Death of the Mad Hatter (21 page)

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY-
S
EVEN

(
Ryley: Present Time)

During lunch break, the guys and I took off for my
house in Dax’s Yota. We gathered up the frogs that we’d collected. There were enough to fill three ice cream buckets. We loaded up the frogs and drove back to school. I was positive Irwin was going to have an anxiety attack, but the guy kept his cool as we pulled into the parking lot.

There was no good way to conceal an ice cream bucket.
I left the car first. I was to place the bucket in the boys’ bathroom. Dax had his in the chemistry room and Mick was going to dump his in the band room, which was on the opposite side of the school from the teachers’ lounge.

I was so
nervous; I went into the girls’ bathroom instead of the boys’
. Smooth move, genius.
I stayed close to the door. The hall was empty, so I cracked the door to leave when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around just in time for Courtney to knee me in the groin.

“You’re peeping on me
!” Courtney yelled, and kicked me again.

Falling to my knees,
I dropped the bucket. The lid popped off. Out hopped a batch of frogs. Courtney screamed and reached for the door. Clutching my damaged goods, I grabbed her waist and kept her from barreling out.

“I’m
so
telling Wittrock! You’re chemically imbalanced!” Courtney yelled, wiggling away.

Barricading myself in front of her, (via me on my back and my leg pinned against the door) I said, “
Hush Courtney, it’s not like they’re going to eat your leg. It’s not a special batch of zombie frogs. Just chill!”

“Good plan, dummy
. Mock me,” Courtney said, raising her heeled shoe in the air.

I didn’t have to connect the dots to know she would be
connecting that pointy heel with my manhood. “I’m sorry!”

“What?”

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry about everything,” I said. I knew I should warn her that the crazed blonde secretly poisoned her. I did want Alice Mae to be punished; I wanted to be the one doing it—not the police. “I never meant to hurt your feelings, Courtney. I did like you.”

“If you liked me so much, why did you kiss
Alice Mae?”

“
I wasn’t thinking,” I said.

“Obviously.”

“If it makes you feel any better, she’s playing me too. That hi
ckey on her neck wasn’t from me.”

Courtney lowered her foot to the floor. I scrambled to get up and keep the door closed. Other
girls were already knocking on the door to be let in. I was running out of time. Frogs were everywhere, and they weren’t quiet. It wasn’t long before the chicks on the other side of the door commented about the noise.

Courtney crossed her arms.
“I could be convinced to stay quiet about this silly senior prank.”

“
What do you want? I’ll give you anything.”

“So dump Alice Mae, and I’ll forgive you.”

“
I will on Saturday.” Right after I get my answers…

“
Good. And if you don’t, I’ll convince John Luke that you ruined my reputation. I’m sure his fist and your face will get acquainted,” she said.

Gotch
a, he’ll open up a can of whoopass.

She
glanced at the only window in the bathroom. “I’ll give you a ten-second head start before I open that door. Don’t forget, girls have small bladders and will probably break down the door in a few seconds. Oh and Ryley, don’t ever cross me again. I’d simply
hate
for Becky to investigate Lauren.”

“Leave my mom out of this.”

“Tempt me, Ryley. Tempt me and I’ll bring your mom into this so fast she’ll be just as confused with reality as your father.”

I slammed my hand next to her head. “Wreck my
parents’ lives—”

“And you’ll what?” she said. “Take it out on me? I don’t think so because the only thing
keeping you from getting expelled is my foot on this door. So run away before it accidently slips open.”

I
almost broke the window trying to get out before a stampede of girls came barging in. I fell to the ground, spraining my ankle. I swore under my breath, but it was covered up by the multiple shrieks.

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY-
E
IGHT

(
Ryley: Present Time)

M
idnight on Saturday, I stood outside Alice Mae’s house. Her light turned on after I sent her a text saying I had arrived. Normally, I’d dress up for dates, but I didn’t tonight, mainly to convince myself that I wasn’t trying to impress Alice Mae. I admitted that the girl had stolen my heart, but it didn’t mean that she robbed me of my intelligence. For all I knew, she was my enemy. Clearly, she wasn’t as into me as I thought, and she was a devious witch who was going to stop at nothing until she got what she wanted—whatever that was. So blue jeans, t-shirt, backpack (with Mr. Ruth and some extras stuffed inside) and a baseball cap completed my outfit.

Ten min
utes passed by before Alice Mae’s bedroom window opened. She threw a knotted sheet down. A twinge hit my stomach when she climbed from her window. It wasn’t butterflies that girls describe when seeing someone they like. It was more like an anvil weighing me down.

