Getting It Straight

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Old habits were hard to kill.

When Jayden asked if someone could borrow a book from the library, I volunteered in the blink of an eye. The funny thing was, they all thought that I was some kind of a hero. And now, I knew exactly why.

One, the library was in the school building, making me do that ten-minute walk again to go here from the dormitory. Second, it was a little after seven, and dinner was about to be served in a few minutes. And third, the library was suddenly nowhere to be found.

Even though they'd given enough instructions starting from where we were (the dining hall of the senior floor) and the said library, I couldn't locate it. I had followed the direction. Now, I only knew one thing, and it wasn't on the sketch map—I was lost.

The security guard downstairs had taken a break and was definitely taking his time. I retraced my steps through the empty hall, following the sketch in my hands, only to find myself back to where I had started.

Current progress: still lost.

Corner Stone High School building had four floors. I was already at the fourth, yet there was no library in sight. I opened the door that led to the emergency stairs, thinking that there was the slightest chance that the entire library had been moved to the rooftop. And since it was already late, I felt an eerie feeling as I was climbing up the stairs, like someone was following me.

I shivered in horror and dared not to look back. There might be someone behind me—of the living or not! If I would look back now, I was certain that I'd freak out and probably end up stumbling down the stairs, breaking all my bones in the process. I resolved to just turn around when I got there, on that safer spot, which was the even ground on the other side of that door.

So, keeping the remaining pieces of my guts intact, I continued walking. The strange sound continued on, following me. Placing my feet on the last step, I hurriedly grabbed the handle of the steel door. This was the only steel door in this entire building, from what I knew about this school, which was also, in fact, not that many. I was about to slide the bolt open, only to find that it was already unlocked.

After hurriedly finding my way to my coveted safer ground, I slowly turned back. I was holding my breath, preparing my mind for the worst. But no one was around. Was it just my imagination?

It must be. Freaking must be.

Shaking my head in bewilderment, I got back to finding the missing library and bringing that reference book with me to the dorm. That was what I was actually here for and not for some late night ghost hunting.

I scanned the rooftop area. And despite the weird things that I was doing, I realized that the world was as normal as it was before my sudden—and very odd—decision to dress up as a boy. Like any other rooftop, Corner Stone's rooftop contained nothing. And obviously, no library had suddenly been moved up here.

They placed the usual items around, though. There were lamps flickering on each side. They should really change those light bulbs. I noticed some things scattered on the floor below the lamp post on my right. I was born curious, so I stepped forward and looked at them.

Pencils. Corner Stone sketchpad. Some erasers. A can of soda. Some left over snacks. And whoever owned these things must be acing his art classes. The sketch he was making said it all.

I remembered the masked guy at Channing's party again. It had been over two weeks since I'd found out about his existence. The only person who knew him was the art teacher—Mr. Crooge. I'd pressed and begged him to tell me the masked guy's name. I even mentioned that it was a matter of life and death. It was mine and my father's reputation that was at stake. But the art teacher said that he couldn't tell me, and it was that person's right if he wanted to be known or not. Mr. Crooge did not forget to mention that I should respect that.