Adventures of a Graveyard Girl (20 page)

There were about fifty Pep Club members in attendance and they surrounded us as we walked to the bleachers. I pulled Ethan along and tried to keep pace with Ariel and Troy, so that we wouldn't lose them in the crowd. We absolutely had to sit next to them, as horrific as that sounded after watching them make out for only a minute. It was a necessary evil.

I probably lost some of the friends I made handing out posters with Ariel because I pushed and shoved my way through the crowd repeatedly to keep pace with her. For some reason, Ariel kept moving this way and that, like she was trying to lose me. Oh who was I kidding? Ariel was totally trying to shake me, but it wasn't going to happen if I had anything to say about it. I was sticking to Ariel like glue. Cliché or not it was true.

Ariel ran up the bleachers with Troy in tow, glancing around frantically for a place to sit so that she could get away from me. I could almost see the wheels in her brain turning, trying to figure out how to dodge me next.

"Hey, Ariel, come sit with us," Logan said to them.

I saw that Logan was sitting with a few other popular people, including Sebastian Zane. Dave was where he was supposed to be, two rows up and watching his target. Dave waved to Ethan and me. Ethan waved back at him. Dave was getting a kick out of the whole thing. At least one of us was having fun.

Ariel looked over at us triumphantly - the row was packed! She scooted her way into the middle, with Troy following. People made room for them. There really was no room left on that row of bleachers, but Ethan and I had to sit there. I couldn't take the chance that I'd miss Ariel get up and leave to go somewhere.

"What are we going to do?" Ethan asked, following my gaze.

In response, I grabbed his hand and started climbing over people toward Ariel.

"I'm not going to be very popular after this," Ethan whispered in my ear, stepping on someone's foot and apologizing.

I had given up on apologizing. I was about to push two people out of their seats and onto the floor. Oh well. They could add rude to my reputation. It probably already included goo girl, although nobody had said anything to me about that yet. Maybe it was because Ethan was at my side. They wouldn't dare make fun of me in front of him since I appeared to be his girl. Was I? He was too cute and too popular to get taunted, at least to his face, and while I was with him, I was safe.

"Hey, Troy!" I said brightly, climbing over one last person, "Can we sit here?"

Troy looked surprised. He hadn't noticed the great chase that had just occurred, "Sure."

I sat down in the tiny space Troy offered me next to him and pulled Ethan down beside me and almost into some guy's lap.

"Whoa," Ethan said, almost falling onto me.

People complained, but I pretended I didn't hear them and focused on Troy. Ethan settled in next to me.

"Thanks, Troy!" I said. "Hey, Logan!"

"Hey," Logan smiled. Wow, did he have a smile on him.

Ariel shot me daggers. Wait a minute. She couldn't possibly be interested in Logan when Troy was sitting next to her, right?

"I was just telling Ariel that Seth Wilcox is out on bail. I wonder if he'll show up here tonight," Logan said.

"What?" I asked.

"That's what I heard," Logan said.

"He's not going to show up here," Ariel said, looking at me pointedly.

It was great that she was so unconcerned, being the Pep Club president and possibly the next target. My mind was racing. We needed to keep an eye out for Seth now too, just in case, even if I was half sure it wasn't him. It would be stupid of him to show up at the game, in fact, but hey, he might be that dumb if he was willing to pull a
Carrie
style prank at a funeral.

I turned to Ethan, "Text Dave and Mike to keep a lookout for Seth. I'll text Suzie."

Ethan nodded. We both pulled out our phones. By the time I looked up, Ariel had turned her back on me and started talking to Logan. Wow, she was willing to ignore her date because of me. That was okay. I liked Troy. I was happy to talk to him.

"So, Troy tell me more about your steampunk project," I said.

