chapter v .
why val hates d&d
VAL DIRECTED STEVE TO REEFER RICK'S while being crammed into the back of his station wagon like a ragdoll. Her knees were so close to her chest that she could feel her thigh bones pressing against her ribs. Finally, Steve slowed to a stop in front of Rick's house. The moment the wheels stopped turning, Max shoved the back door open, and she and Val tumbled out.
"Seriously?" Max asked Robin. "You had to leave an entire seat open for your band uniform?"
"Uh, yeah," Robin said irritably. "I didn't want one of you two smooshing it with your butts."
Val scoffed. "Yeah, God forbid."
Night had fallen during their drive out to Lover's Lake. Luckily Dustin had prepared for anything, and he pulled from his backpack five flashlights. They all clicked them on at the same time. Robin's burned directly into Val's eyeballs.
"Really, Buckley?" she groaned, shielding her eyes.
"Oops," Robin said sheepishly, lowering her beam to the ground.
Dustin was the first to ring the doorbell. No reply came—Val rolled her eyes and took charge. She jiggled the doorknob. When nothing gave, she jiggled it harder.
"That asshole locked me out," she murmured. Her eyes landed on the porch swing and she moved over to it, tossing the pillows behind her to look for the spare key beneath them. "And he has the spare. Great."
Dustin began pounding on the door. "Eddie!" he shouted through the wood. "Eddie, it's me! Dustin! Eddie! We just wanna talk! Anyone? Reefer Rick!"
"Don't scream that," Steve hissed, looking around.
Dustin continued his yelling as the rest of them circled the perimeter of the house. Val tested all the windows for a way in, but none budged. Reefer Rick must have been prepared for any intruders.
"Hey, guys?" Max called. Val jogged over to where she'd been looking. Her flashlight was trained on a house down the hill, right on the edge of the lake. A light above the door was on. Max looked to Val. "Any chance?"
"He would've let us in by now if he was in the main house," she replied, her voice low. She shrugged. "I mean, it wouldn't hurt to try."
A thought tickled the back of her mind—what if he'd been caught already?—and her stomach twisted with worry.
Then she wanted to slap herself for worrying about Eddie Munson.
The group made their way down the hill, slowly in case any mud decided to wobble their balance and topple them down the hill. Val almost lost her footing once, but Max was there to stabilize her.
When they reached the boathouse, Robin creaked the door open, starting off with a simple "Hello?"
No reply came, so they spread out among the boathouse, searching high and low for anywhere Eddie might've been hiding. Val tried a nearby wardrobe-looking-thing, but all that was inside was a bunch of lifejackets. She whispered a curse, slamming the door shut.
"Hey, Val, calm down," Steve said. "I'm sure your boyfriend's around here somewhere."
"Not my boyfriend," she replied in a mutter, but Steve had taken interest in the boat floating in the dock with a tarp covering it. He jabbed the tarp with an oar once, then twice, then repeated it multiple times. Val rolled her eyes. "Hey, doofus, he's obviously not in there."
