“Yeah, you’re talking about those black pills, right? I think he got those from Andy.” He glanced around, as though someone might be able to hear them through the walls. “I’d stay away from that shit, man. Sounds like it’llreallyfuck you up if you take too much.”
“Yeah, yeah, man, we’ll be careful,” Zachary said. “Any chance you could hook me up with Andy? I just want to try it once.”
Jace hesitated. It was as good as waving a giant red flag that the black pills were dangerous, in Nathan’s opinion.
“We may not even buy any,” Alex said. “We just want to see what they cost, see if the risk is worth it.”
“They’re not cheap, that’s for sure,” Jace said, relaxing somewhat. “Okay, fine, but you didn’t hear it from me. His name’s Andrew Weston. I meet him sometimes outside the science lab, about—” he glanced at the clock, “twenty minutes from now, actually. He comes out of lab three-thirteen. Shaggy blond hair, wire-frame glasses. He carries a green backpack.”
Nathan had to consciously keep himself from outwardly reacting, and he was proud of Alex and especially Zachary for doing the same. Alex had more training, but Zachary was still very new to this business. He was a natural.
“Thanks, man,” Zachary said as they all herded toward the door. “Listen, we’ve got to run. You’re right, you should probably avoid those pills. Sounds like they’re pretty dangerous. Stick to the pot, if you need it. And just do me a favor, make sure you’re drinking plenty of water when you take those adderall around exam time, okay? We’ve got to run, thanks, bye!”
Beneath the sun-dappled shade of the trees outside the dormitory, Alex clapped Zachary on the back and said, “Wow, that was great! You knew exactly how to get him to open up.”
Zachary didn’t quite smile, one corner of his mouth lifting with a rueful shrug. “It was nothing.”
“Not to us,” Nathan said kindly. “You were a big help in there.”
A frown settled over Zachary’s rich brown eyes, and Alex and Nathan exchanged a glance of concern. There was something more to this than Zachary was saying, but neither of them knew whether to push for details. Nathan wasn’t sure it was even his place to ask, since he barely knew Zachary and wasn’t part of the Rink group. He gave Alex a little nudge and nodded toward the boy.
Alex sidled closer. “You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to,” he said. “But we’re also happy to listen, if you want to talk about it.”
Zachary’s mouth twisted like he was warring internally. “Okay. The truth is, I used to deal.”
Thatwas a surprise. Nathan might’ve guessed he at least used, given how much Zachary knew about the drug scene, but Zachary seemed very young to have been a dealer.
“My mom was an addict,” Zachary went on, looking into the distance rather than at either of them. “She couldn’t hold down a job, and my parents argued all the time about money stuff. She used to ask me to find her drugs a lot, so I knew who all the local dealers were. When things got desperate enough, I started selling to make enough money to pay for her habit. And that was… that was what killed her.”
Nathan’s stomach rolled with sympathy. He’d tried to do the right thing, albeit with less than honorable means, and it backfired in the worst way.
“Aw, hell, kid,” Alex said, which was ironic given that he wasn’t that much older than Zachary. “That’s why things are so tough at home, huh?”
Zachary shook his head bitterly and shrugged one shoulder. “Dad hasn’t been the same since it happened. He hasn’t outright said it, but I know he blames me. I can feel it in the way he looks at me. He holds me at a distance, too. And Angie, she’s so great. She’s in my corner, every damn time. But she made me promise I’d never touch another drug again in my life, and I swore I wouldn’t. I’ll keep it if it’s the last thing I ever do.”
Warmth filled Nathan for this boy he barely knew, who was stronger than plenty of grown men he’d met over the years.
“I think that sounds like a fine promise.” His voice was gruff to his own ears.
Zachary fidgeted. “Thanks. I just want to do right by her. She deserves better than what I’ve done to our family.”
There was a whole host of things to unpack in that statement, and Nathan took a breath to lay them all out right there beside the dormitory. But Zachary shook himself, packing away the guilt he carried and giving them a resolute look.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to get us off-track. We should head over to the science lab before Weston gets out. We don’t have much time.”
Nathan looked to Alex. He wanted to say more, and he could tell Alex did, too. But Zachary was right. They didn’t have much time to book it across the campus if they wanted to find Andrew Weston. With reluctance, they both nodded and fell into step together on the sidewalk.
“What do we do when we find him?” Alex asked. “Like, what’s our play? We’re buyers?”
“That’s what Gellar believed,” Nathan replied. “I see no reason to deviate, if that’s a believable lie.”
By the time they arrived at the science lab, a three-story brick building halfway across the campus, people were already filing out of the building, fanning out in different directions as soon as they hit the sidewalk.
“Oh shit, are we late? Is this his class?” Alex asked.
Nathan scanned the crowd, hoping they weren’t too late.
“There,” Zachary said. “Coming through the door. Shaggy blond, glasses, green backpack.”
