A Proscriptive Relationship (57 page)

Mr. Heywood ignored my question. “Want some breakfast?”

My stomach rumbled as if on cue, and I blushed again, causing Mr. Heywood and Jeremy to chuckle.

“
It’s almost ready,” Mr. Heywood informed me.

“
Then can I take a quick shower?”

He nodded. “Sure. You can grab some clothing out of my dresser if you want,” he informed me. “That way you won’t have to change back into dirty clothes.”

“
Aw, you two share clothes?” Jeremy teased, grinning. “That’s cute.”

Mr. Heywood jammed his elbow into Jeremy’s side. “Shut up. Go check on the bacon.”

Jeremy grumbled, but left the room. Mr. Heywood stayed in the doorway, taking another sip from his mug.

“
Um, what happened last night?” I asked.

Another amused smile appeared on his face. “Well, it was around four in the morning when they finished fixing me up, and you were asleep in the car when we finally made it out, so we didn’t wake you up. We took Casey home, but Jeremy called your mother and told her you were staying here for the night.”

I had to remember to thank Jeremy for calling my mom. I didn’t want her having a heart attack because I was missing. “Okay . . . So why was I in the same bed as Jeremy?”

Mr. Heywood scowled. “I don’t know. He was supposed to be sleeping on the couch.”

“
Oh, so he snuck in,” I commented, rolling my eyes. “That’s just like him. Where’d you sleep?”

“
Couch in the living room,” he told me grumpily. “I have to be careful not to let my head bump into anything.”

“
What did the doctor say?”

Mr. Heywood shrugged. “I just needed some stitches. No big deal. I’ve had worse. Want to take a shower now?”

I nodded my head quickly. “Yeah.” Warm, relaxing water was just what I needed right now.

Twenty minutes later I heard a knock on the bathroom door. A frown appeared on my face, thinking it was Mr. Heywood telling me it was time to get out. When I heard a different voice I blinked in surprise.

“
Holly? I’ve got your clothes,” Lance yelled through the door. “I’m coming in.”

“
What? Lance stay out!” I cried, pulling the shower curtain more securely across the rod.

Lance ignored my demands and I heard the door open. I heard him cough. “Muggy enough in here?”

“
I like my showers hot,” I responded simply, staying as far away from the curtain as possible. “Get out.”

“
Is Holly done in the shower now? I have to go to the bathroom,” a new voice asked, and I heard another pair of feet in my bathroom.

“
Nope.”

“
Oh,” Jeremy responded. “Holly, do you mind if I just go—”

I held the shower curtain tight to the wall and wrenched the top part open, sticking only my head out to glower at the boys by the sink. “Yes, I mind. You two, out. Now.”

“
What are you guys doing in here?”

My eyes went past Jeremy and Lance to the door, where Casey and Mr. Heywood were now standing. Casey looked like she was about to start laughing while Mr. Heywood’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and then he glared at Jeremy. Jeremy held up his hands.

“
I didn’t know she was in here, dude.”

“
Get out!” Mr. Heywood and I ordered at the same time.

Jeremy winced. “Oh, double-teamed. I’m going, I’m going,” he said, holding up his hands. “Come on, Lance.”

Lance shrugged, placing my clothing on the sink counter. “Sure.”

Mr. Heywood locked gazes with me for a moment. “Make sure to lock the door when you take a shower in the future,” he suggested before closing the door.

I blushed, pulling my head back under the spray of hot water. Did that mean he planned on me taking more showers here? The thought brought a smile to my face. I turned off the shower and slipped out, drying and dressing myself quickly. I paused only to swipe at the mirror and check my face over. I saw a bruise on the right side of my forehead and raised my hand to put pressure on it gently. I winced, then sighed and made my way to the living room.

Lance was in the recliner, Jeremy and Casey on the couch, and Mr. Heywood on the other couch. Mr. Heywood gestured for me to take a seat next to him. After a moment of hesitation I went to the couch and took a seat, sitting as far from Mr. Heywood as possible. With Casey, Jeremy, and Lance here, it was sure to be awkward enough.

“
So,” Jeremy said, clapping his hands together. “To save us more trouble today, I’ve just explained to Casey everything about our little gang problem.”

