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“What did he say to you?” Kota asked.
“He... he wanted to know where you touched me,” I said. “He asked if you touched my hips and my breasts.”
Kota stopped dead in the hallway, turning to me. His eyes widened. “He asked that? What did you say?”
“I denied that you did,” I said. “And then he gave me the detention slip and asked me to tell you to go to class.”
Kota frowned. He tugged at my hand again and we walked across the school to my homeroom class.
“Sang,” he said. “Did you get a good look at the inside of his office?”
It was the last thing I was thinking about. “Yes,” I said. “Well part of it.”
“Can you remember what it looked like?” he asked. “Could you draw me a map?”
It was my turn to look confused at him. “What?”
His green eyes took on a strange glaze. “Do me a favor and write down everything you saw in his office, okay? Write out every detail.” He squeezed my hand and let go. “Get in there. I’ll catch up with you at English.”
I turned to ask him why but he was already in a sprint toward his own homeroom. I sighed, not understanding and wondering if this was something for the Academy or if this was his own desire. What would he want with a map of the vice principal’s office?
I thought about how Mr. Blackbourne commanded him to wire the boys who had caused the fighting yesterday. This was way more than figuring out rumors and preventing future fights. The Academy was infiltrating the entire school.
O ne o f U s
North and Luke held my seat for me in homeroom. When the teacher asked where I was, I revealed my detention slip to him. He looked it over, nodded to me and asked me to take a seat.
I fell into my chair, dropping my things at my feet. Luke turned in his desk and I felt North leaning over the top of his behind me.
“Sang baby,” North started, “What--”
“I got detention,” I said.
Luke did a half smirk. “Kota, too?”
I shook my head. It took me a moment to explain it to them. As I was talking, I pulled out a notebook and started scribbling notes to myself to remember what Kota had asked, giving him a detailed description of Mr. McCoy’s office. When I was done with my story, I drew my best variation of a map on the side.
“What’s the vice principal got against you?” North asked. “I know I’ve seen kids nearly fucking in the hallways. No one stops them.”
“I bumped into him a couple of times,” I said, ignoring his last comment. Did he really see that? “He wasn’t happy that Dr. Green helped me at the start of school and I’m pretty sure he and Mr. Hendricks thinks I’m part of your group.”
I didn’t have to look up to know they were exchanging glances above my head.
I was drawing out the keypad in the corner of my paper when the bell rang for the next class. Luke grabbed my violin for me and I grabbed my book bag. I was going to get my violin from him but he grabbed for my hand, too and started tugging me toward the door.
When we were outside and in the hallway, North put an arm around me, his fingers grasping my shoulder. We walked together like that, with Luke’s hand in mine and North on the other side of me. A silence fell over us. I was almost grateful for it. This first week was the worst and needed to end. Feeling them around me, knowing they were there felt so much better. I don’t know how I survived all my other schools alone. What would I have done without them at this one? It made me fearful of the future, of next year when I may not have them around as they would go back to their Academy.
North didn’t let go of me until we were standing outside of the trailer for our first class. He walked off without looking back. Luke let go of my hand to hold open the door. I fell into my seat and Luke sat behind me. Kota filed in shortly after. Kota and Luke shared a silent look over my shoulder, checking in to make sure the other knew what was going on.
I had my notebook out and I was finishing up the keypad. Kota studied what I was doing. He read what I’d written upside down, checking my work on the keypad.
“Why didn’t you put numbers here?” he asked, pointing to the keys that were blank.
“There weren’t any,” I said. “It was smudged off. It looked like an old system.” I sighed, looking over my paper one more time and ripped it from my notebook and handed it to him. “What’s this for?”
He reviewed my work again, analyzing. “Do you remember the name of the security system?”
I thought about it. I held my hand out for the sheet of paper and wrote down the name: E&O Inc.
He nodded and took the paper from me again. “Thanks,” he said.
I was about to ask him again what this was for when Gabriel burst in. He fell into his seat, breathing heavily as if he had been running to get here. “Okay,” he said. “What happened?”
“I got detention,” I said.
“What?” Gabriel asked. “You? Why?”
“Inappropriate touching,” Kota said.
Gabriel blinked at him as the bell rang for the start of class. “Did you get detention?”
“Nope,” Kota said.
“That’s bullshit.”
Kota shot him a look.
“Well, it is,” Gabriel said. His crystal blue eyes danced around the room as if he was trying to come up with something.
Ms. Johnson stood in front of the room. She barely finished roll call when Gabriel shot his hand in the air.
“Yes Mr. Coleman?” Ms. Johnson asked.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” he said. “What would it take to get a detention?” he asked.
Ms. Johnson pushed a finger to her eyebrow. “Pardon?”
“Gabriel,” Kota commanded in a whisper.
Gabriel ignored him. “What would someone have to do to get a detention in this class?”
Ms. Johnson still looked confused. “I suppose if someone started cussing in class, but...”
“Goddamn-shit-motherfucker,” Gabriel spat out. He pressed his index finger to his chin and looked apologetic. “Oh wait, is it one detention for each one or can it just count as a group?”
The class roared with laughter. I pressed my hands to my face, smothering a giggle of my own. What was he doing?
Ms. Johnson’s lips twisted into an almost smirk. “If you wanted a detention that badly, you could have just asked me after class.”
“Oh,” Gabriel said. “Then sorry. I’ll ask you after class.”
My shoulders shook as I giggled, and I folded my arms, pressing my forehead to the desk. I couldn’t look at him. I couldn’t look at any of them.
“Anyone else want detention?” Ms. Johnson asked.
I think she meant the question to be theoretical as the classroom was laughing. I popped my head up. Kota raised his hand expectantly. I looked back to see Luke nearly standing out of his chair and raising his hand.
“Just see me after class,” she said. “No need to cuss.” She looked bewildered, shaking her head as if her students had just gone insane.
“What are you doing?” I whispered to Kota. He ignored me though. I glanced over at Gabriel, who wore the biggest satisfied smirk. He winked at me.
I settled back into my seat, sighing.
I waited for the boys to get their detention slips at the end of class. Kota had to take off immediately after. I wanted to ask him more questions but he quietly shook his head at me. He couldn’t answer me now.
Luke ran off to his next class and Gabriel waited with me for North after class.
Gabriel waved his detention slip in the air like a victory flag at North as he approached. “Oy,” he said.
North grunted. “Not you, too.”
“Not just me,” Gabriel said. “Kota and Luke.”
“Goddammit,” North said. He sighed and gazed at me. “How could you let them do that?”
My eyes popped open and I held my hands up in the air in defeat. “I didn’t let them. They wouldn’t stop. I don’t know what they’re
doing.”
“We’re not letting you go to detention alone, Trouble,” Gabriel said. I shot him a look for the name he called me. I felt like trouble for them enough. He chopped me on the head and winked at me before running off to class.
