Serial Hottie (14 page)

“Oh for crap’s sake!”

Dave burst into laughter. “Chill, Westley. I’m just messin’ with you.”

“You and everyone else for the last freaking week.”

“Can you really blame people?”

“It’s not like you guys haven’t ever seen a girl before.”

“Come on, you know you’re different. It’s got people talking.”

“Different?” I asked, startled. “I’m not different.”

Dave looked me up and down with one eyebrow raised.

“I’m still the same person,” I said. “It just happens that this”—I gestured to my outfit—”is surprisingly comfortable and a lot easier to play in.”

“Sure,” Dave said, suppressing a laugh. “But it’s more than just the clothes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without at least one of the J’s present. You’re branching out.”

“Pure necessity. The J’s are at camp. You try spending a whole summer with nothing but an X-box and my sister to keep you company.”

“Actually,” Dave said, considering the possibility. “I wouldn’t mind—”

“Ugh. Spare me the Angela swoonage, okay?”

“Fair enough. But still. Going to parties…”

“Long story.”

“Dating…”

“I told you I am
not
dating—”

“Flirting with guys so that they’ll escort you home…”

My jaw just about fell off my face it dropped so fast. “I didn’t—that was
not
…” My voice trailed off. I didn’t have a clue how to finish my sentence. I glanced around frantically and was relieved to see we were almost to my house.

Dave burst out laughing and I punched his arm hard enough that he nearly tripped on his skates.

“Would you cut that
out
?” I yelled. “The whole messing-with-Ellie thing is really outwearing its welcome.”

Dave continued to laugh until we reached my driveway. “Hey.” He stopped and pulled his hands up in defeat. “I never said different was a bad thing. Whatever your deal is right now, it suits you.”

Oh man, I was going to blush again, I could feel it. How embarrassing.

Dave punched me back then, more playfully than I’d hit him but still hard enough to nearly knock me over. “Just don’t go getting all soft with your game,” he said. “No one’s going to show you any mercy just ‘cause you went and got a little hot.”

This time I just rolled my eyes. “You can leave now.” I pointed to my house. “You are no longer of any use to me.”

“Later,” Dave said, but as he turned to leave, he noticed Seth working over the punching bag in his garage and stopped to watch him for a second.

I was surprised I hadn’t noticed the Beemer parked out front when we skated up the street. And I definitely didn’t like the fact that every time I ignored Seth he felt the need to beat something.

Dave eyed Seth for a minute longer, then turned back to me more serious than he’d been all morning. “Be careful with that guy,” he said. I couldn’t hide how surprised I was by Dave’s warning. “I saw him at X-treme Saturday night. Let’s just say he’s not shy with the ladies.”

“Oh, I have no doubt of that,” I said dryly.

So he got mad at me, went to a club, and made out with as many chicks as possible. Not really surprising.

“How’d you get into X-treme, anyway?” I asked. “You’re not eighteen.”

Dave winked. “I have my ways.”

“Fake ID?”

“You should invest in one and come with us sometime. You know, since you’re branching out and all. You’re tall. You could pass for eighteen.”

“Dancing? Are you kidding? I think I’ll stick with hockey.”

“Well, see you Wednesday morning, then.”

“Yeah.” Something occurred to me then. “Hey Dave? Out of curiosity, did any of those girls Seth hooked up with Saturday night happen to be red heads?”

“Yeah, actually.”

And Angela thinks I’m crazy. What if that red head was Olivia from South Lyon?

Dave pulled me from my thoughts when he said, “After seeing you at the diner, I assumed he was with you. I almost beat him down when I realized he wasn’t.” Dave glanced behind him again, where Seth was still viciously beating away calories. “Kind of glad I didn’t.”

“A wiser choice than you realize.” I laughed. “Thanks for the thought, though, and thanks for bringing me home.”

“No problem. See you later, Ellie.”

For a second I watched in wonder as Dave skated away. I think that was the first time he’d ever called me by my first name. Maybe something
was
different about me. “You’ve been spending way too much time with Angela,” I muttered to myself and then hurried into my house before Seth could stop me.

Wednesday morning I expected Seth to show up at the park like he had on Monday since I’d done everything in my power to avoid him. Sometimes it’s nice to be wrong. I got to have a nice stalker-free game. Well, nice except for the part where Dave told everyone I had to have a babysitter on account of being serial killer bait.

Babysitter comment aside, though, I have to admit I was relieved when a few guys who live closer to me offered to take me home. I didn’t want to ask Dave again and have him think I liked him. But I also knew Seth would probably be in his garage working out—AKA waiting for me—when I got home, and I didn’t want to be alone when I showed up.

The escort turned out to be unnecessary. Seth’s garage was open like it always is, but I was surprised to see that he wasn’t in it. Then I noticed that his car wasn’t there and my heart leapt for joy in my chest.

I’d been cooped up in the house so much lately, hiding from Seth, that even though I’d just played hockey for the last couple of hours I couldn’t bring myself to go inside. I fell to the grass in my front yard, ripped off my skates, and lay there enjoying the fresh air.

