Secret Admirer Page 8

  She glanced around the side of the school. A few teachers’ cars were still in the teachers’ parking lot. No sign of anyone else.

  The auditorium was in the back of the big old building. Lights near the office told her that the custodian was working in the front part of the school.

  The stage door was propped open with a brick. There didn’t seem to be any light inside.

  If only Katy could have come with me, Selena thought.

  There was no putting it off. She had to go in. Jake’s my friend, she told herself. One of my oldest friends in the world. There’s no way he’d hurt me. No way.

  She felt around on the wall until she found the backstage light, and switched it on. “Jake?” she called. “Jake, are you here?”

  No answer. Just the echo of her voice off the auditorium walls.

  Maybe he’s not even here, she thought suddenly. Maybe this is another joke. I bet he’s sitting at home laughing, wondering how long I’ll wait for him.

  “Jake?” she called again, more loudly this time.

  Still no answer.

  Selena began to relax.

  She moved out to the auditorium and switched on the houselights. All the seats were empty.

  “Very funny, Jake,” she said aloud. “You’re a real riot.”

  She returned to the stage. Someone had left a script on a stool by the stage door.

  She picked it up and glanced at the name scrawled across the top. Jake’s name.

  Jake’s script.

  He did come here, Selena realized. Was he still somewhere in the auditorium? Was this part of a trap?

  All of Selena’s fears rushed back into her mind. “Jake?” she called again. “Where are you?”

  She glanced around the stage area, but saw only props and folded clothes.

  Maybe he’s in the locker room, she thought. She crossed to the backstage door and poked her head through. The locker room appeared empty.

  He must have left his script here earlier this afternoon, Selena thought. She didn’t really care anymore. She only wanted to get home. Only wanted to forget about this strange day.

  She returned to the door and was about to switch the lights off when something caught her eye.

  A bundle of clothes piled beneath the ladder to the catwalk.

  That’s odd, Selena thought. Who left a costume on the floor?

  Puzzled, she stepped forward to take a closer look.

  Selena’s breath caught in her throat.

  The clothes didn’t look right. A costume wouldn’t lie so stiffly.

  And she saw sneakers. And jeans.

  Not a costume, Selena realized. Not a costume.

  A person.

  A person, crumpled in a heap. Crumpled on the stage.

  Arms bent under the body. Head snapped to the side. One leg pointed at an impossible angle.

  A body like a fallen marionette.

  Glassy puppet eyes staring up at her.

  “Jake?”

  The name escaped her lips in a whisper.

  “Jake?”

  21

  “He fell off the catwalk,” Selena uttered, feeling numb. Feeling dazed. As if the words she spoke into the phone receiver had no meaning, made no sense. “He broke his neck. The police said it was an accident.”

  “I just can’t believe it!” Katy’s voice trembled on the other end of the line. “What was Jake doing up on the catwalk?”

  “No one knows,” Selena replied. Then she added in a whisper: “No one will ever know.”

  She shuddered as she remembered the way Jake’s blank, lifeless eyes had stared up at her. She remembered screaming and tearing at her hair. For how long? She didn’t know. The school custodian found her slumped against the wall near Jake’s body.

  “Oh, Selena.” Katy sighed, “I feel so bad. I’m sorry I wasn’t with you when you found him. I still can’t believe …” Katy’s voice trailed off. She let out a sob.

  “I—I can’t talk anymore,” Selena choked out. “I had to call you, Katy. I know it’s really late. The police kept me there for hours.”

  “I don’t care what time it is,” Katy cried. “Is your mom home?”

  “No. She’s at work. I’ll tell her when she gets home. She’ll be very upset, too.”

  “I’ll come over if you want,” Katy offered. “I don’t think you should be alone.”

  “I want to be alone,” Selena answered. “Thanks anyway.”

  Katy’s voice came out tiny and soft, like a little girl’s. “You sure?”

  “Yeah. Thanks. Good night.”

  “See you tomorrow,” Katy replied in a whisper.

