Tell Me What You Hate About Me

12: Uninvolved

After my business meeting with Jack, we walked through the lobby, where Debbie gave me a thumbs-up as we passed by.

I forced a smile. The only reason I had to be happy was that the talisman was probably valuable since magical items weren't all that common in Oregon and that I had successfully formed my subcommittee without pissing off Jack too much. And if I could figure out a way to make that magic work for me, why would I need school?

Those were a lot of reasons to be happy, actually.

Although we had gone back to the pond where it all started a few times since we found the talisman, we still hadn't found anything else of importance there. Even if it was the only artifact I ever found, it made the couple of hundred dollars I spent on the metal detector worth it. But that would only work if Sierra and Dominic didn't find out about the news.

Jack and I paused at the door to my dorm.

"I had fun, Lindsay," he said, and I nodded.

I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, too. We didn't get everything settled with the talisman, but I got to see a different side of him than I was used to. And that wouldn't have meant anything to me if it were anyone but Jack.

"We should do this again, maybe in the woods where no one else can find us. You know, so we can try to figure some stuff out about the you-know-what," I said.

He was probably hoping that would go in a different direction with that, but business was business.

He nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"And we should also try to figure out just what exactly a you-know-what is. And then we should figure out—"

Jack interrupted me. "Is there any reason you keep calling it a you-know-what?"

"Sierra's nosy," I said.

"And you think she's too stupid to figure out what you're talking about?"

I hesitated. She probably wasn't that dumb.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Lindsay. Try your best to keep your mouth shut," Jack said, and before I could tell him that I would do my best, he walked away.

That was some business date. I let out a sigh before opening up the door, but Sierra wasn't there where I left her.

At least it meant that she definitely didn't hear anything about the coin that she didn't know wasn't for currency.

I put the talisman back in my dresser for the night. There was no way I could let it out of my sight, especially since Sierra had already stolen it once and there was now a little bit of definitive evidence that it was worth more than a Chuck E. Cheese token.

It would have been stupid of me to believe that taking the talisman seriously and pursuing the truth about it wouldn't damage any parts of my life, but it was worth more than almost everything else I had. Sierra was just a roommate, Dominic was just a classmate, and grades were just grades.

As far as I knew, having a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology didn't make Dr. Reed an expert on magic, and Jack was always busy with his band that he was too talented for. That left the research up to me.

The calendar was almost set to switch to October, which seemed quite appropriate for the situation. And there was no time to waste to get some information together and figure out just what was hanging out in the drawers of my dresser.

I took out my laptop and typed in talisman into the search bar, which spat out a basic definition: an object that is believed to have magic powers and bring good luck and protection to the user.