The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek(41)

J was about halfway down, standing next to an open door, gesturing with her hand like Come on come on come on quickly come on.

Alicia suddenly worried. Was this a trap? But even if it was, it couldn’t make things worse than they already were. The words of the helper rang in her ears: Make it quick. She speed-walked the remaining distance to J and went through the open door.

What she saw took her breath away.

She’d been assuming this was J’s dorm room, but it was immediately clear that she’d been wrong. The room was huge, at least three times as large as the cramped space Alicia shared with her roommate. But the most startling part was the colors. The walls were covered with a pink, blue, and violet floral-patterned wallpaper, while the white four-poster bed was draped with a deep purple comforter and topped with fluffy tasseled pillows of multiple patterns and a worn blue crochet toy frog that looked homemade. Across from the bed stood a teal desk with an orange mug filled with pens and pencils of every shade. Having spent a week seeing little other than beige throughout all of the school, the colors overwhelmed Alicia, seeming to spill into her other senses.

As she caught her breath, she registered that this was a little girl’s bedroom. But something was a bit off. While the room was clean, as if someone still lived there, the decor had a noticeably dated feel. It reminded Alicia of the girls’ room from The Brady Bunch.

“Whose room is this?” she whispered once J had come inside and carefully closed the door behind her.

“Hers,” J answered, pointing at a picture hanging on the wall near the desk. “I think she might have been one of the students who died.”

Alicia quivered, then took a cautious step toward the picture. She was walking with her hands close to her side as if she were exploring a museum exhibit. In the faded picture sat a young girl, maybe seven or eight years old, holding what appeared to be the same blue frog from the bed. She had blond pigtails, a forced smile, and sad eyes lined with dark circles.

“She looks sick,” Alicia observed.

“Yeah, maybe that’s why they gave her this nice room,” J reasoned.

Over the desk hung a bulletin board with crayon drawings of flowers, dogs, a dragon, and a family of three. The pictures were signed, in the sloppy fashion of a small child, Ruby.

“We don’t have much time. Take a seat.” J motioned toward the perfectly made bed. Alicia sat down softly, keeping most of her weight in her feet as if she didn’t trust it to support her.

“The J is for Josefina,” J said.

“The A is for Alicia,” Alicia replied.

“I knew it! You don’t look like an Allison. Or an Amy. And definitely not an Amber.”

“Thanks, I guess?”

Josefina was strange. In a good way.

“I’m Guatemalan,” she said.

“Oh, okay.”

“I kinda have a habit of telling people that because they always ask. Anyway. Nice to meet you, Alicia.” She extended her arm.

“Nice to meet you, Josefina.” Then, still not completely sure what was happening, Alicia grabbed her hand. The simple touch of another human—after days of feeling so isolated—seemed to raise her body temperature. She felt her face flush.

“So, how did you find this place?” Alicia asked in an effort to hide her embarrassment.

“Sneaking around is kinda my thing,” Josefina explained. “I know where your dorm room is too.”

Alicia stared, not sure what to make of that.

“It’s not creepy,” Josefina said. “Just practical. Anyway, thank you.”

“Thank you?”

“Yeah. Before you came, I was starting to lose hope. Lose myself. You snapped me out of it.”

“Oh,” Alicia said. “Uh, yeah. You’re welcome.”

“After what you did to Headmaster, you’ve got a bright red bull’s-eye on your back. And you act like it’s no big thing. I admire that. Reminded me what it means to fight.”

Josefina’s words made Alicia feel like her resilience had been worth it. She smiled.

“We should get back,” Josefina said, rising from her chair. “I’ll go first, then you follow after a minute.”

“That’s it?” Alicia said. She knew Josefina was right, but she desperately wished they had more time. Even just another minute.

“For now,” Josefina said. “We’ll meet again soon. Try to keep each other sane. Next time we’re in the Leisure Room together, follow my lead. If that doesn’t happen, get here right after dinner, during those fifteen minutes of study time before lights out.”

“Are we safe to be in here, though?” Alicia asked, getting to her feet.

“Doubt it,” Josefina said. “But it’s all we have. We’ll be careful.” She gave Alicia a final nod before opening the door a crack and sliding out into the hallway.

Alicia silently counted to sixty before following.



* * *



—

OVER THE NEXT twenty-four hours, Alicia replayed her conversation with Josefina again and again. Especially the parts where she’d been told how inspiring she was. She parsed every line, every gesture, every inflection, wondering if Josefina had some larger plan in mind. Whatever it was, Alicia was on board.

Unfortunately, she didn’t make it to the Leisure Room that day, or even to dinner, as she ended up back in the Roll. She hadn’t even been trying to disobey.