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When Sergeant Kenn interviewed Kami, he was very kind, told her she had done her civic duty, and even gave her a quote for the paper.
Kami closed her article on the animal killing in the Vale woods with “The police investigation is ongoing. And so, I can assure my readers, is my own.” The second issue of The Nosy Parker—Kami had decided to put out two issues in the first week of school, to gain momentum—was even more popular than the first.
“People took home copies for their parents,” Kami announced, and did a victory dance in the privacy of her headquarters. “The photocopy machine overheated and broke down. I think I can still hear the sound of it sobbing and wanting to talk about its childhood.”
Ash leaned in the doorway, his eyes averted from the sight of Kami dancing. The dance involved flailing, brandishing of a vase of flowers, and most importantly the victory shimmy, so Kami could not really blame him.
“Walk you to class?” he asked.
“Well,” Kami said, “sure.”
Ash pushed himself off the doorframe and into the room, toward her. “You did an awesome job out there in the woods,” he said. “And with the article.”
Kami beamed. “Thank you.”
“But I think you and Angela should leave this to the police from now on.”
“What an interesting thought,” Kami said. “Thank you for sharing it with me. Let me share a thought with you: Actually, I can walk myself to class. And I can also handle myself, so I’ll be doing what I want.” She shouldered her bag and headed out, moving past him.
“Kami, wait,” Ash called out.
She paused at the top of the stairs and looked back. The newspaper headquarters looked great, she thought proudly. The boxes were gone and the desks were shiny nut-brown. Kami had borrowed a few colorful lamps from home and had plans for a filing cabinet. The office looked great, and Ash looked great in it: arms crossed over his chest, staring at her with eyes turned dark blue with concern.
“Whoever’s doing this—” he began, then switched thoughts. “What if you got hurt?”
“Here’s the thing,” said Kami. “Holly came to me with this story because nobody else would have listened to it. And nobody would have listened to me if I’d called the police and said, ‘Oh, the kids are making too much noise in the woods.’ They’re listening to me now because I went out and found something. I found something. And it was horrible, and the only way I know how to deal with som
ething horrible is to do something about it. This is my story. And I’m not going to give it up. I’m going to see how it ends. You don’t get a say.”
“I’m getting that impression,” Ash remarked. He uncrossed his arms and walked over to where Kami stood, still undecided. “I am worried about you, though.”
Kami smiled; she couldn’t help it. She wasn’t used to guys looking at her with concern, or drawing near her being all conciliatory and handsome. Except Angela’s brother, of course, but Rusty hardly counted. “I guess you can be worried if you really want,” Kami conceded. She went on tiptoe and kissed Ash on the cheek. She felt him smile, then eased back down and saw him lean in toward her.
“So, you’re okay?” Ash murmured.
Kami wasn’t sure, despite her exhilaration over the newspaper. The police had scared her. How worried her parents were had scared her more. She kept thinking about that night, and the blood. But her secret fears were for her and Jared: she hardly knew this boy, no matter how beautiful his smile.
She just smiled back at him. She knew her smile was not as convincing as his, but it seemed to be enough. Ash’s smile spread, brighter than before, and he leaned down closer. Kami’s breath snagged in her throat. She did not move away.
An explosion of noise came from the stairwell: the sound of so many people running and yelling at once that it sounded like an earthquake. Kami and Ash broke apart without ever coming together.
Kami went running down the stairs, Ash right behind her. She rounded a corner and headed down the school steps, then out the doors to the back of the school. There was a courtyard there, raised a few steps above the cricket pitch.
The cricket pitch was chaos.
“What’s going on?” Ash demanded behind Kami, just as Holly Prescott came rushing up the steps.
“Your brother is fighting the cricket team,” Holly announced, flushed with excitement.
“He’s not my brother,” Ash snapped, his cool cracking instead of just ruffling for the first time since Kami had met him.
“Who on the cricket team?” Kami asked at once, producing her emergency notebook from her bra.
“Sort of the whole team,” Holly said.
Kami went forward, shielding her eyes against the sun’s rays. She could only see one person not in cricket whites. All she could make out were shoulders, and a fist going into someone’s face.
Miss Mackenzie and Ms. Dollard were both crossing the pitch and moving fast. Kami hurtled down the stairs and got to the combatants at the same time the teachers did. Over the noise Kami yelled: “Any comment for the school newspaper?”
