Player (22 page)

“Did we miss anything?” Andrea asked.

She had just emerged from the kitchen with her soda in her hand and her lipstick-smeared boyfriend at her side. She and Jim were gone for a while and had obviously taken advantage of the time alone. Bryan looked them over with suspicion, like he was sure they were in the kitchen plotting their next murder. For his part, Josh was much less concerned with investigating than he was with keeping the homecoming court safe.

The note he found in his locker had threatened the queen, but the queen hadn’t been elected yet. The vote wouldn’t even take place until the night of the dance. That was a whole week away. Of course everyone was certain Elena would win, but Nadine had gotten some heavy applause. There was no way of knowing who would earn the crown. Did that mean they were all safe for the time being? Josh wasn’t sure, but he and Bryan agreed to pay special attention to Andrea, Elena, and Nadine, just in case one of them was about to become the next victim.

Josh couldn’t understand why the killer had suddenly decided to send him a note before the crimes were committed. It was like they were trying to provoke him into action, just to make him look even guiltier once the deed was done. Maybe the murderer enjoyed watching him spin his wheels, trying desperately to keep the girls safe, only to fail miserably. It’s one big joke, Josh thought angrily. He and Bryan were playing right into their hands by taking on the roles of junior detectives.

“Earth to Josh,” Jim said, and waved a hand in front of his eyes. “Is he stoned or what?”

I wish, he thought to himself. Aloud, he said, “No. I was just thinking.”

Someone had turned the stereo up even louder. The whole house seemed to vibrate along with the heavy beat of the rap music. Josh didn’t even like rap, and wondered who had changed his programmed selections. He was just about to get up and change it to something a little less obnoxious when Elena and Kevin stumbled over to join them. Elena couldn’t stop giggling, and Kevin was practically holding her up, though he didn’t appear any steadier.

“Josh!” Elena exclaimed. She pulled away from Kevin, and plopped down on Josh’s lap, taking them all by surprise, but none so much as Josh. He tried to gently push her away, but she wrapped her arms around his neck even tighter. “I’m drunk,” she confided in a whisper. Much louder, she added, “I’m completely wasted!”

“I’d better drive you home.” Kevin chuckled. His words were slightly slurred. “I’m not drunk. Not even a little bit.” He tried to sit on the edge of the couch and missed.

“Not much.” Jim laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m not drinking tonight. I’ll drive you both home.”

Josh was still trying to disentwine himself from Elena’s snare-like grip. Rosa stayed silent, but she was definitely glaring at Elena. The last thing Josh needed was a catfight, which seemed even more likely when Elena began running her fingers through his hair.

“Stop that.” Again he tried to wiggle free, but she only pulled him closer.

“But I like you, Josh.” Elena giggled. “I like you a whoooole lot. You’re just sooo cute!”

She pulled him to her and pressed her lips against his. Josh fought to keep his lips from parting as she tried to move her tongue into his mouth. She smelled of beer and cigarettes, which Josh found unattractive and a little nauseating. He didn’t want to hurt her, but enough was enough. He pushed her a little harder, and finally succeeded in untangling their arms. Elena fell to the floor with a thump and immediately starting laughing again. 

Kevin no longer saw the humor in the situation. His stood from the ground, his face red and blotchy. He seemed a little more sober and a lot more furious. He balled his hand into fists as he came closer. Josh sensed the threat and stood to meet it. At the same time, Bryan was moving a little closer, guarding his back.

“Don’t touch my girl!” Kevin spat.

“She was the one doing the touching.” Josh defended himself.  “Believe me, I don’t want her!”

“Josh doesn’t like me anymore.” Elena sulked as she sat Indian style on the floor.

“You shut up, you little slut!” Kevin yelled. She hardly seemed to notice, so he turned his rage back onto Josh. “Don’t give me that crap! You want everything. Well, you can’t have Elena. Not anymore. She’s mine now!”

“Does she have any say in that?” Bryan asked through gritted teeth.

“You stay out of this, jerk. The two of you are nothing but a pair of. . . .”

