he could change his mind later.
“Is it fatal?” he asks, and his straightforwardness throws me off guard.
“Are you asking if I’m dying?”
Sawyer places his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Yeah.”
“Yes.”
His eyes practically pop out of his head.
“We’re all dying. In fact, I have some theories about this. Have you ever considered that maybe we could live forever if we found something we could breathe other than oxygen? I mean, what if oxygen works, but at the same time, it’s slowly killing us? What if we aren’t meant to age, but it’s oxygen that’s the poison?”
He mashes his lips like he’s annoyed, and I really don’t know why he is. I didn’t invite him into my personal business.
Footsteps behind me, and Sawyer’s gaze snaps to over my shoulder. A cold shiver down my spine, and I’m dying to look and see if the little girl is there, but I know she isn’t. She’s playing with me and she’s playing with Sawyer.
“Did you hear that?” he asks.
“Yes. I told you this house is haunted.”
“Ha.”
“My tumor is small and it’s benign.” I change the subject because he’s not ready to believe. “It can cause headaches, but other than that, I’m fine.”
Sawyer’s eyes flicker from the living room to me, back to the living room and then to me again. “Is that why you act different all the time?”
My spine goes rigid. “Is your lack of a brain tumor why you’re an ass?”
I don’t know why, but he grins. It’s not a huge one, just a minor lift of his lips, but it’s strangely adorable. “That would answer a ton of questions as to what’s wrong with me.”
I fight it, yet I smile. I push off the door frame and enter the kitchen. On the wooden table with four chairs is the box and duffel bag Max gave us. I pick up the digital recorder and point it in his direction. “There’re a few things I should mention if you do agree to work with me.”
“What’s that?”
“There’re places I want to visit that may not be open to the public so we might have to be creative on how we do our investigation. Meaning I want to do a thorough investigation of the TB hospital up the hill, and it’s a risk since the police like to visit it often.”
“Are we going to break in? Past the lobby? Past the wooden barriers?”
The ones the authorities put in place to keep teenagers from exploring the rest of the hospital. It typically works. Most people find enough of a thrill by just attempting the climb and then walking in. A few though, like Leo, will risk danger and go further.
I bob my head. “More like asking for permission to enter only if we get caught. Actually, you’ll be trespassing and then inviting me in because that’s how I roll. So are you in or out?”
There’s a daring glint in his eyes that I find appealing. Maybe there’s more to Sawyer Sutherland than I originally suspected. Maybe he’s just as hungry to live as I am, and if that’s the case, the next few months will be a wild ride.
“I’m definitely in.”
SAWYER
It’s Monday, and I walk in the moment the last bell rings. My English teacher gives me a disapproving glare, but can’t say anything as I’m technically on time. “Cutting it close, Mr. Sutherland?”
“More like perfect timing.”
She grins, and I can tell she likes me, which is good because I’m going to struggle in this class. Me and reading comprehension tests aren’t friends. Especially the timed ones.
Miguel and Sylvia smile at me, and I take a seat next to them in the middle of the room. I glance over at Veronica. She’s in the back corner staring out the window as if having the best daydream. Her short blond curls fall around her shoulders, and with how the beams of sun hit her hair, she looks like an angel with a halo.
Miguel asks if he can have a ride to practice, and I tell him yes. Sylvia starts in about some drama that happened at her pool party on Friday. A guy talked smack about his girlfriend’s best friend and the girl is rightly pissed. Now the two friends are fighting because the girlfriend is defending the guy instead of her best friend and the drama has carried over to social media.
“Lunch is going to be tense.” Sylvia slumps in her desk like this fight is the end of the world. “Both of them