A Girl Called Dust (15 page)

A boy named Jeremiah from my Algebra II
class handed me a stick-pole-thingy. He grinned at Mary-Kate, which was
appropriate since he was dressed as the Joker from Batman. “Nice. You recruited
a rookie. Now I know we’re definitely going to kick your ass.”

“Yeah, we’ll see,” Mary-Kate said as she
took a stick from the table.

Jeremiah flicked her ponytail, and I knew
that look on his face. He was crushing on Mary-Kate, and who wouldn’t? The girl
was practically perfect. Unfortunately, any boy who ventured to ask her out
faced certain rejection. Rumor had it that Mary-Kate was dating some guy in
England and had been for the past three years. They even sent each other
letters the old-fashioned way, with stamps and envelopes and everything. She
planned on going to college in England so they could be together—according to
certain blabbermouths. I’d never heard Mary-Kate say a word about him, so who
knew if it were really true?

“So,” Mary-Kate began, “you take the
stick, bend over like this, and slide the pole right over your thumb and index
finger. Focus on the ball you want.”

Ignoring the vulgar jokes from the boys
(it was just too easy), I mimicked was she was doing. I hit a couple of balls,
and although it felt weird, I wasn’t as bad as I expected myself to be. I
learned that the stick-pole-thingy was actually called a cue stick and that you
couldn’t hit the eight ball in until last. Once Mary-Kate thought I had the
hang of it, we started the tournament. She and I were playing with two other
girls named Allison and Shar, neither of whom I had too much contact with at
school.

Shar went first against a kid named Devin
and won her match. Allison played Kenneth and lost. I blew my match against a
kid named Harrison, but it had been close.

“Sorry,” I muttered as I handed Mary-Kate
the cue stick.

Mary-Kate patted my shoulder. “It’s cool.
I’m going to tie things up.” She played against Jeremiah and whipped him pretty
badly, creating a tie. She played against Devin to break the tie and won. I
wasn’t surprised because I had yet to see Mary-Kate lose at anything.

While we gloated, Bailey poked me in the
side. Her lipstick was a little smeared, and she swayed slightly from side to
side like she couldn’t stand straight. I was going to ask how much she’d had to
drink, but who wanted to hang out with someone who acted like their mom? She
winked at me. “Nice to see you having fun.”

“Uh, yeah, I guess I am.”

 “Good. Listen, Trent’s here. I want
you to meet him. He’s outside.” So that’s why her lipstick was smeared.

“Oh, okay.” I was looking forward to
meeting this Trent guy who had caused so much fuss between Bailey and Lacey. I
hoped he was worth the trouble. I did know that if he had chosen Bailey over
Lacey, he had something going for him.

“Mary-Kate, I’m going to go now. Thanks,
that was fun.”

She gave me a quick hug. “Thanks for
playing.” Then she turned back to Jeremiah and challenged him at darts.

On the way downstairs, Bailey applied a
fresh layer of lip gloss. “Have you talked to any guys? There’s plenty of
hotties here.”

I shook my head. Talking to guys was the
last thing on my mind. I was simply trying to survive the party without
embarrassing myself.

Outside, Bailey led me to a tall guy
dressed in a flannel shirt, overalls, and a black lumberjack beanie standing on
the edge of the patio, holding a beer. He looked uncomfortable and almost as if
he felt he were too cool for the party. I supposed he hadn’t figured he’d be spending
his Halloween with a bunch of high school kids.

“Arden, this is my boyfriend, Trent, and
Trent, this is Arden,” Bailey said as Trent and I shook hands. He gripped my
hand tightly, but his skin was soft.

“Nice to meet you, Arden.”

“You too.”

Trent was definitely cute. Tan with dark
features and curly hair. I couldn’t quite tell what nationality he was, and he
didn’t have any sort of accent. He wrapped his arms around Bailey’s shoulders
and pulled her close to him. “This house is amazing,” he said pointing to it
with his beer as if we’d think he was talking about another house.

