Bitter

fifty-one - lydia

The hallways were dark, lit up only by the cracks of blue light that escaped from the gym every once in a while. The music was still thumping the walls and rattling the trophies behind the glass case to my left, but it wasn't impossible to have a conversation with someone anymore now that Cal, Marco, and I were standing outside the doors. All three of us stared down the hall, to the very end where a single fluorescent light was on, taunting us just in front of an Exit sign.

"He's gotta be down that way," Cal said, shining the flashlight on his phone. The light revealed a bunch of lockers along either wall, but nothing specifically pointed to West. Cal just started walking by the lockers, never looking back and Marco and I exchanged a glance, then followed after him.

Marco caught up to Cal first, brows furrowing. "Aren't we looking for Meg?"

Cal was quiet, gaze set on the double doors all the way at the end of the hall. "We are," he said slowly, "but I just saw West leave the gym. He's here somewhere and he might try to...do something to someone else." He finally looked over at Marco walking beside him. "Hey, maybe West made it easy and Meg is with him." This made Marco stiffen.

   "And if she's not?" Marco questioned, receiving no answer from Cal. He continued on, tone growing more urgent. "I think...I think we should split up. It'll be faster. We've got phones, we can just text each other if we see him or if we find Meg."

   Cal stopped in the hall and Marco and I did the same. I could see in his eyes he was calculating this new suggestion, probably thinking of all of the things that could go wrong. Splitting up when West was around was a terrible idea. But then Cal turned to me and I saw, just by the way he stared, he didn't think so.

   He nodded and gestured to me and Marco, all with a stern expression painted on his face. "Okay. Okay, you guys can go find Meg. I'll find West," he explained, and by the way he said this, I knew there was no changing his mind. "We meet back here in fifteen minutes if we can't find anyone."

   That was when I had to speak up. "You can't go after West alone," I warned, right as Cal looked at me, "you know that." What are you thinking? Was drowning and abducting not enough for you?

   Cal was unreadable. He had both of his hands in his pockets and glanced at Marco, then settled his stare on me again. "It'll be different this time," he said boldly. He held my gaze longer than usual and I knew exactly what he meant. He still had West's switchblade in his pocket and with that, I could no longer argue about Marco's plan. It was official. We were going to split up and Cal would take one hall while Marco and I took another.

   "We'll go back down the way we came," Marco told Cal, clearly antsy about finding Meg. Cal just dipped his head once, but he wasn't looking at Marco.

   I hadn't moved from my spot just yet and he was watching me, willing me to follow Marco who was waiting. All I could do was stand, glued in place, trying to figure him out and what was going through his brain. What was he planning on doing with that blade? Would he actually try to do something with it? I didn't know Cal well, but I doubted he would really kill West. Would he really go through with that?

   "Be careful," was all I could say. I didn't know how anyone could be careful around West though.

   Cal didn't reply at first, just kind of looked to Marco and then to me. "I will," he eventually said. I would never be able to smile in a situation like this, but apparently Cal could, even if it was subtle and sort of sad.

   "Remember, we meet back here in fifteen minutes if we don't find anyone," I reminded him, repeating his own words back. Cal nodded again and for a second it looked like he was going to take a step forward, towards me. But he didn't.

   "Fifteen minutes," he mumbled instead, solidifying the plan and setting it into motion. Then he turned around and began making his way to the light at the end of the hallway, becoming a silhouette that would eventually blend into the shadows beyond the double doors. The whole time he walked away, I just had this strange feeling, like I was in quicksand or something. Marco was pulling me along, but I barely heard him and couldn't even feel my feet moving next to him.

   There was no denying that Cal was right. West was somewhere behind those doors Cal was walking through and I was just letting him go. Cal would be face to face with West Haley, alone, and even though he had West's switchblade, that knowledge really didn't make me feel any better about the outcome of tonight.