No One's Watching by Sandy Green Page A

Sykes about who had a phone and let her do the dirty work? How far was I willing to go so I could have a few weeks to figure out what to tell Mom about my solo?
    The guy at the desk in the lobby gave us directions. Candace led us behind the cafeteria and down a long corridor. We passed a recreation hall where a TV blared to an empty room. The walls were painted the hideous blue and yellow of the college’s colors. Spirited as a T-shirt, but nightmarish in the small room.
    We turned left after another set of elevators and the strong aroma of bleach hit us in the face as moist air wrapped around us.
    I inhaled. “I could find this place blindfolded.”
    â€œReminds me of swim practice in the summer.” Candace waved her hand in front of her nose. “We had to get up early and the water was so cold.”
    I pushed the door open to the women’s locker room. Rows of benches and lockers lined the room. We slipped off our shorts and shirts and stuffed them in an unused locker with my backpack.
    Candace patted her belly. “I shouldn’t have eaten so much.”
    I slapped a towel over my shoulder. “Ready?”
    She giggled. “I can’t wait to see her face. We should act all surprised.”
    Voices echoed as we approached the exit door to the pool.
    â€œPeople must be swimming. Is the pool open?”
    I shrugged and set my fingers on the door, swinging it open. A diving area was closest to the locker rooms. The L-shaped pool churned with swimmers.
    Candace pointed to the far side. “There’s a door on the other side. Maybe the hot tub is in there.”
    We slapped our way across the pool deck through the puddles and stood in front of a door marked Physical Therapy on its glass window.
    Shelly, the queen, held court in a royal purple bikini the size of a couple of tissues. She and hatless Amy faced us, while three guys faced them. Jupiter’s unmistakable red hair poked out from his two caps. The other two boys’ dark heads barely made it above the rim of the bath. Shelly’s pink bag bunched on a chair against a wall. The roar of the hot tub motor ground away their voices.
    I turned the knob, sucking in my stomach so hard my ribs hurt. We stole in and hung around some chairs. I shivered even though the air was as humid as a rain forest.
    â€œThat’s so messed up.” Jupiter’s words knocked around the hard surfaces of the room and physical therapy equipment.
    â€œSeriously.” Amy nodded. “Like, yeah.”
    Jupiter stretched his arms along the back of the hot tub. “Most of the time when I’m dating a girl, I’m focusing on other girls.”
    â€œWhy?” Shelly closed her eyes and slid into the water until the back of her head rested on the lip.
    He shrugged. “Maybe I’m dating the wrong girl.”
    â€œWho was the last girl you dated?” Amy paddled her hands.
    â€œI don’t remember.” Jupiter laughed. “I think she lives on the street behind me.”
    As we crept closer, Amy raised her gaze. She dropped her jaw, jabbing Shelly in the ribs. Shelly’s face hardened. Her long bangs dangled on either side of her face from her upswept hair.
    â€œIs there room for us?” Candace asked sweetly.
    My stare locked on Shelly’s dark eyes and thin nose. She raised her head. Silence.
    Jupiter adjusted his double caps on his head and scooted over. “There’s always room for more. Especially girls.”
    Laughter erupted from the guys, and they punched each other as Candace and I tiptoed into the hot, bubbling water of the narrow tub.
    Jupiter sat up straight. “Let the Phillies fan in, Dan.”
    â€œDanilo,” he corrected.
    I made a face at Jupiter and maneuvered between Shelly and Danilo, a Filipino-American boy picked to dance a modern solo.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” Amy squeaked at us from the other side of Shelly. Mascara smudged her eyes.
    Candace slid