I took one final look in the mirror and tried to smooth down a few loose wisps, but my hair had
other ideas. I looked at the massive wet patch down the front of my top, still pissed off about it.
“Fucking Liam had to puke on me. Ugh! Fuck Dean, and fuck this party.” I muttered to myself.
I decided to go and find Pip and tell her I was leaving with or without her. I went to open the
bathroom door and heard laughing down the corridor.
A very familiar laugh.
A Lacey laugh.
I backed away from the door.
“Crap!” I quickly looked for somewhere to hide.
It was a choice between the large plant in the corner, jumping behind the shower curtain, or diving
out the window, but I was one floor up from the ground level. The voices grew louder and I quickly
pushed the shower curtain aside and hopped into the bathtub, letting the curtain fall back down. I
sucked in a breath as the door opened and Lacey walked in, followed by someone else.
I moved away from the curtain... then noticed I was not alone in the bathtub.
Lane Walker leaned against the tiled wall with a cigarette between his fingers.
That explains the cigarette smoke.
Oh, my God, Lane Walker heard me pee.
He looked at me curiously and offered me his cigarette. I shook my head and frowned. What was he
doing in the bathtub?
Lacey started talking and I recognized the other voice belonged to Marcie.
“I gotta pee.” Lacey said.
“Hurry up, those drinks are going straight through me.” Marcie complained.
After both girls had used the toilet they stood by the sink and I heard what sounded like make-up
spilling out onto the counter.
“I'm so jealous that your dad is going to pay for your boob job. I'm still trying to wear mine down.
Mom got her tits done last year it's so unfair.” Marcie whined.
Lacey's cell beeped.
“Who is it?” Marcie asked.
“Katherine, she wants us to hurry up and save her from that
Pip
girl.”
Marcie snickered, and I wanted to punch her.
“I know, she's so annoying, but what can we do? It's not like we can say no to the principal's
daughter.”
“And she's only got one leg,” Lacey added.
“Can you imagine having one leg? Did you see how weird she looked with only one shoe? Do you
think she gets a discount at the store?”
“Who cares?” Lacey said.
“I kinda feel sorry for her.” Marcie said.
“It's still totally annoying the way she tags along with us. I wish she'd get the hint and leave us
alone. She and that other virgin freak belong together.”
Marcie snorted. “I can't believe she showed up tonight.”
“So lame, did you see what she was wearing? Can she not afford more than one pair of jeans?”
I wanted to die, or kill Lacey... I wasn't sure which.
I sunk back into the wall, wishing it would swallow me like a portal. I looked sideways at Lane, he
was looking right back at me.
This night was turning into a nightmare.
I quickly looked away from him and listened as they carried on making fun of Pip, and my clothes.
“So what do you think about me and Lane?” Lacey asked.
“What about Katherine? You know she's still in love with him.”
Lacey laughed. “Please, they dated for six weeks! She's delusional if she thinks he was in love with
her. He only said all that stuff to get in her pants, and it's so obvious he doesn't want another go on
that sad train wreck, he's hardly spoken to her since. We all knew this would happen after she gave
up her V plates to him.”
I cringed at the awkwardness of this whole situation. I carefully peeked over at Lane, he had his
head resting against the tiles. He rubbed his forehead, looking bored. He caught me watching him,
and I diverted my eyes down to the bathtub.
Then something nudged my arm.
Lane was offering me his beer. I looked up at his face, and he half smiled at me. I took the beer
from him and tipped it back, then I handed it back to him and he finished it off.
“What makes you think he won't get bored of you?” Marcie asked.
“I don't want to date Lane, I just wanna a ride on the back of his bike, if you get my meaning?”
There were a few short giggles, and I couldn't help but look at Lane to see what he was making of
all this. He was probably loving it, Lacey was practically offering herself on a plate to him.
His head was still against the tiles and he tilted it my way and stuck his tongue out at me.
I smirked at his strange behavior and leaned back against the tiles, crossing my arms, hoping they
would hurry up and leave.
“Anyway, Katherine was inexperienced, she didn't have a clue what she was doing, I mean, you did
see that video, right? He got bored and moved on. Lane needs someone that knows what they're
doing.”
“What about Eric? Are you two off again?”
“I told him I was getting fed up with the back of his van.”
“Tell me about it, Matty's like a horny dog. Since we started
doing
it he hasn't stopped pestering
me.”
I heard Lacey smacking her lips together, a typical Lacey trait, she always made that sound when
she was applying lip gloss.
“I'm gonna make a play for Lane, maybe then Eric will step up his game.”
“You're just going to start a fight if anything, and Katherine will hate you.”
