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“Stop changing the subject,” North barked at him. “You always do that. I ask a simple question and you pull it in a different direction.”
I cringed. Don’t fight! Why was North so agitated? It was the first time I felt Silas was actually trying to pick a fight back. Sitting between them made me feel divided. The edge was cutting through my heart. Was it because they were tired? I shot a panicked stare at Kota.
Kota started to stand, looking like he was going to say something when the courtyard started to ring with the sound of alarms going off. Within the walled space of the courtyard, the sound was echoing, amplified. It was a shock and I instinctively covered my ears.
North push a palm against his eye. “Christ, not another one.”
“A bomb threat?” Nathan asked. “School hasn’t even started yet.”
“Whoever it is, he isn’t wasting time,” Kota said. He picked up his bag and then motioned to me. “Let’s get out of here. North, I wouldn’t normally ask, but make sure Luke’s okay.”
“On it,” North said, getting up quickly.
Everyone moved, joining the throng of people starting to go back out toward the parking lot. Silas grabbed my bag. Kota was on one side of me, Silas had an arm around my shoulders, but eventually, we were squished into a line. I ended up behind Kota, Silas behind me, with a hand on my back. I kept my hand on Kota’s shoulder so he knew I was behind him. I lost sight of Nathan. North split from us in the hallway, heading toward the main office area.
The space was chaos. Streams of students flowed out the door and walked through the lot, while people were still trying to park and figure out what was going on. Parents dropping off kids were out of their cars and asking questions. A cop car rolled in, driving on the grass to get around the commotion. He must have been close by and a first responder. Another cop car showed up, and started directing traffic, getting parents dropping off kids to stop coming through, and clearing the entrance.
The moment we could get out into the open in the parking lot, Kota moved toward the stands near the baseball field, while everyone else was directed to the long strip of grass on the far side of the parking lot.
Kota scoped out the area, checking the underside of the seats. He gave us the okay and we climbed on and sat on the very top facing the ongoing chaos, checking out what was going on. Our feet dangled below. The seats were cold metal, the chill biting into my clothes so I stuffed Silas’s jacket tighter around me.
“What a mess,” Kota said. “I wouldn’t want to be in charge of this. Those parents are creating more problems. Our bomber planned a good one this time.”
“Should we do anything?” I asked. “Aren’t we supposed to be catching him?”
“Wait it out,” Kota said. “Keep an eye out for anything unusual. So far, no one is in danger. It’s just chaotic. We should probably look for anyone acting suspicious. But just in case, we should stay out of range. The kids are riled up and could be dangerous right now.”
It was hard to focus, but I found it easier if I was looking out for individual people who looked familiar. Among over two thousand students trying to stand along a strip of narrow land, it was hard to pick out anyone that I knew.
Then I found Derrick, and Karen was with him. They skirted around the outside of the crowd of students, focused, like they were looking for someone. Karen had on a leather jacket with the sleeves pushed up a bit on her arms. Derrick had his hands stuffed into his jeans, his lips pressed together into a thin line.
At first, I was going to dismiss them. Maybe they were looking for another friend. But the more I observed, the more they studied the students, looking for something or someone. They leaned over and whispered to each other. Karen looked upset. Derrick’s lips twisted into a frown.
Kota leaned over me, putting his head near mine. I smelled his soothing spice and continued to watch Karen and Derrick. “What are they doing?” he asked.
“You know,” I said. “Remember the last time we went to the football game and I sat with them?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Did something happen?”
“When that one kid got crazy and started attacking people, she got really interested and went off to go ask what was going on. Derrick stayed behind and I mentioned what Karen said and then he followed her and they never returned.”
“Sang,” Nathan said. “Derrick was never interested in getting involved. H wouldn’t stick his head into trouble. Maybe they’re just looking for another friend.”
“I’m not sure,” I said. “Karen seems involved with Mr. Hendricks. He uses a lot of students and teachers to do whatever it is he’s doing. I think maybe she’s wrapped up in that. Derrick might not be involved, but Karen’s his friend. He might at least help a little. Maybe without even realizing it.”
“It could be,” Kota said. He touched gently at the corner of his classes. “It might make any situation she’s in more dangerous if we interact with her.”
