Page 27 of Hide And Seek

I swallowed hard and bent down to pick up the chocolate block I'd dropped before straightening up with what I hoped was a normal amount of composure. Rhys was still staring straight at me.

I let out a small, awkward laugh in an attempt to defuse the tension. “Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked. “Is there still chocolate on my face?”

“No.” He shook his head, brows drawing into a slight frown. “I just haven’t figured you out yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re not like the others.”

I let out a soft laugh. “You’re seriously using that old ‘you’re not like the other girls’ line on me?”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said. “I just meant you’re not like the other counselors here.”

“How come?”

“We all fit into two categories. But you…” He trailed off, rubbing his jaw. “You don’t really fit in either one. So I haven’t quite figured out what you’re doing at Blackpine.”

I swallowed nervously. “I already told you how I ended up here,” I said. “Last night. Remember?”

“Yeah. You did.”

“So… what? My explanation didn’t make sense to you?” I asked, trying to keep my voice light and airy.

“It did,” he said. “I guess there’s just something about you.”

“Another line,” I said, letting out a sarcastic laugh in the hope it would cover my nervousness.

Rhys didn't laugh. He took another short step forward, closing the remaining distance between us, and lifted his hand again.

His thumb brushed the corner of my lip a second time, lighter than before, barely a touch. His eyes lifted to mine. Then he leaned in, close enough that his hot breath skimmed my ear.

“If I really wanted to have you right now,” he murmured, voice low and steady. “I wouldn’t need a line.”

He pulled back, just enough to look at me as the words landed. His expression was still one of measured calm, like he hadn't just said something that sucked all the air out of the shed.

Then he reached past me, took a candy bar from the shelf, and turned around. “Night, Alissa.”

With that, he was gone.

I didn't move for a good twenty seconds, which was approximately how long it took for my brain to fully switch back on. Every nerve ending I had was wide awake, my pulse was racing, and the corner of my mouth felt like it had been marked somehow.

I hated to admit it… but Rhys was right.

7

A note was passedto me during the following morning's first activity, delivered via an eleven-year-old who clearly felt very important for having been entrusted with it.

Meet me in the senior counselors' office at 10:30. -Sutton

I spent the rest of the mapping class wondering what she wanted, my thoughts spinning from a schedule change to something much more personal. By the time I reached the staff offices at 10:25, I was no closer to an answer than when I’d started.

The building that housed the director's accommodation and staff offices was older than the rest of the camp; the kind of structure that had been added to and modified over decades without ever quite cohering into a single architectural vision. The senior counselors' office was the second door on the left of the main hallway, and it was slightly ajar.

I was about to knock when I heard Sutton's voice, followed by another one I recognized as belonging to another Legacy girl named Delia. Their conversation sounded a little heated, so Istopped and drew back a couple of steps. Part of me didn’t want to intrude, and another part of me was simply curious.

“I already told you. That note was a stupid prank,” Sutton said. “It’s just like Rhys said last night.”

“But what if it wasn’t? What if someone really knows?”