really need to see the medical files of my subjects, and while we’re invading people’s privacy, could I see a list of the entire school’s prescriptions?
“Sure, I can help you with that. Give me a sec.”
Nurse Reilly pushed herself out of her chair with an oomph! and walked past Devon to the exam room. Her orange Crocs squeaked on the checkered linoleum floor. Devon’s eyes flitted over the “When Mama Ain’t Happy, Ain’t Nobody Happy” needlepoint framed on the wall behind her desk. Next to it, a thin curtain covered the one window in the room. Other than this window and the front door, these were Devon’s only ways into the Health Center later. Devon quickly darted across the small office and unlatched the lock on the window. Breaking in was her only option, wasn’t it? Nurse Reilly would never let her look at the files or prescriptions. Devon would have to come back tonight when Nurse Reilly was tucked away in her apartment. Hopefully that mint tea would lull her into a deep sleep.
“Here you go,” Nurse Reilly chimed as she returned. A small paper cup held two blue pills.
“Thanks so much. I’m sure these will help.”
“You okay otherwise? I haven’t seen you since you were in here with Isla a few weeks ago. I heard you’ve been an exemplary Peer Counselor.”
“You heard that? Thanks. I’m trying. It’s more work than I thought.” Devon smiled weakly. (Like unexpected late night break-ins.) “But I like it. Feels good to help.”
“Well, that’s the most important thing. Now, you should be getting back to your dorm. It’s almost curfew. Nurse Reilly clicked off her desk lamp and grabbed her mug of tea, walking Devon toward the door. “I’m headed off to bed myself.”
AS DEVON TRUDGED UPHILL to her dorm, she saw a few guys with lacrosse sticks playing catch on Raiter Lawn. A white baseball hat glowed in the faint moonlight. Grant. She had ducked out to the Health Center the second study hours were over at 9:30 P.M. to try to avoid him and now she had to cross the lawn to get to Bay House.
She hung back for a moment on the dimly lit path. To her left a silver BMW idled in the day student parking lot. The interior lights were on, highlighting a figure in the driver’s seat with a phone pressed to his ear. Devon didn’t remember any day students driving BMWs. Someone’s father must be picking them up after study hours. How nice that would be, if someone showed up to whisk her away to a cozy home somewhere, just for one night.
It’s not that she was really avoiding Grant. But she had other things on her mind than making out in the bushes with him. And at 9:30 P.M., she knew that’s what he probably wanted to do. She watched him toss the ball, his back still turned. There were other places to play a game of catch; she wondered if Grant parked his game here on purpose. The dirty yellow ball came whizzing toward her, and Grant ran for it. His lacrosse stick reached out and swooped up the ball into its net before it could reach Devon.
“Bam!” He grinned and twirled the ball in the net. “Where you been, Miss Mackintosh?”
“Chatting with Nurse Reilly.” The curfew bell would ring any minute. She squinted across the lawn at the guy with the waiting lacrosse stick: Raj Kahn. Grant lobbed the ball back to him. Devon barely knew Raj, other than that he was a junior with Indian parents who’d moved to Dallas, and had one of the more confusing accents at Keaton. She wondered if he were part of PharmClub 2.0. Chances were more likely than not.
“We missed you, Devon,” Raj teased across the lawn. “I mean, Grant missed you.” He cackled.
“Hey Raj, aren’t you missing a date with your right hand?” Grant said, rolling his eyes. Raj waved his middle finger back, and made his way toward his dorm for the night.
“But I did miss you,” Grant murmured. He pulled Devon’s hair off her shoulder and kissed her neck. “I thought we were gonna hang.” Devon’s eyes fluttered. For a second she wondered why chatting with the school nurse was more pressing than sneaking off with Grant. She looked up at him and ran her fingers across the brim of his hat. He just wanted to be with her. So why did that make her so nervous?