Chapter 6

Dark.

Whining.

”Dani, I am not getting that!” Kara yelled from her bedroom.

It took me a few seconds to rub the sleep from my eyes and realize what that sound was. It was Barf, of course, whining.

“Why should I get that? He’s not my dog!”

“Because if I do, I swear, I will kill him!” she shouted.

A well-rested Kara might do it; a sleep-deprived Kara certainly would. Did I really care about Barf enough to get out of bed?

I decided that no, I didn’t, but I did love my sleep. I was pretty sure he wasn’t going to shut up unless I let him out or something. Sighing, I got out of bed. Blindly stumbling to the door, I then waited for my eyes to adjust a little better. The last thing I wanted to be doing was hurtling head-first down the stairs. (It wouldn’t be the first time.)

“Dani, I’m serious!”

I jumped. “Yes, yes, I know!”

Kara muttered something I couldn’t make out--thankfully--as I hurried down the stairs.

Barf was standing up in his kennel, face smashed against the door. Tail wagging back and forth, he slapped his paw against the door when he saw me.

“You naughty boy,” I said wearily, crouching down and unlocking the kennel door. “Don’t you know I need my beauty sleep?”

He gave a slobbery lick across my nose.

“Eww! You’re gross.” I straightened up. “C’mon, let’s go.”

He followed me to the back door. I hesitated. If I let him outside, he wouldn’t run away, would he? We didn’t have a cord or a leash, so I came to the conclusion that he wouldn’t. He didn’t even wait until the door was fully open before bounding out into the night. I stared after him, and could just make out his loping form.

My eyelids lowered and I yawned. I shut the wooden door and sat up against it. So tired...

###

What was that scratching noise? And why was that stupid whining noise back?

My back was stiff, my hips hurt, and my neck felt like someone had wrapped a chain around it. Which, sitting on a stone floor up against a door will do to you.

It was maybe an hour after I’d let the dog out, because I could hear Kara moving around upstairs, getting ready for the day. Stiffly, I got to my feet and opened the back door to reveal a very wet, but happy, Barf.

“What were you doing, buddy?”

Of course, I got no answer.

###

Training that day was more brutal than ever due to Barf’s antics. But I certainly felt belt afterward. I don’t know what it is, but physical activity makes me feel better. And also ravenous.

I had just fed the dog and finished stuffing a whole wheat bagel into my mouth when the bus arrived. Grabbing my backpack from beside the door, I shouted a goodbye to Kara.

“Hey!” Brittany smiled at me, patting the seat next to her.

“Thanks!” I sat down, hiding my shock behind a smile. I couldn’t believe that someone I didn’t even really know would care enough to save a seat for me.

Arianna found her way back a few minutes later. Plopping down next to me, she gave us all a big smile. After exchanging hellos, she and Brittany got into a deep discussion about how to get the wing of their eyeliner just so. Being illiterate in the area of makeup, I tried to keep up, but soon found my attention wandering...

...Straight to Ax. He was sitting in the row across the aisle, one up from ours. He was talking with one of the guys sitting in the row in front of him, who I recognized as one of the football players.

Neither of them struck me as the kind of kids who would do drugs. But then again, who could tell?

“Dani, you’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?” I asked, looking at her.

“Zoning out on my brother!”

“I wasn’t.” I put on a surprised face.

“Tell me what I just said, then!”

“You said I was zoning out on your brother.”

Arianna folded her arms. “Before that!”

“You said I was ‘doing it again’.”

Brittany burst out laughing.

"Before that!”

“You said that Veronica’s wings were legendary,” I said. (This is proof that I can multi-task effectively.)

“Okay, okay, so maybe you were paying attention,” Arianna conceded.

She returned to her conversation about eyeliner and I looked out the window until we arrived at school.

###

Arianna plopped down next to me at lunch. “So you don’t want to be noticed?”

“How you figure?”

“You don’t talk a lot, you sit in the corner, you don’t participate in any school activities, you’re physically fit but you do average in PE, you don’t answer questions in class, and you dress average.”

Wow, she’s observant! “Yes.”

“That’s what I thought...but sitting with the Gothic group? You lost me there.”

“It’s in the back of the bus,” I explained.

“You still stick out like a sore thumb,” she snorted.

I took a bite of my sandwich, wondering how much father this conversation would go. Depending on what she said, it could tell me if she was my contact.

“I noticed you the first day due to your efforts be unnoticeable. Running into you in the cafeteria was kinda an excuse to talk to you,” she said, looking at me for a long moment before slurping her milk.

“So, ah...were you looking for a friend?”

“You could say that, I guess,” she shrugged.

Or a contact.

Heart pounding, I waited until we were leaving the cafeteria to ask, “Are...are you my contact?”

Confusion flitted across her face, and all I could think was, I made a mistake, I made a mistake, I made a mistake...

She looked quickly around before saying, “Yes. Yes, I’m your contact.”

I blinked. I mean, I’d suspected it, but her confusion had totally thrown me off.

“We can talk later; we’re going to be late for class!” She grabbed my arm and pulled me after her.

###

The next two hours were spent watching Arianna nervously biting her nails, fiddling with her pen, and all in all just not paying attention. Something seemed to be really bothering her.

See, that's one of my finer points. When I don't make an effort to be noticed, I just eventually became an invisible observer. Like, you know, they always see if you talked less and paid more attention, you'd pick up on more. Well, it turns out, they were right. Take it from me.

After the class, I pulled her aside under a stairwell in one of the less-traveled hallways.

"So...I was told my contact would know why I was here," I began.

She nodded, eyes wide, but didn't say anything.

"Um, so you gonna tell me?"

"Like, why you're here?" Her eyes were getting bigger.

"Yes!" Frustration was starting to creep in. Why couldn't she just tell me what I was supposed to be doing?! I got my answer.

"I have no clue."

"Wait, what?!" I hissed. "You've got to be kidding!"

Arianna shifted uncomfortably, moving back against the wall and away from me. A girl with more earrings than ears walked by, casting us a suspicious glance. I ignored her.

"What all did ART tell you?" I said, lowering my voice.

"Just that, uh, I was supposed to meet you here." She kept looking everywhere but my face.

Well, that was suspicious.

"I think we should talk about this somewhere else, where no one will over here us," she whispered. She looked pointedly at a guy looking over at us.

"I guess you've got a point. Can you come to my house today?"

Arianna shook her head. "No, I have an orthodontist appointment. We're looking at braces."

"Braces? Girl, your teeth are straighter than mine!"

She shrugged. "Anyway, we better go and catch the bus. Give me your phone number, and we can text or call. I'll see if I can get my mom to let me come over tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Time to bail, homie!" And with that, Arianna ducked out from under the stairs and headed out front.

"That's literally so random!" I called after her, hurrying to catch up.

"Yeah, but I've always wanted to say it and it sounds cool."

"You're weird, you know that?"

"Duh. But so are you."

Well, I've found my contact, but she doesn't know much...hopefully, my virus has got something for me.

I couldn't wait to get back to the house and see.