Secret Admirer Page 7

  But then she saw something bright peeking out from the edge of the paper. Something bright and colorful—a beautiful red rose.

  Selena brought the bouquet indoors and quickly unwrapped it. It was so beautiful—a dozen red roses nestled in green leaves. She couldn’t find a card. But Selena didn’t need one.

  It’s from Eddy, she thought. It must be. How could I have suspected him? How could I think he wanted to hurt me?

  She stood on the kitchen stool and pulled a glass vase down from the shelf above the refrigerator. She filled the vase with water, then began to arrange the flowers and greenery.

  “So beautiful,” she breathed. She pressed her face into the blooms, inhaling their sweet scent. “Thank you, Eddy,” she murmured happily.

  “Good morning, honey,” her mother called out behind her.

  “Hi, Mom.” Selena glanced up. “Look what someone left for me.”

  “How lovely,” Mrs. Goodrich exclaimed, approaching the table.

  “Smell them,” Selena urged, once again burying her face in the bouquet. “They’re wonderful!”

  “Oh—wait!” Mrs. Goodrich suddenly cried. “Selena!” she gasped. “Get away from them!”

  “Huh?” Selena had her face buried in the bouquet. She pulled it away. “What’s wrong, Mom?”

  “Those leaves, Selena—they’re poison ivy!”

  19

  Selena had always been very allergic to poison ivy.

  A few minutes later, her face had swelled up. Her skin tingled and itched. She found it hard to breathe. Her temperature rose to one hundred two.

  Who could have known how sensitive I am to poison ivy? she wondered.

  Who could have known how allergic I am?

  A week later, Selena’s face was still puffy. Her hands and arms were covered with scabs. As she leaned over her geometry text, she found herself scratching the rash that wouldn’t go away.

  How could I have been so stupid? she asked herself for the hundredth time. Everyone knows what poison ivy looks like. Was I really that desperate to get flowers from Eddy?

  “How do you feel?” Jake whispered.

  “Better, thanks,” Selena muttered.

  “You look better,” Katy told her. “A little, anyway.”

  The three friends were sitting around a small table in the library, where they were assigned for study hall.

  “I feel like such an idiot,” Selena moaned. “This is the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever done. I can’t believe I had to miss play practice, too!”

  “It’s not your fault,” Jake whispered. “If some creep sends you poison iv—”

  “Shh!” Katy warned as the librarian frowned at them.

  Selena turned back to her books. A few minutes later, the librarian stepped out into the hall, and Jake nudged her again. “Ready for rehearsal?” he asked. “Only two weeks until opening night!”

  “I hope my rash is cleared up by then,” Selena moaned.

  “I’m not even sure you should do the play,” Jake whispered.

  “What? Are you serious?” Selena cried.

  “I agree with Jake,” Katy said somberly.

  “But don’t you get it?” Selena argued. “That’s what he wants me to do—quit the play. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction.”

  “I wish we knew who it was,” Katy sighed.

  “I know who it is,” Jake declared. “It’s got to be Danny.”

  Selena made a face. “I don’t think so. What makes you so sure?”

  “I don’t want to say yet,” Jake replied. “But I have been doing some checking.”

  Selena stared at him. “What do you mean, checking?”

  “Just asking around, finding things out,” he explained. His eyes burned into hers. “I know how much you want that scholarship. I promise I’ll find out what’s going on.”

  “Thanks,” Selena said sincerely. “But, Jake … I know you’ve been having problems of your own. I don’t want you to worry about me.”

  “Hey,” he said, giving her a grin. “What are friends for?”

  Selena glanced impatiently at the clock. She could barely wait for the last bell to ring. Her history teacher droned on and on. All she could think about was her conversation with Katy and Jake.

  Why was Jake so certain that Danny was the stalker? He had seemed almost happy about it. What did Jake know? Did he know something for sure?

  “Selena? You okay?” Katy whispered.

  Selena glanced over at her friend. Katy sat next to Selena in the back row of the classroom. Selena nodded and picked up her pen to take notes.

