I laugh as I imagine her saying that. I’m sure she’s said it at least once.
Back in the main hallway, I notice almost everyone is gone. Did class start? I didn’t even hear a bell go off.
“Hey,” I say to a guy walking past me. He’s checking his phone. Maybe he didn’t hear me. I catch up to him. “Hey, could I ask you a question?”
“What?” he says as he texts. He’s big and wide so I’m guessing he’s a football player.
“Where’s Monroe?” I ask.
He looks up from his phone. “Is that a joke?”
“No. I was just—”
“What the hell’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing. I was just trying to find it. But forget it. I’ll find it on my own.” I turn the other direction.
“Wait.” I hear him behind. “You meant the room?”
I turn around. “Yeah. What’d you think I meant?”
“The person. The guy the room’s named after. Jason Monroe.”
“He goes here?” I ask, confused because I thought benefactors would be old rich people, not people my age.
“He used to.”
“Where is he now?”
The guy pauses. “He’s dead.”
Chapter 23
A chill runs through me. Another dead person. Why are there so many stories about people dying around here?
“He died last year,” the guy says. “I thought you were doing some sick joke asking about him like that.”
“No. I was just trying to find the room. I’m new here. Rumor Bennet.” I pause. “Bennet-Halliway.”
His brows rise. “Halliway? You related to Braden?”
“I’m his cousin.”
“No shit?” His mouth turns up in a smile, and he extends his hand. “Dante Stevens. I’m on the team with Braden.”
I smile back. “I kinda guessed that, given your size.”
He nods. “Linebacker.” He folds his arms over his chest, his eyes doing a quick scan of my body. “So how long you here for?”
“The year. I just moved here from New York. I’m a senior.” I don’t want to get into the whole dead mom story, so I change topics. “So what happened to Monroe?”
“Died during a football game. Well, he collapsed during the game and died on the way to the hospital. They think he had some kind of heart condition.”
“And it happened last year?”
“Right after school started. He would’ve been a senior this year.”
“That’s too bad.”
