by Rebel Hart
“Whoa,” I said, walking over to Miss Abrams. “Just calm down.”
“Calm down? Calm down!” she started to sing. “Calm down! I’ll calm down.”
I saw what she was going for and reached out toward her. “No!”
I was too late. Miss Abrams jumped up and launched herself out the window, falling the entire four stories and slamming against the pavement below.
“Holy shit,” Sicily hissed and then looked up. “Fuck, I gotta get that camera.”
I looked behind me, and there was a small collection of students standing in the doorway watching us. “Move fast,” I whispered back and then stormed toward the students. “What the fuck are you looking at!” I screamed. “You wanna fucking go!” Students screamed and ran away from me, and I permanently said goodbye to any hope of merging into regular life here at school. “Get the fuck outta here!”
“Shit!” one student yelled as he ran. “Maybe he did push her!”
I stared after him in horror, realizing that the way she jumped as I reached out for her probably did look like I pushed her. Sicily rushed out of the room past me, convincing me that he got his camera, and I was just turning to run myself when I came face to face with the school’s on-duty cop.
“You’re gonna need to come with me.”
22
Cherri
The day hadn’t really turned out well for me in the wake of seeing Deon with his new…girlfriend? Sicily said they’d been inseparable and that he’d taken her out. How quickly did things go between them? Did he sleep with her? Every time I thought about it, I got sick to my stomach all over again. With Nathan, his cheating only made me angry. It had nothing to do with my being unhappy that he was sleeping with someone else and everything to do with the fact that he was disrespecting me and behaving as if I didn’t matter. With Deon, the thought of him being with another woman made me want to curl up and pull my hair out. Someone else getting to kiss him, someone else getting to touch him, it brought out a possessive streak I didn’t even know I had. It was worse because I had no one to blame but myself.
“Are you okay? That was terrifying!”
“I’m okay! Can you believe that? Do you really think he pushed her?”
I turned the corner to head to my locker and saw a small clump of students gathered in the crook behind the stairwell. They were wildly murmuring to themselves, and the more I looked around, the more I realized there appeared to be some sort of commotion going on.
“It was that kid, right? The one who had been in prison?”
I stopped short and whipped my head around. The group of students nearest me seemed to be talking about Deon, so I approached them, and the second I was close enough, one of them brought the whole group to attention. They all straightened up and smiled at me.
“Hey, your highness,” one of them greeted, a girl with a bob haircut. “Are you okay? You didn’t get caught up in the mess, did you?”
“What mess?” I asked. “One of you was talking about the guy who’d been in prison?”
“Yeah. He was up talking to Miss Abrams, and then he pushed her out a window!” another student squealed.
A guy with glasses slapped him. “Shut up! We don’t know that for sure.” He looked at me. “It’s just a rumor. We weren’t there.”
Someone else started to say something to me, but it was a distant noise. I turned around and bolted down the hallway, looking for Deon or, at the very least, Sicily. Despite the fact that the lingering students were murmuring to themselves about what I was doing, I didn’t stop. I was nearly about to scream out Deon’s name when I turned the hallway toward the administrative offices and saw Sicily and Annika standing outside the principal’s office. Annika was screaming at Sicily, who was slunk down to half his size, just taking the punishment.
“Sicily,” I called out, and both Sicily and Annika looked over. “What happened?”
“You!” Annika screeched, storming over to me. Sicily hopped up and tried to stop her, but when he grabbed her arm, she just yanked away from him. “Why did you have to involve us in your bullshit between you and your boyfriend? You should have just dealt with it yourself!”
“What happened?” I asked desperately. “Where’s Deon? Is he okay?”
“You don’t get to be worried about him now,” Annika spat back. “It’s half your fault that he’s in there, and this idiot!” She swatted Sicily on the arm. “Just get out of here!” she screamed at me.
Part of me wanted to press further, but it didn’t seem like I’d be getting anything else helpful out of them, so I turned around and walked away. A fear that Deon got in trouble or somehow snapped on Miss Abrams settled like a poisonous sludge in my stomach. I didn’t even go back to my locker. I took the books I had with me, and fortunately, my keys and phone were on me, so I left.
As much as I would have rather gone to Avery’s or Alistair’s house, the thought that I would be out of the house when news would inevitably travel about whatever had happened at school made me go home. My parents seemed unphased when I got there, so nothing had gotten that far just yet. I greeted my parents as normally as I could, considering how emotional the day had been, and then I rushed up to my room, closed the door, and immediately opened my computer to start a group call with Avery and Colette. Avery picked up immediately, and expectedly, Alistair was in the background. A few seconds later, Colette answered.
