My room had been torn apart. Things were scattered everywhere. I knew exactly who had done it. Green Eyes had been in my house. He'd gone through my room. And probably while my mom was downstairs.
Chapter 5
I dropped my bag in the doorway. My chest felt like a sumo wrestler was sitting on it. I couldn't hide from this guy. There was nothing I could do to stop him from getting close to me. He wasn't a student at Lambert High, yet he had somehow managed to get inside the school and into one of my classes without being caught. Now, he'd broken into my house and ransacked my room.
"Jodi, are you okay? What was that banging?" Mom yelled up the stairs.
"I dropped my book bag. Sorry!" I yelled down, scooping up my bag and rushing into my room. I closed the door and leaned my back against it. I couldn't let Mom see my room like this. She'd make me quit Lambert and go back to homeschooling. And she'd never let me go out with Matt tonight. With all the crap I'd been through, I needed one night of fun. One perfect night with the perfect guy and the perfect first kiss. That was all I wanted.
I raced to my bed and started making it. One of my pillows was sliced open, but I shoved it in a pillowcase and put it back in its place. Then, I went to my desk and closed all the drawers, tossing the contents of them back inside, not caring if things were in their proper places. I had to get it off the floor before Mom came upstairs. My dresser was next. Clothes spilled out. I shoved them inside and threw myself at the closet. I heard Mom's footsteps on the stairs. She probably wanted me to set the table or make the salad. I got down on my knees and literally swept the shoes and clothing into my closet with my arms. I was shutting the doors when Mom knocked.
"Honey?" She opened the door and stepped inside, glancing around the room. "It's getting a little messy in here, don't you think? You should spend some time cleaning it up this evening."
"Mom, I have a date with Matt tonight." She already knew that. She'd heard our conversation on the front porch when she'd so rudely interrupted us.
"Oh, well, see what you can do before you go out."
I nodded. "Sure."
"And I'd love it if you could set the table for me. Dinner will be ready soon."
"Be down in a sec." I kicked a pillow feather under my bed.
As soon as she left, I flopped down on my bed. Things were getting too complicated. Dodging stalkers, keeping secrets from Mom, and I didn't have a clue what I was going to wear to the club tonight.
Dinner was uneventful. I didn't mention the break-in or the surprise run-in with Green Eyes at school. Mom seemed to be tiptoeing around the subject of the nurse. The funny thing was that no one was really talking about it at school either. There had been an announcement in first period letting everyone know about the funeral arrangements. Other than that, no one had mentioned it.
After dishes, I went upstairs, showered, and called Melodie. "You have to help me pick out an outfit. I've never been to a club before, and I want to look amazing tonight," I blurted without even saying hello.
"Don't you mean you want to look kissable?"
"Exactly. See, this is why I called you."
"Okay, go to your closet and start describing what you have."
I went to the closet and opened the doors before I remembered the break-in. My clothes lay in a heap on the floor. "Maybe I should call and cancel."
"No way! I'm not letting you do that. Give me a second to think." I could hear Melodie tapping her finger on the side of the phone. "Got it! Wear those dark jeans you got last week. The ones I picked out."
"They make me look-"
"Kissable," Melodie interrupted. "Put them on. And then find your black top with the lace neckline. It's dressy casual. Plus, you'll easily be able to dance in that outfit."
"Okay. Thanks, Mel."
"No problem. Now, hurry up. You only have a half hour before Matt picks you up."
What? When did that happen? "Thanks, again. Love you. Bye," I rambled into the phone before tossing it on the bed. I scrambled through the closet and found the black top. Then, I raced to the dresser and searched for the jeans. They were hidden in the back with the tags still on. I never would have bought them if Melodie hadn't made me. They hugged a little tighter than I was used to. But Mel was the fashion expert, not to mention the dating expert, so I slipped them on. Well, I tugged them on.
