Predator

Chapter Twenty-Six

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We stand frozen in silence, the three of us.

Will's hands are still clenched at my waist and they burn there, like two flames of unmistakable evidence. We still stand so close that I can feel his short breath on my ear, and my hands lie slack on his chest. I don't know if my skin is red where he kissed me, but I feel as if each spot has been marked with an 'x'.

Our current position is incriminating, to say the least.

The third stands at the threshold of the hall, one earbud fallen from its place in his ear, swinging lifelessly. The owner of it is a boy that I recognize from the freshman class, but that's all I know of him. I watch his eyes dart between Will's face and mine, as the blank expression on his acne-riddled face slowly twists into recognition. My heart sinks.

"Wait-"

The sudden sound of Will's voice seems to pull the boy back into focus, and before Will can finish, he breaks off into a run in the opposite direction.

My head is pounding.

"Oh my god, Will!" I unintentionally squeak. "What are we going to do, what are we going to do?!"

"Shush!" he whispers sharply, taking me by the shoulders. "Rachel, keep your voice down, I-"

"This is your fault! I told you not to do that here and look what happened!" I feel my eyes bulging out of my head.

"I know, I know! Just stay calm, I need to figure out what to do," he laments.

"What to do?" I ask incredulously. "Will, it's all over! That kid is going to turn you in and you'll be done for! I'll be done for! How could you be so careless, we made very distinct rules about-"

Abruptly I'm cut off by his hand against my mouth, to which I protest with a muffled 'Hey!'.

"Look at me, baby," he pleads. I do as he says. "You have to calm down! I swear, everything is gonna be fine, I can figure this out. We just need to approach this with precision."

More tears are springing to my eyes. Will must see this because he sighs, then hugs me tightly. "Rach...Rach, it will all be okay. Just give me until the end of the day, I'll come up with something. I promise."

I pull out of the embrace. "Will, what are we going to do?"

"Right now? We're gonna act like nothing happened, that's what we're gonna do. Come on."

We start to make our way back down the deserted hallways, my footsteps heavy. "I'll go in first," he says. "You wait awhile and then come in, so it won't look like anything."

When we get back to the room, I watch him enter with weary eyes and I take position outside of the door. What the hell just happened?! How could we be so stupid as to allow something like this?! Chances are, that kid is going to say something! What's going to happen when he does? Will there be an investigation, or will they just arrest him on the spot? Surely they can't arrest him without evidence, right? And if they question us, we can just deny everything, our word against one! But what if they see through our lies? What if they bring others into the investigation and ask Quinn, would she betray me or tell them the truth? Oh god, what if-

All of a sudden I remember that I'm supposed to go inside. I take a deep, trembling breath and open the door as calmly as I can act. Taking my seat, I can feel everyone's eyes on me. It makes my movements stiff and unnatural, which I hope they don't notice.

The rest of the day just crawls by. Every other minute I'm expecting the phone to ring, to summon me to the principal's office so I can be subject to screaming accusations. And I wonder if Will is feeling the same way. I wonder if he really does have a clue about how we should move forward. I'm so scared he doesn't.