Wait. He wants the two of us... to doit.
I shook my head in horror.
I’d rather die.
Gruesomely.
Right now.
Here in this very hall.
In an alternate universe, I was brave enough to tell him all that to his face.
Josh’s congenial smile flatlined at my expression.
In this universe, I silently shoved past him and ran into my sanctuary, chest heaving.
This is why I don’t interact with people.
“No running in the library!” Dorean the librarian yelled as soon as I crossed the threshold. “This isn’t an unprotected zone, Alexis, have some decorum. Wearen’tTitans.”
Dorean glared up at me, wrinkly features pursed with annoyance. A Spartan gun gleamed on the hip she’d gotten replaced last year at a fancy Spartan research institute. Rumor was she’d donated a kidney to get off the waiting list.
Smart woman.
I basked in her impressive presence.
Dorean was the type of woman I aspired to be.
Strong. Bold. Intimidating. Able to verbalize her intrusive thoughts.
It was dead silent in the library because only a handful of students were granted access aftertheincident—Dorean had caught Jake Dalmer getting a hand job under a desk, and she’d shot him in the penis. Point blank. No hesitation.
Thus my hero.
“The principal wants to see you.” Dorean (community legend) handed me a hall permission slip and startled me out of my daydream.
“Thank you f-for your service to the school,” I said instinctually.
Dorean rested her hand on her gun and raised her eyebrows. The message was clear:Get out of the library or I’ll have to take action.
Understandable.
She was the only person besides Charlie that I liked.
I lingered at the library doors until the hall cleared, then I hurried through the school. Eyes wide, head turning to make sure I was alone. If Josh appeared again, I’d start sprinting.
When I entered the principal’s office, Charlie was sitting next to a boy who was covered inblood.
Wind rattled the bars on the window as the storm raged outside.
The principal’s face was ruddy.
“Even though he’s eighteen, as Charlie’s guardian, it’s your job to punish him,” he said as soon as I stepped inside the small office. “Brandon pushed Charlie, and then Charlie took it upon himself tobeathim bloody.”
All three of them turned toward me.
The principal stared at me likeIhad some authority over the situation, like we weren’t just two homeless kids who shared a cardboard box.