“Katherine, ugh, I'm getting so fed up with her and her constant whining about Lane. I'll probably
just sleep with Lane to shut her up, maybe then she'll get the picture he's not interested in her
anymore. I'm sick of her pining over him, it's pathetic, they only went out for six weeks.”
“You're such a bitch!” Marcie said. “You ready?”
“Yep, how do I look?”
“Your nipples are showing through that top.” Marcie said.
“That was the idea, hopefully, Lane will notice.” She giggled.
“Oh, have you heard from Courtney yet?”
“No, and she's not replying to any of my messages.”
Then I heard the bathroom door open and close again.
I grunted a laugh and pushed the curtain aside, and stepped out of the bathtub.
“That was...” I trailed off.
Lane grinned and hopped over the bath, he looked down at me, and I suddenly felt really short. He
was so tall, I'd never really been this close to notice before. He reached back into the bathtub and
pulled out a six-pack of beer.
“Do you want one?” he asked.
“No. I'm good.”
“C'mon, Alex, just one,”
I opened my mouth about to say something when the door abruptly opened and Chris stood in the
doorway looking between us confused. Then Lane and he shared some sort of eye gesture that I
must have missed, and Chris pulled the door shut again.
“What was that?” I asked.
“Dunno, maybe he realized he didn't need to use the bathroom after all.”
“Right... well, it's been nice hiding in the bathtub with you.
Not.
And now I'm leaving.”
I'd only taken two steps when Lane quickly slid in front of me, blocking my escape.
“What are you doing?” I tried to get passed him, but he blocked all other angles and stepped back
against the door.
“One drink, then you can leave.”
I made a desperate attempt to get to the door, but Lane grabbed my shoulders and held me back.
“One drink, Alex. What's the worst that can happen?”
I looked up at him, wondering what kind of game he was playing. Then my eyes landed on his lips,
which were smirking at me, and I realized I was staring too much.
He tilted his head to the side, still waiting for my answer.
“Fine,” I said. “One drink.”
Lane smiled triumphantly and walked me back to the other side of the bathroom. I thought about
making a run for it, but I was sort of curious as to why he was hiding in the bathroom in the first
place.
He reached up onto the bathroom cabinet, and it looked as though he picked something up, then he
pushed the towels off the chair and carried it back to the door and wedged it under the doorknob.
“Does that really work?” I asked,
“Yep,” he replied.
“Hmm, you should know, you've probably had a dozen girls in this bathroom before.”
His smirk dropped slightly. He leaned against the counter and handed me an open beer.
“One beer,” I said, taking it from him.
He nodded, and I lifted the beer to my mouth with a playful smile on my lips, then I downed the
whole thing and chucked it into the sink.
“Fuck, Alex! I've never seen a girl do that so quick,”
“I'm an expert, me and my dad have been playing that game for years.”
“You hang out with your dad and drink beer?”
“Yeah, I'm like the son he never had.”
Lane smiled at me somewhat impressed. I turned away and walked to the door.
“Whoa! Where are you going?”
“I'm walking away, you know, leaving, which usually means goodbye-I'm leaving.”
I grabbed the chair and jiggled it around.
“Wait,” Lane said.
“Why? What are you even doing hiding in the bathroom?”
“Why do you think?”
I shrugged. “How should I know?”
“I was hiding from Lacey and her groupies.”
I laughed. “Right, okay, if you say so,”
“It's true, Lacey's been hounding me since I arrived.”
“And you're not interested?”
He shook his head.
“You're a bad liar Lane Walker. If it's a girl and she's offering, you're always interested.”
Lane placed his beer down watching me. “Oh, c'mon, we all know what you're like, it's no secret.
Now are you gonna help me with this door? You've really jammed it under here.”
“Sorry, can't help you with that.”
I managed to move the chair out of the way and tried to open the door... it was locked.
“What the-” I mumbled. “How is the door locked?”
I inspected the door lock, it was an old-fashioned lock with a key, but there was no key.
I turned around to find Lane smiling at me holding a key up.
“Where'd you get that?”
“Sean likes to hide them before each party because they tend to go missing.”
I glanced up at the cabinet, realizing he was reaching up for the key before.
“So you're holding me hostage?” I joked.
He handed me another beer with a lopsided grin. “Wait, are you driving home tonight?” he asked.
“Not anymore,” I said, taking the beer. “It's okay, I only live a couple of blocks from here anyhow.”
“I can walk you home later.” he said.
“It's okay, I can walk myself home, I'm a big girl.” I replied popping the beer open.
It just meant Pip would have to walk home with me and get a ride from mine.
