#KILLME2

Chapter 5

#KILLME2

By: theinkslingerr

Chapter 5

He looked around wildly, and now that I was closer, I realized it was Ross Daniels. Finley's sidekick. He peered at whoever had come into the classroom, then me. I was still belly down on the floor like a soldier in a trench. He squinted at the intruder again.

"Dr. Tifft? What're you doing here?"

    Dr. Tifft?

I struggled to my feet, trying to follow Ross's line of sight in the dark. And sure enough, there was Dr. Tifft standing a few feet away. He sighed, shook his head, and walked back to the front of the room to turn on the lights. Everything brightened instantly, blinding Ross and I. While Ross hissed like a vampire faced with its ultimate weakness, I focused on our very young and very fed up school psychologist. I noticed he hadn't answered Ross's question.

"What're you doing here?" I repeated. His office was all the way in building A.

Dr. Tifft frowned, then opened his mouth. Before he could explain himself, the door opened and in walked Finley Klepacki. The reason for me being here, therefore the reason I almost peed in my pants thirty seconds ago.

"What's all this?" he asked, as if he were the teacher and this was his classroom. He was holding two cans of Coke with a Snickers candy bar balanced on each one. I wasn't surprised he didn't think Mr. Carson's no food/no drink policy applied to him.

"Welcome," Ross said in a bad British accent. "That's what we're trying to determine."

Finley paused and looked from Dr. Tifft to me. His mouth flattened into a straight line. "Ross."

Ross blanched and started laughing nervously. "Hey, Dr. Tifft...Ellis...we should probably rearrange the chairs so Mr. Carson doesn't flip out tomorrow."

"Somehow I don't think the chairs would be what would raise his blood pressure. You kids aren't supposed to be in here." Dr. Tifft took a chair and rolled it back to its station. "He didn't leave the door unlocked, did he?"

"Not exactly...my laptop broke and the library's a sauna, so I was trying to get some homework done." Ross was no Oliver Twist, but he was trying. Funny, I didn't remember him showing any interest in theater.

Dr. Tifft didn't buy it either. "In the dark?"

"He was sleeping," I snitched, pushing a chair in. I didn't care about getting him into a little bit of trouble. "I came in here to talk to Finley, but the lights were off so...I...thought Ross was dead."

The room got quiet. If this were any school besides ours, we could've laughed it off.

"Sorry," Ross mumbled, scratching his head sheepishly. "I kinda sleep with my eyes open. Always have. And I don't move or make a sound. It used to freak my parents out when I was a kid. Still kinda freaks my dad out." He glanced at me. "Why were you on the floor though?"

Finley leaned against the frame of the door, cradling the sodas and snacks in the crook of an arm. There were four of us in the room, but he was focused on me. It was unsettling.

My cheeks burned. "Because I thought whoever got you was coming back. So when the door opened, I just hid. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Ross nodded. "Impressive instincts. You'd survive the first fifteen minutes of a horror movie."

"If her instincts led her to the back of the room— where there are no exits — I don't think so," Finley drawled.