Drink, Slay, Love

Chapter Nineteen

As fast as a speeding bullet (but without any shred of a cape), Pearl darted across the street and plunged into the bushes beside Evan's house. Branches scraped her skin, and she felt blood rise to the surface. Quickly, she licked the scrapes, and the skin healed smooth. She checked the tips of the branches. She hadn't left any traces. She was still safe.

Hidden in the bushes, she studied Evan's house. She saw shadows through the blinds and curtains: the silhouette of a man, a woman, a teenage girl. She didn't see Evan.

She crept into his backyard. She'd regained enough rational thought to realize that she could not walk naked up to his front door and ring the bell. She had to find Evan and convince him to invite her inside without anyone else noticing her. Once she was inside . . . then she could figure out the rest.

Up on the second floor, third window to the right, Pearl spotted him. He was hunched over a desk. She stared at his silhouette for a moment, unable to process the idea that anyone could do so mundane a task as homework on a night like this, but then she sprang into action. She ran across his yard. Moonlight reflected on her skin, but she was fast. Like a cat, she leaped silently onto the garage and then scurried across the roof. She then lay down and leaned over the side of the house so that she hung upside down by Evan's window. She knocked lightly on the glass.

She saw his silhouette startle, and then the blinds opened. Pearl withdrew so that she was perched on the roof above him. She heard the window being raised. Evan poked his face out.

"Above you," she whispered.

He twisted to look up. When he saw her, a series of emotions flickered across his face so fast that she couldn't read any of them. "You're on my roof again," he whispered.

"I know," she said.

He stuck his head farther out. "You're naked."

"I know," she said. For the first time, she felt naked. She was conscious of the night wind licking her skin, and she felt the stolen blood rush into her cheeks in an almost-human blush.

For a millisecond he stared at her, and then he visibly forced himself to stare down at the lawn instead. "Would I be totally out of line if I asked what you're doing here?"

She entertained several retorts but rejected all of them. She was exposed here in more ways than one, and she didn't have time for games. Hating herself for what she was about to say, Pearl blurted out the words: "I need help."

So softly that Pearl was certain she wasn't meant to hear it, Evan whispered, "And lo, Hell freezes over."

The night wind swirled over her back, and her hair tangled as it swept against her neck. She shivered. "Please," she said. Saying the word made her feel as if she were cracking open bones inside of her. It hurt like a wound.

"Come in," he said. He lifted the window higher and then turned his back as she lowered herself inside. She landed on his desk and climbed off it. He tossed her a shirt, and she slipped it on. It fell down to midthigh. The cotton felt rough on her scoured skin.

She noticed he was wearing boxers and a T-shirt, ready for bed. Automatically, her eyes slid over to his bed. Blue sheets were crisp and flat. He followed her gaze. "Um, I don't . . . ," he began, taking a step backward toward his door.

"I ran away," Pearl said.

It was the simplest explanation, and it had the added benefit of being true.

"Naked?" he asked.

"They took my clothes," Pearl said. Also true.

His eyes widened. "Are you . . . okay? Do you need a hospital?"