounces where she’s standing and spins to flick water at me. “Yes! Who is it?”

I open my mouth to tell her, but that’s when I hear the telltale squeak of a shower knob being turned before we hear the familiar sound of water running. My eyes go to the showers that are just around the corner. My heart starts to pound in my chest and it’s hard to take a full breath.

Someone else is here.

“I thought we were alone,” I whisper.

Sunny takes a step closer to me. “So did I.”

A second later we hear another shower turn on and fear shoots through me. It’s them. The person that hit me last night. There’s no way it isn’t. Why would someone be turning on more than one shower? Why would they have stayed so still and quiet when we came in chattering? The Reaper is on the loose. If it was innocent, they would have announced themselves. There’s no way someone not trying to scare us would have stayed quiet for this long. I feel like I’m rooted to the floor by fear, and I don’t know why. Whoever is in here already knows where I am.

God, what would I have found if I had gone to look in the showers like I almost did?

“Who’s there?” Sunny calls out and takes a step towards the hall that leads to the showers, but her movement breaks me free of my fear and I rush towards her.

“No, we have to go.” I grab Sunny’s hand and start to pull her towards the door. “Come on!”

Sunny looks over her shoulder but she comes with me. “Who the fuck is back there, though?”

“We don’t have time for this. We have to go. Please.” I tug her again, but she’s not moving as fast as I want. “Sunny, pl-” I start but stop when another shower goes on and she shakes her head.

“Nope. Fuck this.”

She finally moves it and we run out of the restroom. We sprint past a couple of girls in the hallway sitting on the floor and talking quietly, but we don’t stop until we get to our room.

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