Spies and Prejudice (13 page)

Tanner groans. “I stink at this.”

“You’ll be fine. It takes at least three holes before you can really expect to master the art of the game.”

Tanner laughs. The hard lines of his face soften all at once. I want to make him laugh like that again.

By the time we get to eighteen, he’s gotten the hang of it and we’re all tied. Tanner lines up his ball with the dragon’s mouth.

“The trick is to hit the ball when the mouth is shut,” I say as he addresses the ball. “That way it will be open by the time your ball gets there.”

Tanner looks over his shoulder. “Are you helping me?”

“I’m teaching you to play, remember?”

“That was before we were tied and your personal pride was at stake.”

I laugh. “My personal pride was pretty much eviscerated when I asked you to dance.”

His eyes turn serious.

Did I say too much?

“I made you feel like that?”

My mouth is dry, so I just nod.

He reaches for a strand of my hair near my face and smooths it with his fingers. “Don’t let me.”

An eighth grader with the sides of his hair shaved in a faux hawk leads his friends up the path from seventeen. “Get a room!”

Tanner glares at the guy, then drops his hand, and turns back to his ball.

What did that mean? Don’t let him what?

Tanner makes a smooth stroke while the dragon’s mouth is shut, timing it so the dragon’s mouth is wide open just as the ball sails through. I hear it fall into the cup on the other side.

“Nice.” I pick up my skirt and line up my ball on the tee.

I don’t have to see Tanner to know he smiles. “Best you can hope for is a tie.”

I wish for that to be true. Something tells me that where Tanner Halston is concerned, I’ll never be on an even playing field.

I hit the ball too soon. Tanner laughs as my ball bounces off the closed mouth of the dragon and water spurts from the dragon’s nose.

“Yes!” Tanner pumps his fist in the air.

“You’re not supposed to gloat.”

“Oh, I’m definitely gloating.”

“Fine. But don’t expect me to feel bad for you when I beat you at laser tag.” Some sick part of me wants to stay in this fantasy world where Tanner Halston plays mini-golf and laughs at my jokes.

Tanner nods toward a group of kids strapping on laser shields. “Care to fill me in?”

“Basically we shoot a bunch of eighth graders with laser guns. You up for it?”

“Definitely.”

I strap a large plastic laser sensor across my beautiful dress and arm myself with a laser pistol.

Tanner picks up a pistol and tests the weight in his hand before holding it up and taking a few test shots. He puts the pistol down and picks up a larger rifle, going through the same routine. Okay, he’s
obviously watched too many episodes of
Cops and Lawyers
. He tries a third gun, finally settling on the rifle after looking through the scope a second time.

We’re put on the red team along with two brothers who give us condescending glares. We’ll see who’s smirking when the clock runs out. I might look like a princess in a party dress, but I know how to fire a gun. And I’m guessing that Tanner’s first-person shooter video game experience might come in really handy. I stare back at the taller brother and wink.

Faux Hawk sneers at us from across the way. He and his buddies make up the green team.

Tanner leans into me as each team is sent through different doors into the dark game room. The room is a maze of low walls and mirrors. The walls are painted black and accented with a trail of neon that provides just enough light to see, although everything looks oddly distorted.

“Stay behind and follow my lead.” He directs the brothers to opposite sides of a low wall. “Wait here.”

Tanner gestures for me to follow him down a dark hallway. He really does look like James Bond in his dark suit with a gun in his hand. I can’t stifle a laugh.

“Shh.” Tanner peeks around a corner. “They’ll have to come through here. They won’t see us until we’ve gotten in a couple shots. You take the first and second guy, and I’ll get the two behind. Don’t shoot until all four of them have come around the bend.”

“Have you done this before?”

Tanner shakes his head. “The room from the outside was a
square. Since there are only two entrances, it makes sense that each are opposite routes to the center. They expect us to engage there, but that eliminates any advantage for either team. We have to let them come find us.”

We lean back against the wall, guns poised to shoot for several minutes. I try to concentrate on the area the green team will come through, but all I can think about is Tanner’s arm touching mine as we wait.

Tanner’s lips brush my ear. “Being alone with you in the dark is getting to be a habit.”