Somehow, she still
appeared graceful while scaling the house—in heeled boots, no less. She wore a white mink fur coat that stopped at her knees. The hem of a dress peeked out underneath. She wore a beautiful purple hat with a black veil. Her hair was pinned up in the back, forming a messy bun. Her eye shadow shimmered. I didn’t know a lot about makeup, but she knew her way around the material. Her black boots stopped just short of her knees.

“
Where are we off to?” she asked, retrieving a piece of candy from her coat pocket.

I
retrieved a bandana from my backpack. “Close your eyes.”

She pushed the bandana away
. “No.”

“
Don’t you trust me?”

“
No.”

“
Then take a leap of faith. And, hand over the candy.”

“
No.”

“
Then we won’t get very far with our date.”

She exchanged
a few pieces of candy for the blindfold. I didn’t press the issue, but I was sure that she still had some candy on her somewhere. After she secured the blindfold over her eyes, I dug into my backpack and pulled out a Coke. The moment I cracked it open, Alice Mae fussed with her blindfold and pushed it onto her forehead.

“
Ryley, I can’t drink that! It will offset the—”

“
Drink it, or I’ll end this date here and now. You can call one of your other male-callers to spend Saturday night with.”

“
What other male-callers?”

I pointed to her neck. The hickey still showed like a bad omen.
“Are you a switch hitter or something?”

She rolled her eyes.
“A baseball reference? I swear your life exists around that sport!”

Refusing to get sidetracked
, I asked, “Who gave you that hickey?”

She blinked at me. Yep, that was her response. I
’d accused her of dating other guys, and she managed a blink.

Alice Mae held up her hand. Her purple nail polish was perfectly applied and her peacock design had changed to a sparkling diamond.
Swiftly, she rubbed her pointer finger over her neck. The purple polish came off, leaving the impression that she had been used as a lollipop.

“
Oh.”

“
It’s just another parlor trick I learned from the Joker.”

“
The Joker?”

“
One of the queen’s personal minions who dabbles in fortune telling, but he’s not as good as his great, great grandfather,” she said, counting the
greats
on her fingers as she spoke.

“Well that makes perfect sense,” I said sarcastically and
dug out two sets of headphones.

S
he watched me as I put them in my ears. I plugged it into my phone. I offered her my other set. She set the can down on the sidewalk and pushed them into her ears and then into her phone. Again, she covered her eyes with the bandana. I called her.

“
Alice Mae speaking.” She spoke like she didn’t know who was on the other end.

“
It’s me.” I said dryly and picked up the can. “You are going to ruin your surprise if you don’t take a drink.”

“
But I—”

“
You can’t see anything strange because you are blindfolded. The ear buds block out most everything else besides my voice. So whatever effects Wonderland causes, you won’t notice, even without candy,” I said. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

She pressed her lips together. She reached out.
I handed her the can. Before she took a drink, “Things are not going to go as planned.”

“
My plan or yours?” I asked before I could stop myself.

She paused in mid-drink. Even with her eyes covered, I could tell she was weighing her
responses. “Mine.”

After shrugging on my backpack,
I took the half-empty can and dumped the rest of the beverage out on the street. I took her hand. She drummed on my hand nervously as I led her away. Her confidence was down to zilch. The longer we walked, the closer she got.

W
hen we reached the chemistry class’s window, I popped it open with a screwdriver that I had put in my backpack. I placed both hands on the windowsill and pulled myself up. After straddling the window, I extended my hand down to her. Her fingertips found mine.

“
Ryley, I’m not going to break and enter.”

“
Says the girl who broke into a police station,” I said. “Are you going to tell me what you were doing there, yet?”

“
No.”

She took my hand.
I pulled her up to the top. When she was stable, I jumped into the classroom. I could hear the frogs ribbiting.

She jump
ed onto the floor. I caught her in my arms and caught my breath as well. She smelled good
—
exorbitantly good. Vanilla covered in cherries. I took her hand again and maneuvered us around the desks.

Occasionally
, she’d squeeze my hand harder like something had startled her. I led her to a corner in the library where I’d been busy setting up our date before I showed up in front of her house. Created with books from the last shelf, I made two low-rider chairs and a table. It took about fifty more books than I predicted, but I had a surplus so I wasn’t worried.

“
Would you like to ditch the jacket or are you still chilly?”

She undid the only button that kept th
e jacket on, revealing a sequined, midnight blue number. It was a good thing she was still blindfolded because minutes could have passed while I stared at her, and I wouldn’t have noticed. It felt like the start of a dirty movie, as I watched her remove her coat. She handed it to me. I tossed it aside without looking where I had thrown it. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.

