Investigating Julius Drake by Daisy Harris

Author:Daisy Harris [Harris, Daisy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Published: 2016-06-08T04:00:00+00:00

The Nathan Hale homecoming dance wasn’t that different from the junior high dances I’d been to back in Killeen. Streamers and balloons framed the doors to the darkened gym. A table sat in front, with teachers checking to make sure people weren’t drunk and that everyone paid the five-dollar entry fee. They didn’t seem overly concerned as to whether we attended Nathan Hale.

“This is awesome.” Thea hovered close to my side, brushing against me. “We should go inside.”

“Um . . .” I looked to Julius for some excuse. Not that I feared dancing, but supposedly we were there to investigate Zoe Ward.

He gave Bethany a meaningful glance, and she nodded. “Thea, would you come with me to the bathrooms?”

“Sure,” Thea said. She gave me a friendly quirk of the lips. “We’ll be right back.” The girls took off down a hallway.

Julius knocked my arm. “Let’s go.”

I followed him into the school gym. The decorations were a little weak compared to the ones I’d seen at the high school in my old town, but the sound system’s bass thudded the floors and bounced off the walls. In the dark, people danced. A few couples were on the outskirts, but the middle section of the floor was all girls with the occasional guy friend.

“There. She’s over there.” Julius pointed to the center where a group of exceptionally pretty girls waved their arms.

Watching Zoe Ward, it was hard to imagine her taking the time to have internet relationships with half the Clinton Academy swim team. I wouldn’t say she seemed nice, precisely, but she did appear happy—like she had too much going on to drag at boys’ heartstrings.

“How are we going to talk to her?” If we only had fifteen minutes until Bethany and Thea returned, that didn’t give us much time.

“We’ll figure it out.” Julius danced his way into the crowd.

I followed, though I felt weird dancing with a guy. Granted, there was space between us, so I wasn’t dancing with Julius so much as near him. Still, it was disturbingly arousing to see him move in time with the music. Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised, given his ballet experience, but he was a good dancer.

I, on the other hand, tried not to bump into anyone.

“Okay,” Julius said close to my ear. “Let’s get in with those girls on the edge. They can’t be older than sophomores.”

I saw the ones he was talking about, on the edge of Zoe Ward’s clique.

They let us into their circle easily, smiling and copying Julius’s moves. The track was an older hip-hop song. When one of the girls grabbed my arm and draped it around her, I mimicked what I’d seen in eighties’ music videos my mom forced me to watch sometimes.

As the music changed, Julius murmured, “Zoe’s down to two friends. You dance with the others, and I’ll handle her.”

With Julius’s usual confidence, he managed to sidle up to Zoe Ward. At first, I wondered whether she would remember him, but then she shouted, “Let me guess—you guys are here with your sister?”

“Yes,” Julius said smoothly.

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