I saw Ariel's back stiffen. She knew Troy couldn't resist the bait. Troy started talking. It was interesting hearing the intricate details of each piece he was planning to use in his project and I really was intrigued, but I had to pay attention to Ariel, the general atmosphere, and the phone in my pocket in case I got a text or a call. Oh, and I had to at least remember to pay some attention to Ethan, who I had my back to because I was talking to Troy. Still, Ethan was kind of my date to the game, even if we were playing follow your target. I reached behind me and squeezed Ethan's hand.

Ethan's breath was in my ear, "This is awful."

I grinned and nodded at something Troy said, "That sounds totally amazing."

Troy kept talking to me. Ariel kept talking to Logan. Ethan kept breathing in my ear.

"I'd much rather have spent tonight going on a date with you," Ethan whispered.

I wanted to lean back against Ethan, as Troy droned on. I would much rather have been on a real date too, but I had to stay alert and keep focused. I had to take notice of things like that Ariel was walking down toward the concession stand and not in her seat anymore.

Wait. What? Ariel was already almost down the bleachers. How had I not seen her get up? She hadn't even bothered to tell Troy. She was probably mad at him. I felt bad for Troy. I hadn't meant to get him in trouble with his girl.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt, Troy, but I need to go and talk to Ariel!" I said, letting go of Ethan's hand and jumping over Troy, Logan, Sebastian, and countless others in my race to keep up with Ariel.

Troy didn't even have a chance to respond, but I did see the surprised look on his face as he realized Ariel wasn't sitting next to him anymore. I didn't even wait for Ethan to join me. He was probably just as surprised that I was sprinting off as Troy was. I ran full barrel toward Ariel. She moved fast. Ariel was already almost at the concession stand by the time I made it out of the row. I tried to keep my eyes trained on her. The game was going to start in the next few minutes and the whole area was suddenly packed with students.

In the glow of the stadium lights and at a distance, it was hard to tell differentiate between people and it was hard keeping track of which girl was Ariel. As soon as I reached the bottom of the bleachers, I broke into a run. I couldn't afford to lose her. People swore at me and called me names and I knew I was only adding more and more to my freak reputation as I pushed past people walking toward the stands in my race to get to Ariel. It ceased to matter to me.

I reached the concession stand. Ariel was nowhere to be seen. I scanned the lines again. There was a bustle of activity, but no Ariel. I was pretty sure she wasn't there. I scanned again. No, she was definitely not there. There were bathrooms down the way inside the school. I ran. I did not want anyone to find Ariel like they had found Madison.

I saw Jenny Kendall in the concession line, flanked by Kyle and Suzie, who were holding hands. They seemed to be having an amazing time with each other despite the situation. At least they were actually keeping tabs on their target. They didn't notice me. They were too absorbed in themselves, with occasional glances at Jenny.

How had they managed to keep such good tabs on Jenny with those googly eyes at each other, when I had only looked away from Ariel for an instant and she had disappeared? It wasn't fair. I wanted to be making googly eyes at Ethan instead of chasing after my ex-best friend.

I burst into the bathroom and pushed open and looked in all of the stalls. I was definitely not making any friends tonight, I thought, as I almost opened the door on someone actually using the bathroom. Oops. Ariel was not in any of them. Where was she? I felt frantic. I couldn't believe I had lost her. I was so careful.

I ran out of the bathroom, even more frantic. The game had just started. People were everywhere. How was I going to find Ariel in this crowd? I tried to look over at our seats, wondering if she had somehow circled around me and made it back without me seeing her. I couldn't tell. It was like distinguishing ants from a distance. I just saw a sea of school colors.

I looked over toward the football team. Was Noah where he was supposed to be? His number was 57. I thought I saw him sitting on the bench. I hoped the others were keeping tabs on him. I had to find Ariel.

I started back, weaving through the crowds and making more enemies in my mad rush to find Ariel. Then I saw her. She was standing near the fence at the back of the bleachers, where it was out of the way and more than a little in shadow. I could only tell it was her because of the distinctive Ariel stance I knew so well. Didn't Ariel know that you didn't go off by yourself into dark scary recesses of, well, anywhere, when there might be a killer on the loose? I had even warned her! She was probably making out or about to with Troy, which was gross, but I had to get her back into the crowd. She'd be safe in a sea of people.

