Curious Minds

Chapter 17

Caleb

When I opened the front door, Paige's smiling face greeted me. The bubblyness faded a bit, but then she called out, "Where's that red-headed cutie?"

I swear I heard a lock click.

"He is probably organizing his room by color," I told her as the twins appeared from the stairs. If the love-struck looks on thier faces were any indication, they thought Paige was the woman for them. They seriously needed girl experience. "What brings you back so soon?"

"I forgot some cleaning stuff and I can't seem to find my phone," she pouted. I had to admit the pout was cute, it was also something I tended to use on people myself.

She seemed rather normal to me, but Dak's dislike of her was top priority to me. "Where did you last have it?"

"Oh, I'm not sure," she said, biting her lip in thought.

The twins were intensely staring at Paige and it was making me worry about their health. "Guys, think you could help find Paige's phone?"

Their eyes lit up. "Of course." "Yeah." They dashed off in different directions.

When I looked back at Paige, there was a look on her face that didn't match her personality. In a blink, the look was gone and she was once again her bubbly self. "Um... I'll just check upstairs, okay?"

"Okay! I'll check around here and then come up," she chirruped before heading towards the side table near the large front window.

Before heading up the stairs, I glanced back and caught her watching me. Sending her one of my perfect smiles I reserved for problematic adults, I continued up the stairs.

*** Dak ***

Sitting on my bed, I hoped the others would deal with Paige and leave me alone. It was their turn to handle her. Whatever made me dislike her was just out of reach of words. Right now, it was just a feeling.

Distractedly trying to figure out what it could be, the vibration of the mattress had me jumping up with a small screech and nearly wetting myself. Heart hammering like it wanted to burst from my chest, I yanked the top mattress to the side, revealing a phone in a pink glitter case.

Ah hell. Now I figured the reason Paige was back was for the damn thing.

Curious as to why it had buzzed, I pick it up and right the mattress as I sit back down. On the screen is a text from an unprogrammed number.

It is requested that you call & debrief what you've learned thus far...

Debrief? I didn't like what that might mean, but there wasn't much she could've learned yet, right? There was more to the text, too, but the screen only showed a very small portion of the type. Trying the password was out of the question because I was horrible at hacking and this looked like the kind of phone that could be set to take a pic of those messing with it.

Lost in thought, the thud against the door had me yelp out loud and throw the phone at it. Caleb opened the door in time for the phone to smack him in the chest, busting the glitter gel part and getting it all over his chest.

"Aww man," he complained. "I liked this shirt." He stepped further into the room, and the door swung partially back closed.

"What have I told you about picking my locks!" I whisper-screamed at him. At the rate my heart was going, I figured the next scare could give me a heart attack.

He laughed. "Paige came for her phone."

"Then take it to her!" I was calming down, but not quickly.

As Caleb bent to grab the phone from the floor, I heard light steps on the stairs. Since the twins always sounded like stampeding elephants, I knew it wasn't either of them.

*** Caleb ***

Have you ever been almost kicked in the face and slammed into a door by your best friend? Try doing both at the same time... Actually, don't.

As I reached down for the phone, Dak's foot appeared from nowhere and sent said phone out into the hall. Before I had jerked into a fully upright position, he had shoved me into the door, using my body to shut it the rest of the way. While I was still winded, Dak reached around and locked the door as I blinked in confusion.

"There it is!" Paige's bubbly voice came from outside.

Dak covered my mouth before the teasing words could escape. We stood chest to chest and I could feel Dak's heart racing. His hand shook a little, giving away his nerves even though there was a calm, but focused look on his face. I knew he was trying to solve the puzzle of Paige, but it didn't look like he had enough pieces.

Once Paige's footsteps faded, Dak removed his hand and backed up.

"Nice look," I told him. The glitter, a bright pink and silver, was now all over Dak's clothes, arms, and face. Seriously, who created this sparkly dust that attatches to literally everything?

"Shut up," he said, trying to brush it off, but only seeming to spread it.

Leaning back against the door, I noted, "I didn't realize you were so afraid of her." I was grinning from sheer enjoyment.

Dak began pacing; that wasn't a good sign.

Right as I though he had forgotten I was there, the pacing stopped and his green eyes met mine. "She works for someone."

"Yeeah," I said slowly. "That tends to happen as you need money."

"No! I-I... There's a text on that phone," Dak sounded strange, like there was something miswired in his thoughts. "She-she reports to the government."

"My smile slipped. "You don't know that, Dak."

The pacing started again. "The twins. They can locate Paige and do a full eval of location..." Dak began talking in words I somewhat knew and more Dak short-hand.

"Paige is here," I said, even though I was talking to the room. Dak was obviously not listening. "Hey!" I grabbed his arms and forced him to look at me. "Paige is here!"

Giving me an exasperated look, Dak didn't say anything, but his shoulders widened. Letting go, I watched as Dak morphed into me. The eyebrow quirk Dak wore when he explained things looked strange on my face, but I got the message.

"Shit."

"Yeah."