“Cherri, I’m glad you called. I was just about to do it,” Avery said when we were all on the phone. “We have to talk about what happened, and we can’t do it with any of Nathan’s minions. Ali thinks he could be involved.”
“Involved with what?” I asked. “I don’t know what happened.”
“You at least know the broad strokes, I’m assuming. Can you believe Miss Abrams is dead?” Colette asked. “Cherri, I can’t even imagine how you must feel. Probably a little bitter-sweet, huh?”
My brain exploded in my head. “She’s dead?” I muttered. “How?”
“Well—” Colette started, but Alistair quickly cut her off.
“No, no, no. There are too many people too closely related to Cherri in this story for your gossip,” he said. “The truth is, Cherri, no one really knows what happened. A few people saw Deon go into Miss Abrams’s class, and it’s unclear what happened after that. All of sudden, she flipped shit, and then one of two things happened. Either she jumped, or he pushed her.”
“I heard he pushed her,” Colette cut in, “because she wouldn’t sleep with him.”
My stomach flipped over. “No. That doesn’t sound like Deon.”
“I heard the opposite,” Avery said. “I heard that Deon went in to get help with his schoolwork and she flipped out and jumped.”
That didn’t really sound like Deon either. “No one else was in there? No one knows? What about Sicily? Annika said it was half his fault that Deon was in trouble.”
“Wait, what?” Avery said. “Who’s Annika?”
“Sicily’s sister,” I replied, “and Deon’s current.”
Avery and Colette’s jaws dropped. “He’s seeing someone?” Colette asked.
Alistair waved his hands. “Not important. Cherri, what did she tell you?”
“She just screamed at me, mostly, that I don’t get to be worried about him because it’s half my fault he was in trouble. I wasn’t anywhere near there, though,” I said, and then the realization washed over me. “Oh my god. I told Sicily to bug the classroom.”
“Why?” Colette asked.
That time, it was Avery who shook her head. “Not important. Cherri, do you think Sicily dragged Deon in as a distraction?”
“That’s almost what it sounds like.” I raked my hands into my hair and clawed at my skull. “Oh my god. Because of me, he’s going to get in trouble! He could be expelled.”
“Worse than expelled,” Colette added.
“Colette!” both Avery and Alistair barked.
“What? I’m just being honest!” Colette said.
&
nbsp; “Worse?” I asked. “What do you mean?”
“Honey, he’s a reformed convict. He’s probably on parole. If they even think he had something to do with her death, he’ll be thrown back in jail.” Colette sighed. “Probably for the rest of his life.”
After a day of emotions, my stomach finally gave. I was glad I felt it coming because I was able to get to my bathroom, but I couldn’t make it to the toilet. I hunched over the sink instead. Sour bile came spewing out of me as it lurched into the sink, filling it with the regurgitated remains of my lunch.
“Cherri!” Avery called. “Are you okay?”
My chest started to cave in on itself, and I didn’t even feel myself start to cry, but tears were streaming down my face. I rushed back over to my computer and looked down at my friends. “What do I do?” I whined. “What do I do?”
“Cherri,” Alistair said calmly. “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing you can do. We just have to wait and see what happens.”
“But…” My nose burned. “I don’t want to lose him again.”
The thought that Deon would disappear again sat worse in me than seeing him with another girl. I couldn’t imagine never seeing him again, never talking to him again, never hearing his voice, never touching him.
“Cherri,” Avery said. “Calm down, baby. You’re panicking.” The knot in my throat felt like it was getting bigger and bigger. “Shit. Colette, don’t let her off the phone,” Avery said, and then Avery’s line went dead.
“Cherri, listen to me, sweetheart. You’re having a panic attack. You have to calm down.”
“Calm down?” I repeated. “I can’t.”
“You have to,” Colette said. “It’s out of our hands now.
My vision started to blur, and my hands started to shake. It felt like any heat I had in me was rushing from my body, leaving me cold and unable to catch my breath. I clawed at my chest, but it didn’t help.
“Cherri.” I fell over on my bed, watching Colette stare back at me, wide-eyed. “Cherri! Just hang on! Avery’s coming!”
It was the last thing I heard before I passed out.