I ran toward her. Ariel was definitely talking to someone in the shadows, but I couldn't see who because the darkness was covering their face. I kept running. My eyes were focused on Ariel, but I was still trying to discern who she was talking to, in the hopes that it was only Troy. She'd be safe with Troy.

As I got closer, I could see that the person Ariel was talking to had on jeans and red sneakers. Red. They looked like high tops. Were they Chuck Taylor's? A burst of adrenaline shot through me and I found myself running faster.

My phone was in my hand and I was dialing Ethan.

"Kait! Where are you?" Ethan's voice screamed into the phone.

"Behind the bleachers. Ariel. Killer. Call the police," I gasped back without waiting for him to say anything else.

It would be embarrassing if I was wrong, but I didn't care. I had to keep running. I was almost there. I pushed past a last crowd of people, losing sight of my target for a moment. I finally got around them and ran toward Ariel, except now she wasn't there. A chill fell over me. Where was she? I looked frantically around the spot she had been standing. They must have gone under the bleachers. I had to get to Ariel.

I ran over to the spot where Ariel had been standing. A short fence with a gate prevented you from entering, but I could see that the gate was slightly ajar. Shafts of light fell through the bleachers into the dark recesses below them. It took my eyes a moment to adjust. I couldn't hear anything due to the screaming and talking of the students above me. This really was the perfect place to commit a murder.

Then my eyes adjusted and there they were. A shaft of light was hitting Ariel's big nose. Okay, it wasn't that big. I could almost see the killer's red sneakers glowing ominously, but it might have been my imagination too. I was on red alert.

I really hoped the police were coming because I was about to do something nobody should ever do in this situation. Ever. I couldn't help myself, though, I had to try and save her. I hoped Ariel stopped gossiping about me after this or at least said nice things, if we survived the situation.

I did my best to stealthily creep toward them, from behind the killer. I still couldn't see any defining detail about who it was from where I was standing, except for the bright red shoes.

"Please, don't do this," Ariel said. "I won't tell. I haven't done anything to you. I'll...I'll resign from Pep Club even."

I could finally hear them. Ariel was freaking out. I could hear the panic in her voice. I had to help her.

"I don't care about the Pep Club," he said.

Wait. It was a guy. It was most definitely a male voice and I recognized it. Where did I recognize it? Oh. My. Gawd. It was Logan Collins, the hottest most popular guy in school, well, next to Ethan, at least to me. He hadn't even made my list! I was the worst sleuth ever - taken in by a guy's hotness and duped into not even considering him as a suspect. It just goes to show, looks really do help you out in life and that you can't trust looks at all. His ex-best friend Seth was totally right and Seth had almost gone down for the murders, despite that.

Now, Logan was trying to kill Ariel. If this wasn't happening right in front of my eyes, I wouldn't have believed it. Yes, it was dark, but still. Why was Logan Collins a murderer? He had everything, well, I mean, everything popularity gave you which in high school was, well, everything.

I moved forward. I was creeping up right behind Logan. He was still focused on Ariel and she was mesmerized. It was like watching one of those videos on YouTube where an animal is poised, waiting to pounce on its prey. Neither of them had seen me yet, maybe because they were so focused on each other or maybe because the darkness was on my side.

"Then why are you doing this?" Ariel asked. "I barely even know you! I mean, I thought maybe you like liked me or something, although I am dating Troy, but I guess not. I mean..."


Logan laughed, "It doesn't matter why."

"But at least tell me, I mean, if you're gonna kill me, why do I have to die?" Ariel was rambling.

I could tell that Ariel was trying to stall for time, hoping that help was on the way. I hoped so too. Ethan had heard me, right? He was calling the police? They knew where we were? I couldn't worry about it now. It was too late if he hadn't. What was happening between Logan and Ariel was going to happen in minutes, maybe seconds. I was the only one that had a chance to intervene.