Breathe (14 page)

“Give it to me, Jasmine.” Easton turned my face to his. “Are you okay?” He looked furious.

“I… umm…” I felt all the blood leave my head. I was starting to breathe fast. “I think I need to, umm…” I could feel my arms starting to shake, and I wanted to run. I couldn’t get my brain to work fast enough to figure out what to do.

“Okay, we’re going to the office. Come on.” Easton grabbed my hand and basically pulled me out of the building and around the corner to the administration office. I could feel everyone staring. Crap. I should have told the girls. My mom was right. They were all going to be mad and hate me. Not to mention, think I am pathetic. My mind was racing. I could feel myself hyperventilating.

“Jasmine, breathe slower. I mean it. It’s going to be fine.” Easton pulled me into the office. He stepped around the line that had already formed and spoke to the secretary.

“Mrs. Connelly, Jasmine needs to see Principal Thatcher right away.” The secretary looked perturbed about being interrupted.

“Mr. Ward, you need to get in line just like everyone else, honestly.”

“No disrespect, Mrs. Connelly, but I think it is really important.” He shoved the paper under her nose. “This was on her locker and is posted all over the school. Trust me. She
needs
to see the principal.” She scanned the flyer and looked up at me, shocked.

“Yes, Mr. Ward, I do believe you’re right. Follow me.” She pressed the unlock button for the gate leading behind the office counter, and we pushed right through. We followed her through the maze of desks. She told us to wait outside while she went inside the principal’s office. I was trying to fight off the panic so I didn’t look like a complete moron, but all I could think was “Is he here? Who would do that? How did they find out?” Good grief, Caedan and Lily! I frantically dug around in my bag. The fear, all of sudden, felt very real. What if it was him? What if he was after us again?

“What are you doing? It’s okay,” Easton said.

“The t-twins… I have t-to check…” I stuttered while I tried to reach my phone.

“Okay. Breathe, Jasmine. The principal will call their school and check. Sugar, you have to calm down.”

Mrs. Connelly came back out. “Go ahead in.” She patted my shoulder when I passed her. Easton started speaking before we sat down.

“Jasmine is concerned for her brother and sister. They go to Myrtle Place Elementary. Can you please call and check?” As we sat down in the chairs in front of his desk, Principal Thatcher picked up his phone and asked Mrs. Connelly to call and check on Caedan and Lily.

When he put down the phone, he asked, “Miss Rourke, can you tell me what is going on here? Is this you?” He pointed to the picture. Easton was holding my hand and rubbing my fingers with his thumb.

“Yes sir. Daisy was my sister.” I was trying to stay calm. Both my knees were shaking, and I kept looking out into the office to see if Mrs. Connelly had found anything out.

“Do people here at school know who you are?” he asked.

“No sir, just Easton.” I was starting to feel like getting up and running out of there. I swear I could run to the elementary school faster than they were calling. Didn’t they understand that he might have gotten to Lily or Caedan or my mom? I needed to call my mom.

“Sir, may I please call my mom to make sure she’s okay?” I needed answers, not more questions. The phone on his desk finally rang.

“Yes? Okay. Uh-huh. I see. Thank you.” He replaced the receiver. “Your brother and sister are fine.” I exhaled and felt light-headed. “Your mother is on her way.”

Wait. What?

“Oh, she doesn’t need to come here. I’m fine. I just wanted to be sure she was okay. There’s no need for her to come here.”

Crap. I was so busy thinking about whether they were okay or not, I wasn’t thinking long term. Whoever did this could have just messed me up but good. My mom would not give up until they found out what was going on, and I would never be let out of the house again. Double crap.

“Well, she feels she does, and I have to agree,” the principal said.

Oh boy, this was getting out of hand quickly. “Principal Thatcher, I’m sure it was just a prank.”

Easton frowned, and the principal was giving me a strange look. “Well, Miss Rourke, that is probably true, but we need to be sure.” My turn to frown.

