The end to the boarding school story is finally here! Read Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV first.
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If there’s one thing I’m sure of tonight, it’s that she’s lying, thought Duckie.
“Well, you seem in a hurry to cut the evening short. I just wanted to make sure it was nothing I did to make you feel uncomfortable or unpleasant or said or—”
Bex stopped in her tracks and whirled on her heel to face him.
“The evening was excellent, except on one account” Duckie raised his eyebrows. “You never taught me how to tie that tie.”
Duckie smiled. “I have it on good authority that my roommate will be gone for the next few hours.” Bex’s smile widened, and this time, her eyes joined in. “Just a second.” He pulled out his phone and called Ted.
“Oi, make yourself scarce…. Yeah til curfew, I guess? I owe you big time, thanks man.” Bex laughed.
“Your place it is.” She waited for him to take the few steps he needed to catch up with her, and they walked together.
So she wanted to go back to the house… to go back to his room? That makes no sense. I mean, for any other girl in any other circumstance, it made sense. But even then, what was the rush? This was the nicest evening of the summer so far. He could think of nothing more romantic than taking her hand and walking slowly back home…
He shook his head again. Focus. Think about how this has to do with the map. Even then, what was the rush to go back to the House? Wasn’t the point of this dinner to distract him? And wouldn’t it be better to do it further from the House?
Duckie glanced over at Bex. There’s something here that I’m missing, thought Duckie. Something I’m not seeing. He wasn’t sure what the something was, just that it felt like cold sweats and a kick in the stomach. Kendra’s words echoed in his head:
“I don’t care what that something is as long as you’re in control of the situation—not her. I won’t have you losing our family legacy over some girl.”
He let out a deep exhale. As long as Kendra wasn’t caught, everything was fine. They could head back to the house, and Duckie could do his best to stop Bex from entering her room until he got the all-clear from Kendra.
“Tell me more about your summers in California,” Bex asked. As he told her about surfing in Manhattan and hiking in Mammoth, their hands brushed together two more times. This time, Duckie had nothing to do with it.
Before he knew it, they reached the Phoenix House door. Duckie held it open for Bex, half-expecting to see Laila sitting in the common room, scowling at them.
But she was probably up to her own schemes tonight.
Bex gestured for Duckie to lead the way. He grabbed her hand and they all but glid down the hallway to where the boys’ rooms were. When they got to his door, he looked at Bex. Her face was still tinged red. Was there any real possibility that she was leading him into some sort of trap?
The possibility that she was falling for him while trying to trick him didn’t escape him. The Duckworth charm was irresistible. Even Laila fell for it in her own kind of way.
“Hey,” Bex said, as he reached for the doorknob. “I, um, had a great time tonight,”
“Well, the fun’s just beginning,” Duckie said with a grin. “We’ll start with the Kelvin knot, then move to the half-Windsor. Standard 101 stuff,”
“Yes, I’m very much looking forward to the tie tutorial,” Bex said dryly. “But before we begin, I just wanted to apologise for being so… You know…”
“Difficult? Abrasive? Belligerent?”
Bex frowned. “I was going to say disagreeable”
“That works too,”
“Anyways, I hope we can start again?” she said with a smile. Up until now, he had a feeling that Bex may have been faking her behaviour on this date.
But an apology from Bex?
Now he was sure he was being manipulated.
“I accept your apology,” Duckie replied, opening his bedroom door for Bex and leading her inside.
Back in the supply closet, Bex and Duckie thought back over that evening.
“I also had a good time,” Bex said. Duckie looked at her pointedly. “No, Duckie, I genuinely had a good time.” She paused. “Before we were trapped here, obviously”
“And you apologising to me right outside my door, right before you tricked me and got us both locked in this closet. Was that genuine too?”
Bex pressed her lips together.
“Of course it was. I think we’d get on well as friends and maybe I shouldn’t have been so quick to judge you a slimy bastard when we first met.”
“Friends, huh?”
“Well, I meant some of what I said in the common room. Anything but friends and I’ll live to regret it. And once you close the door on friends, you can never open it again.”
Duckie snorted. “That’s ridiculous. I’ve opened that door many times.”
“I’d want to keep it shut,” Bex said plainly.
“Look around, Bex! The door’s already closed. Who knows if it will ever open again?”
Bex thought back to earlier that evening. They stood in Duckie’s room with school-issued neckties around their shoulders. She could feel her heart racing and palms sweating. It was now or never.
