Page 48 of Tusk & Puck

Because he was too busy licking his stalker wounds and planning revenge.

“You just let us worry about this, okay?” I tell Ryan, just as Melody says a version of essentially the same thing to Tina.

“I’m sorry about your office.” Tina lets Melody stroke her hair for a moment as she clings to her aunt’s waist.

“Honey, it’s not your fault.”

Melody brushes a wayward strand of hair from Tina’s wet cheeks and tucks it behind her little ear. If I were into things like postcards or cheesy book covers, the two of them comforting each other would make a great picture.

Too bad for Larson Grey I’m more of a doer than a looker. I’ll leave the introspection and art critiquing to orcs who don’t have teachers to punch in the face. Twice. Maybe even thrice if there’s time.

I put the key in the ignition and twist it until my car roars to life.

“Where are you going?” Melody asks, a look of genuine curiosity across her face. What does she mean by ‘where am I going?’

“To confront Larson. If he wants to ruin something, he can try me instead of your office.” I put the car in reverse, not at all surprised when her hand reaches into the still-open window. She leans in and grabs my keys. The floral smell of her freshly washed hair gets the best of me, and I’m not fast enough to stop her from pulling out my keys.

“You have no idea if it’s him,” Melody says.

“I could say the same thing to you about Verog,” I snap. “And I’m going to right now. You don’t know Hill like I do.”

“I never liked Mr. Grey, so my money’s on him,” Ryan explains. “Plus he’s always talking to you. It’s weird.”

“What do you mean weird?” Melody frowns. For a smart woman, she really is failing to see just how dangerous this guy can be. “We’re colleagues. Of course, we talk.”

“All the time?” Ryan asks. “Every day?”

“Lots of us do.” Melody shrugs, but her voice is getting smaller. “We’re always in a big group.”

“Your group,” Tina chimes in. “Mr. Grey only joins when you’re there. Ryan and I have been watching before school and at lunch. Whenever you’re in your office, he only comes to get food.”

“Doesn’t even say hello to anyone. Look. Straight to the cereal.” Ryan unlocks his phone and shows his aunt what I assume is a video of Mr. Grey doing the very thing they’re describing.

Melody looks at the screen and sighs. “Ryan, let’s just drop it, okay? You heard me. You guys don’t need to worry about this.”

“Then who will?” Ryan asks, and I think back to Melody’s vandalized office. It doesn’t take a profiler to see the guy is escalating.

26

MELODY

Iclose my office door, sit down in my chair, and take a deep breath.

The office looks almost nice again. Thanks to Jaromir’s help, everything looks good again. There are a few empty spaces where posters used to be and one dent in the wall that could tell you what happened here a few days ago. But mostly, it all looks nice.

Only the person who did it is still out there.It’s hard to believe it was Larson. He’s always been so nice and quiet. But then again, plenty of manipulative people can be nice and quiet. It’s part of their ruse.

I remember one time at one of the teacher meetings when he offered to help me organize the things in the storage closet. He didn’t say much, but he worked hard and even stayed for an extra thirty minutes or so after until the end of school to get it done. Summer was still ending then, and I remembered just how hot and stuffy it was.

“No problem,” he’d said, when it was all finally done. “Let me know anytime you need something.”

Did he do that out of kindness like I thought, or was it all part of some crush? It’s not a pleasant thing to consider. It takes something that felt so good and kind at the time and makes it seem kind of sordid and creepy.

Unless of course, it’s Coach Hill. He did find out at the same time, didn’t he? But Coach Hill has never been anything but friendly to me. He’s always seemed totally relaxed and calm around me. Could someone fake that? Maybe, but it wouldn’t be easy.

Then again, Coach Hill is the one who’s actually been around me the whole time that the secret admirer thing has been happening. And he has seemed happy every time I show up to the rink. During that first argument, he definitely wanted to show me that he was on my side, against Jaromir. What if that was jealousy?

It’s hard to believe it’s either of them. But it has to be, unless one of them told somebody else. But if they did that, it would be all over the school. No, it’s Hill or Larson.

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