I stared at Jeremy in horror, but Casey grinned from her seat next to him.

“
I’m so sorry Casey!” I apologized quickly. “I know it was mean to hide in from you, and I feel really guilty for lying and I totally understand if you don’t want to be best friends anymore.”

“
I don’t blame you for hiding this from me,” Casey told me slowly. “It’s not really a big deal.”

“
Oh,” I responded, feeling my face heat up. “I . . . I see . . .”

Mr. Heywood snickered and I glared at him. He held up his hand, turning his snicker into a cough.

“
My head injury causes me to cough,” he told me.

“
Sure it does.”

“
Casey, we kept it a secret so you wouldn’t get hurt,” Lance told her. “Which didn’t really work, but still.”

Casey laughed. “Guys, chill. It’s fine. I understand. I would have never guessed you guys would be involved with a gang though. Or that my biology teacher was an ex-gangster.”

Mr. Heywood shrugged. “That means I’m good at keeping it a secret.”

“
Except for the part where Holly found out,” Casey responded. “Way to keep your secrecy there.”

“
That wasn’t my fault.”

“
But it still happened.”

Mr. Heywood scowled at Casey. “I like you better in class.”

“
Holly likes you all the time.”

“
Casey!” I cried, staring at her incredulously.

Jeremy burst out laughing, clapping Casey on the back. “That was a good one!” Even Lance grinned widely.

“
Guys,” Mr. Heywood started, looking stern, but sounding amused. “Let’s keep on topic, shall we?”

Jeremy nodded. “Okay. I have the news on right now, and I’ll have it on all day, too. You guys all make sure to watch it every time you get the chance.”

“
Why?” Casey, Lance, and I chorused.

“
To see if Shawn was caught,” Jeremy said, as if stating the obvious. “Holly, when you and Shawn were alone last night, what happened?”

I lowered my gaze to the floor. “Nothing much . . . Shawn fell through the stairs.”

Jeremy raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“
I led him upstairs, and he fell through one of them,” I explained. “That’s how I escaped from him.”

“
And how exactly did you lose your pants?”

“
That’s . . . um . . .” Reflecting upon the moment, it seemed like a pretty stupid lucky break. My face reddened. How could I tell them I had to take off my pants to make him fall?

“
Holly?”

I turned to Mr. Heywood, who was giving me an unusually concerned look. “What?”

“
Did Shawn . . . do anything to you?”

I cocked my head to the side for a moment. Did Shawn do anything to me? It took me a moment to realize what he meant. I quickly waved my hands in front of my face. “No, no, no! I just had to take off my pants to make him fall.”

Jeremy snorted. “Bribery?”

I glared at him. “No!”

“
I was joking,” Jeremy responded with a laugh.

“
You have a bruise on your forehead,” Mr. Heywood interjected, shooting a dirty look at Jeremy. “How did that happen?”

“
Um,” I hesitated, thinking back. “It could have been when I tripped over your leg, or when Shawn threw his gun at me—”

“
Shawn threw his gun at you?” Lance interrupted. “Shawn had a
gun
?”

Casey nodded. “He shot Jeremy with it.”

Lance whipped around to stare at Jeremy, a confused expression on his face. “But you don’t—”

“
Bulletproof vest,” Jeremy told Lance with a grin. “Bet you wish you’d had one of those the other night.”

Lance scowled at Jeremy. “Shut up.”

“
Holly, why did Shawn throw the gun at you?” Casey asked curiously, turning to me. “If I was him, I would have just shot you.”

“
Casey!”

She shrugged, grinning sheepishly. “What? You put yourself in his shoes. Isn’t that what you’d do?”

I nodded my head begrudgingly. “Yeah, I guess I would. And he did try to shoot me . . . But I got lucky. Again. He ran out of bullets or something.”

Jeremy laughed again. “That’s just his luck.”

“
So was Shawn, like, immobile when you left him?” Lance asked.

“
Yep.”

“
There’s a good chance that the police caught him then.”

“
Yeah.”

Lance crossed his arms. “Okay. But just in case, I’m canceling my cell phone. I thought I’d eventually get it back, but I didn’t realize Shawn had it.” He narrowed his eyes accusingly at me.

