Page 29 of Sweet Ruin

“Okay, I’m done,” Anna announced as I turned to see her burying her clock in the soil of a leafy pot plant. “We better go, Isobel.”

“Okay, I’ll be one more minute…” I scanned my surroundings for a suitable hiding place and smiled when I looked up. The low-hanging lights in the corridor were protected by semi-translucent shades in the shape of a shallow bowl. If I was accurate enough, I might be able to throw my alarm clock up so it landed right inside.

“Oh no, what are they doing?” Anna hissed, and I followed her gaze to the end of the hallway. Barry was starting to flap and squawk as the girls tried to coax him from his cage. They weren’t giggling anymore and were starting to look a little worried the rooster was going to blow our cover.

“I’ll go and help them,” Anna said. “You hurry up and hide that clock. We’ve got to go.”

“Okay.” I nodded and returned my attention to the light fitting above me. I swung my arm back and forth a few times in preparation and then gently tossed the alarm clock up into the air. I smiled as it came down right inside the light fitting. Mission accomplished.

I looked down the corridor and laughed as I saw Barry strutting around on the carpet, finally free from his cage. All the girls were looking at Anna in awe, so she must have taken charge of the situation.

I was just about to walk toward them when the sound of shouting echoed from somewhere in the building. It seemed like it was coming from the floor above.

One of the girls swore. “That sounds like a teacher. Let’s get out of here.” The girls turned and rushed past Barry’s cage and out the door that led to the stairs.

“Isobel, hurry up, someone’s coming!” Anna was waving to me from the door. I sprinted after her as she slipped out of the hallway and into the stairwell.

When I reached the door, I burst through it but then stopped in my tracks on the landing. There were stairs leading up to the next level and down to the exit in front of me. Anna was already halfway down the stairs, and almost to the ground floor. But she’d stopped to look back at me, and her eyes were wide with panic. She was waving her hands and pointing upward.

I looked up and saw a set of slippered feet coming down from the floor above. When the man came fully into view, I realized it was the boys’ dorm dad, Adam. He had his back to me, but in a few seconds, he would reach the landing, turn around, and see me.

“Go back,” Anna mouthed to me.

I nodded and quietly slipped through the door and back into the hallway.

“Anyone else I find out of bed is in serious trouble.” Adam’s voice boomed through the building. He sounded far closer than I expected, and my heart began to race. He must have already caught some of the girls on the floor above, and I didn’t want to be among them. Lisa had said she’d make us clean the boys’ bathroom for sneaking a boy into the girls’ dorm. I dreaded to think what Adam would do if we were found in their dorm after curfew.

I started to race down the corridor as quickly and quietly as I could. There was another exit at the far end of it, so if I could just make it there without being seen, I would hopefully be able to escape. I’d only taken a few steps when I heard the door open behind me.

Adam had been headed this way, so I knew it must be him. There was no way I could make it to the other exit in time. I was screwed. I frantically looked around me for somewhere, anywhere, to hide. But there was nowhere to go. I glared at the tiny alarm clock I could see nestled safely in the light fitting.

In a moment of desperation, just as Adam was about to step into the hallway, I reached out and tried the handle on the nearest door. To my surprise and relief, it was unlocked. I threw myself into the bedroom and closed the door quickly behind me.

I held my breath and squeezed my eyes tightly shut as I listened to the sounds in the corridor. I prayed Adam hadn’t seen me. That he hadn’t heard me open and shut the door.

“What are you doing in here?” A low voice growled behind me, and I slowly turned to look into the room. It was almost pitch-black, but as my eyes adjusted, I saw a boy standing by the bed. He was shirtless, and his gray sweatpants slumped low around his waist. Through the darkness, I could see his intense green eyes narrowed on me. I’d stumbled into Noah’s room.

“Isobel?” His eyes widened with shock. It lasted only a second before he quickly suppressed it. “You can’t be in here.”

Noah strode toward me and reached for the door handle, but I pressed myself against the door, stopping him. I was probably better off out in the corridor and facing Adam’s punishment than in this room with Noah. But despite everything, for some reason, I felt like I could trust him to help me.

“Don’t,” I said. “Your dorm dad is in the hallway. I’ll get caught.”

Noah glared down at me. I was just inches from his bare chest, and I could see how tense he was by the way his arm flexed as his hand gripped the door handle.

“How is that my problem?” His voice rumbled through me.

“It’s not,” I snapped back. “Trust me, I didn’t mean to come in here. But surely you can stand to be around me for a few seconds. I’ll go when the coast is clear.”

He briefly looked me up and down. With my back forced up against the door and Noah’s arm stretched out beside me, I felt encased in his presence. If he really wanted me gone, it wouldn’t have taken much for his strong arms to ease me out of the way so he could open the door and kick me out. Instead, he released the handle, but he didn’t step back.

“Clearly you don’t understand how difficult it is for me to be around you,” he muttered, his eyes flicking back to meet mine. But he didn’t move to throw me out.

I stared up and into his eyes, wondering what he was thinking. I knew he wanted nothing to do with me, but why did it feel like there was more to his animosity than he wanted me to know? Why was the air between us thick with tension? And why, if he hated me, were his eyes on my lips?

I gasped as the high-pitched ringing of the alarm clocks pierced the air, and Barry’s squawks echoed down the hallway. I could hear growing commotion outside the room as doors opened and boys spilled into the hallway to see what was going on. Thankfully, Noah looked away, abruptly breaking the brief but intense focus he’d held on me.

Noah moved slightly closer as he went to wrap his hand around the door handle again. I felt my breath catch in my throat when his familiar scent hit me. There was barely any space between us, and when he spoke the vibrations from his low voice sent a shiver dancing up my neck. “I’ll check there are no teachers, then you need to get out.”

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