‘Theodore, you are the first to play the game,’ Teddy read off the red slip of paper. ‘Your instructions are hidden in your favorite novel. You have fifteen minutes to fulfill the task, or you fail.’
The room fell silent. The echo of Teddy’s task hung in the air.
He blinked, unsure of what was going on.
All eyes turned to Teddy. Heat moved under his skin as the sound of his given name echoed in his head. No one called him Theodore, except for his late grandmother. The formality of the note struck him, almost as if someone was playing to his childhood self. The self that was most vulnerable. Over the years, he went from a shy kid to someone stronger with thicker skin. But not at school. No, that other ‘self’ was for a different part of his life.
Or was someone messing with him? Not even his teachers had called him Theodore since kindergarten.
‘That was creepy as hell,’ Q said.
Teddy’s mouth flattened, hoping the others wouldn’t see the quiver in his lips. ‘Well, he got my name wrong.’
‘Your task is to find a book?’ Zoe asked.
Teddy wasn’t sure what to do. The last five minutes had been surreal.
‘I think we should tell Mr. Curtis,’ Jackie said. ‘I didn’t ask to be a part of this.’
‘A part of what?’ Q asked. ‘He has to read a book. Big deal.’
‘It’s just a dumb prank,’ Teddy said.
‘Who would mess with perfect Teddy?’ Q asked.
Teddy winced at the word ‘perfect’. It was how everyone at school described him. Trouble had never found him in school. Until this week.
Why was he a target? And twice in one week. First the weed in his locker. Now, this? He didn’t even do drugs. Sure, he’d been around them. The small bag wasn’t enough to get the police involved, but it was sufficient to land him in detention. Principal Killian had gone easy on him. It helped that he’d never been in trouble before. Though, now that record was marred by this situation.
Teddy could have talked himself out of it if Mrs. Hathaway had kept her mouth shut. She was appalled by the situation. Her hysterics made it worse. If she’d have given him a chance to appeal to Principal Killian, he’d be home instead of in the library with his classmates.
Someone had done this to him. And that person was in the building right now. If only he could get to the front office and find out who used the intercom. He wouldn’t risk Mr. Curtis finding him out of his seat. Having more than one detention in his file would give Kevin another heads up on him for valedictorian. Teddy had to keep a low profile for a while, maintaining the rest of his school career all about school and nothing else.
Teddy glanced at the door. Where was Mr. Curtis? Had he heard the voice too? The front office staff could program the intercom to report to the entire school or one room. Since Mr. Curtis hadn’t returned to the room, Teddy doubted that Mr. Curtis had heard it. Unless he didn’t care for pranks either and had already caught the person who disguised his voice.
Teddy hoped so. Maybe Mr. Curtis would come back to the room with the culprit. He could then try and move the blame for the weed to this person, saying he was blackmailed, which he was.
He looked down at the note. Fifteen minutes. The clock was ticking.
‘I think you should at least check it out, man,’ Q said. ‘What’s the harm?’
‘I really think we should tell Mr. Curtis,’ Jackie repeated.
Teddy gave her a look. She never spoke to him during school. They moved in different circles. He didn’t care about being popular, but if he could show the cheerleader he wasn’t a wimp, then he might land on her good side for the rest of their academic career together.
Chairs scraped against the floor behind him as the others followed.
‘What’s your favorite book?’ Cece asked, coming up beside him. They shared several classes together and like Jackie, rarely uttered a word to each other unless they had to. She was pretty but not his type, but he’d take any action these days. He knew he’d probably graduate as a virgin, but he still had another year to go. Anything could happen.
‘Carrie,’ Teddy and Zoe said at the same time.
He looked at her. She bit down a smile, but he knew it was there. The others glanced at her too.
‘How did you know that?’ Q asked, his eyes narrowed.
‘We used to be friends,’ Zoe said.
Teddy swallowed his hurt as he turned down the third stack of bookshelves. He spent the majority of his reading in the horror genre. Mom devoured those books during every spare moment she had, turning Teddy on to the genre. When he was younger, they would sit under the blankets of his bed with a flashlight reading scary stories.
He’d never told anyone that. It was something he shared with his mom alone. So why did this person think he knew his favorite book? Other than the tattered copy under his mattress, not many people in his life knew.
‘Carrie?’ Holly asked.
‘Stephen King,’ Q said, ‘not the book I was thinking for you, nerd.’
Teddy ground his teeth together. ‘I prefer modern fiction to the classics. And don’t call me that.’
Q laughed and slapped a hand on Teddy’s shoulder. ‘I think I like you a little more now.’
