VIII.

This was the first time Hanna had ever seen Caleb in the dining hall for lunch — for any meal, really — and judging by the way he surveyed the room, eventually meeting her eyes and approaching her, she could tell that he hadn't come for the food.

Lucas ― who had become something like an eating buddy to Hanna since that first day they'd talked in the dining hall― turned to her with a curious smile. "Care to explain why Caleb Rivers is currently marching his way over here with that determined, steely look on his face?"

Hanna sighed. "Long story. Care to explain how you even know him?"

"Everyone, for better or worse, knows that guy. He fixed my Nintendo 64 for no charge last year and I've considered him an indispensable colleague ever since."

"So you're friends?"

Lucas shook his head sadly. "Only in my wildest hallucinations."

Hanna heard the sound of Caleb's boots on the hardwood dining hall floors before she saw him slide into the seat across from her and Lucas. His hair was wild, unbrushed, and the dark circles under his eyes gave away the fact that he hadn't slept much since she'd seen him last.

That morning. In her dorm.

"Hanna. Can we talk?" he said, his eyes on Lucas.

Picking up on the hint, Lucas cleared his throat. "Oh, would you look at that?" he said. "There's some frozen yogurt. All the way over there. See you guys around."

He grabbed his bag and tray and walked off, leaving Hanna and Caleb to what would be an inevitably awkward conversation.

"We kissed," Caleb began.

Hanna took a sip of juice. "Did we?"

"Don't be like that. I want to talk about it."

"And here I was, hoping we could just forget it happened." Hanna smiled dryly. "I wasn't thinking straight earlier. I was panicking and you were there and things got out of hand. It happens. Nothing to over-analyze here."

"Listen. I might not have a near-perfect GPA like some people, but I'm not an idiot. That kiss meant something to me, Hanna. Don't tell me it didn't mean anything to you."

"Caleb. Spare us both the melodrama. I just want to hit rewind on this whole thing and go back to being strictly business. Me, paying you. You, helping me. Simple." Her voice was stern, but her eyes were pleading. "Can we do that? Please?"

"Fine. Whatever." He frowned. "But just so you know — I don't regret kissing you. We don't have to talk about it. But I'm not going to pretend it didn't happen."

Hanna was working on a comeback when her phone hummed in her shirt pocket. She reached for it just as Caleb's buzzed in his jeans.

They both had the same message sitting in their inboxes.

Nothing says "fun" like a scavenger hunt, don't you think? On your list of things to find: Mike Montgomery. The prize: $10,000 for the first one to find him ... alive.

Good luck and game on. ― A