“Do you know who might have done this?” he asked.

I thought for a minute. Lisa’s face flashed into my mind. Accusing her was not going to help my situation, however. I didn’t know for sure, and I was not a snitch. “Well, it happened only two years ago, and it was all over the news. Someone could have recognized me, or Googled my name, I guess.”

He was nodding. “It certainly is easy to get information these days. Am I right in remembering the killer was never caught?”

I looked at him. “That’s right. No suspects. Not a clue or sign of any kind. At least none that they told us about anyway.”

He looked down at the picture and then right at me. “You were pretty brave to go in front of all those cameras.”

I sighed. See, this is the problem. People don’t realize it really wasn’t bravery. I was furious. At the time, all I could think about was that I wanted justice. We needed to catch the Monster. I realize that will probably never happen. If they haven’t found him by now, they probably never will. I did all that for nothing. Bared my soul to the world, and now people think they have a right to my feelings. Guess what? They don’t. I just wanted to blend here. Now it’s all ruined. Moving was pointless. It will go right back to the way it was. People feeling sorry for me and thinking they know how I feel. Not okay.

“Well, sir, it may seem like it, but really it wasn’t. I just thought it was the right thing at the time. It didn’t do any good except make it harder to blend in.”

Easton had been silent up until this point. He looked right at the principal and asked, “Sir, shouldn’t we call the police?”

My head turned toward Easton so fast I felt dizzy. “No! We don’t need to do that.” I looked at Principal Thatcher “There’s no reason to do that. I’m sure somebody just thought it would be funny or was trying to get attention. Don’t call. Please.” I was starting to feel panicky again.

“Jasmine, we don’t know who did this. It is not something to mess with. Your safety is important,” Easton argued.

“I have to agree, Miss Rourke.” Principal Thatcher was nodding his head. “We can’t be too careful. Even if it is just a prank, we don’t want to encourage that kind of thing here at school.”

All of a sudden, everything felt very out of control. I felt like I needed to reel it back in. I was usually so good at balancing everything, and now it was all toppling over like dominoes. The police? No way. When that show starts, it never lets up. All that would do is bring more attention that I don’t want. I don’t want to answer endless questions that solve nothing. I know they tried really hard to help, but all they did was turn my life upside down. I couldn’t do that again. Not happening.

I fought down the panic. I knew what I had to do. Time for some damage control. I took a deep breath. Here we go…

“I’m sure my mother will agree that it is not necessary to involve the authorities. This should be handled here at school. If a serial killer were here, he would not announce himself by putting flyers up on the school lockers. You and your staff will be much more efficient at finding out who is responsible than the police, who have no connection.

“I know I seemed really worried when I came in here. Now that I’ve had time to process, it probably is just someone looking for attention or trying to stir something up. Obviously, someone figured out who I am and decided to cause an issue. I would have preferred it didn’t come out this way, but there’s nothing we can do about it now. I’m sorry I wasted your time.” I stood up. “Would it be all right if I waited for my mother in the foyer?”

Sometimes if you act like you are in charge, people will just go along. I was betting on it.

Easton was looking at me like my head had just rolled off my shoulders. Principal Thatcher looked contemplative. I kept my face relaxed and didn’t flinch. He drummed his fingers on his desk a few times, then leaned back in his chair. “All right, Miss Rourke, if that is what you want, I will allow it. You may wait for your mother out front. If she would like to speak to me about it further, I’d be happy to meet with her. The custodian has already been told to remove all the flyers, and the staff and faculty have all been made aware of the situation. When we find out who’s behind this, I’ll handle the situation myself. If anything even remotely like this happens again, I want you to come to me right away. Are we clear?” He gave me a parental-type laser stare.

“Yes sir, and I appreciate your time.” I started to walk out of his office, when I realized Easton wasn’t following. I turned to face him. “Are you coming?” He was still staring at me. If I wasn’t still trying to get away with the con of a lifetime, I would have laughed at the look on his face. Caedan would have appreciated this moment.