  Selena hung up the phone and stared at the receiver. Will my life ever be normal again? she wondered. Will I ever get used to Jake not being around?

  At least I don’t have to be afraid anymore, she thought.

  The stalker is dead.

  Jake. Jake. Jake. His name repeated in her mind until it became a meaningless chant.

  Jake, why did you threaten me?

  Jake, why did you hate me so much?

  Play rehearsals were postponed till the end of the week. Selena stayed home from school most of the next week. Her mom wanted her to get over the shock instead of pretending that everything was normal. As Selena entered the auditorium on Friday afternoon, she felt strange, almost as if she were an intruder.

  What’s wrong with me? she wondered. The stage is where I belong. Why don’t I feel comfortable here?

  She sensed that everyone else felt strange, too. Even Danny acted less obnoxious than usual. “Hey, Selena,” he said gently. “I’m sorry about Jake. I know how close you were.”

  “Thanks, Danny,” Selena murmured.

  “How are you feeling?” Katy asked sympathetically.

  “I feel so sad, Katy,” Selena replied. “I still can’t believe that Jake wanted to hurt me. I wish … I wish I had a chance to talk to him before … the accident.”

  “I know,” Katy agreed. “I keep thinking of when we were little. Remember that old tree house in Jake’s yard? We were such good friends then. Nothing ever came between us.”

  “That was fun,” Selena replied. “I always had the best times in my life with you and Jake.”

  “Places, everyone!” Mr. Riordan called.

  When all the cast members had gathered, he cleared his throat and stared gravely at them. “Our theater family has suffered a terrible tragedy,” he announced dramatically. “We’ll all miss Jake. But—as Jake himself would have agreed—the show must go on!”

  Is that all there is to it? Selena wondered. Does the show really have to go on—no matter what happens?

  Mr. Riordan directed them to begin. Selena took a deep breath and prepared to speak her lines.

  But it didn’t seem to work. When Danny uttered Romeo’s words, she saw Jake’s face. When the boy who had taken Jake’s role spoke his lines, Selena imagined Jake in his place.

  During a break, she wandered backstage. She wondered why Eddy hadn’t come to rehearsal today.

  Selena had only spoken to him once since Jake’s death. She hadn’t told him that Jake was the stalker.

  She couldn’t bear to think about it.

  Katy sat backstage on a prop table, looking nearly as glum as Selena felt. “How’s it going?” Katy asked. “What are you doing back here?”

  Selena frowned. “I just can’t get into it.”

  “I know what you mean. I’ve messed up the lighting cues three times. The stage manager is ready to kill me.”

  “I keep thinking the show must go on,” Selena continued. “But I don’t get it. Why should we keep doing the dumb play? Jake is dead! That’s more important than a play. I wish I’d realized that earlier. Maybe Jake would still be alive.”

  “You can’t blame yourself,” Katy replied softly.

  “I can’t help it!” Selena cried. “I understand it now. When Jake wrote those notes, he was trying to get me to stop taking the plays so seriously. They’re all I ever
thought about.”

  Katy nodded. “Maybe so.”

  “I guess he thought if he scared me, I’d give it up. But I didn’t pay attention to him. I should have listened.”

  “Places!” Mr. Riordan called from the front of the auditorium. “Selena? Where is Selena?”

  Selena started toward the curtain. She didn’t know if she would have the strength to finish this rehearsal. Every time she thought of Jake, she wanted to cry. No play is worth dying for, she thought. And no scholarship is worth losing a friend for.

  She stopped and turned back to Katy. “You know what? I’ve made a big decision.”

  22

  “Mr. Riordan,” Selena called, “I need to tell you something. It’s important.”

  The rehearsal had just ended, and the teacher was stuffing his script into a leather briefcase. “Not now, Selena,” he answered, straightening up. “I’m already late.”

  “It won’t take long—” Selena promised.

  “Sorry,” Mr. Riordan called, striding to the door. “Catch me tomorrow morning. You were great tonight, by the way!”