Teddy stiffened at his touch.
‘Chill out, man. I’m just messing around,’ Q added.
They all filtered down the aisle, following Teddy.
Teddy found the book. There was only one copy. It didn’t have a sticker on the spine, so it wasn’t a library copy. The paperback shook in his hands. The worn edges reminded him of his personal copy. He imagined seeing the name Bert handwritten on the inside. His mom purchased the book second-hand. There was writing in the margins from the Bert guy. While reading, Teddy felt as if he knew this stranger more than he knew his own father.
No, it wasn’t possible.
He couldn’t bear to look. Instead, he focused on the piece of red paper sticking out from the pages. Teddy touched the edge of the paper and slid it out.
Scrawled letters in a thick black marker stared up at him.
‘You take from others for personal gain. Now it’s time someone took from you. The one thing you cherish. Money. You will hold ten one-hundred-dollar bills, a small sample of your growing bank account. You will destroy them, or I will take away everything. You have ten minutes.’
Teddy’s palms dampened as his trembling hands opened the book wider. A hole was cut in the middle of the pages, just big enough for a stack of cash to fit inside. He cringed at the idea of someone purposefully cutting the pages. Especially since this was his book.
He dropped the note, and it fluttered to the floor.
Q picked it up and read it aloud. Everyone peered over Teddy’s shoulder to take a look at the cash.
‘Is that your money?’ Jackie asked. Her eyes were wide saucers.
Teddy closed the book and held it against him. ‘No.’
He had the urge to protect the book and the money inside. He knew the money wasn’t his. It couldn’t be. There was no way anyone could have access to his account. He used the savings account his grandmother had opened for him when he was a kid to store everything he earned. Even if this person knew how much he had, the bills in the book were probably fake.
He wanted to check the money and count it, but not with his classmates ogling the cash. They already knew too much.
‘So, he wants you to destroy that money?’ Cece asked.
‘Where did you get all that, anyway?’ Q asked.
‘This isn’t real,’ Teddy said. ‘Someone is messing with me.’ He opened the book again and picked up the top bill, a crisp hundred-dollar note. He held it up to the light and saw the security thread in the paper. This bill wasn’t counterfeit.
Teddy’s grip on the book tightened.
Q lifted a lighter from his pocket and held it out. ‘If it’s not real then you shouldn’t have any trouble destroying it as the note said.’
‘This is stupid.’ Teddy snatched the note from Q and headed back toward the table. He tucked the note into the book and closed it.
‘What are you doing?’ Zoe asked.
‘What does it look like?’ Teddy said. ‘I’m going to finish this chain and then get ahead in my reading for next week.’ At least then he’d have more time to stay out tonight if he completed his work early. He started for the table.
‘You’re not going to destroy that money?’ Jackie asked.
‘Why should I?’ Teddy asked. It was real, and it was a thousand dollars. He wanted to stash it away in his account, just as he did with every other spare hundred he earned.
‘Are you sure?’ Q asked.
Teddy glared at Q. ‘I’m sure.’
‘You have, like, eight minutes left,’ Jackie said.
‘Then in eight minutes you’ll see I’m right,’ Teddy said. He wished everyone would get off his back. He hated that they knew about his money. It was the only thing he had to himself.
‘Let me see the cash,’ Q said.
‘What?’ Teddy asked. ‘No way.’
Q lunged for the book, and Teddy snatched it away.
‘Stop,’ Teddy said.
‘If this is a prank then you shouldn’t be worried about anything,’ Q said. ‘Unless you know more than you’re letting on.’
‘Guys, enough,’ Holly said.
Q’s eyes narrowed. ‘You said it wasn’t real. Prove it.’
Teddy sat down and placed the book on the table.
Big mistake.
Q was quicker and grabbed the book.
Teddy launched up from his chair. He wasn’t sure what Q was going to do, but he wouldn’t risk it. ‘Give that back.’
‘Who the hell is Bert?’ Q asked, looking at the inside cover of the book.
Teddy’s heart plummeted. It was his copy.
‘My mom got it at a book sale,’ Teddy said, not wanting to delve into his personal history with the novel.
Q wasn’t going to listen. Teddy reached for the book and grabbed the back half.
‘Stop,’ Teddy warned.
‘What’s the big deal?’ Q held on and pulled back.
Teddy pulled harder and felt the book strain under the pressure. Then the spine split in half, leaving a part of the book in each of their hands.
‘Dude,’ Q said.
‘Give it back,’ Teddy said quietly, trying to control his breathing. Heat crept up his body.
Q smiled sheepishly and handed his half of the book.
