Free Wynn in Doubt by Emily Hemmer

do.
    Oliver slows and waits for me to catch up. Out of breath and exhilarated, we walk in companionable silence for a while. When he speaks, his voice is soft and almost wistful. “I love walking around at night. It’s so quiet. No one to bother you, no one expecting anything from you.”
    I know what he means. Before Grams got too old, she had the most amazing garden in her backyard. Rose and lilac bushes, a big white pergola covered in morning glory vines. We’d all get together for brunch on Sunday afternoons, and while everyone else perched on couches and chairs in the family room, I’d go and sit in the iron chair she kept in the center of the garden. It was the only place I could truly escape from my family or my job, even from my thoughts. I loved sitting in that garden. And in a matter of days it will belong to someone else.
    Oliver walks beside me, quiet. I can’t imagine his life. His job requires him to be something different for everyone. Rock star, celebrity, sex symbol . . . And now that he’s home, we want the boy we knew—the one who had us spellbound by his talent and passion to live a big life. He’s probably met a million strangers, each wanting their piece of him. I look over, wanting to ask how that feels, but don’t. I don’t want to be another person needing something from him.
    We arrive at the school and jog past the curved stone entrance.
    “C’mon.” He takes my hand, and we run faster along the front of the building.
    There’s no one around, but we hunch over, doing our best to be sneaky and quiet. We cross the parking lot. The slightly cracked version I stood on when Oliver kissed me is now cobbled and pretty. He releases my hand and asks me to wait, then skims the side of the brick wall and disappears around the corner.
    Crickets and cicadas chirp noisily in the lawn. My heart races a thousand miles a minute. Are we really doing this? Breaking into the school? If we get caught, I’ll never teach in this district again. I scan the parking lot for signs of security. All is quiet, save for the bugs.
    I jump at the sound of a lock turning. It scares me half to death, and I nearly drop my purse as Oliver sticks his head out of the door to my left.
    “Alright, let’s go,” he whispers.
    I squeeze through the half-open door. The corridor is dark. It smells like rubber erasers and clean white paper. Or maybe nostalgia is messing with my senses. “How’d you get in?”
    He holds a finger to his lips, then takes my hand again. “While you were busy acing the SATs, I was mastering the art of skipping class. I have my secrets.” He leads us to the entrance of the girls’ locker room. I hold back.
    “You’re not allowed to go in there,” I mouth.
    He leans close, his mouth inches from my ear. “What makes you think this is my first time?” It’s dark in the hallway, but the look in his eye is unmistakable. You can take the boy out of the high school, but you can’t take the high school out of the boy. His smile reflects my own.
    We creep into the unlit room. He flips on the light. Rows of gym lockers and benches stand across from us.
    “I’ll be right back.” Oliver holds up his hand to signal for me to wait and again disappears.
    I walk between the rows, dragging my fingers against the slotted cubicles. Locker 1091. This spot, this very place, is where I experienced some of my worst teenage moments. Undressing in a room full of girls was nothing new. I shared a bedroom with each of my sisters at one time or another. But having to disrobe in front of girls who’d developed beyond my meager A cups was a daily lesson in agony.
    “Here.”
    The loudness of his voice startles me. He hands me a pair of deep-purple gym shorts and a gray T-shirt with a white Trojan emblazoned across the front.
    He shrugs. “Best I could find on short notice.”
    “Are you sure there’s no one else around?” I’m suddenly very aware of our aloneness.
    “It’s seems totally empty.” His gaze