21. Lilah #2
Who would have to clean up after tonight? Galen didn’t give off deep-clean-machine vibes.
With careful steps, avoiding the wet streaks and robed zombies, I made it to the last hallway on the lower floor and opened the door to a cute bedroom.
It was smaller than all the others, with glowy accent lighting and a massive rose bouquet that overshadowed almost everything else in the room.
It had to hold at least five dozen roses in various shades of pink and red.
The way the petals all bloomed together reminded me of a ruched tulle skirt.
There was also a massive stack of at least twenty blankets neatly folded on a chair. Was this the house manager’s room? A prickle of guilt at coming in here and knowing she probably had a dozen people run through her private space.
Stepping around the bouquet large enough to make up its own time zone, I quickly tiptoed to the window and picked up the last token—a fox.
The door opened. I froze and looked for a space to hide. A split second before I dove behind the bed, Mason stepped through the door.
“I thought I saw you come in here.”
I took a step back and scrunched down like that would save me if he were going to grab me. “Are you a zombie?”
He gestured down at himself. “Am I wet?”
I straightened up. “Oh yeah. What do you have to do?”
“Steal six people’s socks.”
“And I thought mine was bad. No luck?”
He tugged a handful of socks out of his pocket. “Already done. At least it wasn’t underwear…this time.”
My brain glitched at that task. “Go back to the lobby, so you’ll be safe,” I whisper-hissed. “What are you doing here?
“The lobby?” A tilt of his head and twitch of his lips. His eyes lit up with the low light twinkling in them. “Worried about me, Lilah?”
“I just don’t want you getting me soaking wet on the ride home.” The blood drained out of my face, and I snapped my head up to lock eyes with him. “I didn’t mean—I just meant…”
More amusement creased the corners of his eyes. “I know what you meant.”
“So why are you here?”
“I heard a group was heading down here and I wanted to be sure you got out.”
I full-on swooned and it was only the bed that kept him from seeing my knees dip. Why was Mason so good at this? Why was it so hard to resist?
Voices carried down the hallway.
“In the closet.” He took my hand, pulled me around the bed and pushed me through the pocket door.
Lights turned on inside. It wasn’t quite a walk-in, but there was enough room for me to stand without taking a rack of hangers to the head.
“Stay in there until it’s clear.”
I tugged on his sleeve, trying to bring him in with me. “But what about you?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.” He took my hand off his sleeve and gave it a squeeze before closing me inside the closet.
Seconds after the silent click of the push-close caught and the light shut off, chaos broke out on the other side of the door.
“Found him!” Zoe shouted to whoever else was there.
“Traitor!” Mason shouted back. Muffled sounds of bodies entering the space drowned out my hammering heart pounding in my ears. Laughter, shouts, and more than one bang to the walls, and then silence.
The noise trailed off into nothing.
After counting to fifty, I pushed open the door. With tentative steps, I crept out of the bedroom.
Two people stood at the far end of the hallway, neither in robes. Galen and a girl, maybe our age, but I didn’t recognize her from Hawthorne Prep.
Her hands were on her hips, and she pointed at him, not shouting, but definitely pissed.
He reached for her, and she snapped at him, looking angry enough to bite.
She stormed off and he stared after her. Once she rounded the corner, he banged his head back against the wall before leaving in the opposite direction.
Free to move now, I kept close to the stairwell wall as if I had any defense other than running away and screaming. But I made it to the top of the stairs. The staircase brought me up to the far end of the kitchen, which was empty.
Tendrils from the ocean wave chandelier glowed and dangled and—I swear—created a spotlight on the little button I had to reach. I was so close to the win, but more than that, to not needing to beg a group of classmates to let me strip to my underwear before they tossed me into the pool.
Why hadn’t I asked Galen for a change of clothes, since he was cool with doling out fluffy, white robes? Why hadn’t that idea come to me before the game started and I wasn’t sweating after crisscrossing this beautiful monster of a house?
Voices got louder the closer I crept. Most people were outside, but footsteps echoed from the floor above.
My heart played tennis with my uvula and my palms were so sweaty that I grabbed a napkin to wipe them off. Most of the food had been removed, but the desserts remained. And I could swear more had been added.
I made it to the end of the kitchen.
A hidden door swung open to my left.
I froze, a ball of dread icing up my stomach.
With wet hair plastered to his forehead and almost covering his eyes, a wide-eyed and fluffy-robed Erik stared at me with a bacon-wrapped asparagus hanging from his lips and a full catering tray in his hands, somehow looking even more shocked to see me than I was to see him.
I flinched, expecting him to lunge for me or call to everyone else.
Instead, he offered me an asparagus.
Last meal? I took it, and man, it was as good cold as it was hot.
Then, instead of grabbing me, he slowly faded back into the doorway. The click of the latch finally broke me free from my freeze and I bolted the final steps from the kitchen.
“Hey, it’s Lilah!” someone shouted from the patio.
But it was too late.
I flicked open the box’s lid and slammed my hand down on the button.
At the first pop, I flinched. By the third, I had shoved myself beneath the table. A cascade of noise and sparkles shot up to overwhelming volumes all around me.
Colored lights danced through the air along with red, white and shiny gold confetti.
The space was flooded with everyone from outside, some barefoot, others in flip-flops.
Mason walked in wearing his robe and grinning. It transformed his whole face. My heart did a somersault when his eyes locked on me. He rushed over and crouched down with a hand extended.
“A little overboard, huh?”
“What? This?” I scoffed. “Every party I’ve ever been to has been this insane.”
His smile flickered for a second before he helped me extricate myself from the table.
“Your prize.” Galen held out a box.
Mason dropped my hand, but I reached for it again, feeling better when he was beside me.
I took the box from Galen and nearly threw it across the room. It was much lighter than I expected. I looked between the two of them.
“All this for this? What’s even in here?”