“Why are you really hiding in the bathroom?” I asked.
“I told you, Lacey was stalking me.”
“So you'd rather hide in the bathroom than take her to one of the spare bedrooms?”
“I don't like Lacey. She's a complete slut.” he said.
I laughed, then covered my mouth. “Do you even know what a slut is?”
“Lacey is already sleeping with Matty,” Lane said, before taking another swig of beer.
“But I thought Matty was dating Marcie?”
“He is.”
“Ugh! Skank, I hope she gets crabs!”
Lane laughed and pulled out a packet of cigarettes, offering me one.
“I don't smoke.”
Lane lit a cigarette and his eyes drifted to my top.
“Did you throw up on yourself?”
“No. Liam threw up on me, and then Dean pissed on my shoes.”
“Yeah I heard.” Lane laughed.
The doorknob rattled. “Lane!” Lacey called. “You in there? It's locked. Are you sure he's in there?”
“Yeah, I just saw him,” Chris said.
“Fucking Chris,” Lane mumbled.
The doorknob rattled again. “Lane,” Lacey called again.
“Looks like your fans found you,” I said.
“Where's the key? Sean's dad normally has spares in his office, go and look.” Lacey ordered Chris.
“I'm staying here.” she added.
Lane placed the key on the counter and walked to the window and lifted it up.
“What are you doing?”
“Escaping, before she finds me. You coming?”
“What? Out the window?”
“You've never climbed out of a window before?”
“No, actually I haven't.”
“You need to live a little Alex,” he said, lifting one leg out and straddling the window ledge. “You
either come with me, or you can wait for Lacey to find you.”
I didn't like the idea of explaining to Lacey what I was doing hiding in the bathroom... with Lane.
Lane was already outside the window, standing on the roof over the kitchen. I ducked my head out
and lifted my legs over and Lane was right behind me, watching my every move.
“I'm fine,” I said. “Now where to?”
“This way.”
I followed him along the roof and passed several windows.
“You do this a lot, climbing out of windows and navigating rooftops?”
“You going somewhere with that?”
He knew what I really meant, did he climb out of girls bedroom windows often? When we came to
the end he walked to the edge, sat down, turned himself around, lowered himself down, and let go. I
crawled to the edge and saw him looking up at me.
“You're taller than me, that was easy for you.”
“You'll be fine Alex, and I'm here to catch you. Lift yourself down and I'll catch you.”
I maneuvered myself over the edge and tried to drop my legs down gracefully without sticking my
butt out too far, I could just imagine the grin on his face. I hesitantly lowered myself down, scared
my fingers would slip, but within seconds I felt two strong arms around my waist, holding me up.
“You can let go,” he said.
I slowly let go and looked down to see Lane looking back up at me. I placed my hands on his
shoulders waiting for him to release me, but he didn't. He made it look so easy holding me up, I
wasn't that light.
“You can put me down now.”
He dropped me to the ground and I took a step back.
“Your top fucking stinks.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I know, blame Liam.”
“Follow me,”
“Where are we going?”
He didn't answer and walked off down the driveway. I followed him to the end of the driveway
where he was already waiting for me, sitting on a low wall. He tilted his head for me to follow him.
“I can't just leave Pip,”
“We're not going far.”
He walked up the neighbor's driveway and waited for me near the side of the house.
“What are you doing?” I asked in a hushed voice.
I looked around to see if anyone was watching, there was a couple making-out in a car, clearly not
paying attention to us.
“Just get over here,” Lane called.
I hurried along the side of the house, and he walked around to the back of the property.
“Lane I don't think we should be around here. What are you doing anyway?”
Lane turned his back on me and knelt down, picking up a garden gnome. Underneath was a key.
He stood back up and unlocked the door.
“Um, Lane...”
“Alex, it's cool, Lewis lives here and I'm staying over tonight.”
“Oh,” I mouthed. “I didn't know Lewis and Sean lived next door to each other.”
“And now you do,” he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me in through the back door. He flicked
on the lights and we walked into a neatly organized kitchen.
Lane looked down at my top, and I wasn't sure what ideas were going through his head.
“Look, Lane, whatever you're thinking it's not gonna happen. I'm not one of those girls.” I crossed
my arms.
“I already know that,” he said, walking through the kitchen and flicking on a few more lights.
“You coming?”
“Err... no,”
“Fine, have it your way, but don't go anywhere.”
“Why? What are you doing?”
“Do you always ask this many questions?” he asked, jogging up the stairs.
I stood awkwardly in the middle of Lewis's kitchen, wondering what Lane was doing upstairs. I
didn't have to wait long before Lane came thundering back down the stairs. He swung around the
banister and walked back into the kitchen, and chucked something at my face.
