The Last Harvest(44)

I open the door, jabbing into his body, making him stagger forward.

“Real funny,” I say as I grab my backpack.

“Why didn’t you call me back?” he asks.

“If this is about Jimmy Doogan, I don’t know anything—”

“Forget Jimmy Doogan.”

I look at him sharply.

“What? He was a little prick. But that’s a pretty gnarly way to kill yourself.”

“How’d you know he killed himself?”

He shakes his head. “Dude, it’s Midland. Anyway, I heard he’s been in counseling for months with Miss Granger. Maybe you should think about getting a new counselor.”

I try to play it off, but I can’t believe Miss Granger didn’t tell me. I know she said she’d been keeping an eye on all the Preservation Society kids, but why wouldn’t she have told me about it when we were talking about Ali being in counseling? She said she didn’t tell me because she didn’t know if she could trust me. Does she still not? It makes me wonder, what else is she keeping from me?

Dale’s snapping his fingers in front of my face. “Earth to Clay.”

“What?” I bat his hand away.

“I need the real dirt … you and Ali?”

I glance over at her. She’s leaning against Tyler’s car with the others. She smiles at me, but not in a creepy way. Her face is soft, almost wistful. It’s hard to believe she’d ever be mixed up in something like this.

She’s wearing a Pioneers T-shirt with a pair of faded Levis.

“Hey, that’s my shirt,” I murmur. She stole it from me a couple years back to use as a sleep shirt, but I’ve never seen her wear it in public. It has my number on it and everything.

“That’s a sign, you dumbass,” Dale says, as he stands next to me. “She’s basically saying she wants you all over her body.”

Maybe it is a sign, but not like Dale thinks. Maybe she’s trying to give me some kind of secret signal.

“So, you’re just going to stare at her from across the lot? That’s pathetic, man. Even for you. You better check yourself before you wreck yourself,” Dale says as he takes off after some freshman girls, clucking at them like a chicken. For some godforsaken reason they seem amused.

As I make my way over to Tyler’s car, I’m thinking about what I’m going to say to Ali—to any of them—but it turns out I don’t have to say anything at all.

“Get in.” Tyler swings his door wide open, blocking my path.

“What? Now?” I look around. “First bell’s about to ring.”

“Let’s call it a sick day.” Ben comes up behind me, slapping me hard on my shoulder.

“We just want to talk,” Tammy says as she gets in the backseat, never once taking her eyes off the ground in front of her.

I look to Ali. She gives me a reassuring smile.

“Yeah, okay … sure.” I swallow harder than I’d like. “Just let me put my bag in the truck.”

As soon as I turn away from them, a shuddering breath escapes my lungs. Sheer panic starts taking over—my eyes are watery, my throat’s bone dry. I clutch the keys in my hand, the metal notches digging into my palm, and I’m thinking I could just take off … get in my truck and keep going. But where could I possibly go? Everything I love, everything I am, is right here in Midland.

I lean in my truck, pretending to stash my bag under the seat, while I frantically text Miss Granger. They want me to go with them. In Tyler’s car. What do I do?

As I’m waiting for a response, I peer up at them over the steering wheel. My heart’s pounding in my chest. There’s a part of me that’s telling me, screaming at me, to keep my distance until the exorcism. I did my part, now it’s time to let the church take care of this … but there’s Ali. I don’t think I have the strength to walk away from her.

I text Miss Granger again. Why won’t you answer me? I need your hel—

“You won’t be needing that where we’re going,” Ali says as she slips in behind me, turning off my phone. “No cell service.”

I’m not sure if she saw the text or not, but as I follow her back to Tyler’s car, it feels like a death march.

I get in the backseat—Tammy on one side, Ali on the other. Tyler’s driving, Ben’s riding shotgun.

As we pull out of the lot onto Main Street, I can’t help wondering if this is it. If this is the last anyone will ever see of me, or if I’ll come back different … branded.





29

TYLER SLOWS down as we near the Preservation Society. All I can think about is the secret room. The real one Ali told me about before we found Jess and Jimmy in the cell. Is that where they’re taking me? I lean back in my seat, running my sweaty palms down the front of my jeans. Tyler smirks at me in the rearview mirror, like he knows exactly what I’m thinking, and then revs the engine, racing down Main Street, toward the outskirts of town.

I have no idea where we’re going, but for the first time in my life I’m thankful for Tyler’s stupid techno music. It’s covering up my rapid breathing.

When we pull onto the axis road, out by the old silos, I finally figure out where we’re headed—the fairgrounds. Tyler and I used to do Junior Rodeo out here, but I haven’t been here in years. He whips into the dirt lot next to the ring and cuts the engine. As soon as Tyler opens his door, I spring from the car, inhaling the manure-filled air.