time, day or night, call me.” She gave Katie a pat on the arm.
Katie nodded.
“You too, Tessa.” The shrink turned her dark eyes on Tessa.
“Right.”
Tessa just wanted everyone to go away and leave them alone.
But even after the school shrink took off and the Barnard police had removed “that nasty parcel,” as she’d heard Mrs. Gabbert refer to it, the campus cops hung around Amelia House. Mrs. G. was so skittish she offered to let one of the cops sleep on the couch in the den. Tessa found that kind of funny since the Whitney rule book noted that
Boys are not allowed beyond the foyer in the girls’ dormitories and may only remain there so long as the housemother is present
.
She guessed rules went out the window when a student got a box with a severed hand. Though Mrs. G. was hardly the only one flipping out.
Tessa couldn’t even get Katie to leave their room for the rest of the day. The headmaster had given them permission to play hooky, and Tessa wanted to get outside once the rain stopped. “Let’s hit the student center,” she said. “Grab a cupof coffee and a stale doughnut. You’ll feel better if we just do normal things.”
“You think coffee will make me feel normal?” Katie frowned, hugging a ragged stuffed bear that she’d brought to boarding school with her. “What if the psycho’s there, watching me?”
“So you’re never going to leave the dorm?”
“I will when they catch him,” Katie said, looking at her like she was nuts.
Katie wouldn’t even go to the bathroom by herself, and she made Tessa stand guard when she took a shower that night. Even though Tessa didn’t let anyone near her, Katie emerged white-faced and scared. She claimed she’d seen shadows outside the frosted glass door, like someone had walked past it, though Tessa assured her that no one had been anywhere near.
At bedtime, Katie insisted they leave the closet light on or she couldn’t go to sleep. It had been such a long day and Tessa was pretty bleary-eyed, so she went along with it. She wasn’t sure when they’d finally drifted off. Katie hadn’t gotten off the phone with her Mom until midnight, and then she’d spent another hour texting Mark. It was still dark outside when Tessa heard Katie’s whimpers.
“Tessa,” her friend called, her voice quavering.
“Tessa!”
“I’m right here,” she said, flying across the room and grabbing Katie’s trembling hands. “It’s okay. Everything’s all right.”
“No.” Katie shook her head, hair falling in her face. Hereyes welled with tears. “I smelled roses again. Someone was in the room.”
“No one’s here but us.”
“They stood by my bed, Tess!”
“Okay, okay, let me look around.”
Tessa got up and made a big show of peering into the hallway and checking their closet. She even got down on all fours and peeked beneath the beds. “I swear, no one’s hiding,” she said, and sat down beside Katie. She brushed dark hair from Katie’s face, hating the fear she saw in her friend’s eyes. “Scoot over,” she told her. “I’ll stay here so you can get some sleep.”
Katie moved nearer the wall and Tessa settled into the twin bed beside her. She turned her face so their foreheads almost touched. “You’ll protect me from the psycho?”
“Like a pit bull in Joe Boxer.”
Katie cracked a smile. “More like a Chihuahua.”
“Ha,” Tessa said. “Now go to sleep.”
“Okay.” Katie found Tessa’s hand beneath the covers and squeezed.
Tessa didn’t dare move for the longest time, not until Katie closed her eyes and her breathing became slow and deep. Tessa’s heart still beat too quickly. She would never admit it, but she was shaken, too. Bad things were happening that she couldn’t control, like before, with the fire.
You were just a child
, the school shrink kept telling her.
You’re not responsible for what happened
.
But Tessa knew differently. She
was
responsible, and she had to live with the aftermath every
Katie nodded.
“You too, Tessa.” The shrink turned her dark eyes on Tessa.
“Right.”
Tessa just wanted everyone to go away and leave them alone.
But even after the school shrink took off and the Barnard police had removed “that nasty parcel,” as she’d heard Mrs. Gabbert refer to it, the campus cops hung around Amelia House. Mrs. G. was so skittish she offered to let one of the cops sleep on the couch in the den. Tessa found that kind of funny since the Whitney rule book noted that
Boys are not allowed beyond the foyer in the girls’ dormitories and may only remain there so long as the housemother is present
.
She guessed rules went out the window when a student got a box with a severed hand. Though Mrs. G. was hardly the only one flipping out.
Tessa couldn’t even get Katie to leave their room for the rest of the day. The headmaster had given them permission to play hooky, and Tessa wanted to get outside once the rain stopped. “Let’s hit the student center,” she said. “Grab a cupof coffee and a stale doughnut. You’ll feel better if we just do normal things.”
“You think coffee will make me feel normal?” Katie frowned, hugging a ragged stuffed bear that she’d brought to boarding school with her. “What if the psycho’s there, watching me?”
“So you’re never going to leave the dorm?”
“I will when they catch him,” Katie said, looking at her like she was nuts.
Katie wouldn’t even go to the bathroom by herself, and she made Tessa stand guard when she took a shower that night. Even though Tessa didn’t let anyone near her, Katie emerged white-faced and scared. She claimed she’d seen shadows outside the frosted glass door, like someone had walked past it, though Tessa assured her that no one had been anywhere near.
At bedtime, Katie insisted they leave the closet light on or she couldn’t go to sleep. It had been such a long day and Tessa was pretty bleary-eyed, so she went along with it. She wasn’t sure when they’d finally drifted off. Katie hadn’t gotten off the phone with her Mom until midnight, and then she’d spent another hour texting Mark. It was still dark outside when Tessa heard Katie’s whimpers.
“Tessa,” her friend called, her voice quavering.
“Tessa!”
“I’m right here,” she said, flying across the room and grabbing Katie’s trembling hands. “It’s okay. Everything’s all right.”
“No.” Katie shook her head, hair falling in her face. Hereyes welled with tears. “I smelled roses again. Someone was in the room.”
“No one’s here but us.”
“They stood by my bed, Tess!”
“Okay, okay, let me look around.”
Tessa got up and made a big show of peering into the hallway and checking their closet. She even got down on all fours and peeked beneath the beds. “I swear, no one’s hiding,” she said, and sat down beside Katie. She brushed dark hair from Katie’s face, hating the fear she saw in her friend’s eyes. “Scoot over,” she told her. “I’ll stay here so you can get some sleep.”
Katie moved nearer the wall and Tessa settled into the twin bed beside her. She turned her face so their foreheads almost touched. “You’ll protect me from the psycho?”
“Like a pit bull in Joe Boxer.”
Katie cracked a smile. “More like a Chihuahua.”
“Ha,” Tessa said. “Now go to sleep.”
“Okay.” Katie found Tessa’s hand beneath the covers and squeezed.
Tessa didn’t dare move for the longest time, not until Katie closed her eyes and her breathing became slow and deep. Tessa’s heart still beat too quickly. She would never admit it, but she was shaken, too. Bad things were happening that she couldn’t control, like before, with the fire.
You were just a child
, the school shrink kept telling her.
You’re not responsible for what happened
.
But Tessa knew differently. She
was
responsible, and she had to live with the aftermath every
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