Page 33 of Distortion
It’s almost ten by the time I’m finished, and, yawning, I pull up the cameras in the rest of the house to make surethere are no problems. I see brothers and pledges shooting the shit in the games room and the other common areas. Nothing out of the ordinary.
I go to close my laptop, then hesitate. I bring up her camera again and frown. She’s still sitting in the chair. She’s still staring out into space.
Is she okay?
I get up and go to her door.
I knock again. ‘Hey, it’s Blake.’
I wince. Now, she’s definitely not going to open the door.
But I hear movement inside her room, and a few seconds later, she opens it.
‘Did you eat?’ I ask smoothly.
I know she hasn’t.
‘Yes, thank you,’ she murmurs, not really looking at me.
She’s lying. But why?
She tries to shut the door and I slide my foot into the way so she can’t close it in my face.
Is that fear I see in her eyes? It’s gone in an instant, but I’m sure it was there. Does she think I want to come in? I barely contain my smirk. But instead of saying something cutting, for some inexplicable reason I move my foot and take a step back.
‘I have half a sandwich left over if you want it,’ I say.
‘No, thanks,’ she murmurs. ‘I’m really not hungry.’
This time, I let her close the door and, with a puzzled look on my face, I head back to my room. I watch her return to the desk slowly and pick up what looks like a piece of paper. She shoves it into the top drawer and then I watch her leave the room. I hear her come into the hall and walk toward the bathroom. The door closes only to reopen a second later, and then there’s a hesitant knock on my door.
‘Blake?’ she asks.
I’m annoyed that she didn’t take me up on my offer of asandwich, and sulkily, I almost don’t answer it. But I want to know what she wants and curiosity wins.
I crack the door and peer out at her, giving her the little playful smile the girls love. But she just blinks at me
‘I need a shower,’ she says.
‘Okay,’ I say slowly, wondering why she’s telling me.
‘Do you know if there are towels somewhere?’
Oh.
‘Yeah,’ I say, ‘I’ll show you.’
I pad down the hall and descend the stairs with her on my heels until we get to a walk-in closet halfway down. I open it up and turn on the light, showing her the neat shelves of bedsheets and towels.
‘Oh,’ she says, stepping inside with me.
So trusting.
I’m almost tempted to show her here and now why she should never let herself be alone with me, but it’s too soon. I want to get past her defenses first.
‘Do you need anything else?’ I ask in the perfect embodiment of a respectable gentleman.
She shakes her head as she looks at all the crisp piles, and I’m struck by how exhausted she looks. I almost ask her if she’s sleeping, but then she grabs two small towels and one big one and leaves the closet without a word. I stare after her.