Shoes. Crap, I'd forgotten to ask what shoes I should wear. I went back to my closet and searched for something to match. I was flinging shoes all over my room. So much for cleaning up. I reached for another pair when my hand touched something furry. I screamed when I got a good look at it. A rat. A big dead rat. I screamed again, pulling my hand away. As I did, I pricked my right index finger on a pin in the shirt I was holding. A single drop of blood dripped onto the rat. Mom raced into my room wearing her bathrobe and a towel on her head. She must have come straight from the shower.
"What?" Her eyes fell on the rat, inches in front of me. "Jodi!" She pointed, and I looked down as the rat rolled onto its feet and ran under my bed.
I jumped on top of my bed, shrieking. Mom screamed and joined me. We huddled together.
"What do we do?" I gripped her tightly.
"Okay, okay … We need to calm down and think."
"Right." I nodded. Think about the dead rat that got up and ran under my bed. Nope. Thinking wasn't working.
"Um, where's your tennis racket?" Mom asked.
"I'm not going to hit that thing with my tennis racket. Besides, it's under my bed."
"All right. New plan." Mom looked around the room. "The trash can. We'll trap it under the trash can."
"But how do we get it to come out from under the bed?"
Mom shook her head. "Don't suppose you have any cheese hidden in your nightstand?"
I gave her a look that said, "Be serious."
"Okay." She picked up the hanger I'd thrown on the bed when I'd gotten dressed. "I'll go on one side of the bed and start banging the hanger on the floor. You go on the other side of the bed with the trash can. When the rat runs out, you drop the trash can on him and trap him under it."
It was a plan straight out of a blooper reel of one of those funny home video shows, but since I didn't have any better ideas, I couldn't object. I scooted to the foot of the bed and reached for the trash can. "It's too far away."
"Here, use the hanger." Mom handed me the hanger, and I reached it out, hooking it on the can and dragging it to me. The rat squeaked under the bed. I screamed, and the hanger raked across the Band-Aid from the night before when I'd cut my finger on the window. The Band-Aid fell off, and I saw my finger was bleeding again. I dropped the hanger as blood dripped on my off-white carpet. Just great.
"Got any more hangers?" I already knew the answer.
"Time for a new plan?"
"No. I think I can reach the hanger without getting off the bed. Can you hold on to me so I don't fall on the floor?"
Mom bent down and grabbed my calves. "Got you." It was times like this that I was glad my mom was so young. She didn't think twice about doing crazy stuff. Of course, when it came to me dating, she was very overprotective. But if I'd had a baby at sixteen, I probably would've been a little overprotective of my teenage daughter, too. That reminded me that I still hadn't come up with a good lie about where Matt and I were going. Mom would never let me go to a club, especially one like Serpentarius that was for twenty-one and up.
"You having second thoughts?" Mom asked.
Apparently I'd been hanging half off the bed, contemplating my dating situation and completely forgetting about the rat for too long. "Working up the courage."
"Let me know when you've found enough. I want to make sure I have a good grip on you. No rat is going to chew on my daughter."
"Thanks for that image." I shuddered. "Okay, here I go." I held my breath-not for any real reason, it just seemed like the thing to do-and reached my arm out, snatching the hanger. "Pull me up!"
Mom tugged on my legs. The rat gave another squeak, but this time I held on to the hanger. "Good job," Mom said, sounding as out of breath as I felt.
"I got blood on the carpet." I held my finger up.
She waved it off. "Don't worry about it. I'll take blood on the carpet over a rat under the bed any day. Let's trap that disgusting thing and get it out of here."
"Right." I still had the box of Band-Aids on my nightstand from last night, so I put a new one on and got a good hold on the hanger. "Take two." I positioned myself on the end of the bed again. I hooked the trash can and pulled it close enough that I could grab it. "Got it!" I lifted it onto the bed.
Mom took a deep breath. "Now, the hard part."
Like that had been easy? "Are you sure you don't want to trap the rat while I bang the hanger on the ground?"
"I'm going to have to hang off the bed and spook the thing. All you have to do is drop the trash can on it. Do you really want to trade jobs?"
I had visions of the rat attacking the hanger. "Never mind. I'm good."