I caught it. “What's this?” I asked, inspecting it strangely.
“It's a T-shirt,” he smirked. “I don't think it's going to bite you. Now put it on.”
I frowned.
“Alex, your top is gross, and it wreaks, please change out of it.”
“Ooo..kay,” I noticed he was still watching me. “In here?”
“It's just us,” he said, smiling.
I didn't say anything and he rolled his eyes at me and turned around. “See, I'm not even looking.”
I carefully lifted my top over my head, trying not to touch my hair with it. I dropped it on the floor
and pulled on Lane's T-shirt. It even smelled of Lane, faintly smoky with a hint of clementine. Then
I wondered how I even knew what he smelled like. I think I may have stood next to him on the odd
occasion. I realized he was waiting for me to finish.
“Done,” I said.
“Looks good on you,” Lane said, admiring his T-shirt on me.
It wasn't something I thought Lane would have worn, a black T-shirt with the sleeves cut off with a
skeleton on the front, it was something I would have worn, though.
I picked my top up off the floor and figured it was beyond saving.
“Is there a trash can in here? I don't think I want to even attempt scrubbing Liam's puke out of it
again.”
Lane walked across the kitchen and opened a cupboard door which had a trash can attached to the
inside of the door. I dropped it in, a little sad to see it go, but it meant I now had an excuse to buy
some new clothes. “Thanks,”
“You're welcome.”
“Well, I should um.. get back to the party.”
Lane raised an eyebrow at me. “You really want to go back to the party?”
No.
I hesitated to answer and he smiled. I smiled as well, not sure what to say.
“How come you never smile like that at school?” he asked.
“I don't really like school... or anyone in it.”
Lane laughed and leaned back against the counter.
“At least, you're honest.”
I leaned against the counter opposite him.
“I don't really like anyone there either, except Lewis, he's one of the normal ones.” he said.
I bit back a laugh.
“What?” he said.
“I think you forgot to mention how much you love all the girls in the short skirts, the cheerleader
types.”
He looked at me differently. It actually looked as though he was upset by my comment.
“I'm sorry it was a joke. Jeez!”
I made a move for the door, but he slid in front of me.
“Are you gonna hold me hostage in Lewis's kitchen now?”
Lane held up his hands and stepped around me and walked over to the fridge.
“You hungry?”
“Um,”
The truth was I was starving, mom's Indian dish had fallen off the perch and I hadn't eaten much of
it.
“You like chicken wings?” he asked, pulling out a plate.
“I like anything as long as it's not Indian food.”
“Huh?” He unwrapped the plate.
“Nothing.” I smiled and hopped up onto a stool.
We sat in a weird-comfortable-silence. Every time I looked up he was grinning at me. I was starting
to think I had something on my face.
I can't believe I'm sharing a plate of chicken wings with Lane Walker... this was not how I imagined
this evening going.
“Have you been hearing all the reports on TV?” he asked.
“Not you as well,” I sighed. “How can I avoid it? It's everywhere I go. In the newspapers, on the
news, it's all over the internet.”
“They're calling it the start of an
epidemic
.” he said.
“An epidemic? They don't even know what it is, and if they do they're not telling any of us.”
“It's spreading at a really fast rate.”
“Well, it can spread all it wants, there's nothing we can do about it.”
“Yeah, I guess you're right. Did you hear about the people they quarantined last week? Another
sixteen in this town, twenty-five in the next town over and four from our school.”
“Yes, but no one has heard anything, not even the families.”
“Yeah, because the government is keeping it all hush-hush. I think they were shipped off to some
secret location to be tested on and shit.”
I shook my head, not wanting to think about it. It had been in all the papers, but no one knew any
more about it. People were put into isolation at the hospital... then that was the last anyone ever saw
of them. Lane was probably right, the government was hiding things. The thing that made it worse
was one of them was Louise, one of my dad's childhood friends who was also married to his best
friend, Tony.
“I know one of them, her name is Louise, just under a month ago they thought she had a bad case of
the flu, but it didn't get any better and then they admitted her last week. They're not allowing access
to her.”
“And?” Lane said.
“And nothing, no one's heard anything, they just keep telling her husband she's in isolation and he
can't see her. I personally don't think she's there anymore.”
“Where do you think she is?”
“I think she's either dead or they are keeping her contained and hiding something from us. I mean,
where do all these sick people keep disappearing to? They get admitted to the hospital and that's the
last anyone hears. It's happening everywhere, I think there's something else going on. Something
they're not telling us.”