Still Jaded (27 page)

Entering the kitchen, I pulled out a bag of chips and tossed it over. "I'd rather stay here. Sorry to be a bore, but it's my personal fortress."

Denton tossed it back. "Doesn't this place get broken into on a regular basis, and at least let me order Chinese."

"That's only when I have parties. I have a no-party policy now. And besides, I got an improved security system installed by our very own locally-grown gangster. Hoodum." I handed him the phone book.

"Hoodum, huh? If memory serves correct, Mena mentioned that he had a love-love relationship with Corrigan?" He waggled his eyebrows up and down, grinning.

"Love-love? She was semi-right. Those two bonded over something a long time ago and neither spilled the beans. I'm not sure if I want to know. Anything those two did together must've been criminal or something worse. They might've burned down a house, for all I know."

Denton looked serious. "Uh. You sure about no premiere? I know of one going on in a few hours. It'd be a great way to make Bryce squirm in jealousy. He's on the guest list with
her
."

I fell silent, shocked. Denton said it casually, but his words echoed in my head. Bryce was with her—I'd known, of course, but hearing about their date and the way Denton said it so easily—like it was a common thing now.

"I can't. Sorry." My voice had grown hoarse. I turned to the counter and held onto it with both hands. I felt off-balance.

"Sheldon?"

"I'm okay. Really." I pushed upright and wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans. I thought I'd been doing okay throughout the week, but Denton's words came out of nowhere. I was gutted.

"Chinese?" He opened his mouth to say more, but the buzzer interrupted.

Something dropped in my throat and for a moment, I wondered if my worst fear was going to come true. When I crossed to the monitor, I expected to see Bryce with her but saw Carolina and Leah instead. Relief went through me as I buzzed them through.

"Who is it?" Denton asked behind me. I heard the crackle of a bag and turned to see him pop a few chips in his mouth. He grinned and offered me the bag. "Want some?"

"No," I chuckled. "I thought you wanted Chinese?"

"I do."

He gestured to the door with the bag. "Figured I'd wait to see who the surprise visitors are. Our plans could change." Then he pretended to frown. "I thought you didn't have any friends except the two."

"Ha ha, you're so funny." But as I went to the door, I was a little embarrassed to admit that he was the only other friend I had. Then, with a fake forced smile on my face, I swept open the door. "Hey guys!"

Leah frowned immediately and stayed put. Carolina smiled and moved around me. She went inside first and then stopped in her tracks. She stared, mesmerized, at Denton.

He waved the bag. "Hi."

"You know Denton Steele?" Leah laughed. "Who don't you know? Do you know that Ronaldo soccer guy—wait. You probably do." As she popped on a stool, she muttered, "Figures."

Carolina was still frozen in place. "I didn't know about him. How did I not know about him? My research is impeccable."

"You researched me?" Grabbing the bag from Denton, I handed it to Leah. I wasn't sure how I felt about Carolina poking into my life. "What'd you do? Hire a private investigator?"

"Becky Lew wanted to be a sister. When we rejected her, she offered information about Corrigan to bribe her way in. I hadn't heard of him, but she told me that he was going to be the future president of Alpha Mu. I thought she was a head case, but then I started hearing Corrigan's name around campus and I called her back. She told me everything." Carolina's eyes looked more focused and less shocked as she turned to me. "She painted you wrong. And she never said anything about him. Is he new?"

"Either you're too smart or you like to sound like a computer.
He
has a name, and no, Denton used to be my neighbor. I've known him almost as long as Corrigan and Bry—Corrigan."

Denton's eyes shot to mine, but he smirked. "I kind of like being talked about as if I'm not here. It's a nice break from the usual fans. They don't respect physical boundaries."

"You're not helping," I hissed and stepped towards Carolina. "What are you guys doing here? Corrigan's not here."

Leah shot off her stool. "We don't come here because of him. Do you think that?"

I whirled around, shocked at the vehemence in her voice. "Uh…" What I saw in her eyes took my breath away, for a moment. She seemed determined. "Most people don't like me for me. Can you blame me for thinking otherwise? I've been told that I have an aggressive personality."

Leah looked offended. "I could hang out with Corrigan at his frat house, remember?"

"Except he hasn't been there lately."

"Still." Leah looked away. Her shoulders stiffened.

I frowned as I glanced towards Carolina. She looked less offended—which unnerved me—but also riveted as she continued to stare at Denton.

I snapped two fingers in front of her face. "He's not an animal on display and we're not at the zoo. Stop gawking."

She tore her eyes away with an effort and then smiled. "Sorry. I'm not used to curveballs. He's a curveball. Also, he's better looking in person than on the screen."

Leah choked back a laugh. Then I turned and saw Denton merely smile and lift a shoulder.

I rolled my eyes. "You can act somewhat embarrassed about that."

Denton laughed.

The sound seemed genuine and it sent waves down my stomach, which jolted me.

He shrugged. "What do you expect? I get most girls yelling at me, 'You're so hot!' This is nothing. This is almost respectable."

Enough was enough. I looked at Leah. "What are you guys doing here?"

She looked at Carolina, who cleared her throat. The human computer was back in place. "We need your help. Correction. We don't need it, but we'd
like
it. The Alpha Mu House is doing their annual pledge banquet. They've asked Zeta Gamma Phi to be their dates for the evening—"

Leah cut in, "Next year it's going to be us."

Carolina gave her a pointed look and then cleared her throat, again. "As I was saying, Zeta Gamma Phi is going to be busy since their entire house will be at the event…" She left the sentence hanging and gave that pointed look to me.

"You're going to break into their house?"

