“Teagan was only helping me clean off my dress. It looks much worse than it really is.” With that, she dabbed her dress with a damp paper towel.
My jaw hung open to the floor but shut quickly when Ms. Hodges looked at me for my side of the story. I simply nodded in agreement.
We marched out in single file, avoiding the stares of everyone at the dance.
“I trust there will be no more antics this evening?”
Brynn and I bobbed our heads in unison.
“Alright everyone! There’s nothing to see here, a minor glitch in the festivities this evening.” She clapped her hands and gave a nod toward the sound stage and soon the room was filled with music and laughter and whispered voices.
I turned to Brynn. “I really am sorry about the dress.” I didn’t want another argument—we’d get kicked out for sure—but I had to ask. “Did you have to grab me like that?”
Brynn looked at me with large brown eyes. “I didn’t grab you,” she said innocently.
My brows furrowed together and I reached up to touch the mess on top of my head. Ryan was at my side in a nano-second, shaking his head, staring at us both. “You guys were in there for two seconds and you come out like this.”
It was longer than two seconds. I was sure of it, and if Brynn was pretending to not remember anything that happened, she was doing an awfully good job.
My eyes met Garreth’s and I could feel myself getting trembly again. He looked amazing and serene. Maybe he was getting better? I wanted to step toward him but Brynn came to his side, reminding me that he was her date tonight. Not mine. Did he even still care? A gentle arm wrapped around my shoulder, and I knew Ryan was trying to be protective.
“Coffee sure sounds good, doesn’t it?”
I looked up into Ryan’s dimpled grin. “It sure does.”
One last glance at the gym and I could see Brynn pulling Garreth onto the dance floor, her ruined dress momentarily forgotten. I gave Ryan’s hand an appreciative squeeze as we walked out the door of the gym and into the dark night dotted with millions of tiny stars.
The mug was warm in my hands. It felt too good to put down. I took another sip and sighed.
Ryan was staring at me. “Okay, tell.”
“Tell what?”
“The bathroom. Brynn. Go on with it.”
I sighed again and took a look around. Most of the tables were empty and only a few customers were up at the counter.
“The door was jammed so I pushed. I had no idea she was on the other side, and it made her drink spill down the front of her dress. Then, she freaked.”
“Define freak.” He was leaning forward on his arms now, giving me his full, eager attention.
Beneath the table I traced the inside of my palm with my finger.
I scrunched my face, trying to recall exactly. “She wigged out. She pulled my hair and pushed me against the wall. Actually, it was in the opposite order. She was really strong. And her face was …”
I couldn’t finish and he didn’t press me. He just looked at me across the table ignoring his black coffee. I wondered silently if this had anything to do with the so-called prophecy. Was this really hell as Ryan had questioned in the closet, and as Hadrian seemed to confirm the other night? Part of me simply wanted to believe that Brynn was a stark-raving lunatic who needed to be institutionalized immediately. Her father was a doctor; couldn’t he see the signs?
“She doesn’t hang out with her friends anymore,” Ryan volunteered.
“I know. They seem to have ditched her.”
Ryan finally took a sip of his coffee. “She’s keeping company with Garreth lately, huh?”
Instead of answering, I looked down and played with my napkin.
Do I tell him? About the prophecy? Would it scare him if I said that every thought he spoke out loud about hell was indeed real?
My head was killing me.
Ryan leaned over and whispered very softly, even though there was no one around to hear.
“I had a dream about Claire again last night.”
I looked up.
“She said you were the answer.”
“The answer to what?” I whispered back as the hairs on my arms began to stand.
“I have no idea.” Then he reached over, took my hand and carefully opened it. Hadrian had called it a lemniscate. I sighed. There it was—an eight lying sideways across my palm.
Infinity.
I sucked in my breath, waiting for the slew of questions to stream from across the table. I had never let Ryan inspect my mark so closely before, always playing it up that it was simply a burn, and that to touch it gave me the willies.
“You hold forever in your hand,” Ryan said quietly. The funny thing was, he didn’t seem too surprised. I wondered if his dream about Claire had prepared him in some way?
The outside pocket of my purse vibrated, and I reached down to retrieve my phone.
My mother’s voice was practically frantic on the other end. “Teagan, are you alright?”
“I’m fine, Mom.”
“Nate called me.” No surprise there. “He said Brynn’s missing.”
“Relax, Mom. She’s probably still at the dance.” I didn’t bother mentioning who she was whirling and twirling across the dance floor with.
“Honey, the dance ended forty-five minutes ago. Where are you?”
I yanked Ryan’s arm toward me and fumbled for his watch beneath his sleeve. How long had we been sitting here? “Sorry, we stopped for coffee. I didn’t realize what time it was.”
“Please, Teagan, will you just run over to his house and help him? He said he would meet you there in fifteen minutes. I’d go myself but I’m still not feeling all that great.” She did sound tired, which made me wonder if it was more than an extended hangover. Maybe she had the flu?
“Brynn’s a big girl. I’m sure she’ll show up eventually.” I was getting exasperated. What was I now? Her keeper?
My mother grew silent on the other end.