Scheduled for Friday
by Anton M.

50: A Visitor

I slid the envelope between my books and the side of the locker. Feeling light-headed, I sat on the floor. I didn't faint or fall, nothing dramatic, I just needed to sit, but no sooner had I done that than Edward jogged through the hallway and rushed to my side. I almost laughed. He crouched, unzipped his backpack, pulled off the top of salted nuts and held out my palm to pour some on it.

"Eat," he said, no doubt thinking I'd had a bout of low blood pressure.

Melting at the thought that he'd remembered to keep a baggie of salted nuts in his backpack for me, I ate his peanuts. It did help quiet the blood rushing in my ears as I began to consider my options.

Even if Emmett had started to drive back from his security conference in Nashville, he'd take four hours to get back to Atlanta. Mom's three-hour event for simultaneous interpreting of Mandarin to English had just began, and dad rarely picked up his phone during work. It was just too windy on suspension scaffolds. What should I do? I hadn't used my locker since lunch on Tuesday, so my coat could've been in here for two days. Was this urgent if the coat had been here for so long?

But what if this was planned and whoever it was wanted me to see this when my parents and Emmett were all unavailable? That was a creepy thought.

And why wouldn't they just reveal it if they already knew I was Nala?

I wiped my hands before Edward helped me stand. Steadying me with his arms, he studied my face.

"You don't look so good." Edward frowned and held me against him. "Do you want me to take you home?"

Shaking my head, I opened my locker and gave him a full view of the coat inside.

Edward's eyes widened.

"You found your coat?"

"No," I replied quietly, all too aware of students passing even if there weren't many. "Someone put it in my locker."

Edward hesitated. "You think a student stole it and returned it without wanting to admit they did it?"

"I would, but…" Feeling cold, I crossed my arms, unwilling to show him the contents of the envelope but equally unwilling to keep it from him. "They left a note," I admitted. "I can't show it to you, but… they know something about me they shouldn't."

Edward's grip tightened around my shoulders. His gaze fell on the envelope on the side, and I wouldn't have stopped him from reading it had he reached for it, but Edward was much too respectful to do that.

"Are they threatening you?" he whispered, straight into my ear, voice laced with concern.

"No," I said. "That's the thing. They're not asking for anything. There's no demands, no nothing. It's like someone's almost—messing with me? But why even return the coat? It's like their only goal is to freak me out. I just, I don't understand."

Edward pressed me against his side. His body felt tense but his lips against my hairline were as tender as ever.

"That's creepy as fuck," he replied, no doubt full of questions he didn't voice. "Do you think it's your stalker who took it? Do you think it's a student or faculty?"

"I don't know, but… it's becoming more likely."

"I'll call Emmett if you call your parents."

"There's no use. Emmett's in Nashville, and my parents, I mean, mom's on stage at that simultaneous interpreting event and my dad's gone until six, remember? You and I were supposed to go back to our place after school."

Edward pulled his head away to look in my eyes. "I don't like this, baby," he muttered. "The backup number Emmett gave us for his colleague, should we use it? He did give it for emergencies."

"Is this an emergency, though? What if it's been here for two days? And there's no threats. It's just someone trying to freak me out, but why?"

"I don't know but I don't like it. It's too convenient, having all your support gone when this happens."

"I'll message them all in my next class." I couldn't tell if the schoolhouse suddenly felt cold or if I was freaking out because I agreed with Edward—it was all too convenient. "Can you stay with me for the rest of the day? Take me to and from class and stuff like that? I only have World Literature and Comp before the assembly, but—"

"Fuck yes. Please don't go anywhere with anyone alone, okay? You promise?"

"I promise," I whispered, almost jumping out of my skin when the bell began to ring. "But how did they even get into my locker?"

"It's a combination dial padlock. It's insanely easy to break into. Jasper and I used to—" Edward stopped himself. "You can figure out the code in minutes if you know what to do."

"You think it's Jasper?"

Edward laughed but it died quickly. "No. I mean, the coat thing I could believe of him, he'd probably consider it a funny joke, but… the guy who took photos of us at the bowling alley wasn't him, and Jasper would have it all over his face if he was trying to prank you. I'll ask him, but I'd be amazed if it was him."

"Me, too."

Seeing our custodian Mr. Rivers leave the storage room, I invited him over, but he told us that no students or teachers had asked him to open my locker, so that was a bit of a dead end—and did it even matter if these padlocks were as easy to open as Edward claimed?

We jogged to the second floor through the near-empty hallways to my classroom. Edward gave me a quick kiss and made me promise to only walk in the hallways with him or Alice, and I slipped into class with lots of apologies before I hid my phone behind my pencil case and messaged Emmett, mom and dad.

It didn't surprise me when none of them replied.

I didn't leave Alice's side until Edward joined us by the front door as the entire school left for the assembly in the gym. Visibly relieved, Edward slid his palm in mine and guided me slightly away from Alice.

"I don't know why the person timed this to match the absence of your parents and Emmett, but I don't like it." He shook his head, casting me a worried glance, repeating, "I don't like it."