“I have to use the washroom,” she said, and all but dashed out of there. Time was running out: It was now the entrance to the map was right near the boys’ bathroom. She hadn’t heard from Laila since her roommate went through the same entrance almost two hours ago, and she didn’t want to wait any longer to find her.
She reached the wall and found the lamp that contained the switch that opened the panel—
“Aha!” Bex spun around and saw Duckie staring at her. The panel door cracked ajar.
“Allow me,” Duckie said, pushing the door in, stepping into the room, and inviting her inside.
“Such a gentleman,” Bex said through gritted teeth.
“So you thought you could get away with it?”
“Duckie, I—”
“Listen,” he said, letting go of the door and pointing a finger straight at her. The door creaked back over to its original place and shut with a thud.
“Duckie, you shouldn’t have done that”
“It’s MY family’s—”
“No. Shut up—the door. There’s no handle. We’re trapped.”
That was a little over an hour ago.
“I guess it was your fault that the door was closed. Funny how things turn out.”
Duckie made a face. Bex got up and placed a palm on the block of wood that trapped them inside the closet.
“The door is closed,” she said with a whisper. The room suddenly seemed so small. She exhaled and ran her fingers through her hair. “We might die here,” she continued slowly.
“You’re not thinking about eating me, are you?” Duckie replied, half joking. Bex glared at him. Her breathing became increasingly laboured. She slid down to the floor and held her head in her hands.
“I just—I need some air,” Duckie looked at her. He considered saying something snide, but decided against it. Choked sobs erupted from her body in the corner. This was the last thing that Duckie expected; but thanks to Kendra, he knew that was when panic attacks typically struck.
“Bex, I…” he struggled with what to say. When something like this happens, how do you support someone you barely know? Doing it for your twin sister was hard enough. Doing it for a fake date? A new friend? He was unsure about where they landed regarding the whole “starting over” situation.
“You don’t have to—” she said in between large gasps of air. “I—it’s just all falling apart.” Just as she said that, Duckie heard a faint thud above them. “It’s all ca—caving in and we’re stuck.” The thud got louder. “This happens every once in awhile, but I’ve never felt the sounds like this bef—”
Another BOOM interrupted her. Crumbles of the ceiling began to fall around them.
“Bex, this isn’t just in your head,” Duckie said, looking up at the ceiling. “Something’s happening…” The chunks falling from the ceiling got bigger and bigger. Bex looked up at the gaping hole in the middle of the ceiling. She used her sweater sleeve to wipe the snot from her nose and closed her eyes, trying to regulate her breathing back to normal like she practised.
When she opened her eyes, she saw a dusty black high-top sneaker appear through the rubble. Followed by another. Laila jumped down, holding a rope. Kendra was holding the other end. Bex could tell from the creaking that the ceiling wouldn’t hold for much longer: Duckie rushed up to climb the rope, using the shelves around him for support. Bex and Laila faced each other.
“We’re getting you out of here,” Laila said gently. “Kendra and I… we have so much to show you.” Bex’s brain was almost back to normal, but her body was still in a state of panic. She nodded slowly.
“Did you find where the map leads?” Bex asked, wiping her face with her other sweater sleeve. The ceiling creaked precariously, and Duckie and Kendra took a few steps back.
“Yes,” Laila said, grabbing Bex’s hand. “And I know you’re still coming to, but believe me, it’s worth it.” Some more rubble fell around them, and Kendra threw down the rope again. “But we have to hurry.”
Bex climbed slowly, mirroring Duckie’s movements to scramble up the shelves. Laila followed behind and grabbed the extra torch. Kendra helped them up into the ceiling hole, which must’ve been part of Phoenix House’s attic.
They twisted and turned through a musty stairwell, lit only by the three torches carried amongst the four of them. Bex kept an iron grip on Laila’s hand and continued to breathe deeply, reminding herself that they were going to make it out of here.
After twenty minutes of walking up and down stairs, they somehow ended up underground. The ground was completely level now. Laila and Kendra led the others down a dark and progressively narrowing passageway.
It opened in a place that was outside, but not above ground. The foursome was faced with a giant maze.
Laila turned to Bex and Duckie and said, breathlessly:
“Welcome to the Labyrinth of Daedalus”
Fin.
This Week’s Top 3
- “Murder on the Dancefloor” 🪩 – End credits to Saltburn.
- The Boy and the Heron 🕊 – New Miyazaki. Can’t miss.
- Desi Crate Diggin’ 🎙 – cool spotify playlist I found