"What? No." Carolina looked horrified. Then she smiled and I saw the cunning girl that I'd met in class a few days ago. She continued, "Yes, but it's all in good fun. It's Prank Wars after all."

"Prank Wars? No one's touching my house again."

Leah smiled. "No, no. It's between the sororities and fraternities on campus. We're going to booby-trap their house. Nothing dangerous, nothing like that. It's all in good spirit."

"Bullshit." I narrowed my eyes at her. What else did she have planned? But it didn't matter. Leah mentioned earlier that Grace had moved into the Zeta house. I wanted to see her room. I hadn't taken the time to look through Cadence's journal, but I made a mental note to put aside a few hours to fully look through it. My gut was telling me that I'd need all the ammunition on that wacko that I could get.

"It is. Or it is for the other girls. A few of us are going to enjoy retribution. The Zeta Gamma Phi house ransacked our home last year. We came home one night to find sheep in our living room."

I looked back at Denton, who had continued to eat the chips. He was laughing now and then gave me the empty bag. "Can I come?"

"What if you're caught?"

"Are you kidding?" he scoffed. "My agent would love it if I were caught with a houseful of sorority sisters. I have another movie coming out. I couldn't buy that publicity."

"We're seriously doing this?"

Denton wrapped an arm around my shoulder and drew me against his side. He squeezed me tight and nodded. "We are, and we're going to have a great time."

"A great time breaking the law."

"A stupendous time breaking the law." Denton dazzled me with a smile. "Right? Just like old times, you and me getting into trouble."

"I don't think this is a great idea." Something tingled in my stomach, and I shrugged off his arm. That was trouble I could do without. "Let me change first."

"Take your time," Leah called out. "So, Denton, are you single?"

I hurried to my old room and changed into dark clothing, tight clothing. Almost feeling ridiculous, I couldn't dispel the butterflies in my stomach, but I was excited. Maybe breaking the law had some advantages. This was the first time I'd felt anything except numbness, suffocating pain, or comfort from Corrigan. All of those emotions were jumbled into one mess. I needed a distraction—this was a perfect one.

As for Denton—I'd figure that out later.

When I walked back into the kitchen, Leah was hanging on his arm while Carolina stood back against the wall. She was watching. She was always watching. Her eyes were narrowed. The star struck expression was gone. Her sharp intellect was back, and I knew she was analyzing everything about him like it was data to her mental computer.

"Does your mind ever shut off?"

Carolina jumped and then pounded her chest. "You scared me! Don't do that."

I lifted an eyebrow. "We're about to break into a house and you don't want me to scare you? Have you
ever
broken into a house? All you're going to feel is nerves. Trust me, every shadow you see will make you crap your pants. Get used to being scared."

Denton whistled in appreciation. "Looking good, Sheldon. Remember about that trouble from before?"

Leah frowned at me. "You've broken into a house before?"

I ignored both of them and whipped out my flashlight. "Let's go."

Leah groaned. Denton leered. Carolina informed me, "You don't need that. I bought flashlights already. Mine are better."

This girl had to be prepared for everything.

I studied her. "Do you prepare for sex? Spontaneous sex can be the best climax."

Carolina smiled sincerely for the first time that night. The sight transformed her face so that even Denton was surprised. His eyes lingered on the girl a second longer than necessary when she replied, "It's not that I have to be prepared. It's that I'm rarely surprised anymore."

Leah pushed off. "Let's go. The girls are waiting for us."

As we followed her out, Denton whispered in my ear, "What trouble are we going to get into tonight?"

I was uncomfortable with how close he followed, but I was more focused on something else, someone else. Grace.

As we crouched in the bushes and crept forward, Denton poked me in the side. "Ow! Don't do that," I hissed at him over my shoulder.

I had enough problems getting all the girls under control around him. I didn't need him to draw more attention. They'd all gone into hyper-swooning alert when Denton had gotten out of the car. After the hundredth picture and thousandth hug, or so it seemed, we'd finally gotten the show on the road.

He grinned and huddled closer to me. "I feel like we're in some show like Buffy the Slayer or whatever that name was. Should I have a pokey stick?"

"We're breaking into a house, not—who?"

"It was on the CW. Don't you watch those shows? Mena loved them."

"Shhh!"

I dug my elbow into his side. "Be quiet. If I'm shushed by one more person, I'm going to take it out on you. I hate being shushed."

"You hate being told anything."

"Same thing."

"Not really, but…" At my glare, he sighed. "I can't believe you never watched those shows. I was offered a part, but I had another project. My agent made me turn it down. It's too bad. It turned out to be a—"

"Why are you talking so much? Shut up!"

He frowned. "Never mind."

The group scurried forward around some bushes and through a few hedges. Two girls went up a tree. Denton followed close behind and whispered again, "Corrigan told me to talk. He said to never shut up, despite what you would say. He said it helps distract you. This is the new you."

I pushed him back. "Corrigan was messing with you. He knew I'd probably punch you."

"What?" Denton stood upright. "That—you guys are not nice. Mena was right. And you think it's funny. You guys are cruel."

I jerked him back down. "Chill. You're acting like a girl. It was a prank, bucko. Take it with a grin and get him back. Corrigan might like you a little more if you did."

A few of the girls shot around the backyard. I knew they'd be entering through the backdoor, if it had been left unlocked. A moment later they came back, and Carolina approached where we were hidden. She slipped around our bush and knelt beside us. "All the doors are locked."

"Windows?" I asked.

Carolina shook her head. "You talk like you've broken into a house before. Do you know how? We won't judge, but none of us know how to do it without actually breaking a window.
Cadence seems like the type to have an alarm system. We don't want cops coming. Do you think you could do something?"