  But as soon as Katy looked away, Selena’s mind returned to Jake and Danny.

  Jake might be fooling himself, Selena thought unhappily. He wants Danny to be the stalker. He doesn’t know for sure.

  She gnawed on her pen. I appreciate Jake trying to help me. But I should try to find the creep myself. I can’t let Jake do my dirty work.

  Selena saw Katy staring at her again. Quickly she began taking notes to cover her nervousness.

  Maybe there’s some kind of clue in the stage area, she thought. Something that will show me who the stalker is.

  The final bell rang, making Selena jump.

  She knew what she had to do.

  Why didn’t I do this weeks ago? she wondered as she rushed out of the classroom. She was halfway to the auditorium when Katy caught up to her.

  “Selena, wait!” she called. “Want a ride home?”

  “Thanks, Katy,” Selena replied. “But I’ve got something to do first. I’ll catch the bus later.”

  “Sure? I don’t mind waiting.”

  Selena hesitated. Should she tell Katy where she was going? She felt funny about what she planned to do. Snooping around other people’s stuff …

  “You go ahead,” she told Katy.

  Selena made sure no one saw her as she entered the auditorium. I’m not snooping, she told herself. I’m just protecting myself.

  She climbed onto the stage and searched around. Everything appeared normal. She crossed to where the curtain ropes were tied. Again, she saw nothing unusual.

  Selena sighed. She pulled open the backstage door and hurried to the locker room. This was where cast and crew members kept their personal things. This was where she might find something—anything—that would lead her to the creep who had been threatening her.

  She glanced around. Except for a pile of costumes and props on the table in the corner, the room stood empty. The battered metal lockers were never locked. Selena edged toward them.

  She opened her own locker first, and found it empty except for a white hair band she thought she had lost. She picked it up and absently placed it in her pocket.

  Then she opened the next locker, which belonged to Alison. Empty.

  “This is ridiculous,” Selena told herself aloud. “I don’t even know what I’m looking for.”

  She opened two more lockers at random, then quickly shut them. None of them contained anything except a few items of clothing.

  Selena crossed the room and peered at the cast bulletin board. Her eye fell on the list of locker assignments tacked to one corner. She quickly scanned the list, then returned to the row of lockers.

  She knew why she had really come here. She wanted to look inside Danny’s locker. She had no proof that he was the stalker. But she hadn’t been able to think of anyone else. And Jake kept saying it must be Danny.

  Selena simply had to know.

  Locker number 111.

  Selena stared at it for a moment, feeling guilty. She took a deep breath, then quickly yanked the door open.

  At first she thought the locker was empty. She started to slam the door shut again.

  But then she saw something stuck in the back of the locker. A small, shiny square of paper. Selena reached for it. Examined it.

  And uttered a low cry as she realized what she held.

  A page of stickers.

  Most of the page had been peeled away. But at the
bottom she saw at least a dozen orange suns.

  Selena stared down at the stickers, feeling sick.

  Danny.

  Danny was the one, after all.

  Danny. Danny. Danny.

  To think she had once been so close with him. She had been so crazy about him.

  She stepped back. Her legs felt rubbery. Her mouth suddenly felt dry.

  She read the number again. Locker number 111. Danny’s locker.

  Selena gripped the stickers tightly in her hand. Her heart raced.

  Don’t jump to conclusions, she told herself. Make sure you have the right person.

  She returned to the bulletin board to double-check the locker number. She quickly scanned the names. There it was: Danny Morris—number 112.

  Huh?

  112?

  No!

  No! She had opened locker number 111!

  Selena returned to the list. The columns of numbers made her dizzy. She used her finger to draw a line from number 111.

  Carefully she ran her finger across the wrinkled paper.

  And gasped as she read the correct name.

  She read the name again. Then once more.

  She couldn’t make herself believe it.

  Locker 111 belonged to Jake. Jake Jacoby.

  Jake was the stalker. The Sun.