“Watch the door,” I say, but I’m already turning my head toward him. For a second I think he might kiss me. At least I might want him to.

“Forget this,” brother number one says from behind us.

Brother number two brushes by. “We’re going to massacre the green team.”

Tanner shrugs and focuses back on the opening as they race through it. “You’re walking into an ambush.”

“I think we know how to play laser tag.” The brothers disappear down the black hallway.

A few seconds later we hear the frantic beeps of a firefight followed by the blaring of three sirens. Tanner points to two lighted red X’s on the wall, and one green one. “At least they took one of the bad guys out on their suicide mission.” A time clock ticks down. Now we’re losing and running out of time.

“Where’s the Homecoming queen?” Faux Hawk’s whiny voice carries down the hall. “I say we take out the pretty boy and see if she wants to switch teams.”

I stick my finger in my mouth in the universal sign of puking.

Tanner shakes his head. “They won’t take me.”

This is just a game, but there’s a moment of panic when the first guy rounds the corner. He’s a shadow in a sea of fake fog, but the green dot on his target blinks at me. I aim my pistol, waiting. The second guy comes behind him. I’m supposed to wait for the last guy, but they’re getting too close. In a few steps they’ll see us and we’ll lose our advantage. I step forward and start shooting, hitting the first guy twice before he even raises his gun.

The second guy starts shooting blindly down the hall, but Tanner steps forward and takes him out in three rapid-fire shots. Number two’s siren goes off and another green X lights up on the wall. Number one aims at Tanner and scores a hit, but I jump in between and nail him with a third shot, causing another siren to blare.

“Where’s Faux Hawk?” I ask, gun poised and ready to shoot as adrenaline thunders through my veins.

Tanner gestures for me to get behind him. “He sent in the cannon fodder to gauge where we were. He won’t be far.”

“Do we wait?”

Tanner shakes his head. “We’ve lost the element of surprise. We have to go find him.”

“There’s two of us and only one of him. I can go ahead and draw him out.”

“I’m not letting you do that.”

I walk around him. “Yes, you are.” I point to the timer between the rows of X’s. We only have a minute left. “It’s now or never.”

Tanner follows me down the narrow hallway and around the
corner to the large room in the center. There are more places to hide here. A thick layer of fake fog hangs in the air. I gesture for Tanner to stay put at the entrance as I walk straight to the center.

“Come out, come out wherever you are.” I think I hear footsteps to my right, but when I turn my head there’s nothing. I tell myself it’s just laser tag. No one’s really going to hurt me. But my heart races as though the guns are real.

I raise my gun and point it in the direction of the sound.

There’s a louder noise behind me. Faux Hawk gets two shots off before I can turn around. Direct hits. I duck behind a low wall, firing blindly as I go.

Tanner runs through the room firing. I hear two more hits, but no siren, so Tanner must have gotten in at least one shot. Tanner slides up next to me. “I told you it was a stupid plan.”

“You didn’t say it was stupid. You said you weren’t going to let me do it.” Tanner’s hand reaches for my arm as he pulls me behind a column. “At least now we know where he is.”

Tanner grins at me. “So we do.”

He moves forward, his laser gun at the ready. The kid comes out from behind a low wall, gun blazing. Tanner drops to the ground and rolls on his side, angling his gun and getting off a single shot that hits the kid squarely on target. Faux Hawk’s siren goes off and the lights come up inside, signaling that our game is over.

Faux Hawk doesn’t look at us as he leaves the game.

Tanner pulls himself up from the ground slowly, brushing dust off his shoulder.

I take his laser gun. “You’re really good at this.”

“Some parents take their kids mini-golfing. Mine took me to paint ball.”

“Paint ball? Isn’t that kind of intense?”

“It was the way we played.”

I dust off the back of his jacket with the palm of my hand. “When did your parents get divorced?”

“They didn’t.”

They didn’t? “How do you have a stepbrother then?”

“We’re not really related. Ryan’s parents moved to Spain for a job six months ago. Ryan moved in with us to finish out high school.”

