“That guy’s gonna be a problem,” I said.
“Like we don’t have enough of those already.” Brooklyn kept an eye on Cameron, her insinuation clear.
“What?” he asked.
After Glitch caught up with us, we made plans to meet in the back hall between first and second hours. Brooke and I escorted Jared to Mrs. Geary’s office, the school counselor, to iron out his schedule before we headed to our first class.
I was worried Ms. Mullins would bombard me with questions about creepy reporter guy, but she didn’t bring it up once. She did, however, spring a pop quiz over the chapter I had neglected to read the night before. Grandma was going to kill me.
SOPHOMORE BLUES
“So, he said you were like forbidden fruit?” Brooklyn asked as we walked to meet the boys in the back hall.
Ms. Mullins gave us free time after the quiz, and I told Brooke everything Jared had said the night before. Well, the best parts anyway.
“He said I made his mouth water.” The memory had me blushing with elation.
“Man, I want to be someone’s forbidden fruit.”
“Well, you are pretty fruity.”
“True.”
Glitch was talking to Jared when we strolled up to them, asking him something about becoming transparent, and I was amazed at all the attention directed our way. I was also a little pissed off. We had important stuff to talk about, and the last thing we needed was a bunch of spectators listening in on our every word. We were standing in a tiled alcove in the back hall that, unfortunately, amplified sound.
“Did you get your schedule?” I asked Jared. He was wearing a pair of Cameron’s jeans—much to Cameron’s chagrin—a red and black Riley High T-shirt, and an old bomber jacket Glitch never wore because the company had sent the wrong size. It practically swallowed him, but he was too lazy to send it back. It fit Jared perfectly.
“Yes. It seems I’m to be a sophomore.” He handed me a folded paper. A tiny thrill spiked within me. He was a sophomore, like me. Yes! “I’m not certain it’s a good idea,” he continued. “I feel like I should be older.”
“Well, you totally blend either way,” Brooklyn said. “Cameron’s a sophomore and you’re both the same height … freaking-tall-foot-five.”
“I suppose,” he said, unconvinced.
Brooklyn seemed to be getting annoyed with all the stares too. One girl in particular had taken quite a fancy to Riley High’s newest student. “Keep walking, freshman,” she said, like being a freshman was something to be ashamed of.
“Do you feel out of place?” I asked Jared.
He lowered his head. “I do, but not for the reasons you think.”
Cameron walked up then, his brows raised at Brooklyn. “That was rude. I’m impressed.”
“Don’t be.” She craned her neck back and forth, but the girl had already started down the hall. “Sorry ’bout that!” she yelled after her.
Cameron shook his head. “All my hopes, dashed in a blinding moment of regret.”
“Well, you were right,” she said. “That was rude.”
“You’re rude to me all the time,” Glitch said.
“You don’t count.”
He folded his arms over his chest. “I forgot I was pond scum. I’m like a minuscule one-celled organism in a multi-celled world.”
“What are the reasons I think?” I asked Jared.
He placed his fingers under my chin and raised my face to his. I froze. One corner of his mouth tipped up in a devilish way as he nailed me to the floor with one steady look. The world quieted, and I wondered if he had stopped the spin of the Earth again, if he had stopped time.
“Listen, amoeba boy—,” Brooklyn said behind me.
Nope.
“—it’s just that being rude to you is different from being rude to a complete stranger.” She placed her arm in Glitch’s. “It’s like that time you set your little brother’s shorts on fire … while he was still wearing them. I mean, would you ever do that to a complete stranger?”
“I guess not,” Glitch said.
“So, you feel better now?”
“No.”
“You think I’m sorry I’m here,” Jared said, his voice quiet and sure, “and that could not be further from the truth.”
Sometimes I could see through his dark eyes straight into his soul. So old. So knowledgeable. And yet he seemed like a kid, like us. Charm radiated from every inch of his body, an innocent charm, like he was completely unaware he had it. I thought I saw silver flakes in his dark eyes. They sparkled as always when he smiled.
“You, you, you, you, and you.”
I startled to attention as Mr. Davis barreled toward us.
“I need you five in my office now.”
Concern made my heart beat faster. “All five of us?” I asked.
Mr. Davis’s brows snapped together like he thought I was being smart. I wasn’t. I was simply in denial.
He turned without comment and headed back toward his office. I glanced up at Jared. His smile had vanished. He watched Mr. Davis walk away, his expression guarded.
When we walked to his office, Mr. Davis was standing outside, talking to Sheriff Villanueva. A jolt of fear raced through me. This was it. This was the end. We were in so much trouble. I just wasn’t completely sure why. I mean, what did we do wrong? Besides vandalize a car or two, shatter a few windows downtown.