December Boys (BxB) | ✓

Chapter 49 - Rat Trap

Poster duty turned out to be an uncomplicated and harmless duty. It was predictably enough dull work - slapping paper on walls and other acceptable surfaces, mindlessly moving from one hallway to the next. Within the confines of December High, hundreds of posters now prided the brick walls.

Axel's silence had become something familiar now. It was a throwback that had jarred me at first, but acceptance was beginning to seep into my tender bones. His regressive behavior was almost a comfort to me during our journey through the school. Our eyes meeting was a rare occurrence, which meant fewer belly twirls and jittery fingertips for me. If I didn't look at him I could pretend he wasn't there, pretend he wasn't slipping from my hands along with the project and the operation.

But I did look at him, and more often than I would like to admit.

The posters were another idea of Seth's, which Lily had refined into something palatable for all of us. We'd given the stalker a few days to fawn over her Instagram post before phase two broke loose. December High was now littered with question marks and silhouettes of rats. Gossip was already abuzz, with students pulling posters down both to inspect and share them with their peers. People were making connections at a surprising speed, perhaps a sign of how starved the school was for distraction. On the last day of November, the word "rat" was on everyone's lips.

"Do you think he'll bite?" I found myself saying, eyes once again stealing glances at Axel.

All I got was a distracted hum in reply. He slapped another poster to the community board outside the school, fastening it with colorful tacks. After completely covering the inside of our school with the posters, we had taken to decorating the outside now as well. We'd raided the media department in search of materials earlier, carefully avoiding the path of Mr. White, who still couldn't shake the paranoid notion that we were shirking our duties. It wasn't a lie that we were distracted, but the film was close to finished these days. The only thing left was adding the credits. Something inside me battled an urge to procrastinate on that. My mind never stopped buzzing about one thing:

December 15th. It was the day of the promise and the festival. An electric current seemed to surge through me every time I remembered it. We'd made an agreement. A date, if you would.

Stapling another poster to the board, I battled the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. The empty hole was gnawing at my insides now, feeding off my anxieties and making sure I remembered what lay ahead. I stared at the question mark in front of me, recognizing the symbol as it coursed through my own brain. "???" It was an apt representation of my inner life.

"We should move on," Axel was saying, burying the posters in his backpack to shield them from the elements. It had begun to drizzle, just a carefree sprinkle of moisture on parched skin. I could feel the rain dew on my cheeks. It was too cold for rain.

"Where to next?" I asked. We'd covered the school and its surrounding areas now, making sure no spot went untouched by question marks and mysterious rats.

"We'd better go downtown and near the other schools," Axel said. He was already walking away from the community board, not waiting to check if I was following.

"True, he might not be a December High student." Our suspect list was limited to our school, but couldn't the stalker be from somewhere else? Lily's social media reach was an impressive thing. I mulled this over while we walked, keeping my eyes trained on Axel as he walked in front of me.

His back was a long, familiar entity. Rain had started to seep into the shoulders of his navy coat, marring it with dark spots and raindrops. I wanted to reach out my hand and touch it, see if I could feel the wetness with my fingers. I wondered if Axel's warmth could be felt through the fabric.