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I only hesitated because I was worried he might see some Academy things on there, but we hadn’t talked about the Academy in text messages because of the new security precautions. Where was Victor? Was he hiding? He’d say something if this was a bad idea.
I passed my phone over.
Wil held it with two hands and started tapping with his thumb. “I’m putting my phone number in,” he said. “When you get a chance ... I mean if you want to.”
“Okay,” I said.
He passed the phone back, showing me his name in the contacts. Wil Winchester. At the bottom of all the other boys, including Dr. Green and Mr. Blackbourne.
My cheeks must have illuminated then. I only had boy numbers. I don’t know why, but it seemed embarrassing. “Thank you,” I said quietly.
“I should go,” he said, and he started to walk around me and then stopped. Keeping his back to me, he spoke again, “Sang,” he said.
“Yes?”
“If you’re breaking into lockers,” he said, “you only need to smack the dial up and pull at the same time.”
My mouth fell open. “I... I mean...” I couldn’t think of an excuse and my whole body was on fire with embarrassment. He knew?
“They were made in the sixties,” he said, finally turning and meeting my face. “Never been replaced and not that secure. But don’t get caught.”
“I didn’t...” I didn’t want him to think I was stealing. “I was just trying to find out...”
“It’s okay,” he said. There was a small smile on the corner of his mouth. “If you were going to actually steal stuff, I wouldn’t think you’d start in this hallway. No one uses these. Except the drug heads.” He waved shortly and walked away.
My heart wouldn’t stop pounding. I kept my eyes on him until he disappeared down another hall.
Victor materialized beside me. “You trust him?”
“Did you hear?” I asked, still staring at the last spot I saw Wil before he turned the corner. “Do you not trust him?”
“He knew how to break into lockers,” he said. He went to one, staring at the knob. He did a quick shove upward at the lock and yanked at the handle at the same time. Metal against metal scraped together but the door swung open. Quick and painless. “There’s been some locker break-ins recently.”
“In the gym lockers, mostly,” I reminded him. “And those are different.”
“But I bet if he knows how to break into these, he knows how to break into those.”
“He wouldn’t steal,” I said.
Victor stared at me for a moment.
“What?” I asked.
He sighed and shook his head, going back to the locker where I’d shoved the knife in so far that it was stuck. He grabbed the handle, yanking and had to dig his foot into the door and pull to get it to come back out. “Maybe we’ve been at this school for too long,” he said. “I just don’t trust anyone.”
UPROAR
Before the final bell rang, Mr. Blackbourne returned. He said he’d walked around hallways and shortly met up with Mr. Hendricks not too far from where he last saw us. He had to divert him and then go the long way around to meet back up with us.
We let him know about the fragility of the lockers and about Wil.
“Call him,” Mr. Blackbourne said to me. “We could use a few more allies. Let’s find out if he is one.”
I retrieved my book bag from the music room and Victor and I went to history class.
I sat between Victor and North. Mr. Morris collected homework, told us to read a chapter out of the book quietly and answer the questions. When he was done addressing us, he fell into his chair behind his desk. His eyelids drooped. I wondered how late he had been watching Kota. Did he notice Kota going to Nathan’s house, and had he witnessed his father returning? Would this be interesting to Mr. Hendricks?
Victor turned to me discreetly, catching my eyes. He was quietly asking if I was okay. I wondered why he was asking, but maybe he was just checking in. I nodded, and focused on the class work.
Ten minutes later, there was whispering in the corner. I ignored it, assuming someone had a question and was quietly trying to ask someone else for help. Or maybe they were passing notes again. They didn’t normally talk too loud at all. Mr. Morris wanted a quiet classroom.
Movement caught my attention and I glanced up. A girl across the room stood up sharply, squaring off with the boy who was sitting behind her. “Keep your hands off me,” she said.
The boy was wearing an orange jersey, a football player. The guy’s cheeks reddened, but he grinned and reached out, as if trying to grab at her butt. She stepped back.
A boy in the next row over stood. “If she’s saying don’t touch her, stop,” he said.
Mr. Morris stood up. “Everyone needs to keep their hands to themselves,” he shouted at them. “Sit down. John, keep to yourself. I mean it.”
