Fireflies: A Katie Bell Mystery (book 1) (9 page)

W
eek two proved just
as boring as week one. By the end of the week professors were just starting to assign real classwork, and Katie chose to spend her second weekend on campus mostly hanging out with her roommate. They wandered; they smoked solid weed and some pretty weak hash with a drum circle. They randomly jumped into the back of a Toyota pickup truck around ten and drove up to the reservoir and skinny dipped with half a dozen sophomores, and they killed a bottle of bottom shelf vodka mixing it with Minute Maid orange juice. Twice Katie had considered trying to contact the Greek god, but Tiffany had taken her phone away from her both times, and whenever Katie had been sober next she had thanked her roommate.

M
onday morning Katie
got a run in before she went to class. She discovered that aside from the vastness of the campus, the actual classes were … not anything for her to be scared of. If anything it was all a bit boring, considering that each class spent a good portion of their first hours droning on at length about their syllabus.

T
iffany was not
in the dorm room when Katie returned and she hit the bed fully dressed. She had lost sleep to go on the run, and her backpack barely hit the floor before she was lights out.

Katie awoke later, tired and trying to remember for a second where she was and her phone was ringing which had brought her out of her sleeping trance and she answered without looking at the number.

Luke, wanting to see how school was going. They talked for only a few minutes as she was still half asleep, but her alertness returned quickly as she heard his voice, remembered how one of her favorite things used to be taking naps with him and waking up with her head on his arm, sleepily feeling him roll over and kiss the back of her neck. No matter how many times he did, it never failed to make her get goosebumps on her arms, but the good kind, the kind that she could have repeated every day and never grow tired of. That basic yet fundamental wondrous physical reaction to the most basic but necessary of human needs, touch.

In the end, he wanted to see her again and they agreed to meet on Wednesday night at a favorite Mexican joint of theirs which was about a twenty-minute drive outside of the city and much closer to Katie. A half-hour drive was still a half-hour drive, but those tacos were worth it, and besides it would be good to see him, Katie thought as she hung up the phone.

K
atie realized
she hadn't heard from her father since Friday, so she decided to call him. But first she needed caffeine, something to make her sound at least halfway awake and present for her father. She considered another cup of coffee but instead went to her study desk and opened the bottom drawer. One of her various errands over the weekend had been going to Safeway and picking up a four pack of Red Bull. The pack was un-opened, but Katie quickly changed that, yanking a can free and downing about half the eight-ounce container’s contents before calling her father.

They talked briefly and he sounded distracted, saying he was still in the middle of the case though it did appear they had caught the bad guy yet again.

The way Arthur talked though was as if he was trying to convince her, which only made Katie sure that he wasn't convinced of whatever was going on in the case. He was being frustratingly vague with the details, though that did not surprise her in the slightest. It was after all what he was supposed to do by normal conventions and since she wasn't there at home every night to pester him about details, his willpower was stronger at a distance. Over the phone at least.

They hung up and Katie finished her drink before going to her computer and signing in on Facebook and Pintrest.

As is often the case with social media, the next time she looked up it was two hours later, or just after eleven and the only reason she had been pulled away from the screen was because Tiffany had returned.

She seemed strangely nervous as she took a seat on her bed and waved awkwardly at Katie. She didn't have to smell it to know Tiffany was higher than a kite and Katie started laughing.

"You must be so high right now."

“I'm
so
high right now," she started to giggling. "Like I've been high before but damn, I am so fucking baked right now, I could cook cookie dough.“

Tiffany spontaneously got up and hugged her roommate.

"Listen, I know both of us should probably get to bed right now, but do you want to watch something funny or something on Netflix?”

“You okay if it's cartoons?”

"Sounds good.”

They watched on Katie's laptop with Katie sitting at the desk chair and Tiffany lying on Katie's bed, feet up and making both of them feel like they were thirteen again and at a slumber party.

T
uesday
and most of Wednesday were more of the same, although by the end of Psychology 101 on Wednesday, Katie was sure it was going to be her least favorite class, considering just how utterly boring the whole affair was. It appeared the teacher was more satisfied listening to himself talk than he was actually teaching. He was a short thin man who wore faded dad jeans two inches too high and various dress shirts tucked neatly into them along with white New Balance court classics. He looked like he had been directly plucked out of an episode of some long forgotten and bad mid-90s-sitcom.

The class ended and Katie left the building headed to the coffee shop. The weather was already beginning to be a bit more fall like, the sky was overcast today and the temperature had dropped to the low seventies.

She sipped her latte and thought about her schedule. So far the most challenging class would clearly be her required introduction to academic studies class. It was your standard freshman affair class on basic research skills, which under normal circumstances would be Katie's easiest except for a few factors. Earlier in class as the teacher was droning on about how to do basic MLA and APA research citations, she had been messing around on a school computer. While the teacher went on and on, Katie had been doing some quick research into Egyptian tombs, just for the hell of it. The TA, a short troll of a women with thick glasses and a curved nose who smelled like dry sweat and tea tree oil spotted what she was doing. The TA didn’t say anything, however she did whisper something to the teacher, Professor Nick Browning.

It took her half the class to place him, because he seemed so familiar. He had been the man that had passed her the first day at Everwood, when he had been wearing a suit.

After the class had ended he had called out, pointing at Katie, beckoning her to him.

Katie was annoyed that he had gestured at her but tried to let it go. He was busy cleaning off his glasses with a white silk handkerchief as she approached his desk.

Professor Browning wore a brown suede blazer, well-fitting jeans and casual brown loafers, as well as a pale blue oxford shirt that he had tucked in but did not look ridiculous in. As he looked at Katie he tucked the glasses into his blazer's breast pocket and began to fold his handkerchief.

