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Bryce swore again, "No. It's criminal charges, asswipe. You could've gone to jail or…" He hung up and stared at me.
I spoke the obvious, "It's not the first time we've bailed Corrigan out of jail."
"I know." Bryce slumped next to me and slid to the floor. "But they would've pressed him harder because he'd be connected to Hoodum."
It was known around town that the cops had a vendetta against Hoodum and his gang. They wanted to shut 'em down completely, but they were having a hard time. Hoodum was slippery and smart.
The door opened again and Chad poked his head out. "Hey, just so you know, Mrs. Walker is freaking out that you guys are gone. You might want to get back in here."
"You were supposed to cover for us." I glared at him as Bryce took my hand and helped me up.
Bryce looked at me, surprised, but Chad shrugged and muttered, "I tried, dude. Jeez."
When he went back inside, Bryce held me back by my elbow. "What was that about?"
I shrugged and moved inside.
Relief was evident on Mrs. Walker's face when she saw us. She snapped two fingers at us and pointed to the seats. "You two, stay put and don't move. I don't care if you're sick, if you have to vomit, or the school burns down. You stay put or face expulsion."
Bryce and I sat.
The other students were still there and had mixed looks of fear, awe, and trepidation.
I closed my eyes and leaned against the wall when Bryce started to chat with Chad. Over the next hour, each of the students went inside the principal's office until it was just me, Bryce, and Chad. It seemed to take longer than an hour.
Mrs. Walker received a phone call and then hung up. She repeated her instructions for us to stay put before she left the office once more.
"Seriously, guys. What'd you do? I haven't seen Mrs. Walker that pissy since Corrigan got caught screwing the Spanish teacher's daughter."
"Oh yeah," Bryce laughed.
Corrigan's popularity had skyrocketed that week. He'd been suspended for three days, but his arrival to the Friday football game had been to a standing ovation. None of the parents had stood, but some had been amused. Corrigan had saluted the crowd. I rolled my eyes as I remembered. No one liked the Spanish teacher, Corrigan least of all.
"Sheldon," Miss Connors said softly. "Can you come with me?"
I snapped to attention and shot up. Mrs. Walker had returned with the counselor.
"No," I said.
Mrs. Walker looked taken aback, but Miss Connors wasn't surprised. She sighed and stepped back from me.
Oh hell no. I was not going to deal with her.
"Sheldon, please." Miss Connors said again. She frowned at Bryce's hand that had moved to cup my elbow.
"You can't make me talk to you.”
"Miss Jeneve," Mrs. Walker snapped. "You will talk with our counselor or you will be expelled."
I narrowed my eyes at her and called her bluff. Whatever. I didn’t care. "Expel me then."
Her eyes bulged out.
"Sheldon, this is ridiculous." Miss Connors stepped forward. "I just want to talk to you. That's all. I want to know how you're doing."
"No, you don't," I spat out. "You want to try to figure me out. I'm not one of your subjects to understand and test."
"You have so much potential," Miss Connors pressed. "I don't understand why you're wasting it all away. I want to help you."
"I'm fine with how my life is." I stepped back. The chair pressed against the backs of my knees.
Bryce was still beside me. He watched me, but this wasn’t something I wanted him to see. I didn’t want anyone to see this.
"No, you're not. Sheldon, you spend your time with these boys..."
Bryce whipped his head towards her.
Miss Connors faltered, but resumed again, "You are so intelligent, Sheldon. You could already be in college. Your IQ tests were—"
"You can't say any of that!" I shouted. "That's confidential."
"Sheldon, please…"
More students had filed into the office, but they all stopped abruptly.
I shook my head. I needed out of there. I needed to get away, now. "You can't do this. You can't make me talk to you. Expel me then. I don't care. Screw you." I shoved past them. At the door, I stopped and met Bryce's gaze. "Call me later."
He nodded, his jaw was clenched.
Chapter 4
I went home and showered again. After I had changed into more comfortable clothes, I moved downstairs to my father's study. Inside, I sat behind the computer and typed 'Greco' in a search engine. A moment later I searched through the results and found out that 'Greco' stood for a Greco Defense, named after Giachino Greco. It was a chess move that was used by amateurs who were stupid.
Corrigan had been right. The word had been an insult, but a nerdy insult. So I forwarded the article to Corrigan's email.
When I went downstairs to watch a movie later, the doorbell rang. Muttering an irritated curse, I was surprised to see Mena at the door.
"Hi." She gave me a nervous wave.
"Come on in." I gestured inside and we walked towards the kitchen. "Do you want anything to eat? Or drink? I was going to watch a movie."
"Oh. Um…" She laughed again and shook her head. "I can't believe this."
"Believe what?"
"This. Me. You." She waved between us. "I'm nervous and I'm never nervous. I've gone against some of the richest snobs in the nation and I'm nervous around you."
"Why?" I took out a diet soda and slid it across the counter to her. "You want a glass with some ice?"
"Sure." She sat on a stool at the counter, then explained, "I'm nervous because… I don't know. Dumb, huh?"
"I told the school's counselor and the secretary of our principal to expel me today," I stated. I hopped onto the counter and dangled my foot over the edge. "It's not dumb, but there's not a lot that makes me nervous."
"I know. I heard. That was pretty balsy."
I shrugged. "Had nothing to do with balls." I didn’t care about the consequences.
"So…" She took a deep breath. "Have you thought about what I said before?"
"About being friends?" Who outright asked for a friendship?
"Yeah. I know…it's kinda stupid, but I wanted to know before I entered the social scene tomorrow."
"Actually," I smirked. "I'm supposed to become friends with you anyway."
"Why?" She asked as she sat up straighter on her stool.
"Because of Corrigan. He asked me this morning to make friends with you. He wants you to come to a party this weekend."