  20

  Selena stared at the sheet of stickers, then back at the list of lockers. No mistake. The stickers had been in Jake’s locker.

  She felt numb. Could it be true?

  She had known Jake her whole life. They’d been good friends since kindergarten. How could Jake have written those terrible notes? How could he threaten her?

  Why would he threaten her?

  Had Jake tried to hurt her? Had he pushed the wardrobe over on Alison? Sent the spotlights plunging down? Tried to run her down in that dark Taurus?

  No! a part of Selena screamed. No, no, no!

  Jake could never do those things. He could never hurt her. He could never hurt anyone.

  But then, why were the stickers in his locker?

  If it is Jake, she realized, then I don’t know him at all. He’s sick. Very, very sick.

  She jammed the stickers into her backpack. With a shudder, she hurried out the stage door, into the parking lot behind the school.

  The sky had darkened. Selena glanced at her watch and saw that she had spent more time backstage than she’d thought. The last bus had long since left.

  Oh, well, she thought. I’ll walk home. It was a long walk, but it would give her a chance to think.

  As she hurried along Park Drive, she tried to decide what to do.

  Why was Jake doing these things to her?

  She thought about his attitude toward Danny. Was Jake jealous of Danny? Was Jake jealous of what Danny had meant to Selena?

  If Jake wanted to go out with me, why didn’t he just ask me?

  It didn’t make sense. She knew she had to confront him.

  He’ll have an explanation, she told herself. Maybe there’s a perfectly logical reason for the sun stickers in his locker.

  Right. And maybe there’s really an Easter Bunny.

  By the time Selena reached home, she knew what to do. She planned to call Jake and tell him what she had found. She would demand an explanation—and he would give her one.

  Simple. She hoped.

  Selena dumped her backpack on the bed and reached for the phone. It rang before she picked it up. Selena jumped in surprise.

  “Hello?” she asked sharply.

  “Hi, Selena,” Katy chirped. “What’s up?”

  “Oh, Katy,” Selena moaned.

  “Selena?” Katy cried. “What’s wrong?”

  “Remember when you and I and—and Jake—were talking about the stalker? And Jake said he was going to prove it was Danny?”

  “Yeah?” Katy prompted.

  “Well, I felt bad that Jake kept worrying about me. So I decided to snoop around myself.”

  “And?” Katy asked.

  “And I … I went backstage after school,” Selena recounted. “I searched through the lockers. And I found a sheet of sun stickers!”

  Katy gasped. “Like the ones that were on the notes?”

  “Exactly like them,” Selena confirmed. “And about half of the stickers are missing.”

  “Wow,” Katy breathed. “That proves it’s Danny!”

  “It’s not Danny,” Selena almost sobbed. “I didn’t find them in his locker.” She could feel her voice shaking and took a deep breath to steady herself.

  “Well?” Katy demanded. “Whose locker was it?”

  “Jake’s,” Selena choked out. “I found them in Jake’s locker.”

  For a moment Katy didn’t say anything. “No way,” she finally murmured. “I don’t believe it.”

  “Me neither,” Selena agreed. “But it’s true!”

  “Jake wouldn’t do anything like that,” Katy protested. “I mean, he’s always been a joker, but he’s never done anything mean.”

  “There’s only one explanation that makes sense,” Selena decided. “Jake was joking. It was all some kind of goof.”

  “Some goof,” Katy groaned. “Alison ended up in the hospital. I still have a deep bruise from the spotlight bar hitting my arm.”

  “I know,” Selena said. “That’s why it had to be a joke. Jake couldn’t hurt a fly—you know that. Those must have really been accidents. He didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt.”

  “What about the poison ivy?” Katy demanded.

  “Maybe he didn’t know it was poison ivy,” Selena suggested. She sighed. “Pretty lame, huh? I just don’t want it to be Jake.”

  “I know,” Katy replied sincerely. “I don’t either.”

  “In any case, I have to give him a chance to explain, don’t I?” Selena asked.

