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“Bruh, we don’t know that.”
“That’s what Damir said.”
“Yeah, but that’s like a rumor. You have to have evidence.”
“It might not have been a trucker,” Ashley informed Theo and Auggie, like this was breaking news. “Noelle Sutton told me he moved to LA to do porn.” Then, correcting himself so fast the words were a blur: “To become an actor.”
Colt put a hand over his eyes.
Theo fought the urge to check Ashley’s grade from the previous school year. He was having a hard time believing he’d given him an A. Maybe it was a deficiency in how the gradebook categories were weighted. Maybe it was something simpler; maybe the math had been wrong.
“Do you know Leon?” Auggie asked.
The boys shook their heads.
“He’s a year older,” Colt said.
“And super weird,” Ashley put in. When Colt elbowed him, he said, “What? He is.”
“I don’t think someone is targeting high school students,” Theo said. “But if that changes, we’ll talk to Chief Somerset.”
The set of Ashley’s shoulders softened, and he smiled. “Cool. Thanks, Dr. Stratford.”
Colt echoed his thanks, and a moment later, the boys’ voices were fading down the hall.
“I can’t believe you called him Mr. Stratford,” Colt was saying.
“Bruh!”
“Seriously, you’re so dumb sometimes.”
“Like two weeks ago you said, ‘Yes, sir,’ to Ms. Wesley.”
“Shut up! You were distracting me!”
“Der, yes, sir!”
“I’m going to tell your dad you’re being mean to me.”
For some reason, that broke both of them up laughing again, and after another moment, Theo couldn’t hear them anymore.
“America’s future,” Auggie said with a grin.
“We don’t exactly come off looking much better.” Theo shook his head. “I can’t believe we didn’t think to ask them about Shaniyah’s investigation.”
“In our defense, they’re not exactly star witnesses. But yeah, let’s not tell Emery and the others about that.”
“God no.” Theo sat at his desk. “Does that line up with your view of Shaniyah?”
“What? Oh. I mean, I guess. Or, I should say, it’s not out of line. I mean, you know what Shaniyah was like—polite, happy, enthusiastic. I guess at some level, I knew that was the face she put on for adults, but I didn’t really think about it. Does it surprise me she got a little wild at parties?” Auggie was silent, considering his own question. “Actually...no. It doesn’t. I knew kids like that in high school. And in college, as a matter of fact. They’re really high-achieving, super smart, all of that, and the other stuff is a way to blow off some steam, let their hair down, that kind of thing.”
Theo nodded. “That’s what I was thinking too.”
“Did you know she didn’t have friends?”
He hesitated before answering. “It’s hard to say. She was quiet in class, but like you said, she was very social with adults. Last year, I saw her for one hour every day—it’s easy to assume that she just didn’t click with the people around her. I guess I didn’t really think about what her life was like outside the classroom.”
“Or at home,” Auggie said.
