Ace of Spades Sneak Peek(104)

Sirens wail in the distance and I turn toward the sound. Ambulances are parking next to the fire trucks.

“We should head back before the police arrive,” Terrell says.

I nod.

“You’re right.”

The last thing I want to deal with is any police officers.



* * *



We end up in Terrell’s bedroom soon after.

He sets up a makeshift sheet-fort and gives us something to change into. I’m wearing one of his Superman shirts and sweats. Chiamaka told her parents that she’s okay and she’s staying at a friend’s. She’s now wearing a plaid set of PJs that Terrell apparently owns, even though I’ve never seen him wear anything so normal, other than his outfit from earlier tonight.

We all sit in the fort talking about tonight—the protesters and the fire and the shady journalist. I refrain from saying I told you so. I knew it was too good to be true, too easy. I knew we shouldn’t have trusted another stranger. Niveus can buy anyone, of course they can.

We should have known that. But at least we do now.

At least there’s that.

I’m just so exhausted. I’m ready to sleep forever, but we stay up till one talking. We conclude that the protesters were probably there because of my tweet, and the message I sent about the ball. I hope none of them got hurt. Without them, I don’t know if we’d be here right now.

Maybe Ward would have finished what he started.

“What do you think started the fire?” Chiamaka asks.

It looked serious. They’ll need to rebuild a lot of the buildings.

I shrug. “Could have been anything,” I say.

“Does this mean it’ll be closed down?” Terrell asks.

“Probably,” Chiamaka says.

We sit in a somber silence for a few moments.

My mind turns over what might happen to everyone now … What happens to Mr. Ward … Aces. Whether this will all get buried in the aftermath.

As if Chiamaka is reading my mind, she murmurs, “Well, I’m tired. Going to head to bed … Where is your bathroom, please?”

“Down the hall, to the left,” Terrell says.

She steps out of the fort, leaving us alone.

Silence.

“Can we talk?” Terrell asks.

I nod, because with Terrell there is no getting out of talks. He’s up front and likes to confront everything in the moment. Or so I thought. Because he hid this well, for weeks.

“I’m sorry. The last thing I’d want to do is hurt you. I was never going to completely go through with it. I would never hurt you, ever. I told the guy that.”

“Okay,” I say.

He looks nervous. “Do you hate me?”

I look at him. As much as I want to be mad, it’s like there’s something about Terrell that prevents me from being mad at him. I feel hurt, but I don’t hate him. I don’t think I could.

I shake my head. “I don’t hate you,” I say.

“Thank you for not hating me,” he says.

“It’s okay,” I reply.

I don’t know if things will be okay right away, but I can tell they will be eventually.

There’s a weird sound in the distance and at first I think it’s Chiamaka, but then Terrell pushes himself up.

“I need to feed Bullshit, he gets cranky when I delay his meals.”

“I don’t think your cat likes me,” I say, leaning back a little.

Terrell raises an eyebrow. “I think he doesn’t like sharing me. He’ll warm up to you.”

I find that hard to believe. His cat looks at me like it wants me dead. If it wasn’t completely impossible, I’d be convinced that Bullshit was in on the whole Aces thing too.

“Doubt that,” I mutter.

Terrell smiles, which makes me smile back, and then we just stare at each other in silence for a few moments. Terrell breaks eye contact first, pushing his glasses up as he stands and moves out of the fort. I can hear him speaking to Bullshit, scolding him for interrupting his conversation.

I take out my phone, searching for reports of the fire, worried about who might have been caught up in it. I wonder if Jack came.

I scroll. The reports don’t say much. Just that there was a fire at the school; an unknown cause.

I look up again, at Terrell in the hallway pouring food into a bowl. I watch him, stroking his cat as it eats the food.

He moves away and ducks back into the fort again, sitting opposite me.

“Cat food smells like crap,” I say, wrinkling my nose.

Terrell laughs. “Thank God we don’t have to eat that, right?”

Chiamaka returns with a scowl and her arms crossed as she walks toward us.

“What?” I ask.

“Where am I sleeping?” she asks.

“You can have my bed. I don’t mind sleeping with Devon here,” Terrell says.

I feel really hot, but I ignore the way his sentence sounded.

Chiamaka smiles. “Thank you, Terrell,” she says, before climbing into his bed like she probably intended on doing anyway, whether Terrell said yes or not.

“Guess that leaves us with the fort. Want me to get any more pillows or blankets?” Terrell asks.

I shake my head. I’m good.

I lie back first, staring up at the sheets strung above me, ignoring Terrell and his proximity when he lies down too.