The Harvest Festival

Chapter 2 cont.

"Do you think he heard us talking about him?" Nina wondered.

Mallory had to struggle to keep her breathing under control.

"I don’t know,” she said. “He was all the way on the other side of the library. Why was he down here? You think that maybe he was just returning some books?"

"Are you kidding me?” Nina shrieked. “Did you hear the part about him being the last person to be seen with Tiffany Thornton? You look just like her!”

"I know,” Mallory whimpered. She leaned against the shelf for support. “I'm so freaked out and overwhelmed right now."

“We better get out of here,” Nina suggested.

"What was she like?"

"Huh?" Nina scrunched her face at her.

"Tiffany. What was she like?"

Nina looked around nervously. "Listen," she began, "I can see the resemblance, but it's obvious you aren't Tiffany. Everyone is just being stupid. Now, can we please get out of here?"

"Tell me about her," Mallory pleaded. Nina sighed.

"To be honest, I wasn't that close to her. She was popular. I'm not. Everyone talked about how beautiful she was and all that. She acted like she was Miss Perfect, but I could tell that wasn't the case. She definitely had issues."

Mallory gazed at a distant stack of books while she took it all in. Nina kept looking at the exit and fidgeting.

"And Sean?” she asked. “What is he like?"

“How about I tell you on the way out? I don’t want to stay down here any longer.”

Mallory nodded and they headed for the door.

“So what’s he like?”

"Actually, that's the part I don't understand. Sean was always popular and stuff, but he seemed like a nice guy. I can't believe he would do something like that . . . whatever he did. It's weird now. He doesn't talk to anyone. Or maybe no one talks to him. I don't know. All I can say is that I don't plan on ever being alone with the guy."

They were back in the dark corridor. Mallory rode Nina’s heels all the way to the stairs, eager to escape the dungeon.

"I keep picturing Tiffany from that yearbook photo and I think about Sean hurting her,” Mallory said. “How are we supposed to come to school and see that guy every day?"

She had a feeling that her nightmares weren’t about to end anytime soon. The ear-piercing sound of the bell made both girls jump.

"Ugh,” Nina grunted. “We have to get back to class. Sorry I made you miss lunch."

"No, it's fine. I mean, thank you for clueing me in."

Nina stopped her at the top of the stairs and gave her a concerned look.

“Are you okay?”

"I’ll be fine,” Mallory said, sounding less confident than she would have liked. “I’ve made it through half the day.”

"Good luck!" Nina shouted over her shoulder. "I'll talk to you later."

Mallory watched her walk away and felt alone in a school full of people. She wished she could tag along with Nina for the rest of the day. She pulled her class schedule out of her pocket and located her next class. Upon entering the room, she was immediately aware of a beautiful set of eyes watching her. Sean Bolan was staring right at her. Mallory staggered to the nearest desk, making every effort not to faint.