I stood there and waited for Hauer to reappear, but he never did. He had gone off in another direction, or he was hiding out somewhere ... or he had gotten in the car with Taylor. But why? What was going on?
I sat down on the edge of my bed, feeling suddenly overcome. There I sat and listened until the sounds of the car engine faded into the fog and the car officially vanished, taking Taylor and about a hundred unanswered questions with it.
There was no going back to sleep. I tried to do work until everyone else started to wake up and start the morning ritual of blow-drying, plucking, and garment-swapping, but I just ended up staring at the wall.
All through breakfast I waited for someone to mention Taylor's absence. No one said a word. The talk was all who was leaving when and who was going to shop where and how the NYC people were all going to meet up over the weekend. Was it just me, or was Noelle's nonchalance a little more studied this morning?
I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking. I don't know why, exactly, but I didn't want to be the one to bring it up. It was almost like a game. How long could they continue acting as if nothing was wrong? How long could we all keep up the charade?
A long time, apparently, because soon I found myself sliding into a pew at morning services and still, no one had so much as mentioned the T word. What was up with this school? It was like keeping secrets was everyone's favorite pastime--when they
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weren't busy gossiping. The whole place was a functioning contradiction.
"Omigod. What is up with Taylor Bell?"
My heart skipped a beat. I looked at Constance's eager face. Trust my former roommate always to play forward for Team Gossip. Considering I was constantly surrounded by the starting lineup of the Secret-Keepers, Constance was good to have around.
"What do you mean?"
Constance settled in next to me and nestled her backpack under her feet. "Kiki totally saw her getting into a car on the circle this morning way before the sun even came up."
"What? How?" I asked.
"Girl never sleeps. She's the queen of insomnia. Maybe that's why she won firsts. Nothing else to do in the middle of the night but study," Constance said. She pondered this for a moment, maybe wondering if she could become an insomniac and thereby become celebrity for a day, then got back to the subject at hand. "But anyway, she saw the license plate on the car and guess what it was?" she asked, lowering her voice.
I was about three seconds from imploding. "What?"
"It was Hayes three," Constance said. "It was one of Kiran Hayes's mother's cars, but Kiran wasn't with her! What's up with that?"
Suddenly I had that awful sour feeling--that feeling that comes over you when you first realize that everyone around you knows more than you do. That you're completely idiotic and stupid and
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have missed something completely. I turned around in my pew to look at Kiran, who sat a few rows back with the juniors. She sat straight, with her eyes focused on the front of the chapel. There was an empty space next to her, a space that the other girls in the junior class had left open for Taylor, who was always at Kiran's side. Little did they know that Taylor would not be present this morning.
But Kiran knew. Kiran knew a lot more than she was letting on. I stared at her, willing her to look at me, but she refused, even though I could tell she knew I was staring.
Dean Marcus stepped to the podium to begin the service. I faced forward again, so angry I was practically shaking. No more secrets, huh? And I had believed it. Someone should really have tried selling me a bridge already. I was the easiest mark ever.
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LAST DITCH
From the high-backed chair near the front window of Billings, I was able to keep watch on both the main door and the stairs. Kiran had been avoiding me all day, but I was not going to let her leave campus without talking to me. I had to know what was going on. A cozy fire crackled in the fireplace in our lobby, and Rose and Vienna sat in front of it, chatting, surrounded by at least a half dozen pieces of luggage as they waited for their rides. I just hoped their being there didn't get in the way of my mission.
From my vantage point I was able to see all of my housemates on their way out for the holiday. A couple of parents picked up their daughters, but there were more drivers than family members. Something about the whole procedure made me feel sad and empty, even though it hardly seemed to faze any of the girls. They were used to it, I supposed. And hell, I was the one who wasn't even invited home for Thanksgiving, so who was I to judge?
One of the drivers I had seen come in, a tall, handsome guy with a layer of peach fuzz on his head and a tiny, triangular bit of
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hair under his bottom lip, appeared at the top of the stairs. I recognized the Louis Vuitton luggage under his arms and stood up. Kiran appeared, wearing a sleek red dress, black boots, a fur- collared coat, and red lipstick. She took one look at me and blew out a sigh.
"I don't have time right now, Reed," she said, slipping on her dark sunglasses as she descended the stairs behind her driver. "Call me over the weekend. You have my cell number, right?"
/> "No way. You've been avoiding me and I want to know why," I told her under my breath. I glanced at Rose and Vienna. They appeared interested but confused. I could tell that the crackle and pop of the fire were masking our conversation.