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What was she doing?
He couldn’t figure it out. Then Ms. Anderson was calling for the papers to be passed forward and telling them to use the rest of the time as a free period while she reviewed them.
“Hey,” he whispered.
Layne didn’t turn her head, just pulled a slim paperback out of her book bag and started reading.
He flicked a broken piece of pencil her way. It hit her on the arm.
She sighed and looked over. “Seriously?”
“What did you do?”
Her cheeks turned pink again. She looked back at the book.
Her voice was so small he almost didn’t hear her.
“You got an eighty.”
She’d fixed his test?
Gabriel couldn’t decide whether he was furious or giddy with relief. “Why?” he snapped. “Why would you do that?”
The substitute cleared her throat near the front of the room.
“Is there a problem?”
“No.” Damn, his voice was breaking. He coughed. “Sorry.”
When the bell rang, Layne bolted.
Gabriel wasn’t on four sports teams for nothing. He blocked her in the hall, cornering her against the lockers. She was a tiny thing, at least ten inches shorter than he was.
“Why did you do that?” he said.
She looked up at him, her binder clutched protectively against her chest. Her voice was still soft, quiet, somehow carrying over the students in the between-class rush. “Your brother took your test for you, didn’t he?”
Gabriel felt hot, flushed, even though it was the truth. For some reason it was humiliating to have her figure it out.
He put a hand against the locker beside her head and leaned in. “Are you going to tell anyone?”
She swallowed. “You bully everyone who helps you?”
He snatched his hand away. Was that what he looked like?
“Hey, man.” A voice spoke at his shoulder. “You all right?”
Gabriel jerked back. He’d been so close to her.
Hunter stood there, a navy backpack slung over his shoulder.
That white streak interrupted his sandy blond hair and hung across one eye, leaving the other wide and full of scrutiny.
Hunter’s father had been a Guide, too, until he’d been killed by a rock slide. Hunter had come to town to kill the Merricks, in retaliation. He’d thought they were responsible for his father’s death until Becca had convinced him otherwise. For the last three days, they’d shared a kind of awkward truce.
“Yeah,” said Gabriel. “I’m all right.”
Hunter glanced at Layne. “Are you all ”