“
Ryley? Is something wrong?”

“
Nope.” Courtney was right. My brain turned to mush around her.

I
helped her onto the seat. She grabbed the edges and burst out laughing when she realized she was sitting on a stack of books. She played with the pages. It was captivating to watch her explore my setup with her fingertips.

“
Ryley, did you create an entire table and chairs out of books?”

“
You said you liked books.”

“
Usually I read them, not sit on them.”

On the table was a pizza that
I’d ordered. I hoped it wouldn’t be very cold since I’d picked it up thirty minutes before. I placed a slice in front of her.

“
I’m
allergic
to mushrooms,” she said and used air quotes.

“
Is that your way of saying this better not be a fungus pizza?”

“
Sort of,” she said. “What kind is it?”

“
Your favorite.”

“
How do you know what my favorite pizza is?” she asked.

“
I’m observant,” I said, recalling her in the cafeteria as she ate her pizza.

She took a bite. She ate almost half of the pizza before she took out her ear plugs.
I didn’t comment, but I ended the forty-three minute phone call and took out my ear buds.

“
So you fashioned a table and chairs out of books, what other tricks do you have up your sleeve?”

“
You’re the trickster, not me,” I said.

She turned her head in the direction of the door.
I assured her that there was nothing there. She nervously tapped the top of my makeshift table.

I
gently grabbed her hand, stopping her from tapping. “What is your favorite color?” I asked, hoping to keep her mind in the here-and-now.

“
I do enjoy the color orange.”

“
Orange?”

“
It doubles as a fruit. Who wouldn’t love it?”

She removed the blindfold and looked around. She squealed when she saw the book
I had placed upright on the center of the table. It was a gardening book with a beautiful white rose on the cover.

She eagerly picked up the book and
looked through it. “You’re quite charming, Ryley. How many girls have you brought to the library before me?”

“
Why do you think I’ve brought anyone else here?”

“
Because breaking into a library, reading the written word by people who know how to express love, hate, lust and everything in the middle is far too…” she stopped, taking in the atmosphere.

“
Is far too what?”

She smiled that irresistible smile of hers. At the moment, it was a little mischievous mixed with a rare form of shyness that
didn’t usually reside there.

“
Sexy.” She whispered the word as if she’d never spoken such a naughty word in front of a boy before. Her hands clenched tight.

“
Is that a bad thing?” I reached for her balled up, little fists. She relaxed her hands. Her fingernails had indented half-moon marks into her skin.

“
Yes and no.”

“
Then I’ll stop being so sexy, without being any less sexy.”

She laughed.
I smiled broadly—too much, so I imagined the dorky expression on my face. I turned away and folded the pizza box into my backpack.

She set the book in her lap and closed it, but
I could tell that she wanted to look at it more. I took it from her and pulled out the slip. After digging in my bag for a pencil, I wrote her name on the checkout slip.

“
It’s yours for the week,” I said and handed it back to her.

“
What’s your favorite color, Ryley?” she asked, flipping through the pages.

“
The color of your eyes.” I wanted to stick my head in the ground like the cartoon ostrich drawn on a children’s book that made up a significant portion of the table. Why had I just said that? I sounded like a dork.

“
You are like gravity, Ryley. You know that you have that effect on me, don’t you?” Gravity? The question must have been written on my face because she answered me without me having to open my mouth. “You draw me in. It makes me nervous. It makes me second guess my… hell, every decision I’ve made in years.”

I
stood up and leaned against the side of the table that was closer to her. “Why?”

I
waited patiently as she chipped away the fingernail polish on her ring finger. The hours seemed to pass before she answered. When she did, she blinked away tears that were threatening to fall.

“
Because I think you are the reason why I will choose Wrong,” she said. “A day will come when I must choose to live in Wonderland or here. I won’t be able to cross realms anymore. Why or how this is possible, I do not know. I just know that is the truth.”

“
And this troubles you? Why?” I asked, kindly. Finally, I was getting somewhere with her.

“
You were right about me,” she said, seemingly changing topics. “I’m not a good person, and that’s why I don’t fight Hearts anymore. Well, that and if I break another Wrongdoing Law, I’m toast. But it doesn’t matter what the law says, I’m just like her. Besides, the last time I went up against her, too many people’s lives were ruined. That’s why I break-in to places like police stations. That’s why I’ve tracked down your dad. My… my mischief has gotten me into more trouble. And, it’s why I have my friend’s blood on my hands.”

“
You killed a man?”

“
Not by my blade, but it might as well have been,” she said.