The Hidden - Jessica Verday [67]
I tried to turn away. Tried desperately to think of something—anything other than Caspian and the hotel room … the towel … no shirt. … And then there was the lotion.
“Oh, gross!” she yelled. “Do not want. I did NOT need to see that! Cool it, Abbey. Put a shirt on, dead boy.”
Caspian just looked confused. “What’s—”
“Never mind,” I blurted out, forcing myself to think about the puppy I saw in a store window at the mall during Christmas when I was twelve. He’d been so cute and fluffy, and I got to pet him—
“Thank you,” Cacey said immediately. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. That was a much better one.”
I stared down at the floor. My face was never going to feel normal again. I was always going to have a scarlet ring of shame around my ears.
“Aaaaaaanyway,” Cacey said a moment later. “I’m just here to let you know that we’re still keeping an eye on things, so keep playing it cool. If you see Vincent, let us know. Don’t accept rides from strangers. Don’t eat Halloween candy that doesn’t come from your neighbors, yadda, yadda, yadda. You know the whole safety drill. Understand?”
I glanced up at her. “Yeah, we got it.”
“Good.” She stood up. “Then, I’m off.” She waved to Caspian, then turned to me. “Oh, and I heard about this big prom thing coming up? Just FYI: Don’t be surprised if you see me and Uri there.” She started to move toward the door, but stopped. “Do they still serve Coca-Cola at those things? Or do I need to bring my own?”
I just laughed. I couldn’t help it.
“I’m taking it that’s a no?” she said. “I don’t need to bring my own?”
“No,” I said eventually. “You don’t need to bring your own soda. They’ll have drinks.”
“Cool. Then, have fun. Drink smart. And use protection.” She slipped her hand into her back pocket and withdrew something before tossing it to me. “And by that, I mean this.”
I glanced down at it. “A phone? I already have one of those.”
“Yeah, but he doesn’t.” She nodded at Caspian.
“You got a phone for me?” he said in clear surprise. Then suspicion crossed his face. “Why?”
“So in case you need to reach us right away and you can’t get to her phone, you have your own.”
Caspian and I shared a look. It made a lot of sense, and I couldn’t help but wonder why we hadn’t thought of it sooner.
“Oh, and don’t worry about the bill,” Cacey called, continuing out the door. “You’re covered by the Revenant calling plan. The long-term contract, however, is a bitch.”
She laughed again as she went out the door, and a minute later I heard her downstairs talking with Mom and Sophie.
I flopped back onto the bed, feeling like I’d just been run over by a truck.
Talking to Cacey was exhausting.
Later that night Caspian and I left for Cyn’s house right before nine. Main Street wasn’t that far away, so it would only take us about two minutes to get there. I was actually a little bit surprised at how close she’d been this whole time.
On the way there we passed Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell’s house, and I noticed two things right away. The first was that even though it was dark outside, their house looked really dark. And … empty. The second was the reason why it looked that way: the FOR SALE sign in the yard. I came to a complete stop in the middle of the road and just stared at it.
“What’s going on?” Caspian asked, coming to a stop beside me.
“That’s the … For … It’s …”
I couldn’t even speak. All I could do was point.
“Isn’t that—”
“The Maxwells’ house,” I blurted out. “Kristen’s house. For sale.” I stood there, just looking back and forth at the sign and their empty house. I couldn’t believe it. They’d just upped and moved? What about Kristen? What about her room?
“This doesn’t mean they don’t love her anymore,” Caspian said, reading my mind. “You know that, right?”
“Yeah, but how can they …? Why would they …? I didn’t even know they were thinking about leaving,” I said softly.
Caspian stood there with me in silence, until I realized that we were