The Black Coats(3)

Thea could find nothing. “Crap. Crap.” She ran around the fountain once more, checking underneath the cement lip. Still nothing. Saying a silent prayer, she heaved herself onto the fountain, peering up at the angel, who watched her with black, dead eyes. When she looked into the fountain, she felt her heart drop into her stomach.

There it was, underneath the water: a black envelope, resting at the deepest point of the fountain under a heavy rock. A Red Bull can floated past it on the surface. With a grimace, Thea flung off her backpack and kicked her shoes to the ground. She took a deep breath as she remembered diving into their neighborhood pool as a kid, the shriek of Natalie’s voice echoing in Thea’s ears: Don’t forget to hold your breath, silly! This was very silly indeed. Was she crazy? Maybe. But being crazy is better than being numb.

Thea stepped off the lip and sank deep into the fountain, gasping at the sudden cold. She let herself sink downward until her feet hit the bottom. Moving quickly, she grabbed the rock and shoved it roughly aside; the envelope then floated up from below. Thea caught it and pushed off the bottom of the fountain, her head breaking the surface with a gasp of air. The boy she had seen earlier was now standing in front of her, looking concerned. He had taken off his jacket, revealing the soccer jersey underneath, and had jumped up onto the ledge. He reached for her hand, but Thea was already climbing out on her own.

“Hey! Are you okay?” he asked.

Thea allowed herself to be momentarily touched by his kindness. It had been a long time since anyone had cared. “Yes, yes. I’m sorry. I dropped my, um, class schedule.” She tucked the black envelope under her arm as the boy made a face.

“Uh, maybe just get another one from the office next time? That water is nasty.” He gave a shiver. “I’m serious. Take, like, ten showers when you get home, okay? I’m pretty sure that could give you hepatitis.”

Thea nodded with a vague smile, water dripping everywhere.

His face fell momentarily, eyes widening under two strong brows.

“You weren’t, like . . . trying to end your life or something, were you?”

Six months ago, I may have considered it, her voice answered silently in her head. She forced a fake smile. “No. And if I was going to drown, it would not be in the Bucket.”

She pushed her soaked hair out of her face as she jumped down from the ledge. His eyes met hers, and she was surprised at how green they were, almost an olive color. She had seen him around, but they didn’t have any classes together. She would have remembered that smile.

“Hey. I’m Drew Porter.” He reached out his hand, but Thea shook her head.

“Trust me, you don’t want to do that. I saw a condom down there.”

“Yeah. I believe that.” He withdrew his hand. She loved the way her heart was pounding in her chest, that feeling of being alive. Is this what it feels like again? Normal life? With a sudden twinge of realization, Thea reached back for her phone . . . tucked in her pocket. It was dead.

Drew’s eyes lit up at her drowned phone. “Oh man!” he laughed. “I’m sorry, that just sucks.”

“Damn.” Thea frowned, but she knew she didn’t have time to worry about her phone now. And as much as she wouldn’t mind talking to this boy—the first in a long time—she badly needed to read what was inside the envelope. “Thanks for, you know, for almost not saving my life.”

Drew watched her with interest as she grabbed her backpack. “Anytime. And your name?”

She was jogging away from him now, wanting to put as much space as possible between them before she opened the envelope. “Thea!” she called without looking back. “Thea Soloman.”

Drew chuckled. “Well, I guess it’s nice to meet you.”

Thea ducked behind the gymnasium and crouched over the envelope. The paper was soggy, but she could still read the writing:

418 Black Lotus Drive

One hour until your destiny expires.

Thea stared at the message before taking off at a jog toward the parking lot. Soaking wet, she flung open the door to her rusty maroon Honda Civic and was in the car in a matter of seconds. Hands fluttering, she felt above her visor for the old Austin map her father made her keep in the car. If he could see her now . . . Thea shook her head. God, she would never hear the end of it.

After two minutes of turning the map and staring longingly at her very dead phone, Thea floored the accelerator and shot out of the parking lot, leaving a cyclone of dirt behind her. She gunned down the road, heading west, out from the city and into the wealthier suburbs. Thea opened all the windows in a pathetic attempt to dry her hair and shirt, which were freezing against her small chest. She raised her eyebrows at herself in the mirror. She looked like a drowned rat—her normally full, natural hair was plastered across her forehead. Her hazel eyes had black rings underneath them from her running mascara. Thea’s light brown skin lacked the glow that it once had. Her mother’s sharp nose sat firm above her large rose lips, lips that Natalie had always coveted. In the mirror, the sky behind her was growing gray.

Natalie. Thea willed her eyes back onto the road after they lingered on the glove compartment for a moment too long, where she knew a bottle of Xanax sat. “You don’t need them,” she said aloud to herself, a conversation she had at least daily. “You don’t need them. Follow the envelope.” She almost laughed out loud, thinking of what Natalie would have to say about this whole thing, about Thea following a random envelope to God knows where.