Hate Me

We run behind the bar.

“The keg’s full,” Riley says joyously.

Dallas opens what looks like a humidor sitting on the bar. You'd swear he just found the Holy Grail. Dallas looks in the box and backs away in awe. “This almost makes me cry,” he says. “Look.”

There are freshly rolled joints lying in layers in the box.

“Ohmigawd!” Riley screams.

“What?”

“There’s a furry rug!”

I run over to a corner of the room, which has also changed. The corner is now mod and plush. There’s a huge furry white rug. A sparky little chandelier hung in the corner. New furry purple beanbags and pillows scattered across the floor. A black curtain with holographic beads dangling from it.

“I wonder what’s behind the curtain?” I say, pushing it out of the way.

Riley drops to his knees onto the furry rug, his hands folded devoutly, as I reveal a cozy king-sized platform bed wrapped in layers of overstuffed comforters.

“I’m going to kiss my brother on the lips next time I see him,” Riley says.

Aiden, who's been standing in the middle of the room in shock, finally says, “What is this place?”

“Heaven,” Riley replies as he falls face first onto the bed.

“Come here,” I tell Aiden, grabbing his hand and showing him the names scrawled on the wall and the poem from the room's founders.

My phone buzzes in my pocket.

Cam:  How'd I do?

Me:  It's like the Room of Requirement. Your brother's lying on the bed thinking he's died and gone to heaven. 

Cam:  A word of advice?

Me:  Please. 

Cam:  Don't EVER invite Whitney. I know she's been nice to you lately, but don't believe it. She's just biding her time, waiting to strike. 

Me:  Okay. 

Cam:  And I love my brother, but I didn't think Dawson could handle it. I'm a little on the fence about his decision making. 

Me:  Other than lunch, I’ve hardly seen him. 

Cam:  I heard about him and Brooke. Another disaster waiting to happen, don't you think? 

Me:  I don't know. Probably depends if her ex changes his mind. 

Cam:  Exactly. Did Dallas find his present? 

Me: Yes. He almost started crying. 

Cam:  What about yours?

Me: Mine? 

Cam: The lights on the ceiling.

Me:  Now I want to cry. 

Cam: :) You need to leave now. Curfew. 

Me:  Oh shit, we do.

Cam: There are multiple exits. You'll bring friends in the front door, but don't leave from there any more. There's a map marking the exits on top of the bar. You can let people leave whenever they want to. Just send them out one of the exits. They are one way and take you to different points on campus. Hit the button on the paneling under the founder’s poem. Use that tonight. Have fun! 

“We have to go, guys. It’s almost curfew. Cam said to go this way.” I press the hidden button and a small doorway appears. Through it is another clean and fairly well-lit tu

“We need to run,” Aiden says.

The tu

While the boys high five each other I tear out an exit door and run to my dorm. I'm late, so I knock softly on the window.

Katie helps me in. I quickly run into my closet, strip off my clothes, and throw on a robe.

A knock at the door causes me to launch myself onto the bed and pretend to be asleep.

I hear our house mom say to Katie, “Is Miss Monroe here?”

I sit up in bed and try to look sick, rubbing my eyes for effect.

“Sorry, I think I forgot to sign in. I'm not feeling great.”

She walks over to my bed and observes, “Your cheeks are flushed.” She places her hand in my forehead. “You’re warm and a little sweaty. Do you have a fever, dear?”

“Uh, maybe?”

“Well, get some sleep, and if you don't feel better in the morning, go see the nurse. We've got two cases of the flu in the dorm already.”

“Okay, I will.”

A few minutes later, Katie peeks out the door to make sure she's gone. “Whew! That was close! I about died laughing when she said you were flushed.”

“Yeah, I was flushed. From ru

“Were you at Aiden’s?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you going to Bryce’s tonight?”

“I thought Shark was having the party.”

“No. I'm pretty sure Bryce is.”

“Oh, well. I’m probably not going to anyway. It's now officially Aiden’s birthday.”

“Ohhh, how are you going to celebrate?”

I shrug and smile.

“Have you guys yet?” she asks. “Are you going to for his birthday?”

“We haven't yet. I want to wait. What about you and Bryce?”

“We've done everything but. He needs to ask me to be his girlfriend and go to Winter Formal before I will.”

“Has he said anything about it?”

“Not really, but every time someone gets asked, he asks me if I thought the way it happened was cool.”

“What do you want him to do?”

“Just something that shows he put some thought into it.” She lies down. “I’m going to take a nap. Oh, and if I'm not home in the morning, I'll be at Bryce’s.”

“Sounds good.”

I'm brushing my teeth when my phone rings with a call from B.

“Hey! Happy birthday!”

“Thanks,” he says. “And thanks for the presents. The skateboard is wicked sweet.”

He's saying the right things, but there's something in his voice. Something’s off.

“What's wrong, B?”

“There was something weird delivered today. Before I opened it, I thought it was from you.”

“What was it? Was it from Vincent?”

“A Malibu Ken doll. It had a noose around its neck like it had been hanged.”

“That doesn't seem like something Vincent would send.”

“I don't think it was. I'm neck and neck with a real asshole in this weekend’s competition. We have a saying, like when we screw up, that we hung ourselves. I think maybe he's trying to psyche me out. I'm getting ready to go out there. Look, I'm sorry I couldn't help you on the takeover. Um, and, well, there's something else.”

“What?”

“I’m pretty sure I'm being followed.”

“Did you tell Garrett?”

“Well, the security dudes. They've seen him too. It's just all messing with my head.”

“B,” I say softly, “do you remember when we were in Biarritz? When those local guys were giving you shit about how big the waves were? Do you remember what you told me before you went out there?”

“That I'd find control in the chaos.”

“Exactly. The waves were crashing. The guys were saying you couldn't do it. But you went out there and found a wave you could control. That's what you need to do today.”

“Keats, you inspire me in a way no one else can.”

“You know in your heart that you can do it. Sometimes you just need to hear someone say it.”

I hear his name a

“I’m up.”

I hear him mutter, “Control in the chaos,” before he hangs up.

I get into bed, grabbing my laptop and plugging in my headphones so I don’t wake Katie, and do something I've yet to do.