"You know how to research."

It wasn't a question, and Katie felt obligated to simply nod. Professor Browning continued. "Good. Every quarter I get one or two of you in the class, someone who's well ahead of the game and could, how shall I put it, coast through the class. When I spot them I'm always happy because it means fresh minds to expand. Your casework for the quarter is going to be a little more intensive than the others. You'll be writing a twenty-page properly formatted paper for me to be presented by the end of the term. Starting next week I'll give you five different topics to chose from so you can pick your preferred assignment."

"What if I'd prefer to just do what the others are doing?"

"That's fine, but I'll be giving you a B, no matter what kind of regular paper you turn in."

Katie folded her arms across her chest. "I don't feel that this is particularly fair."

He smiled at her, his expression kind. "This isn't about what's fair, this is about getting the best possible results from those who are willing to apply themselves. I see potential in you. The question is, are you willing to meet that challenge? Of course if you want to drop the class and add it through another teacher, you are welcome to do so, no hard feelings."

He had her and he knew it. Katie's course load was full enough that she couldn't switch a general class, especially when everything was so neatly placed together.

"Okay, fine. I'll do it."

"Good. I'm happy to hear that. Have a good day, Miss Bell."

L
ater as Katie
sat at her new favorite cafe thinking about the day and drinking her latte, she once again saw the cute guy from her intro to psychology class, except this time he busy scribbling in a Moleskine reporter’s pad and drinking from a Styrofoam cup.

Katie continued to consider for a moment and then finally made a mental
screw it
and headed his way.

If he noticed her approach (and she had a feeling he did) he made no indication of it and suddenly it was like her one disastrous time as an actor in a play in high school and she took a seat across from him at the table.

He continued to scribble for a moment before looking up at her and pausing, his pen's nib still on the tiny white page.

These actions all spanned a timeframe of maybe five seconds but there was a smoothness to them, a fluidity that Katie was amused by, especially considering his eyes were now only on her, and had not left her when he had been doing said actions.

"Hello," she said, smiling at him.

He didn't smile back. "You're in my class. And you were at the party.”

“Right. What do you think of it so far?"

"I think the first week's always a bore, but that sort of goes with the territory. It’s a shame he seems to be asleep behind the wheel and hasn’t realized we’re now in week three.”

"You're a freshman?"

He shook his head. "Sophomore, but my major is still currently undeclared, so here I am."

“Here you are. I'm Katie."

She extended her hand towards him and he looked at her with a slightly bemused expression playing across his face.

"Nice to meet you, Katie, I'm Gideon.”

He took her hand and shook it. His hands were unusually soft, but she could tell he was incredibly strong, his posture had suddenly become much straighter when he took her hand in his.

Even though he had been looking at her, as soon as their hands touched, it was as though a mirror(?) had been lifted and Gideon was suddenly looking at Katie more … intently. It was almost like he was calculating, like there was an equation in his head he hadn't considered before but was suddenly very intrigued by.

"Listen, there's a party this Saturday at the Green Leafs Fraternity. I'm not a member but am friends with a couple of the guys there and you should come."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, they're usually a good time. Plenty of drinks and food, good music and they've got both a pool and a hot tub out back. You never go to a Green Leaf party without leaving with at least one good story."

"All right, I'll think about it."

He pulled out his iPhone and tapped the screen.

"Digits?"

T
hat evening
, as she drove to meet Luke, she felt a sense of dread. There was no real reason for it. After she had ended things the previous Thursday, it had been total radio silence, until he had called her and set it up to meet her. Driving to meet him she wasn’t entirely sure
why
she had agreed. It wasn’t loyalty. It was probably stupid absent-minded habit.

Even though they had agreed to meet at their favorite Mexican restaurant, Katie wasn’t even feeling particularly hungry for tacos and that
never
happened. Katie loved those tacos so much she suddenly became worried maybe she was sick or something, because that truly felt like the only explanation for her lack of hunger. It wasn't like she had had a particularly large amount of food to eat today and besides they were tacos. There is
always
enough room in one's stomach for at least one taco. That was the beauty of them. You could have one, two, even three of them on an empty stomach and just feel right. Or maybe you had already eaten a meal but then had been invited to hang out with some friends and they were at a good taco joint and you didn't want to be rude so you just had one, and even an hour after already eating you could usually put away one without feeling too much like a growing whale.

Luke was already there and waiting for her when Katie arrived, sitting at their usual favorite table.

She hugged him and sat down across from him, noticing his very detached look.

They made a little small talk after she got up and ordered, (deciding she did have room for at least two taco's) and sitting back down to chat.

Their food came and she quickly ate hers, the silence lasting as both finished their plates. After the meal, they pushed their plates back and looked at each other, knowing that it was time. Even though Katie had thought she had been clear the previous week, she realized in that moment that she needed to repeat herself, and not have there be any room for a misunderstanding.

"Luke, I don't think this is working."

He did not look surprised, just sad.

"We've hit hard spots before. You said you wanted a break. I’m happy to give you space.”

"I know, but this is a different thing. This is a new beginning, for both of us. To do that, to truly do that, I think I need to cut all ties to that past."

It all felt wrong. She shouldn’t have eaten the tacos.

"Well, except for your father, who you in fact are dumbing yourself down for."

"My undergrad isn't as important as wherever I go for my masters, and that doesn't mean everything, just what's reasonable to cut."

"So getting rid of me is a reasonable cut."

"I am still your friend. You will always be my friend," she said, reaching out to touch his hand.