Read Online White Lies by Jeremy Bates - Free Book Online

moments until she remembered the events of the previous evening. She wilted. Zach. Goddamn Zach the hitchhiker. She recalled him announcing to the other teachers she had a cabin on the lake, the excited chatter about the party that followed, and her own reaction—standing idly by with what was no doubt a doe-in-the-headlights look stamped on her face, as if she was star struck by the idea.
Party
?
My place
?
Bring it
! And underlying those memories, as silent and dangerous as a crocodile slinking beneath the surface of the watering hole, was the faint yet unshakeable feeling she’d crossed a line when she’d vaguely agreed to host the party from which there was no turning back.
    But there was nothing to do about that but get up and on with her day. She showered, ate an apple, then drove to Cascade High School. No who-the-hell-are-you? looks today. Most of the students had likely seen her around the hallways yesterday. Even if they hadn’t, students talk, and she would have been the subject. As she approached the English Department, she had a prickling feeling she was going to walk in to all the teachers gossiping about her party, asking for directions, what they should bring, spreading the word until soon the whole school would know about it. That didn’t happen. In fact, no one mentioned anything from Ducks & Drakes at all. At noon in the faculty lounge—a Spartan place dominated by Formica tables and chairs—she was sure Monica or Big Bob or even Helen, the art teacher, a chatterbox without a lid, was going to light a conversation that would ignite a discussion. No one did,preferring other topics such as the Mariners and the pitcher who won the Cy Young Award last year and whether the cafeteria food was healthy or not. Today it was a slice of lasagna and a roll, lean green beans, canned fruit, and veggies and dip. Big Bob said these lunches were the healthiest thing he ate all week; a couple of the female teachers tsk-tsked him. Regardless, it seemed what happened outside of school, stayed outside of school. Katrina was fine with that. Just fine indeed. And by the last bell of the day at two, she’d decided she’d worked herself up into a fuss about nothing.
    She was in the parking lot, about to hop in her car, thinking about stopping by the little Italian place she’d seen the other day on Front Street and bringing home a pizza for later, when Zach strolled by, pushing a bicycle. “How are you feeling today, Zach?” she said, simply to say something.
    â€œI don’t get hangovers,” he replied, appearing annoyed, as if he’d been asked that question a number of times today already. A gust of wind tussled his mop of brown hair. He swept it back away from his eyes, the way some of her students did, and she was reminded again of just how young he was. Tall, brash, annoying. But just a kid. He continued past her.
    â€œWhoa, hold on there, mister,” she said. Kid or not, he wasn’t getting away with the stunt he’d pulled that easily. If she kept letting him push her around, he was only going to start pushing harder, like a playground bully. “Do you want to explain what you were trying to accomplish last night by telling everyone about my cabin?”
    He gave her a look she couldn’t read. “What are you talking about?”
    â€œYou know what I mean.”
    â€œActually, I don’t.” He turned away, scratched his nose, turned back. “Oh—by the way, I talked to some of the other guys today. Everything’s still set for the weekend. Still good to go. I’m going to see about renting the bus.”
    Katrina stiffened, as if the temperature had just plummeted twenty degrees. She knew she’d heard him right. She just couldn’tbelieve what she was hearing. “What do you mean, ‘still on?’” she demanded.
    â€œThe party.”
    â€œThis is exactly what I mean! God, Zach. Why are you so intent