“Isn’t it?” Bailey agreed. “We should have
a place like this one day.” Trent pulled her closer, giving her a peck on the
forehead.

Lacey staggered over, thankfully ignoring
me, and talked to Bailey as if Trent wasn’t standing right there. Surely she
wasn’t going to let him off the hook for choosing Bailey over her. Lacey leaned
in close to Bailey as if she were about to whisper but then practically shouted
in her ear. “The drummer has had his eye on you all night. You should totally
give him your number. He’s hot, right?”

 Bailey flushed and glanced at Trent,
who rolled his eyes and took a swig of his beer.

Small groups floated toward the woods
behind Trista’s house, and an uneasy feeling settled in my gut. A month and a
half had passed since Mr. Thompson had been killed, and we were still advised
to stay away from wooded areas, especially at night. Maybe the excitement of
Halloween paired with the abundance of alcohol had made everyone forget.

The outer trees had been decorated with
neon-orange spider webs and glow-in-the-dark spiders. Although I was afraid, I
was curious to know what was going on out there.

The band started up on a fast-paced song
perfect for dancing. Lacey grabbed Bailey’s hands and spun underneath them.
“Oh, I love this song. Dance with me, Bai!”

Lacey’s phoniness was so obvious. She
didn’t want to dance with Bailey. She only wanted to keep her away from Trent,
who looked like he wanted to make a break for it.

Bailey pulled away from Lacey. “Actually,
Trent and I were going to take a walk. Why don’t you and Arden dance?”

Really, Bailey? Really?

Lacey glared at me. “Oh, Dust. I didn’t
see you there. Nice costume.” The sarcasm in her voice was unmistakable. Lacey
wouldn’t pay me a compliment if someone was threatening her to do it at
gunpoint. She narrowed her eyes at Trent and Bailey. “You two go ahead and take
your walk. I’ll keep Dust here company. God knows, no one else will talk to
her.”

Bailey threw me a sympathetic look that
said, “Sorry, but my boyfriend’s more important than you right now.”

“It’s okay,” I said. Why shouldn’t she
spend time with her boyfriend? “Go. I’ll be waiting here, I guess.”

The two of them ran off toward the trees
with their matching costumes, looking like the most perfect couple ever. I
wondered if I would ever be part of a couple. The only guys I was slightly
interested in were colossal jerks or had no interest in dating, period.

Lacey sighed. “So . . .”

Lost in my thoughts, I’d almost forgotten
she was standing there.

“You and Bailey are getting close again.”

I shrugged. I knew she wasn’t happy about
Bailey and I hanging out, and I wasn’t about to give her any ammunition.

Lacey rolled her eyes at me and then
looked out toward the trees. “That guy’s horrible for her, you know. He’s going
to break her heart.”

I shifted from foot to foot, trying to
think of an excuse to walk away. I didn’t want to discuss Trent or Bailey with
her. Fletcher would have simply walked away by now. No explanation given.

“He seems okay.”

Lacey scoffed. “You’ve met him for what?
Five seconds? Trust me. My older sister knows him and the guys he hangs out
with. She’s told me stories, but Bailey won’t listen. He’s going to use her and
then dump her. Trent has lots of girlfriends on campus.”

“Really? Then why were you trying to get
with him?” I’d probably meant to think those words, but they had actually come
out. I wanted to take them back immediately.

Lacey’s evil glare clashed with her
angelic costume. “Who told you that? Bailey? Of course she did! What did she
say?”

“Um, I have to go to the bathroom.” I
turned to leave, but Lacey clutched my arm. Her nails sank into my skin.

“What did she tell you?” Lacey demanded
through clenched teeth.

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked. “It’s
not that big a deal.”

“It’s a huge deal. She better not be going
around telling everyone that I want her boyfriend like some kind of pathetic
loser.”