I’m surprised Mary Chris hasn’t mentioned this to me yet. It’s probably my own fault for not paying enough attention to her crush on Ryan, but I should know this anyway. It’s my job to know about people. This thing with my mother has thrown me off my game more than I realized.

My hand still rests on Tanner’s back, even though I’ve stopped brushing off the dirt. He turns around and I drop my hand to my side.

Tanner leans forward, his mouth near my ear. “Next time listen to me when I tell you not to do something.”

“Next time trust me when I say I’m going to do something.”

Tanner laughs again. “So you agree there’s a next time?”

The sirens go off again inside the game, saving me from having to answer.

The limo waits for us outside. This time we slide in next to each other, so we’re both facing forward.

Neither one of says much as we drive back to the dance. I try to
figure out how to explain about Drew. I can’t reveal our plan to break into Mr. Moss’s office, but I can’t let Tanner think it’s a real date either.

Just as I open my mouth to say something, Tanner reaches across the seat and takes my hand. “Thank you,” he says, still looking straight ahead. “That was the most fun I’ve had in a really long time.”

I stare down at our hands between us. My traitorous fingers lace with his like it’s the most natural thing in the world. His thumb strokes along the top of mine, trailing down to the inside of my wrist.

“You’re welcome,” I say. And I let myself wish that the limo would somehow miss the turn and just keep driving.

It’s a pointless wish. The limo turns into the parking lot a minute later, flashing its lights on the students gathered out front. Tanner lets go of my hand as the driver opens the door on my side.

“Listen,” I say, “I should explain something.”

“You don’t have to explain. Let’s just start over.” Tanner smiles at me. “Starting now.”

I barely step out of the car when Drew runs up. “There you are.” He loops his hand through my elbow and guides me back toward the dance. “I thought you stood me up.”

I look over my shoulder, but I don’t see Tanner behind me.

I don’t see him anywhere.

D
rew’s hand doesn’t leave my elbow as he guides me inside to the dance. “Where were you anyway? I’ve been waiting over a half hour.”

I look behind me again, but I still don’t see Tanner. “Turns out going to a dance without a date kind of bites.” Not half as much as coming back to the dance to meet your date. I need to talk to Tanner. Why didn’t I just explain in the limo when I had the chance?

“You’re right about that. I’ve spent the last fifteen minutes trying not to look too pathetic, standing by myself on the curb.” Drew leads me back inside the dance. “You look great. Well worth the wait.”

“It’s not a real date, remember?”

“Tell yourself whatever you need to. If I recall correctly, we already have plans to sneak off together later.”

“To break into Mr. Moss’s office and find the letter from my mother. It’s every girl’s romantic dream.”

Drew’s arm slides around my waist. “You know it.”

I start to laugh but stop before any sound comes out. I feel the
chill at the back of my neck before I see Tanner a few feet away. His eyes look dark in the poor lighting, his expression darker still.

I need to explain. Tanner will understand once I’ve told him what I’m trying to do.

Drew pulls me closer. “Does that guy ever lighten up?”

“He’s not so bad once you get to know him.”

“Somehow I doubt that.” Drew leads me to a table where Jason sits with the theater crowd. You can always spot the theater crowd. Just look for the sea of bad dye jobs and black eyeliner.

Drew squeezes me tighter.

“You don’t have to keep your arm around me.”

“Just keeping up appearances. We’ve got to look the part if anyone’s going to believe it when we sneak off later.” There’s a spark in his expression that sends off all kinds of warning bells in my head.

“Drew, what I said before about not really dating—”

“I get it. Don’t worry. I’m the guy who doesn’t want any ties to this place, remember? I can’t help it if spending time with you makes being here just the slightest bit bearable.”

“Just the slightest?”

“Yeah, don’t let it get to your head.” He grins, and I can’t help but laugh again.

How does Drew manage to turn around even the most awkward conversations?

Jason is in the middle of a heated debate about whether Polonius should have a duet with Ophelia in the second act of
Hamlet
. The guy arguing against it has obviously heard Jason sing.

Jason winks at me as I sit down. Drew scoots his chair closer to
me and leans forward so his lips are next to my ear. “You have some strange friends.”

I kick him under the table. “Says the guy with no friends who hides in the basement of the library.”