  “But—”

  “See you tomorrow.” With a brusque wave, Mr. Riordan disappeared through the door.

  “Did you tell him? Did you tell him you’re leaving the play?” Katy’s voice startled Selena. She hadn’t heard her friend approach.

  “No,” she answered unhappily. “He was in some kind of a super rush.” Selena ran a shaky hand through her hair. “I can’t stand it, Katy,” she moaned. “I’m so jumpy. I should feel safer now that I know the stalker is gone, right? But everything about this play still feels wrong.”

  “Well, I think you’re doing the right thing,” Katy replied. “Getting out of this play will be good for you. It will take your mind off Jake.”

  “I know,” Selena agreed. “If only Mr. Riordan had let me tell him tonight.”

  “Tell him what?” a voice demanded.

  Selena turned to see Danny standing behind her. Instead of his usual smirk, he wore a concerned expression.

  “Wow. Danny,” Selena said. “I didn’t know you were there.”

  “I saw you two talking, so I thought I’d join you,” he said. “You were excellent tonight, Selena.”

  “Danny, please—” Selena started.

  “No. I mean it,” he insisted. “I thought you were really brave to go on. I mean, after what happened to Jake.”

  “Yeah, right,” Selena muttered.

  “What were you going to tell Mr. Riordan?” Danny demanded.

  “It’s nothing.” Selena lowered her eyes to the floor.

  “Tell him, Selena,” Katy urged. “He’ll find out sooner or later anyway.”

  “I guess so,” Selena agreed. She took a deep breath. “I’m quitting the play,” she announced.

  Danny’s mouth dropped open in surprise. He narrowed his eyes at Selena. “This is a joke, right?” he asked.

  “No,” Selena assured him. “I’m serious. I think it’s what Jake would have wanted.”

  “Are you totally nuts?” Danny exclaimed. “You’re going to quit the play because of an accident?”

  Selena nodded but didn’t reply. To her surprise, her announcement made Danny angry.

  ‘Oh, I get it,” he said unpleasantly. “You just can’t stand it, can you, Selena? You can’t stand not being the center of attention. Since Jake’s accident, everyone is talking about him, not you. So you have to do something to get the attention back to you.”

  Selena gasped. She felt as if he’d slapped her. “What a gross thing to say! You are the crudest, most obnoxious—”

  “It’s the truth!” Danny insisted bitterly.

  “Leave her alone, Danny!” Katy cried.

  “Why should I?” he exploded. “This is so typical! Selena is the star. We can’t have the play without Selena. Selena is upset. Selena is frightened,” Danny ranted. “Well, you know what, Selena? Everyone’s getting a little sick of your selfishness. If you quit, you’ll hurt a lot of people.”

  Selena stared at him, tears in her eyes. She had never expected him to attack her this way. She hadn’t even thought about what would happen if she quit.

  “But you don’t care about the rest of us, do you?” he went on. “All you care about is yourself. What makes you comfortable. What’s important to you. You’ve really changed—”

  “I said leave her alone!” Katy yelled. She tugged at Danny’s jacket.

  But he paid no attention to her. He glared at Selena. “Do you know what will happen if you drop out of the play? It will be cancelled, that’s what! Nobody else can play Juliet but Alison, and she’s still in a neck brace! All of the work the rest of us did will be wasted. All because of you.”

  “Stop it!” Katy yelled. “Can’t you see how bad Selena feels? She wants to quit! It’s not her fault there’s no other Juliet!”

  “What about the other seniors in the play?” Danny continued. “For some of us, it’s the last chance ever to be on stage, Selena. We’re not all going off to acting school, you know.”

  Selena’s head spun. She hadn’t thought about anything except how much she missed Jake.

  She turned to Katy, who stood in front of her like a protective bulldog. “He’s right,” Selena said softly. “I can’t quit the play now. It would hurt too many people. I wasn’t thinking.”

  “But—” Katy started.

  “It’s okay,” Selena assured her. “I can do it. It won’t kill me to do the play.”