Of course. Lacey had an image to maintain.
The image that she was the girl who could have any guy she wanted. I pried my
arm from Lacey’s grip. “Look, she didn’t tell me anything. Calm down.”

Lacey looked around to make sure no one
was witnessing her slight meltdown. “Whatever she told you was a lie. Trent
came after me.” She looked in the direction they had gone, frowning. “I hope
they both get mauled by the Teacher Killer.”

“Lacey!”

The Teacher Killer was the crude name some
kids had given to the mysterious animal that had taken the lives of our
teachers.

Next thing I knew, Lacey was marching
toward the woods. Great. My big mouth was going to cause a huge fight between
Bailey and Lacey, and Bailey would probably stop speaking to me altogether.

Maybe if I hurried, I could find Bailey
before Lacey did and warn her.

The wooded area was definitely spooky.
Flashes of light from cell phones blinked on and off amongst the trees,
creating an abundance of scary shadows. Shouting and laughter came from all
directions. No, nobody seemed concerned about random animal attacks. The scent
of weed filled my nostrils.

I bumped into a couple leaned against a
tree, making out. They threw me dirty looks and then went right back to
fighting each other’s tonsils. Ranson and a group of his friends were huddled
nearby, whispering something, probably planning some sort of stupid prank. A
group of seniors stood in a group engaged in what seemed to be a very deep
conversation. There was no sign of Bailey, Trent, or Lacey.

A girl’s piercing scream came from far
away. Everything fell silent, and then the silence filled with laughter. After
a few more screams I had to admit that I wasn’t alarmed myself. Someone was
just goofing around. It was a Halloween party, after all.

Seconds later, more screams came, and some
sounded like they were coming from a guy too. Still not alarmed, I turned
toward the sound. A strong wind blew, causing the trees to sway and rustle.
More screams cut through the whipping winds, but they weren’t fun screams. They
were throat-tearing, gut-wrenching screams. Panicked shouting and the pounding
of feet came from the direction of the screaming.

“Somebody help me!” a girl shrieked. That
was Bailey. I knew her voice anywhere. I immediately ran toward her voice. She
screamed again. A group of boys came racing in the opposite direction—away from
where Bailey’s screams were coming.

I shone the light from my phone at them,
and they stopped to catch their breaths.

“What’s happening?” I asked.

A scarecrow bent over, panting. “We saw
something. Something’s back there!”  

“Some kind of animal,” shouted a kid
dressed like a creepy clown.

“The Teacher Killer!” someone shouted.
“Come on! Go!”

The boys kept going, and I rushed forward.
Bailey wasn’t screaming anymore. My phone lit the area ahead of me. I stopped
and looked around. I was alone. I had gone so deep into the woods that no one
else was there, or whatever creature the boys were talking about had scared all
the kids off. Shivers ran through my body, although I was sure someone in a
scary costume was playing a joke. Even so, I would feel better once I found
Bailey.

I took cautious steps forward until
someone whimpered. Pointing my phone at the ground, I found Bailey on her back
with her arms outstretched. Huge scratches ran from her nose down to her neck
and chest. I gagged at the sight of her skin torn and hanging. She looked as if
something with razor-sharp claws had mauled her. Bailey looked up at me with
watering eyes, trying to say something.

I knelt beside her and dialed 9-1-1,
taking one of her hands, which was slick with blood. “Bailey, what happened to
you?”

“Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?”

Her lip quivered as she struggled to talk.

“What is your emergency?” I knew I needed
to answer the man on the other end, but what Bailey was about to say was
life-and-death important. It might solve the other mysterious killings. I
didn’t know if she would still be alive by the time the phone call was over.

“Bailey, what did this?” I asked again. I
shone the light from my phone on her face.

She looked me dead in the eye and pulled
her hand from mine. “You did.”

Chapter Eighteen

“I want to go see Bailey. We have to go to
the hospital right now,” I told Mom as she drove me away from Trista’s house.
The street was flooded with terrified parents looking for their kids and kids
freaking out about what had happened.