“You know what I mean. Three hours ago I wasn’t sure if you knew my name. And now we’re here, like this, and it seems like it’s always been that way.”
“Yeah, like we’ve been here this whole time. Not, like, in the kitchen, but comfortable like this.”
“It’s nice.”
“It’s better than nice.” He ran his hand up the whole side of her body, stopping at her head to pull her hair back. He kissed her neck just behind her ear.
Devon opened her eyes. The flashing starbursts in her mind bled into the moonlight reflecting off the glossy floor. The locked metal door loomed large on the nearby wall. The metal hinge at the top caught the outside light. For the first time Devon saw words near the top of the door. REPLACE PIN TO UNLOCK.
“Replace pin to unlock?” she cried, suddenly wide awake. “Did you see that before?” Devon stood and scrambled to the door. She ran her hands along the frame. Hutch stood up and dug his hands into his pockets. “Maybe the pin fell out. I need your height over here,” Devon said. Fully stretched her arms couldn’t reach the v-shaped hinge at the top of the frame. “What? Did you see the pin or something?”
“Um.…” Hutch started, but Devon noticed he wasn’t making eye contact.
“Hutch. Did you see the pin?”
“It’s not like it matters anyways. Tino locked the door. We’re still stuck.”
“What do you mean, still? As in we weren’t stuck until Tino came along? Hutch? What aren’t you telling me?”
He reached into his pocket and fished out a slender metal pin with a loop at the top. He walked over and slipped the pin into the hinge. It fell into place easily. “That’s what I wasn’t telling you. I pulled it when you reached for the switch. I thought it’d be fun for a minute.”
“You thought it’d be fun to lock me in a kitchen?” Devon pressed herself against the door. Even with the pin in the hinge, the deadbolt still kept the door firmly closed. “Do you know how freaky that is?”
“I know, I know, I’m a total asshole. I was only going to let it go on for a few minutes, until we got the milk, just for fun. But then Tino came along and kind of made that decision for me. Devon, I’m not some creepy rapist guy, really.”
“This whole night then.…” she couldn’t finish the sentence. Didn’t want to finish the thought. Everything she had told him. Kissing him. It was all a lie. Feeling safe with him? Gone. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing would come out.
“Devon, seriously. Everything about tonight was true. I just wanted a little time alone with you without all of them getting in the way.”
The ripple of moonlight on the cement floor made Devon feel dizzy. She slid onto the floor. “You know what really sucks? Meeting you made me feel like I could survive here. Like everyone wasn’t always going to feel like a complete stranger and I had something to look forward to. But now … now all I can see is four years of being trapped with people I hardly know.” She glared at him. She wanted him to know that he would be just another cog in the Keaton wheel to her.
Hutch sat across from Devon on the floor. He took her hands in his. “I know I screwed up. I missed my opportunity like three hours ago to tell you the truth and then it was too late. But you gotta believe me, everything about tonight was true. I really like you, Devon. I thought I had a really cool plan until you figured it out and now I look like a total stalker freak.”
She felt his hands tight around hers. Could she believe anything he had said? Everything had been so great up until now. Maybe it was too great. Of course: it had all been one big joke.
“You thought you’d just lock us in for a few minutes? And that would somehow be funny?”
“I was going to put the pin back, I swear.”
“But you were still going to make me late for curfew?”
“Yeah, I guess. I wasn’t thinking about curfew. I was on a secret mission with you. No bell was going to take me away from that. Don’t hate me. Please?”
Devon took in his eyes, wide, eager and fearful at the same time. “You didn’t have secret creepy plans?”