“Not doing anything,” John replied and stared blankly at his desk. His cheeks were red. I’d just witnessed him reaching for her, so I knew he was lying. His book was open to the wrong chapter and he didn’t have a notebook out.
I glanced quickly at Victor, and then to North, but they were both intent on John and the girl, along with everyone else in class.
The girl glared at John, and she started to return to her desk, but the moment she wedged into her seat, John had his hands on her back, reaching forward for her chest. The girl recoiled, standing again and pulling away.
The guy who had stood up before was over the desks in a flash, as were two others who were sitting nearby. They converged on John, pulling him out of his chair as he struggled to resist.
Mr. Morris flew across the room. “Everyone, back up!”
North had stood up, but only watched. Victor remained seated, but his hand was under the desk, holding his cell phone and tapping at it with his thumb. I wondered if he was sending a text or sending a warning through the button on the phone. Maybe he was sending a note to Mr. Blackbourne, updating him about a fight.
The group pulled John down to the floor. “Stop touching girls,” one of them said, pointing a finger at his face.
John was on the floor, his arms covering his stomach. His eyes were wild. I’d never paid attention to the guy before. He was normally so quiet. He never said anything to North in class even though they were on the same team.
John cowered from the others. “Stay away from me,” he cried out, as if they were still hitting him. Mr. Morris put a hand on his arm, trying to assist him up but John wrestled his arm free. “Stop.” He kicked out wildly at Mr. Morris, but was uncoordinated and none of his blows landed.
“John,” Mr. Morris bellowed at him. “Stand up and get in your chair and don’t touch anyone or I’m going to carry you out of here.”
John cursed and kicked out again. “This is all shit,” he yelled at him. “I didn’t touch her.”
Mr. Morris frowned. He snapped at the two guys standing by. “Help me out, here.”
The other students obeyed, each one grabbing an arm. Mr. Morris snagged up John’s leg. John fought, but his limbs seemed to be loose, too out of control.
“Everyone, in your seats,” Mr. Morris shouted at us. “No one leaves until the bell rings, and no one do anything else stupid while I’m gone.” Mr. Morris flashed me a look. I thought I understood he wanted me to monitor the class and let him know if anyone acted up while he was gon
e. I knew his phone number and could contact him if needed.
They were out the door and gone before I had a chance to even nod to him that I would.
I settled back into my chair. At first, the others remained still, stunned by what had happened. After a moment, one of them stood up and went to the window, watching Mr. Morris and the other students dragging John along the sidewalk toward the main building. Other students started talking, but no one was willing to leave early. They didn’t return to work but everyone wanted to talk about what happened.
Victor turned, looking around me toward North. “What was his problem?” he asked.
North’s face tightened. “I think he was high.”
“More of that stuff going around?” Victor asked. “The one Mr. Blackbourne...”
North pressed his fingers to his lips. He didn’t want to talk about it here. He reached out, catching my chin, looking me square in the face. “Don’t trust anything anyone else gives you.”
“No problem,” I said. My heart was pounding. I glanced back at the girl who had been fighting off John before. She seemed to be okay. She was talking adamantly about how she’d never paid any attention to John before. He’d been quiet and he always sat behind her and she never noticed him. She didn’t know what he was doing. She said she wanted to switch seats with another of the guys.
No one else mentioned drugs, JH14, or any other possibilities. Did they know and weren’t saying anything?
???
After class, Victor, North and I took a shortcut through the cafeteria on our way to the courtyard. North walked ahead of me, Victor behind me. After the scuffle in class, they were on full alert. North weaved a path around crowded tables.
A hooting sounded. I focused on North, trying to ignore it, but he stopped and scanned the perimeter, looking for the source.
“Hey North,” Rocky called, waving a hand in the air. His brown hair was hanging into his eyes, making his handsome face look a little more rugged. “Why don’t you and Silas come sit with us?”
“We like it outside,” North said.
Rocky lifted an eyebrow. “Are you on our team or not?” Rocky motioned to the table. Jay sat beside him, as did a bunch of other bulky guys, all wearing the orange jerseys. Rocky’s was slightly different and I guessed it was because he was the captain, or the quarterback. There were a couple of cheerleaders mixed in, and the other girls were at a nearby table. “This is where the team sits,” Rocky said.