Neither did I. We were both a little bit on the edge during my first assembly as we listened to speeches about our sports teams and updates about the faculty, and, just like Jasper had said, Edward could barely rest his butt next to mine before he had to go to the principal for yet another award. I whooped and clapped for my brainiac boyfriend almost louder than Jasper, but, still, in the back of my mind, I had this surreal premonition, like someone had gone through great lengths to take advantage of the absence of my parents and Emmett.

My fears felt unfounded when the assembly was dispersed and students flocked out of the front doors of the gym. Edward, equally relieved, held my hand not to lose me in the crowd as we exited the gym, but students didn't seem to be returning to the schoolhouse.

A shiny black Cadillac had pulled up to the curb in front of our school. A muscled black man in sunglasses leaned against it. Two bodyguards stood on either side of him, one on the phone and the other one assessing the crowd.

Blood drained from my face as I recognized the man, and I was only convinced that my eyes weren't deceiving me because the shock of his presence paralyzed the crowd. Gasping, whispering, and phones leaving pockets surrounded us as students began to realize who the man was. A swarm of people rushed closer. Edward bumped against me when I stopped walking. Stupefied, I squeezed his hand.

"Is that—"

"Garrett?"

"Holy shit."

"Holy motherfucker." Jasper gaped, his jaw dropping with comic effect. "Garrett fucking Kamwanga is in front of our school," he whispered in awe. "What the fuck."

Garrett wore shiny shoes, dark-washed jeans, and a black, perfectly-fitted leather jacket over a white T-shirt. Observing the crowd, he took off his sunglasses and crossed his arms, revealing a shiny brand-name watch. He had a trimmed beard. His eyes were as dark as mine, with wide eyebrows, and his otherwise open, amiable expression was tight and impatient if not slightly irritated. Garrett assessed the phone-holding, petrified-but-in-awe throng with an almost impressive disinterest until students stopped moving, unable to or too scared to pass his bodyguards.

"Garrett!" students shouted, holding up their phone cameras. "Garrett! Is that really you? What are you doing here?!"

He didn't acknowledge the questions. Instead, he pressed his phone against his ear. When mine began buzzing in Edward's hoodie pocket (my dress didn't have pockets), Edward turned his head, locking eyes with me, his face a mixture of disbelief and awe, no doubt putting together the haphazard pieces of my biological father that I'd given him. He searched my eyes as if daring me to contradict what he suspected, but I only squeezed his hand tighter.

"Don't leave me," I whispered, daunted by Garrett's presence. Was he behind the coat?

But how would that make any sense? It made no sense at all.

Edward handed me my phone before we both stared at it buzzing in my palm. Why the fuck was he here? Did he know about me? Did Tanya send him? Was he here because of tomorrow? Had he planned to be here?

But why would he do this so publicly? I didn't think he was stupid, but it felt like it.

Meanwhile, Lauren had gathered enough courage to step closer to the man. I barely made out her polite request to get an autograph, but I did not need to be closer to see Garrett cast a look of distaste at her before he pocketed his phone, folded his sunglasses and hooked them on his shirt.

"Didn't think you'd want an autograph from an inferior race, Lauren," Garrett replied, giving her an insincere smile, dismissing her.

Students gasped, cursed and laughed in disbelief, and if anyone in school had remained blissfully unaware of Lauren's opinions until now, they could no longer deny them.

Lauren flushed right down to her bones but seemed incapable of moving in the knowledge that Garrett knew her name. He fucking knew her name.

"You're old enough to start questioning the opinions you grew up with. Regardless, I'm not here to give autographs," Garrett continued as if he hadn't just brutally murdered the girl with words. "I'm here to pick up my daughter."

My heart might've stopped beating.

He knew. He fucking knew.

"Your daughter?" a senior questioned. "Your daughter goes to Willie W. Smith?"

"She does," Garrett replied with a small smile. "I think you can see why I don't pick her up often, given the—" He motioned at the gaping crowd, phones out, like a mass of zombies trying to get a better camera angle for their photos and videos. "Ah, I see her boyfriend. You may want to return to your next lesson. The SATs don't write themselves."

Nobody listened to him.

The crowd parted like the red fucking sea when Garrett caught sight of Edward's head above the others and began to walk toward us like this happened every day. Casually, like we knew each other. Too scared to breathe, I gripped Edward's palm so tightly in mine that I was cutting off his blood flow.

Our eyes met. Garrett didn't look upset, just resolute and determined, and it was wild, wild that he was here. It was insane to see my little quirks in his expressions, and it took all my acting skills not to show how blown away I was by his presence because, yes, everything I'd heard him say made me feel like he wanted me to pretend to know him. A part of me wanted to refuse and run, but something in his gaze prevented me. So instead, I said,

"Hi Garrett," casually, like seeing him was an ordinary occurrence.

Garrett and his bodyguards stopped in front of me, and his smile was almost gentle when he replied, "Hi, Bella."

He hugged me.

"Happy birthday," he whispered, his voice near-imperceptible against my ear. "Play along. I'll explain."