The Wrong Way to Rock Bottom | UPDATES Fri/Mon

5 | Age Sixteen

My voice carried over the music, and panic broke out. The mostly sober people made a break for the door, knocking each other over in their rush, while the ones who were hammered staggered around trying to remember where the door was. It was kind of funny. I'd predicted some sort of crash and burn for tonight, and I would've been perfectly happy just to watch it happen if it weren't for the look on Keller's face. He'd gone pale.

"If they catch me here, I'm off the team." He drove his fingers into his hair. "Coach has a no tolerance policy. I can't—I need the scholarships."

"Out the back, let's go!" His friend grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the kitchen.

"No, they'll send someone out there." Christy grabbed his other arm, her neon nails digging in. "I'll handle this. I'll talk to the cops, you go hide."

His friend gave up the tug of war and left, clearing an ottoman in one jump. Keller hesitated.

"Where can I hide?"

Christy turned on me. "Lissa, take him to the secret passageway."

For the first time, Keller looked at me. The eye contact sent a jolt through me. Well, who was I to argue with Christy?

Before I could second-guess myself, I took his hand and hauled him into the kitchen after me. My skin tingled, goosebumps breaking out along my arms, but I ignored it. There was no time to freak out about the fact that I was, technically speaking, holding James Keller's hand. I knew how much being on the baseball team meant to him and I couldn't stand the idea of him losing that because of Christy's stupid party. Or because of me.

"Up here." I shoved through a stream of people who'd had the same idea as Keller's friend and went for the corner of the kitchen where the door to the stairwell was, giving Keller a none too gentle push up the spiral steps.

His legs were longer than mine, so I had to take the steps two at a time to keep up. When I got to the top, I didn't realize that he'd stopped moving, and ran into his back.

"Which way?" he asked.

"Sorry, sorry." I ducked around him. "This way."

I took him to the room that had been mine when me and Christy and Enzo used to stay the night here. There was no time to be embarrassed about the Kim Possible nightlight or photos of toddler Lissa in her birthday suit. I threw myself into the closet and pushed at the square panel at the end of the closet, which swung open like a cat door.

"Get in!"

Keller stared at me, and it occurred to me for the first time that he might not fit. Despite not being bulky, he was way more broad-shouldered than me and he had a good eight inches on my height. For that matter, would I even fit? I hadn't been in here since I was ten.

"It's bigger on the other side," I offered. "And I'm pretty sure the cops are allowed to search the place if they find out there's been underage drinking, so I'd give it a shot if I were you."

"Well, when you put it that way," he said, sounding somewhere between annoyed and amused, and then crawled in. He had to twist his shoulders a little to make it, but he got his whole body inside. I didn't think twice about following him.

I hadn't been lying about how it was bigger on the inside. There was another, similar door that led to Enzo's room, and he and I used to hide out in here all the time. That was, until Christy found out, and made us share with her. Then I wasn't so into it.

The blankets and pillows we'd dragged in here looked like something had been chewing on it, which made me nervous, but there was no animal droppings or pee smell. The best part was, the hundreds of little glow in the dark stars we'd tacked all over the walls were somehow still going, and they gave us enough light to see. Keller backed up against one wall, tucking his knees against his chest, and I did the same against the other, our feet tangled in the middle. It was almost cozy.

The situation sank in. I was alone, with my childhood crush, in a room so small that we were physically unable to sit in it without touching each other. Of all the scenarios I'd come up with in my head for when I'd finally get a chance to talk to him, this was not one of them.

This was my shot to make an impression. Except I couldn't think of anything to say. I opened my mouth and what came out was, "James."

He winced. "Please don't call me that."

"Okay." I wanted to ask him why, but he didn't seem to want to explain himself. So I just stayed quiet.

"So this is weird." His voice was low and I imagined I could feel the sound. Like something warm wrapping around me.

"Yeah?" was all I could manage. How about more than one word, Lissa? I tried again. "Why's that?"

He shrugged. "Well, I've known you since we were kids—I'm pretty sure I remember getting sent to detention for defending your honor." His smile was a flash of white teeth in the dark. "But I don't really see you around school, and I can't remember having a real conversation with you. And now here we are."

"Here we are," I agreed, trying not to be too thrilled that he also remembered the day I'd fallen in love with him. "Small towns are weird like that."

"Yeah." He fell silent; then, "How long do you think we'll be here?"

"Hopefully forever." It came out before I could stop it.

Keller raised one eyebrow. "You a fan of cramped spaces and cobwebs?"

I took a deep breath. Might as well get this out, right? At least I wouldn't feel like such a creep when he knew. "No, I just have a planet-sized crush on you."