The Felix Chronicles: Freshmen (49 page)

“Bullshit!” Felix blurted and sat up straight. “Allison’s right! I can’t believe I didn’t see the connection. That can’t be a coin—”

“Coincidence? It is—believe it or not. I happen to know what’s going on, and I can tell you.” Bill paused, watching them. “But you have to promise to keep this between us.” He waited until they nodded their assent. “Wolves,” he announced.

“Wolves?”
they said in unison.

“Three domesticated packs were released into the wild over the past two years. Sometime last year, they came together to form a super-pack. The zoologists working with the governor’s office believe that because the wolves were raised in captivity, they don’t fear people, as they should, but instead view them as a source of food. As we speak, every wolf expert and big game hunter on the west coast is in Ashfield Forest attempting to locate the pack. And when they find them, they’ll kill them.”

“How come we haven’t been hearing about this super-pack on the news?” Allison asked skeptically.

“Politics,” Bill said with loathing in his voice, his mouth twisting into a frown. “The governor approved the re-introduction of wolves despite the protests of farmers and the lobbyists who represent them. If this were to become public, the governor would be wading through a shitstorm with an election year coming up. Lofton’s doing the governor a favor. He’ll keep it quiet and allow access to his forest in exchange for whatever he may need from the governor down the road.”

“How do you know all this?” Felix asked.

“I know some people,” Bill replied cryptically.

Allison stood up and turned to Felix. “We’re late.”

Felix grabbed his backpack and got to his feet, yawning.

“You look like shit,” Bill said to him.

“I feel like shit.”

“Well pull it together,” Bill urged, giving Felix a smile. “I’ll be seeing you tonight. Twelve sharp. Don’t be late.”

Felix groaned.

“Nice meeting you, Allison.”

“You too,” she said on her way out, her coat tucked under her arm. “See you around.”

The grass was wet and half frozen, crunching under their feet as they made their way through The Yard. The sun had crept higher in a white sky while they were in Bill’s office.

“He’s younger than I thought he’d be,” Allison said to Felix.

“I think he’s thirty-eight or thirty-nine. That’s pretty old.”

“That is pretty old,” she agreed. “He’s lying, you know.”

“Lying?
About what?”

“I don’t know.”

“So how do you know he’s lying?”

Allison started to say something, but nothing intelligible came out, and she fell into silence. He watched her, waiting for a response. The lawn ended. The southeast corner of the library was visible off in the distance and Little Ben’s enormous clock face poked its head above Garner Hall. He was getting restless. Maybe it was the lack of sleep. “Allie? What the hell?”

“Sorry,” she said with an irritated shake of her head. “I don’t know why I know. I just do.”

“Like an intuition thing,” he hazarded.

“No. This is different. It’s like a… I don’t know. It’s just a feeling, I guess.” She clamped her jaw, staring down silently at the ground.

Felix knew she was smoldering beneath her stony expression. He’d seen this before; impatient by nature, if Allison couldn’t immediately wrap her head around something she became frustrated with herself. He decided not to push her.

“Hey Felix!” a girl’s voice rang out from the path up ahead.

He didn’t recognize the voice, but he recognized the body it was attached to: Amber. Her long skinny legs reached right up to her mound of wavy strawberry blonde hair. She sauntered right over to him and he had to pull up to avoid running into her.

“Hey,” Felix said hesitantly, wishing he’d noticed her earlier so that he could have taken evasive action.

“How’s it going?” Amber said. She was wearing sheer black leggings and a tight cleavage-revealing sweater. No coat. She was either immune or oblivious to the weather.

“Good.” He glanced furtively at Allison. “Good. It’s all good.” He took a step back, trying to reclaim his personal bubble.

“It looks good.” Amber smiled and moved closer. She was practically on top of him. Her sultry brown eyes were eating him up, making him feel awkward. She bit down softly on her lip. “So who are you doing these days?”

“
Who?”

Amber smiled at his confusion. “There’s a party tonight at Astoria. Common room on the second floor. There’ll be lots of beer. And anything else you might wanna get your hands on.
Including me.”
She drew out the last two words in a lusty breath, more moan than speech. Then she smiled suggestively and ran her hands over her ass, which he couldn’t help but notice (and stare at) because it was phenomenal.