I could have stayed like that for hours, except for some reason Seth’s open garage seemed to be screaming at me. The car was gone, the house was completely dark and still, and the garage was left wide open. It was begging me to come over and take a look around. Not that I’m some major snoop or anything, but Seth had me seriously freaked. I figured I’d be safer if I could find out something—anything—about him. Plus, if I could find something really creepy to show Angela, she might get off my case about him.

It took me ten minutes to work up the guts to go over there, but once I did I was kind of fascinated. It made me realize how desperate I was to know more about Seth.

You’d think that someone who drives a BMW would want to park it in the garage, but Seth never did—probably because there was no room for it with all the gym equipment and the piles upon piles of boxes. It seemed to me like Seth and his aunt didn’t plan on staying in the neighborhood long. They’d hardly bothered to unpack.

I read the labels on some of the boxes. At first they seemed normal—photos, books, crock pot, Christmas decorations. But then I started seeing boxes labeled FBI, first-degree murder, fingerprinting, child abduction, federal laws, local law enforcement procedures… “What the?”

That was weird. I mean I didn’t know what I’d expected to find in here, but as creeped out as I suddenly was, I guess a part of me hadn’t believed I’d find anything strange.

I knew I should leave, but there was a tall metal cabinet sitting in the corner and I simply couldn’t help myself. I opened the cabinet and stared in disbelief. Knives—lots of them, and all different kinds. Seth had everything from a machete to a Swiss Army knife, and they were all neatly hanging there shiny and sharp, like they were on display in a museum.

Deciding it was definitely time to leave, I shut the cabinet, turned around, and screamed when I found Seth standing at the entrance to his garage.

Seth didn’t say anything. He was standing there with his hands tucked casually in his pockets, watching me through narrowed eyes. He was also, I noticed, standing between me and any escape route from his garage.

“Seth!” I gasped as soon as my heart started beating again. I forced myself to play it cool. “Geez you scared me. I didn’t hear you pull up.”

“That’s because I didn’t pull up. I walked up.” Seth’s voice was toneless, his face still cautious.

“But where’s your car?”

“Technically it’s my aunt’s car. She does drive it every now and then.”

“Oh.”
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Ellie, you moron!

I waited for him to say something, but he didn’t. He didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He just stood there. It was torture.

“So...” I gulped. “Did you go for a walk or something? Exploring the neighborhood a little?”

“I was at your house. Angela found me waiting for you on the porch when she left. She told me I could wait inside.” Seth finally removed his hands from his pockets—only to fold them across his chest. “I didn’t realize you’d try to come see me first.”

“Oh… yeah… well I…”
Think, Ellie! Think!
“I was just in my yard and I thought I heard a cat meowing.”
Yeah, that’s good.
“It didn’t look like you were home, and I was afraid it was stuck in here.”

“It was nice of you to be so concerned.”

“I didn’t find it. I must have just been hearing things. Sorry. I guess I’ll just be going now.”

I stepped forward and to the side, planning to give Seth a very wide berth, but the second I moved Seth took a matching step, placing himself directly in front of me again. “What’s the rush?” he asked casually.

“No rush,” I said nervously. “I’ve just been playing hockey for the last couple hours. I’m tired and I kind of need to hit the showers.”

I took another step and again Seth matched me, but this time he’d moved forward a little too. A few more steps and he’d be within arm’s reach. I froze and so did he.

Maybe if I reasoned with him… “Seth.”

“Ellie?”

We stared each other down—me looking at him wearily, him looking politely inquisitive.

When I couldn’t take the silence anymore I sighed. “You’re not going to let me leave, are you?”

Seth’s face lifted then, as if this thought had never once occurred to him. He stepped aside and waved his hand, gesturing for me to be his guest. I definitely wasn’t falling for it, but I didn’t think I was likely to get another chance, so I took off running.

Seth snatched me up so fast I didn’t even see how he did it. In a split second my feet were off the ground and he was dragging me inside his house. I kicked and punched as hard as I could, but he had me from behind and I couldn’t make any good contact.

As Seth struggled to get the door shut behind us I managed to kick him hard enough that he dropped me. I ran for the front of the house, but Seth caught me near the base of the stairs and flung me over his shoulder.

I like to think it was with great effort that he managed to get me into his room. I mean, I struggled—you bet I struggled. I’m even pretty sure he’d have a few bruises later. But Seth seemed to know exactly how to hold on to me, and he was just plain stronger.

Before I knew it, he’d dropped me on his bed and gone to stand in front of the door. I went straight to the window, but unlike my house, there is no roof to climb out onto, just a second story drop. I whirled around and gave him a mouthful that would make a sailor blush.

Seth leaned back against the door, enjoying himself immensely. “Ellie, calm down. I just want to talk to you.”

“Then try using a phone, freak!”

“You’d never take my call. Just like you won’t answer the door when I come over.”

“I wonder why!”

I was so angry that I grabbed the first thing I could reach—a lamp off of his nightstand—and chucked it without hesitation. Seth had to scramble to duck from it. He was surprised that I’d thrown it at him, but instead of getting angry like I’d expected, he looked at the busted lamp and sighed. “Ellie, come on, stop it. I only want to talk.”

I picked up his alarm clock tore it from the wall and hurled it at his face. He didn’t duck quite fast enough this time and it clocked him—excuse the pun—really good on the side of his forehead.