Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Elizabeth Housman
I’m not buying it. They were together, whispering, before breaking away from one another. It reeks of a secret meet-up. But I’ll drop it. Right now, I just want to confirm what I already know.
That The Divinities original has been replaced.
“Oh, I just had an idea,” Henry says, stopping short of trekking into the basement. “Jesus, why didn’t I think of this before? Come on.”
I follow him all the way to the other side of the building, past a biology lab, to an equipment closet. It’s unlocked, so he peeks inside and shouts, “Bingo!”
He reaches up to unhook a pair of binoculars from the wall. “I forgot that Blauer is an avid birdwatcher. He spends his lunch hour in the square watching them. Or us… anyway. Here.”
We take them and head back out toward the balcony.
I’m skeptical it’ll work with the low light in the chapel, but I’m willing to give it a go.
Henry wipes sweat from his forehead. I keep walking, contemplating how to pull the information I want from him. “You’ve heard the stories, right? About some top-secret group of students?”
In my mind, I can’t imagine a reason why Eric and Aaron would be hanging out with Henry, much less at night on campus.
“No. I don’t remember hearing anything of the sort. But I’ve heard a few ghost stories about this building, so if we could hurry this up.”
Henry grabs the waist of my jeans to steady me as I lean over the wobbly balcony, binoculars to my eyes. Sure enough, even through a lens, it’s clear to me.
I sigh in frustration. “It’s a fake.”
I lean back, Henry releasing me, as I stare at the painting. When I turn, he’s examining the wall behind him, pressing against it and running his hands over the surface. “Tullis, what are you doing?”
He pauses. “Just… checking something.” He continues looking, kneeling to inspect the bottom of the wall.
Unbelievable. Why is he being evasive?
Maybe I shouldn’t be standing at Eric and Aaron’s apartment door this late at night, but I need to tell him about the painting.
“Biz.” Eric pulls the door open further. “Everything okay?”
I rush in, closing the door to keep his fuzzy little dog from escaping. “Are we alone?”
He shakes his head as his aggravating roomie pokes his head around the corner. “Oh, look, it’s Elizabeth. To what do we owe the pleasure?”
I pull Eric into his room and shut the door quickly. “The painting is gone! The Divinities.”
We sit on his bed while I tell him about showing Henry and Amy. About noticing the discrepancies. He listens with his head hung.
“...told him that it feels like a bait and switch.”
“What?” His head snaps up. “The chapel is closed. What would the purpose of that be?”
Aaron knocks but doesn’t wait to be invited in. I look away as soon as I see he’s joined us shirtless. He’s just trying to get a reaction at this point. Damn him.
“Can you put on a shirt?”
“You’re lucky I’m wearing pants.”
Before I can stop him, Eric tells Aaron everything, like we can trust him. Which I absolutely do not.
“So noble. So brave,” he says to me in a scathing voice, giving a slow clap.
I hate him.
If I could wish him away, I would. Instead, I have to deal with him all the time. “No one asked you,” I say.
Eric rubs his cheeks. “You’re sure it’s a replica and not the real painting?”
All the way to the parking lot, Henry tried to convince me not to make this my problem, but he doesn’t know what this painting means to me. It’s not mine, or my responsibility to find, but I don’t care.
There’s still the nagging thought that I could be blamed if anyone discovers the real painting is missing.
I’m relieved when Aaron leaves us alone, growing bored with my talk about the painting.
“Oh, another thing. Why were you and Aaron with Henry earlier tonight?”
Eric has a tell when he’s holding something back from me, or straight-up lying. He can’t look at me. He turns to stare out his window. “Henry? We weren’t with him.”
I blink. I didn’t think Eric would lie to me this easily.
I think it’s about time to dig around about the rumors. “Oh, really? Do you know anything about some secret group on campus?”
His head is still turned, his hand gripping one of his knees. “Biz, I’m really tired and I’m not in the mood to listen to any gossip right now.”
The keys to my car dig into my fist as I leave. Tears well in my eyes.
That’s when I realize I tell him everything.
Eric Hewlett isn’t just my boyfriend. He captured my attention from that first day three years ago, and I happily handed him my heart. There isn’t an hour that passes where I don’t think about him.
But obviously I’m not as important to him.
He can lie to me, then make me feel unwanted in one breath.
I guess he’s more like his mean best friend than I wanted to believe.