I was stalling. Stupid nerves. Best to get this over with. I cracked the door open and peered inside. Benches, lockers, and the lingering smell of dirty clothes filled the room. No one was around. I had paid an informant for Cooper’s locker number and combination. Time to get my money’s worth.
I crept inside, every muscle braced like I expected sirens to go off. My footsteps sounded incriminatingly loud. I made a beeline to Cooper’s locker.
To be clear, I didn’t expect Cooper to actually put on the clown outfit. He’d no doubt stay in his sweaty PE clothes after class since only one more period remained in the day. But he’d get the message.Mess with Madeline Seibold, and you’ll end up looking like a clown.It was an especially appropriate message because he sometimes referred to people he didn’t like as clowns.
My fingers shook, so twisting the combination took longer than it should’ve. I kept throwing glances at the door that led to the gym. Selena was keeping watch in the hallway, but I’d have no warning if some guy came in from the other direction.
Finally, the locker opened, and I pulled Cooper’s clothes out. No underwear, thank heavens, just jeans and a Dallas CowboysT-shirt. I put the clown clothes inside—the wig and nose lovingly placed on top—and shut the door.
Done.
I dashed out of the locker room so fast that if the track team coach had seen it, she would’ve recruited me then and there.
A perfect heist. I made it back to the safety of the hallway.
“Mission accomplished,” I told Selena. “We’ve struck a blow against the arrogant, popular quarterback cartel.”
She headed away from the locker room and slid her phone into her pocket. “The entire time you were in there, I worried that a teacher would catch us, I’d get a zero for today’s assignment, and those points would be the reason I don’t make valedictorian.”
It would take more than one missed assignment to keep Selena from reaching that goal. “You worry too much,” I said.
“You don’t worry enough.”
As if summoned by her fears, the principal rounded the corner and saw us.
Crap. I hated it when Selena was right.
Mrs. Tsuru was a big, no-nonsense sort of woman whose hair was constantly tucked away in some brightly colored head wrap. Whenever my father came to school for a play or event, she was all smiles and honey with a booming laugh at his jokes, even if they weren’t that funny. Parents loved her.
But we in the trenches of Silver Creek High knew the other side of Mrs. Tsuru. The side that had no patience for teenagers and that thought we were always up to something—which, okay, in this situation was true. The woman could pin the bravest soul with one look over her glasses.
She gave us that look now.
Beside me, Selena whimpered.
“What are you two girls doing out of class?” Mrs. Tsuru asked.
I held up my pass. “Bathroom.”
Mrs. Tsuru kept walking toward us. “The two of you just happened to need to go to the bathroom at the same time?”
“No.” Because that would make us look guilty. “I needed some monthly supplies, you know ... ” I sent Mrs. Tsuru a meaningful look. “And Selena had some in the girls’ locker room, so she gave them to me.”
A male teacher would’ve stopped me after the words “monthly supplies” and shooed us on our way.
Mrs. Tsuru considered us, unmoved. Probably because Selena’s eyes were wide with guilt. “You should’ve come to the nurse’s office,” Mrs. Tsuru said. “Instead, you’re disrupting Miss Alatorre’s education.”
I nodded penitently. “Sorry. Next time I’ll go to the nurse’s.”
“Next time, you should be more prepared. There’s a reason why they’re calledmonthlysupplies. You know you’re going to need them every month.” Her gaze landed on the bag. “What’s in there?”
I heard Selena gulp.
“I had to change.” I lifted the bottom of Cooper’s jeans out of the bag to show her. “I always keep an extra pair in my PE locker for these kinds of situations.”
There is a point where you give people TMI, and apparently, I’d finally reached that moment with Mrs. Tsuru. She waved us to go past her. “Return to your classes, ladies.”
We didn’t wait to be told twice. Selena and I hurried down the hallway, not speaking until we were far away from the locker rooms. Then Selena put her hand to her chest. “She nearly caught us. I just saw my whole academic life flash before my eyes.”