Felix coughed nervously, trying not to look at Allison. He could feel her eyes burning into him. “Yeah, sure. I’ll try to make it.”

“Your friend can come too if she wants,” Amber offered like an afterthought, her eyes remaining fixed on Felix.

Allison jumped in, apparently not appreciating the bystander treatment. “I have a name—Allison. Thanks, but I think I have plans.”

“That’s too bad,” Amber replied with practiced insincerity. “Hope to see you there, big guy.” She took her time looking him up and down, then licked her lips and walked away.

They started up again.

“That’s the ERA chick, isn’t it?” Allison said when Amber was out of earshot.

“Yeah.”

“I think she might like you.” She laughed.

He grinned crookedly. “She scares me.”

“You know she’s a trophy hunter,” Allison told him.

“A what?”

“She bags guys.”

Felix considered this as they put the library and Little Ben behind them. Beyond the Courtyard and past a stretch of perfectly spaced trees stood the Student Center, which was attracting droves of students swaddled in heavy coats.

“You mean, she like mounts their heads on the wall?” he asked.

Allison nodded. “That’s the word on the street, anyway. She’s just a year ahead of us but the list of guys she’s slept with is long and illustrious.”

“Really? Who’s on it?”

“Just the most popular and hottest guys on campus. I don’t know any names, but it’s supposedly a veritable who’s who at PC.”

“Seriously?” Felix said, recalling his steamy encounter with Amber after the Satler party. “Why would she do that?”

“Who knows? Low self-esteem. Daddy issues. Maybe she just likes hooking up with hot guys. Got me.”

“And she’s ERA,” Felix added. “She’s got a lot going on. I saw a guy with a tiger tattoo the other day. In Western Civ. He must be ERA, right?”

“I’m sure he is. Two girls in my English class have them on their feet. They wear flip flops even on days like this. Showing off their tats, I guess.”

“I thought it had to be on your arm,” Felix said.

Allison shook her head. “I think most are, but it’s not a requirement or anything. Some of them—oh shit!” She looked startled, then her eyes darted all around like she wanted to make a run for it. “Shoot me. Not him.”

“Not who?”

Allison didn’t have to answer. Grayson Bentley was coming directly at them, smiling. He was always smiling. It was like he was so pleased with himself he couldn’t help but be happy.

“Oh God,” Felix muttered.

Grayson waved and said cheerfully, “Hello.”

“Hey,” Allison replied dully. “We’re actually on our way to—”

“I haven’t seen you around the house in a while,” Grayson said to Allison, stopping them in the middle of the path. “You either.” He nodded at Felix with the same degree of dismissive rudeness as if Felix was a busboy at Friendly’s asking permission to clear off his table.

“I’ve been busy,” Allison told him.

“I can see that.” Grayson regarded Felix like he had the Ebola virus.

“See ya.” Felix tried to step around him. He couldn’t take this guy, not even in limited doses. He hated the way he seemed to own every situation. It was like he was never uncomfortable. He figured Grayson had been told how great he was from the day he was born, and that message was now part of his fabric—he didn’t just think he was better than everyone else, he
knew
he was better than everyone else. Unfortunately, his résumé backed up his lofty opinion of himself.

“Hold on a sec.” Grayson leaned in confidentially to get Felix’s attention. “I was thinking about you the other day. I know this kid who lives in Astoria. His name’s Jeremy. Real smart, but socially, he’s a train wreck. Total disaster. I’m sure you know the type. Anyway, he’s desperate to join my frat. Thinks it’ll get him laid.” He laughed loudly, his breath steaming thick in the cold. “We had a few beers at the house—probably his first ever. You know how some kids are, you give ‘em a drink or two and they won’t shut the hell up. He wouldn’t stop talking. The kid really opened up like I was his priest or something.”

Felix was starting to sweat.

“Do you know who my dad is?” Grayson asked.

“Never met him,” Felix said.

Grayson ignored Felix’s comment. “One thing my dad taught me is the value of information. He says it’s the most valuable commodity in the world. The people who control the flow of information, control the world. And that’s a fact.”

“I’m sure your dad’s right,” Allison said. “We gotta go.”