  “I don’t know.” Katy suddenly sounded frightened. “Before you talk to Jake, maybe you should confide in someone else. Tell Mr. Riordan or maybe the police.”

  “No!” Selena cried. “I don’t want Jake to get in trouble. If he hurt Alison—even by accident—he’ll get kicked out of school! Or even worse. I can’t do that to him!”

  “Selena, anyone can become mentally ill,” Katy argued. “If Jake is sick, you should get him help.”

  “I don’t think he’s sick,” Selena protested. “I think he was kidding!”

  “Think of how moody he’s been lately,” Katy returned. “And how he keeps picking fights with Danny. Maybe he couldn’t hurt anyone before, but you’ve seen him try to hurt Danny.”

  Selena didn’t know what to say. Katy was right—Jake had been acting strangely. And he had definitely started fights with Danny.

  “I still can’t believe—” At that moment Selena heard a call-waiting click on the phone. “Hang on, Katy,” she said.

  Selena clicked to the other line.

  “Selena?” came a familiar voice. “It’s Jake.”

  Selena felt her throat close up. She thought of what Katy had said. What if Jake hadn’t been joking?

  “Selena? Are you there?”

  “Hi, Jake,” she finally managed to choke out.

  “I have to see you,” he said. His voice sounded so urgent. Almost desperate.

  “Okay,” Selena answered. “I need to talk to you, too.”

  “In person,” Jake said breathlessly. “I’ve got to talk to you in person. As soon as possible.”

  Selena’s heart began to race. “Can’t we just talk on the phone?” she asked.

  “No, it’s too complicated,” Jake replied. “Please, Moon? It’s important.”

  “Jake, I know about the stickers,” Selena blurted out.

  “What?”

  “I found them, Jake. In your locker backstage.”

  She heard a sigh on the other end of the line. “I can explain that,” he told her. “I found out the truth about the stalker, Selena. I’m at school now. Can you meet me in the auditorium?”

  “Jake, why can’t you tell me ov
er the—”

  “No!” he interrupted. “I have to show you some things. Meet me here, Selena. Right away.”

  “But, Jake—”

  “I’ll wait for you,” he said.

  She heard a hollow click as he hung up.

  She clicked back to the other line. “Katy?”

  “What’s wrong?” Katy asked immediately. “You sound upset.”

  “It was Jake,” Selena murmured. “He wants me to meet him at school. Will you come with me?”

  “You mean now?”

  “Yes.”

  “Sure,” Katy agreed. “I’ll pick you up in ten minutes.”

  “Thanks,” Selena breathed, hanging up the phone.

  She quickly drank a glass of cold water from the refrigerator. Then she slipped on her jacket and waited for Katy to arrive. She was staring out the front window when the phone rang again.

  “Selena?” It was Katy. “I’m really sorry, but I can’t come. I forgot. My mom took my car while hers is in the shop. She’s not home. And I promised to stay home and wait for a package to be delivered.”

  “That’s okay,” Selena replied, trying to hide her disappointment. “I can take the bus.”

  “I feel terrible.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I can handle Jake.”

  “Well, okay,” Katy agreed reluctantly. “Call me as soon as you get home.”

  “I will. Don’t worry. Jake says he can explain. Everything will be fine.”

  Selena tried to stay calm on the bus ride back to school. She took deep breaths, watched the cars and shops outside, and did her best to keep her mind distracted.

  It didn’t work. She couldn’t stop thinking about the stickers. About the threats. About Jake.

  He had been so insistent on the phone. So insistent about meeting her in person. Was it really because he wanted to show her something?

  Or was it because he wanted to try to hurt her again?

  Selena leaned her head against the bus window and pictured Jake’s horrible fight with Danny. Maybe I should have paid more attention to the way he’s been acting, she thought. I should have been a better friend, given him more attention.

  She glanced nervously at her watch. The bus pulled up across the street from the high school, and Selena hopped off.

  It was a cold, moonless night, and she shivered, pulling her jacket tighter.