Kevin added a string of obscene adjectives to the end of his sentence that made Bryan’s eyes bulge. Josh sensed the tension between them, but he wasn’t doing much better at controlling his own temper. Luckily, after Andrea nudged him forward, Jim finally interceded, and put a restraining hand on Kevin’s shoulder.

“Kevin, just cool down man,” Jim told him. “You’re drunk.”

“I’m not drunk, damn it!” Kevin swore. “Well, maybe I am, but I still know exactly what I’m saying. And you know I’m right.” Jim blushed almost as red as his hair, and Josh knew that on some level, Jim agreed with Kevin’s assessment. “Maybe you don’t mind putting up with his crap, but I’m tired of always being second best. For once, I’m going to come out on top!”

Kevin grabbed Elena’s arm, and yanked her off the floor. She offered no arguments as he led her away. Though she followed him obligingly, she looked back at Josh one last time, and waved. “Bye, bye Josh, sweetie.” She burst into a fresh bout of giggling. “I’ll talk to you later, sweetie pie.”

Josh was sure Kevin was going to leave, but instead he dragged Elena over to another corner where they went back to making out as though nothing had happened. He had left their little group in an awkward silence. Jim fidgeted in his place on the couch, not sure what to say. Bryan still had his hands balled into fists and Andrea seemed openly flabbergasted.  It was Rosa who finally broke the silence.

“What a jerk,” she stated bluntly.

“He isn’t that bad when he’s sober,” Jim said. At least he was sticking up for one of his friends. He certainly hadn’t shown Josh that kind of loyalty.

“He has been lately,” Andrea argued. “I don’t know what his problem is, but he needs to get over it.”

Jim shrugged. Bryan hadn’t said a word since Kevin walked away, but he was giving Josh a meaningful look that was easy to interpret. Kevin had just moved up to the top of the suspect list. They both silently agreed not to let him out of their sight for the rest of the night.

“Make sure you drive Kevin and Elena home,” Bryan told Jim.

“Don’t worry,” Jim agreed. “Kevin can be a maniac driver when he’s sober. I don’t even want to think about him driving drunk.”

Jim shot him a smile, but Josh wasn’t feeling charitable. He ignored Jim, and after giving Rosa a quick peck on the lips, he stood from his seat. “I’m going to go check on Nadine.”

Nadine was still unconscious in the corner. No one was bothering her and she didn’t seem to be in any distress. In fact, she looked pretty peaceful, but Josh didn’t like having people passed out in his living room. His parents had told him one too many stories about alcohol poisoning. He knelt down by her side, but she didn’t stir. So he took hold of her arm, and gave it a gentle shake.

“Nadine? Nadine, wake up.”

Her gray eyes fluttered open, and she looked around in confusion. “Hmmm? Who’s that?”

“It’s me. Josh.”

“Oh, hi, Josh.” She covered her mouth and yawned. “I fell asleep.”

“I noticed.”

Nadine sat up, and looked like she was going to get to her feet. She turned a little green and suddenly clutched her stomach. “I don’t feel so good,” she moaned. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“I’ll help you into the bathroom,” Josh offered.

It was already too late. Nadine promptly bent over and vomited all over Josh’s sneakers. Even over the loud music, Josh could hear the people around them snickering. Josh was far from amused. He didn’t have the strongest stomach. He cringed and came very close to getting sick himself. At least she had been sitting on the hardwood floors instead of his mother’s brand new carpets.

Nadine looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “Oh God, Josh, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He helped her to her feet and led her to the bathroom. “Clean yourself up. I’m sure I can find someone to drive you home.”

“My date will drive me,” Nadine told him. “I’m really sorry, Josh. I promise I’ll clean up before I go.”

Apparently just the thought sent her gagging again. Before Josh could reply, she ran into the bathroom with her hand over her mouth. Josh left her to her business and went back to his friends. They were all gathered around the couch, with the exception of Bryan who had disappeared into the crowd. When Josh sat down, the whole gang glanced down at his soiled sneakers and burst into simultaneous laughter.