‘Nice going, loser,’ Jackie said to Q.
It was bad enough that someone had broken into Teddy’s house to get the book, now it was wrecked. A prankster and Q ruined a part of his past.
Teddy sat down, and everyone else did the same. The room was silent for several moments. He placed the torn halves of the novel together, shoved the book in his bag, and immediately went back to the paper chain.
He was hyper-aware of everyone in the room.
Zoe sifted through the pile of paper in front of her. She probably still clung onto the idea that there were more red slips.
He couldn’t care less if there were more. He wanted the timer to tick down so they could see that all of this was some sick joke. Or else for the person to reveal himself. He bet it was his cousin. Declan always messed with him when he could. And taking Teddy’s money would be the ultimate prank for Declan. Teddy caught him numerous times snooping in his room. That’s probably how he knew Carrie was his favorite book.
Teddy sat back in his chair and started to believe that it had been Declan. Logistically, Teddy wasn’t sure how his cousin knew about the bank account, but he was the only other person who knew how much Teddy made on a weekly basis.
If he didn’t hide it away, his junkie cousin would probably have stolen all of the saved-up cash. There was no way Teddy would let Declan get one grubby finger on the money.
As everyone started stapling the chain again, Teddy noticed all of them glancing at the clock when they thought no one was looking.
Instead of staring at the clock, he started working too.
‘One minute left,’ Jackie said, breaking the silence.
Did this girl always have to be the center of attention?
Teddy looked up at the clock as the second hand made its rotation around the face. When the minute was up, he looked down at his bag and then gave a pointed glance to Jackie.
‘See, I told—’ Teddy’s words were swallowed up by a faint sound.
He held his breath, hoping that he didn’t hear it again.
The alert tone from his phone made his throat clench. Even from inside the librarian’s office, he recognized the sound. When he was out of school for the day or home on the weekends he always kept his phone on the highest ringer in case he was needed.
‘No,’ he said, standing up.
‘What is it?’ Zoe asked.
His chair toppled to the ground behind him as he leaped up and started for the office.
‘What’s going on here?’ Mr. Curtis’s voice boomed across the room.
Teddy whirled around and locked eyes with his teacher. Of course, he had to come back just when he needed to get to his phone.
‘I asked you a question,’ Mr. Curtis said, his eyebrows drawn together.
‘I, uh—’ Teddy mumbled. His mind raced for an excuse, but all he could think about was the alert on his phone. The one that sounded after he deposited or withdrew from his bank account. It wasn’t a coincidence that it went off the moment his time was up. He needed to see the balance of his account right this second.
But with Mr. Curtis in the room, Teddy knew that wasn’t going to happen.
‘I’m stretching my legs,’ Teddy said weakly, giving the first excuse that came to mind. ‘I have a cramp.’
Mr. Curtis narrowed his eyes, then glanced at the rest of the group. ‘Get back to your seat.’
‘Did you hear that announcement?’ Jackie asked Mr. Curtis.
‘What announcement?’ Mr. Curtis asked, eyeing the group.
‘It’s nothing,’ Teddy said, dropping back into his chair.
His heart pounded, and his armpits dampened. The hope that Mr. Curtis had caught the person in charge of the ‘game’ disappeared in that instant. Explaining what happened to Mr. Curtis wouldn’t get his book or money back.
Maybe whoever played this game with him knew the alert tone and was messing with him even more. He was the only one with the numeric pin to get into the account.
He glanced at the book and let out a shuddering breath. He was wrong. He wasn’t the only one who knew the pin. He’d written it down inside the book. The one that someone had stolen from him and cut up.
He tried to hold onto his composure, but dread pooled in his stomach.
His money was safe. It had to be.
He repeated those words in his head, not believing the alternative.
‘You didn’t hear anything?’ Zoe asked Mr. Curtis.
‘I don’t know what’s going on here,’ Mr. Curtis said. ‘But I’m trying to be as fair as I can. I have to work on the computer now to file some paperwork to the state for my teaching license, so I need to concentrate. Help me out, and I’ll try as hard as I can to get you out of here. All right?’
Everyone muttered their consent.
Mr. Curtis entered the office, and Teddy reached down into his bag for the novel. He opened it under the desk and lifted the stack of cash, counting it quickly.
He had sifted through nine one-hundred-dollar bills before he stopped at the last one.
This one was unlike the rest. It was a fake, printed on red paper. And someone else’s face replaced Benjamin Franklin’s.
Teddy lifted the paper and held it up.
The rest of the group leaned closer, each of them taking in the face.
Their eyes fell on the next victim.
It was Cece.