I stared back at him in surprise. “What? Lance, no! You can’t cancel it! That’s the only means of communication I have with Shawn!”

“
Which is why you need to get rid of it,” Mr. Heywood interjected, giving me a stern look. “The less interaction you have with Shawn, the better.”

“
But Mr. Heywood! What if something like last night happens again? Shawn won’t be able to reach me—”

Mr. Heywood cut me off. “Which is a good thing.”

“
Not if you, Jeremy, Casey, or Lance are in danger!” I protested. “What if he texts from Lance’s phone with a threat, and I don’t receive it, and one of you gets hurt?”

Mr. Heywood stayed silent, and I quickly looked around the room. Lance, Casey, and Jeremy were all giving me sober looks. Mr. Heywood put his hand on my shoulder. “Holly, none of us are going to have contact with Shawn. That way we’re all safe.”

I wanted to protest, but I kept my mouth shut. They didn’t understand what I was trying to say. Wouldn’t it be better to get some kind of a warning rather than having something happen out of the blue? Like when Lance got shot?

Jeremy sighed, putting his head on the back of the couch. “Holly, you worry too much.”

“
Sorry I care,” I snapped, feeling upset.

Jeremy shook his head. “Chances are Shawn’s in jail now, so it doesn’t matter. Holly, I know you’re thinking it’s safer to have a warning from Shawn, but what if he lies? What if he said, for example, he has Lance and he wants you to go to him otherwise he’ll hurt Lance, when he really doesn’t have Lance and it’s a big set-up?”

I stared at Jeremy in confusion. “Can you repeat that?”

“
Like in
Harry Potter
,” Casey interjected, looking excited. “When Vold—”

“
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!” Jeremy hissed, looking around in mock horror.

Casey rolled her eyes. “When He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named tells Harry he has Sirius and Harry goes to save Sirius it turns out Vold—”

“
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named,” Mr. Heywood joked, grinning as Jeremy clapped his hands over his ears.

I had the urge to laugh, but instead I just grinned. “Yeah, Casey. The Dark Lord’s name must not be spoken.”

“
Voldemort,” Casey said emphatically, before anyone could interrupt her again, “never had Sirius . . . and we both know how that ended.”

My grin dropped. “Oh.”

There was an awkward silence in the room now. Lance cleared his throat quietly, and Jeremy started whistling the
Harry Potter
theme song. Mr. Heywood eventually joined in, and so did Casey.

“
Fine,” I finally grumbled, rolling my eyes at their antics. “Lance, cancel your cell phone.”

“
I’m doing that right after we’re done here,” he told me, nodding his head.

“
So if Shawn actually is caught . . . Does that mean this whole gang problem is over and done with?” Casey asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

I blanked at her question. That was exactly what it meant. There would be no more danger, or threats, or being paranoid. I glanced at Jeremy, who had the same expression I had on. He blinked at me, opening his mouth and saying nothing. Lance was starting to grin. I turned to Mr. Heywood, expecting to see a relieved expression, but instead he had a hard look.

“
That’s exactly what it means,” Mr. Heywood told Casey, setting his jaw. “Let’s hope that’s what happened.”

I cocked my head. “What are you . . .?”

“
There’s always the chance Shawn got away,” Mr. Heywood told me, confirming my thoughts.

I shook my head. “No way! He couldn’t move and the cops came not even five minutes later.”

Jeremy pursed his lips. “The chances are slim, but there’s still the slight possibility.”

“
Which is why we keep an eye on the news and the newspaper,” Lance threw in.”

“
Sounds easy enough,” Casey said, shrugging. “I don’t usually watch TV, but once in a while is okay.”

“
We shouldn’t all watch the same channel,” Mr. Heywood commented, glancing at his TV. “Lance, why don’t you go to your house and watch channel ten? Jeremy, you go watch channel three, and Casey you watch channel five. I’ve got it on channel six.”

Jeremy, Casey, and Lance nodded, oblivious to the fact that Mr. Heywood didn’t assign me a channel. But I noticed. Before I could ask Mr. Heywood anything, Jeremy spoke.

“
So we should do that right away,” he said, pushing himself off the couch. “Casey, give me your phone number.”

Casey gave Jeremy a questioning look. “Why?”