“She’s not a threat,” Nathan said, his tone deep. “Trust me. I know she isn’t.”
Kota turned to him, frowning. “Just because she helped...”
“She was flipping out, too,” Nathan said. He looked at me. His entire face turned serious. “If it wasn’t for her, Sang could have ended up a lot worse with Jade. I know we shouldn’t take anything for granted, but I saw her face. She was terrified for Sang. I can’t imagine she’d be up to something that would harm us.”
The sound of Jade’s name sent a ripple of dread through me. Whatever I’d wanted to say got caught in my throat. I drowned out the thoughts creeping into my head by forcing myself to think about the bomb threat, to scan the crowd of students. I’d lost track of Karen and Derrick. They’d disappeared among the others.
Still, something didn’t feel exactly right. During gym class for the last few weeks, I’d been dismissed from attending, thanks to Dr. Green and giving me a medical excuse. So I’d been sitting on the sidelines in my normal clothes, watching everyone else participate. I’d said hello when Karen came by, and we’d exchanged some words, but we never got a chance to talk about what had happened. The longer I went without talking to her about it, the more I realized I couldn’t bring up the topic for some reason. I couldn’t even say thank you. I know Nathan and the others had. I simply couldn’t talk about it.
I wasn’t sure if it was Karen, or if I simply wasn’t ready to talk about what had happened yet. I’d come to realize the way I dealt with things that affected me so strongly, was to wait as long as possible, until the feelings and emotions about the situation numbed themselves inside of me. I preferred to handle it slowly, bit by bit, over time.
A warm hand touched the back of my neck. It was Kota. His touch steadied me, and encouraged me to look at him.
“If you think this is something we should look at,” he said quietly, “we’ll keep an eye on her.”
I found strength and comfort in his touch, and leaned into it. “I know dealing with Mr. Hendricks will mean dealing with his hold on everyone. Focusing on Mr. Hendricks and trying to stop him helps everyone. If we spread ourselves out too much, we’ll never catch up to him. We already know some of what he will do to distract us.”
“Like showing up at your house,” Nathan said.
“Or posting people on our street to keep an eye on us and follow us,” Kota said. He kept his hand on me, moving it to my shoulders to rub deeply. He sighed, looking out among the crowd. “Mr. Blackbourne is right. These bomb threats have to end. The
y’re a major distraction right now.”
“Aren’t they?” Silas’s deep voice was even deeper now. He looked out across the school, toward where the fire trucks and police officers were counseling not just teachers, but parents as well.
Kota and Nathan leaned to look around me at Silas. “What?” Nathan asked.
Silas was quiet for a long moment, still staring. He lifted his hand, and pointed, not saying a word.
I followed his line of sight to Mr. Hendricks, who was on his cell phone, standing away from firefighters and police officers. He wasn’t talking, just listening, and watching the crowd. When someone approached him, he waved them off, took a step back, and pointed to his cell phone.
“Watch his face,” Silas said.
I did, and I knew Kota and Nathan were studying him, too. It was hard to tell from the distance we were at, and with people in the parking lot trying to figure out what was going on being a distraction.
However, Mr. Hendricks’s stature was casual. Unconcerned.
Not even concerned with the parents who were holding up the process of getting everyone inside. No stress that this was the beginning of homecoming week, a week he wanted things to go well, or said he did. Wasn’t he the one that was worried before about parents being around for events and making things worse if there was a bomb threat? Here was one, and he didn’t seem irritated or upset.
“Isn’t he supposed to be doing something?” I asked. “I mean, what is a principal supposed to do when there’s a bomb threat?”
“It’s not sitting on your cell phone,” Kota said. He straightened, sliding off the edge of the seat onto the grass. “Wait here with Silas. Nathan, let’s go.”
Nathan moved instantly, dropping to the grass and walking beside Kota. Kota led the way, and Nathan kept his hands in his pockets, scouting around them as they walked. They kept their heads down, walking among people and blending in.
“What are they doing?” I asked Silas.
“I don’t know,” he said. “When Kota gets a feeling, he’ll act on it.”
I wanted to suggest we could do something, too, but I realized that the best thing we could do was be the lookouts. From our vantage point, we could see where Mr. Hendricks was, keep an eye on students, and most of what was going on.