  Selena gazed at the glowing numbers on her digital clock. It was 3:02 A.M. She stretched and yawned. Something had awakened her. A noise.

  She listened hard. Silence now.

  She turned over, but her eyes didn’t want to close.

  I’ll have a glass of ice water, she decided. That always helped her relax. She tiptoed downstairs to the kitchen. She drank a few swallows of water from the bottle. She was about to replace it in the refrigerator when something caught her eye.

  Something white.

  In the crack underneath the kitchen door.

  A piece of paper.

  Another note!

  Don’t be ridiculous, Selena scolded herself. This can’t be from the stalker. Jake was the stalker, and he is dead.

  A feeling of dread tightened Selena’s stomach as she bent down to retrieve the note.

  She raised it into the rectangle of light from the open refrigerator.

  Saw the printed letters. And the orange sun sticker at the bottom.

  And knew that the stalker was still alive.

  23

  Dear Selena,

  Surprise!

  You thought you had it all figured out.

  But you were wrong. Dead wrong.

  Jake was wrong, too. That’s why he had to die.

  I’m still watching you. I’ll be in your audience at the dress rehearsal.

  Poor Juliet. She died such a horrible death.

  Poor Selena too.

  The Sun

  Selena turned the note over and over in her hands. She held her breath, waiting for her body to stop trembling.

  Then she shut the kitchen door, fastened the chain latch, locked the bolt, and gazed out into the yard.

  The trees of the Fear Street Woods cast long, slender shadows into her backyard. Was he out there? Was The Sun hiding in the woods somewhere? Watching her?

  She turned away from the window, feeling cold and numb.

  Jake was not The Sun.

  She thought back to the last conversation she’d had with him. It seemed like a hundred years ago.

  “Meet me at the auditorium,” he had told her. “I found out something about The Sun.”

  Whatever he found out had meant his death.

  The Sun had killed Jake.

  The Sun wasn’t joking. He really was a murderer.

  And now he was going to kill Selena.

  I won’t give in to him, she vowed. I’m going to finish this play for Jake. And I’ll find out who The Sun is. I’
ll find out and see that he is caught.

  The Sun had said he’d be watching the dress rehearsal. So Selena decided to watch for him. Maybe he would do something to give himself away.

  I should be scared, Selena thought as she began to button the linen, high-necked blouse of her Juliet costume. But I’m not. I’m too angry to be scared. The Sun is out there. And I’m going to figure out who he is.

  “Selena?” a familiar voice brought her out of her thoughts.

  “Oh, hi, Alison.”

  “How’s it going?” Alison asked. “Need any help with your hair?” Alison wore the black coveralls of a stagehand, her neck brace covered with a dark scarf.

  “I’m almost ready,” Selena replied. “I just need a little more hair spray.”

  “Break a leg,” Alison said softly. “I know how hard this rehearsal must be for you.”

  “Thanks.” Selena smiled. “But the show must go on, right?”

  She finished her hair, then joined Mr. Riordan and some of the others in a corner of the backstage area.

  “We have a good-size audience,” Mr. Riordan told them. “I invited some of the coaches, and most of the football team is here.”

  “You’re kidding!” Katy laughed.

  “It seemed like a good idea,” he replied. “A good way to fill the house in the afternoon.”

  Selena peeked through the curtain. Half of the seats were filled—the biggest audience they’d ever had for a dress rehearsal.

  How am I going to find The Sun? she wondered, studying the faces.

  “Break a leg, Selena,” a husky voice whispered in her ear. She spun around to see Eddy grinning at her, his eyes flashing excitedly.

  “Thanks,” she murmured. “Aren’t you going to watch?”

  “I wish I could,” he told her, his smile fading. “But I have a class this afternoon. I’m sure you’ll do a great job, though.”

  “I wish you could stay,” she told him sincerely. “I’m so nervous.”

  “I know you still feel bad about Jake,” he said. “But you won’t let that affect your performance. You’re too good for that.”

  Selena stared at him. She really didn’t want him to leave. She needed to talk to him. She needed him to be there watching her.