Her eyes, his lies

Chapter 7

As uncomfortable a temperature as the shower was, Jane stayed under it for nearly an hour. Her mind, as it always did, chased its own tail. Around and around went her thoughts, a veritable cyclone of anxious ideas and cold, logical analysis.

Beatrice. The pain in her body. Ryder. The ring of hazing Jane had gone through.

They were protecting something.

The voice in her head piped up again. She should stop poking into this, it implored her. It could have been far worse and far, far more violent. She was lucky that the extent of all they did was intimidate her.

And intimidated she felt. Her breathing quickened at the mere memory.

But they were protecting something. Something important enough to try and scare her off. And at the center of it all was Ryder Jackson.

Not so perfect in the end. Despite herself, she smiled.

The rain outside seemed to drone in concert with the shower, creating a harmony of falling water.

All her snooping had paid off. She just wished it hadn't come at such a painful cost.

With fingers numb from cold, she turned the knob. The water shut off, leaving the rain to sing alone.

Toweling off, she managed the short walk to her room without rousing a word from her mother.

With a sigh of relief, she shut her door as quietly as possible.

Her phone rang somewhere in the house. Jane cursed. She had forgotten it where she'd left it, in the hall.

"Jane, someone's calling you," her mother called from the kitchen.

Unlocking her door, she followed the buzzing tone.

The screen, once again, showed a photo of Victoria. A red number in the corner denoted how many times she had tried to call her. Another red number, below it, indicated that she had another text message from someone else. She decided to ignore the latter.

The little voice in her head, once more, piped up to voice its opinion.

Stupid, stupid Jane. Making your only friend worry. All you think about is yourself.

Jane shook her head, then answered the call.

"Jane! Where have you been?" Victoria sounded surprised that she had even picked up.

"Sorry, I- I just felt sick." That lie had worked once, why not twice?

"You could've texted me! I thought you got kidnapped or something."

"I'm sorry, I forgot," Jane said.

The dim hallway was strangely warm despite the weather. Maybe it was the poor construction of the house. Jane leaned against the wall, damp hair clinging to her neck.

There was a scratching sound at the other end of the call.

"What are you doing?" Jane asked.

"Hang on..." Victoria replied. "Somebody wrote 'beanstalk' on my locker."

Jane's free hand instinctively went to her mouth. She chewed her thumbnail.

"Maybe it was a prank," Jane lied, between nervous bites.

She knew who it was. And why.

"Who would write something like that? Must be a total weirdo," Victoria replied, not noticing Jane's more-quiet-than-usual voice.