Fraternizing with the Enemy

37 // What a Lovely Afternoon for Murder

WHEN the plan had begin coming together in my mind, I hadn't expected that I'd be pressed up against the lap of a half-naked boy crammed in the back seat of Tyler's car, and yet, there I was. Awkwardly trying not to lean back, hoping that I wasn't crushing Patrick's legs under my weight as I kept my head ducked and gripped tightly to the box in my own lap.

     Still, the basketball team did not play around. When we turned a corner and I accidentally lost my center of gravity, it was like a muscled rock wall up against my back, which was not the worst thing to fall into.

     Just something I noted if I was tragically rejected by Reese, was all. If I was going to be crammed in the back seat with any half-naked boy, Patrick was not the worst contender.

     "Uh, sorry Patrick," I murmured again, trying not to fidget too much, a blush creeping up the back of my neck. "Thanks for doing this again."

     Patrick grinned, all nonchalance and long-dark hair pulled back into a bun, waving me off easily. "Don't worry about it!" he chuckled, low and husky and with all the tones of someone who was not a seventeen-year-old boy. "Wyatt said that the cookies you made for us are delicious. I'm always down for cookies."

     Wyatt, who I learned was incredibly serious about shotgun-calling privileges, turned around from the passenger seat and beamed at us. "I'm serious, I got a half-chub from one bite last time."

     I pinned him a wary look. "I don't know if that's a compliment."

     The blond boy grinned, shooting a cheery thumbs up. "It is. I only half-chub for the best."

     Tyler, who was driving with a permanent crease in his forehead, let out a long, shaky breath. "We really shouldn't have put him in the trunk. That was so stupid. How did I let you guys convince me into doing this? What if something happens?" he murmured under his breath, the anxiety heavy in his tone as he inched along, ten kilometers under the speed limit, hunched over with a white knuckle grip on the steering wheel.

     Wyatt clapped his back with a chuckle, radiating his usual cool indifference. "Don't worry, it's just Lawry. He'll be fine. We've definitely put him through way worse. I bet he finds it comforting in there."

     Tyler's eyes refused to stray from the road, but the knitting in his brows did not look convinced. "I don't understand why we needed six people," he grumbled, bitter remnants of their losing argument. "Five would have perfectly gotten the point across."

     Wyatt balked, slapping a hand against his bare chest. "I'm the exclamation point! That's the most important part! Don't we want her feelings to get through to Eva?"

     I felt a spike in my pulse as her name left his lips, the anxiety tearing up my veins as we drew closer and closer to Eva's house. Despite everyone's confidence, I knew that Eva was a tough one to crack.

     Her grudges were a thing of legends, as everyone learned when Eva had accidentally forgot to tell the supervisor on our Geography field trip that Haley Lancer, who'd kissed Eva's crush in the second grade, was still in the bathroom and we'd left her five hours away. No one noticed until we'd gotten a very confused and tearful call back at the school.

     Her cold eyes were still vivid in the back of my mind.

     But I knew that Eva was the gatekeeper to Savannah, and that if I got through to her, it would be so much easier to apologize to the blonde girl. Savannah was always softer, more forgiving, which was why hurting her was even more painful. And I knew Eva would be guarding her like a hawk for that reason.