“Nice shoes,” Jim teased. “Can any of your exes hold their liquor?”

“Very funny.” Josh wanted to stay angry with Jim, but he was beginning to smile.

“First Elena makes a complete idiot of herself.” Andrea had tears in her eyes she was laughing so hard. “And now Nadine tosses her cookies on your shoes! Really, Josh, you know how to pick ‘em!”

Josh put his arm around Rosa. “I think my taste is definitely improving.”

She crinkled her nose in distaste. “You smell like puke,” she complained, but even she was smiling.

“Do you want to play footsies?” He dangled his dirtied shoes dangerously close to her boots.

“Ewww! Would you please go change your shoes?”

“Oh, all right, party pooper.” He kissed her again, this time letting his lips linger just a little bit longer. She welcomed his touch and parted her lips. He hated to pull away, but she was right. He did smell like puke. “I’ll be right back.”

Josh headed to his bedroom where he had plenty of extra sneakers. Along the way, he looked for Bryan. He wondered where he had disappeared to. Josh was certain he wouldn’t have left without telling him. Come to think of it, Kevin and Elena were missing too. Bryan had probably followed them. In any event, Josh wasn’t left in suspense for long. He had hardly made it to the steps when Bryan flew out of the kitchen, looking frantic and disheveled.

“They’re gone!” He shouted, his hazel eyes wide. “I can’t find them anywhere. If anything happens to Elena, I’ll never forgive myself. We’ve got to find them, Josh!”

“Just calm down,” Josh told him, though he was hardly calm himself. In fact, his heart was in his throat. What if something had happened to Elena? “Is Kevin’s car still outside?”

Bryan peaked out the window. “Yeah, it’s out front.”

“Then they couldn’t have gone far. Don’t worry. We’ll find them.”

They walked up the stairs together, and Bryan berated himself the whole way. “I can’t believe I lost them. I only turned my back for a second, just one damn second. I just wanted to get a soda. When I left, they were making out. When I came back they were gone. Where could they be?”

“Did you check the bedrooms?”

Bryan seemed honestly bewildered. “What would they be doing in there?”

“Cleaning out the closets.” Josh shook his head. “What do you think they’d be doing in a bedroom?”

“Oh, right.” Bryan turned a little pale. “Do you really think Elena would do that? On the first date?”

“No, I don’t think she would.” In fact, he knew she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t even after six weeks of dates. “But Kevin would,” Josh added. “And he can be very persuasive when he wants to be. We should check.”

“But if they are doing something,” Bryan began reluctantly, “we can’t just barge in and interrupt them.”

“We won’t have to. If we hear any moaning or groaning, we’ll know what’s going on.” He saw Bryan flinch. “Sorry, buddy, but that’s the way it is.”

They moved swiftly up the stairs and down the long hallway. There were five bedrooms on the second floor, although one had been converted into an exercise room and another into a home office. They started peeking into each of them. Even from upstairs, the music was still blaring. It was difficult to hear anything over the constant thumping of the bass. His parent’s room was the first he approached. The door was closed. He listened and heard nothing. He opened the door and found nothing. He went through the same routine with all the other rooms until he reached his own bedroom door.

At first when Josh put his ear against the wood, he heard only silence. He was just about to turn away when thought he heard a small whimper and then the unmistakable crack of a hand striking skin. Even before he tried to push open the door he heard Elena’s voice cry out in desperation.

“No, please don’t!”

Josh tried to push open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. Kevin had locked it and there was no key to open it from the outside. Josh punched the wood and cursed under his breath. He wasn’t sure what to do. He knew they had to get to Elena quickly, before it was too late. Inside the room, she was still crying, but her voice was muffled. It was obvious that Kevin was trying to silence her.

“Open the door,” Bryan shouted frantically. “What are you waiting for?”

“I’m trying! It’s locked!”

“Then we’ll just have to break it down!”

Bryan didn’t waste a second. He threw all his weight against the door, slamming his shoulder into the hard wood. It took Josh a minute to come to his senses and help him. Again and again they rammed the door. Each time it creaked a little louder, but it didn’t give way.