“So Jeremy,” Grayson continued, forging ahead, “is the kid whose room was broken into by
The
Kid With The Hood
.  He told me some very interesting things. He said he got a good look at him. He said that he’s tall and moves real quick. Like an athlete. Maybe a football player. You wouldn’t know anyone like that would you?”

“Yeah, it was me,” Felix said, trying to crack a big sarcastic grin. “I break into dorm rooms and steal underwear when I’ve got nothing going on.”

Grayson laughed and clapped him on the shoulder like they were best buddies. Felix breathed a little easier.

“Is there a point to this?” Allison asked.

“I’m just busting his chops,” Grayson said to Allison. “Jeremy will probably be the next Mark Zuckerberg, but I wouldn’t let him in the Beta house if he was the last pledge on earth. The guy’s pure chick repellent. With enough losers like him in the frat, you reach a critical mass, a tipping point, and before you know it, your house is crawling with dorks running around dressed like hobbits and wizards and watching
Star Wars
wearing Darth Vader masks.” He laughed and waved at some kids passing by.

“Nice seeing you.” Allison used the kids as a diversion to step off the path and make her way past him. Felix followed and they headed for the Student Center.

“Maybe I’ll see you at the house sometime?” Grayson called after them.

Allison waved without turning around and said in a soft voice, “Not likely, asshole.” Felix kept his hands in his coat pockets. “What the hell’s going on today?” she burst out a moment later. “Who’s next? What is this? The skank and asshole parade? What do you think that was about?”

“No idea.” Felix was working out in his mind whether any part of what Grayson had said could be true and whether he should start avoiding Jeremy (not that he saw him around much—twice, actually, and both times at a distance).

“Why would he insinuate that you’re
The Kid With The Hood
?” Allison asked.

“Because your ex-boyfriend’s an asshole.”

“Ex-boyfriend?”
She laughed and shoved him off the path into a giant rhododendron. “I’ll hurt you if—hey! What are they doing?”

“Who?”

“Them,” she said, pointing.

Felix followed the line of her finger and spotted Lucas, Caitlin and Harper across from the Student Center huddled together stiffly against the chill, heads down, standing in the shadow of an enormous leafless tree. Their breaths were puffing out white in the icy air, mingling for a moment and then disappearing.

“What the hell are they up to?” Felix said to her. “We’re supposed to meet at the Caffeine Hut, right?”

“Yeah.” Allison sped up.

“What’s up, guys?” Felix called out when he and Allison were within shouting distance. They looked like they were checking out each other’s shoes… then Felix noticed the cell phone. Lucas was holding it down by his waist and Caitlin and Harper were regarding it intently. Only Lucas glanced up at the sound of Felix’s voice (it appeared he was muttering obscenities under his breath), his eyes shifting nervously.

“What are you doing out here?” Allison asked them. “It’s freezing.”

“Get over here,” Lucas said through his teeth. “Just pretend like you’re checking out my phone.” Their collars were turned up around their ears, their cheeks well-rouged from the cold.

“Huh?” Felix said, puzzled. “Why?”

“Just do it,” Lucas ordered.

They wedged themselves between Harper and Caitlin, and Allison asked in a low voice, “What are we doing?”

“Hi guys,” Caitlin whispered, keeping her eyes on the phone. “Good question. I just got here. What are we doing?” She glanced up at Lucas.

“You’re watching a viral video on YouTube,” Lucas said. “It’s awesome. It’s the Michigan lacrosse team lip syncing
Love Me Baby
in their locker room.”

“What?” Felix looked down at the phone. The screen was black. “What the hell’s—”

“Just
pretend
like you’re watching the video,” Lucas said, his voice strained and tense. “If the lacrosse team lip syncing doesn’t do it for you, pretend you’re watching a little kid hitting his dad in the nuts with a golf club. I could watch those groin shot vids all day long.”

“Have you all lost your minds?” Allison said, taking a short step back. “I’m gonna go get a cup of hot coffee. Let me know when you regain your sanity.”

“I’m being followed,” Lucas said tersely.

Felix was getting better at recognizing when Lucas wasn’t screwing around. Now was one of those times.

“There’s this kid who’s been after me since the start of school.” Lucas looked over at Felix. “The kid I told you about way back when. I’ve seen him like five or six times. I thought I had him cornered a couple times, but he got away. Is he still there?”