Perfect.
“Hi.” I make my approach with a big smile, not waiting for the others to follow.
The boy looks up. Up close, I can see that he’s actually kind of cute, not gawky like I first thought. His hair is cut messy and short, and he’s got some of those sideburns, like he should be playing in an indie rock band. Automatically, I flip my hair and jut out one hip. “Can I ask a teeny, tiny favor?”
He gives me a vague smile. “Sorry, but I’m kind of busy. . . .” Instead of offering to help, the boy just looks back at his laptop like I’m already dismissed.
“Oh.” I hide a frown and widen my smile instead. “It won’t even take a minute!” I chirp. “Well, we won’t.” I gesture at Meg and Jolene so he doesn’t think I’m trying to stalk him or anything.
The boy glances past me.
“See, we’re trying to track down a friend of ours, but I’ve completely forgotten what dorm he’s in. Could you maybe look him up for us? Jason Gilbert. He’s a sophomore,” I add, but the boy isn’t listening. “Umm, hello?”
He looks back quickly, recovering. “Uh . . . sure.” A pause. “What do you need again?”
“His dorm address,” I explain slowly, trying not to sigh. He must be really zoned out from studying. “I think you can look it up online. . . .”
Meg is gazing idly at a shelf of books behind me, so I beckon her over. “Meg, come here and tell . . . ?” I wait for him to introduce himself.
He seems to snap back to life. “Scott. I’m Scott.” He smiles at us. Finally.
“Tell Scott what we need,” I finish, giving him another big smile. I push Meg into the chair next to him. “I’m just going to go make some copies, OK? Do you know where the nearest machine is?”
“Uh, just around the corner.” He’s back to looking blank and dopey, but at least I get an answer this time.
“Thanks!” I leave them to it, hoping Meg can manage to get something useful out of him. When in doubt, delegate.
Sure enough, there’s a Xerox machine waiting in the empty hallway beneath a notice board crammed with neon flyers and ads for the Students Against Unethical Vending Machines group. College kids. I fumble in my purse for quarters, but aside from gum, lip gloss, and mascara, I come up empty-handed.
“Here, I’ve got some.” Jolene appears beside me and fetches a handful of change from her ugly backpack.
“Thanks.” I flip through the diary, trying to find the pages with the most dirt to copy. “I figured it would be good to have a backup. Insurance, you know?”
She nods. “Good thinking.”
“What was that?” I joke, setting it to copy. “A compliment?”
She snorts. “Yeah, well, you’ve lowered the bar so far, I have to applaud any rational thought at all.”
I decide to rise above her digs and focus on the task at hand. The machine spits out the first few pages, so I turn to another section and set it to copy again.
“Anything good?” Jolene hops up on the table next to me, kicking her feet back and forth. I shrug.
“I didn’t have time to read it all. Most of it’s just petty bitching, anyway, but she talks about hooking up with Cameron, and this other guy too.”
“So tonight wasn’t the first time? Classy.” Jolene snorts.
I give her a grim smile. Luckily, I’m still too numb from that limo lap dance to get worked up over this new revelation. So much for a single stupid mistake: Kaitlin’s been planning it forever, and as for Cameron . . . It doesn’t read like he’s put up much of a fight.
I turn back to the diary and copy a new page. The more dirt, the better. Then my gaze drifts farther down the hall and my heart stops.
“Hide me,” I whisper, but there’s nowhere to escape, so I dive beneath the table. Jolene doesn’t move. “Hide me!” I yelp, louder this time, and reach out to yank her legs, pulling her in front of me.
“What are you doing?” She sighs, but I just scoot farther back against the copier, deeper into the dust and grime and God knows what else. I shudder as my hands hit something sticky, but there’s no time to complain.
“Be quiet — act like I’m not here,” I whisper, watching them come closer. Five pairs of legs are approaching from the other end of the hallway: an assortment