Death May Disagree

Chapter 20

"You sure you're okay to drive?" asks Milo. Behind us, Dustin sits in the passenger seat of a black van, loaded with band equipment for their performance tonight. Collin sits in the driver's seat, ready to put his foot on the gas if someone tells him to move his car away from the red zone in front of Milo's apartment. "I mean, you didn't seem to get enough sleep last night."

"I'll be fine. Bella will be with me," I chirp, although his worries are justified. The real reason I'm driving to Mary's house with Bella is not because I have something to do right now that coincidentally concludes at the same time as Bella's last class for today, but because she's terrified of driving at night. If something were to happen on the road that rendered me unable to drive, I don't even know if she'd take over the wheel.

Milo hugs me goodbye, reminding me that I can tell him anything, and then gets in the van bound for Mary's house. I wave to them until their speed picks up a little over 25 mph, and get in my own car back to my dorm. I didn't think Milo had noticed me tossing and turning last night. If that were so, that means he also didn't get enough sleep, which might mean a less than amazing performance for Dominique. I cross my fingers that he'll find time to nap between setting up the stage and waiting for our friends to arrive, if need be. I know I need one, but my body's too anxious to make it happen.

I was half-asleep when I came back to my dorm to collect my books this morning, and narcoleptic throughout all my classes. I tried to squeeze in a nap in my dorm room during lunch, but that had failed miserably. I sat on my bed and meditated, but somehow the room seemed brighter with my eyes closed. Throwing the blanket on top of me to shield my eyes was hot and suffocating, and it sent a message to the rest of my body to raise my internal temperature. I sat in the library for the rest of my break counterintuitively, cooling myself off before I ran around campus to get my friends to write their goodbye notes on the banner.

Back in my dorm again, I write down my own note to Dominique on the banner with careful penmanship. Although Bella's class ends in twenty minutes, my friends should be driving to Mary's house right about now. Annie and DJ will be picking up Dominique under the pretense of watching a movie that's come out in theaters recently, but I don't remember which. I trust them to iron out the details to their fool-proof plan, hoping that nothing else goes awry. Earlier today, I noticed that there was a small but noticeable splotch of yellow paint on one corner of the banner that could have resulted in my paint fight with Doom last night, and for the sake of symmetry and aesthetics, I cut all the corners. I convince myself that the ivy leaves near the edges were painted intentionally with their tops lobbed off to add character, but it's hard to unsee last night's perfection of the leaves painted whole when the corners hadn't yet been cut.

I stare blankly at my cellphone, wondering if it wouldn't be too weird to double text Kai and Lacey. The last time I heard from them, they said they were on their way to Grover Beach for the escape room. I had texted a request for them to let me know when they arrived, but they left the message on read. Two hours had passed since then, and even though I know the escape room's duration, I still feel like there's a chance they may not even be finding clues and solving puzzles, like they may have been involved in some freak accident on the way there. Tristan's plane lands in thirty minutes, but I had imagined over six scenarios for vehicular malfunction that could take place between soaring through the air and the aircraft hitting the tarmac. I sent the same request to Tristan to let me know when he's arrived, but I don't know if he will, either.

At 8:30, I pick Bella up on the curb between the Science and Math buildings and make the drive to Mary's house. I ask Bella about her day, her schedule this quarter, and her health, but all she says for all three is good. Well, she doesn't just say 'good,' but she doesn't go into detail either so I'm unable to tell if she's in any danger of dying. Bella asks me if it's okay that she tells me something about Eric, and I tell her yes, because why not? She tells me that Eric started dating her cousin yesterday.