“Yeah, okay.” He got up and followed me out.

I thanked Mrs. Connelly for her help and made my way out to the hallway. I walked quickly to get to the front of the school, so I could head my mom off at the pass.

“Jasmine, wait.” Easton rushed to catch up. I looked at him but kept walking. “What the hell was that?” he barked. I felt the urge to start laughing. It wasn’t that it was so funny; I could just feel myself starting to come down from the scare. I needed to hold it together until I was done dealing with my mom. I was still a little hysterical, and if I started laughing now, I probably wouldn’t stop.

“What was what?” I widened my eyes at him.

“That routine you pulled in there with Principal Thatcher. I didn’t even recognize you. You, like, transformed into Professor McGonagall or something. What are you doing? We need to call the police. I can’t believe he let you get away with that!” He was really upset. He wasn’t laughing. He looked really mad.

“I know you’re worried, but I’m telling you, it’s fine. This kind of thing happened at home, and they were just pranks. You have no idea the things people will do thinking they’re funny. It would be a waste of time and resources to call the police. They won’t be able to do anything. I’m going to talk to my mom, and she’ll agree with me. I’m really okay.” I smiled at him like there was nothing wrong. He stared at me for what seemed like forever. I didn’t blink, but it was tough. I held that smile, then I laughed and told him, “I’m okay.” I even rubbed his arm like I was comforting him.

“Jasmine, you are really scary. I just watched you BS your way out of the principal calling the police and walk out of there like nothing happened. If I hadn’t seen you minutes before, I would have totally believed this line you’re trying to hand me. I’m so angry at you right now that I don’t think I can be polite.” He looked toward the street and scowled. “Your mother is coming up the front walk, and I’m sure you need everything you’ve got to handle her just like you handled Principal Thatcher. I’ll just leave you to it.” He started to walk past me.

He turned back and said, “I was kind of hoping this
was
home, but I guess
that
isn’t what I thought it was either.” And he walked away.

Oh no. Was this it? Was he done with me? I could feel tears pressing behind my eyes. I took a deep breath and swallowed them back. No time to melt down now. I needed to hold it together and deal with my mom first. So I let him go. I turned and opened the door that led outside.

My mom was almost at the door when I got there. I closed the door behind me and stood in front of it.

“Hey, Mom, where’s the fire?” My mom was moving fast and looking determined. Not good.

“Jasmine, are you all right? What happened? Why are you out here? I need to see the principal.” I smiled at her and held my hands up.

“I know you’re upset, but it’s fine. I guess some kids found out who I am. They found that article in the
LA Times
with my picture and put it up on some lockers. It’s really okay. Principal Thatcher is handling it.”

She looked skeptical. “What do you mean, handling it?” she snapped.

I looked annoyed, hoping this would be believable. “They’re taking them down; they alerted all staff and faculty. They’re looking into who could have done it. They aren’t sure yet, but Principal Thatcher is taking care of it personally. We spoke about calling the police but decided it wasn’t necessary because it’s probably just a prank. I told him I thought you would agree. I mean, Mom, we know what a nightmare that could be. I really don’t want to go through all that again for a prank. Before, there was a reason. I don’t want to start that freak show again because someone posted something on my locker. This is why we moved, right?” I had definitely skewed the truth a bit here, but it was important to defuse this before it went any further.

My mom looked thoughtful. Another laser glare. “You’re right. Locker posting is probably a kid’s prank. I know you don’t want this kind of attention here. It’s enough that everyone will know now. Are you okay?”

Hmmm… How to answer that one? I didn’t want to slip too far to the dark side here.

“I was a little scared at first when I saw it. I was shocked, I guess. Easton was with me, so after I heard that everyone was okay, I realized it was just a prank. Not looking forward to dealing with all the people I didn’t tell. I know you want to say ‘I told you so’ right now.” I smirked at her. Off topic is better.