23
Deon
All I could do was sit with my head in my hands. My mom’s face kept flashing across my brain. I’d let her down. Annika was right. I should never have gone with Sicily to that classroom. I was on parole. What the fuck was I thinking? If I violated my parole and had to go back to prison, I would never forgive myself. Venom would probably kick my ass if I went back in after everything he did to make sure I got out.
How dumb could I be?
After sitting in the principal’s office alone for what felt like an eternity, the door opened, and Principal Hix came walking in, along with the school cop that had brought me down. “Deon Keane. You’re eighteen, which means we don’t need an adult to question you. Is it all right if we talk to you?” Principal Hix asked.
I looked at the cop side-eyed. Cops were not on the top of my list of desirable people with whom to spend my time, and I was nervous about anything I said with him in the room. “Does he have to be here?”
“Well,” Principal Hix said, “would you be cooperative if he wasn’t?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I don’t really have anything to hide. I just don’t like pigs. You can understand?”
The cop snarled at me, but Principal Hix nodded toward the door, and with a huff, the police officer left the office, slamming the door behind him. Principal Hix settled down into the tall leather chair behind his desk and flipped open a folder on his desk. “I’m sure it goes without saying, Mr. Keane, that you have found yourself in quite the precarious position.”
I nodded. “I am painfully aware of that.”
“So, let’s just start at the beginning, and the more truthful you are, the easier this will all be.”
“Yeah, okay.” I took a deep breath before starting. There were two major conflicts with me telling me the whole truth. The first was that I didn’t want to snitch on Sicily, and the second was that I didn’t want to implicate Cherri. For that reason, at least seventy percent of my story had to be left out. “I walked into her room because I wanted her to tutor me,” I said.
Principal Hix flipped through a few papers in the file he’d opened and then looked pensively at the one he’d landed on. “It’s interesting you say that because you did marvelous on the history section of your entrance exam, and Mr. Mead, with whom you currently take world history, sings your praises as one of his best students.” He looked up. “I don’t believe you need tutoring.” He tilted his head to the side, his chocolate skin catching perfectly in the light hanging above his desk, making it feel a little too much like an interrogation for comfort. “Why don’t we start again?”
“I swear, that’s why I went in there,” I said. “I’m bad with facts and shit. If I’m doing good in Mead’s class, that’s news to me.”
There was silence between Principal Hix and me for a while before he continued. “Okay. Let’s assume that’s why you went in there. What happened next?”
“Well, kinda the same thing that just happened right here,” I explained. “When I told her I needed tutoring in history, she said that Mr. Mead had told her I was doing fine in his class, and then, I don’t know, she flipped out. She started talking about stuff that made no sense, and her eyes got all crazy. She walked over to the window. I tried to stop her, and she just…jumped.” The image of her lying on the ground still rocked through my mind. “I don’t know why.”
Principal Hix quietly pondered what I said before closing the folder on my desk. “Tell me, Deon. Have you heard any rumors about Miss Abrams? Salacious or otherwise?”
I could only imagine he was fishing for something. That was how questioning behind bars always started. A hypothetical question that they’ve already decided the answer to. “No,” I lied. “Like what?”
He watched me through a half-lidded gaze. “You’ve heard nothing at all?”
I shook my head. “The only thing I’d ever heard about Miss Abrams was that she was a good teacher. That’s why I went to her for help.”
Again, silence filled the room until there was a knock on the door. “Come in,” Principal Hix called out.
The door opened, and the cop poked his head in. “Deon’s parent is here.”
“Thank you. Tell them we’re on our way.”
The cop nodded and closed the door, and all I could think about was my poor mom getting that call and knowing I was probably headed back in. There would be no way I could ever make up to her what I’d put her through.
Principal Hix looked at me. “Well, I’ll take what we’ve talked about here and log it away. I’ll be speaking to a few other students, and probably some staff as well, and then I’ll make a decision about if your parole officer needs to be contacted or not.”
“Thank you,” I said, glad that he wasn’t flying off the handle but also afraid of the students who misconstrued my attempting to stop Miss Abrams for pushing her.
He nodded. “You may go.”
I stood up and walked out of the principal’s office, already preparing my apology to my mom. I got to the main part of the front office and came to a halt. It wasn’t my mom at all.
It was Connor Loche.
“Hello, son.” He motioned. “Let’s go. We’ll talk about this in the car.”
There wasn’t much I could do. I didn’t want to put up a fight and bring any additional attention to myself, and it at least seemed that most students had gone home, so I walked out of the office where Annika and Sicily were standing and waiting.
“Oh my god,” Annika yelped, rushing me and throwing her arms around me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I looked at Sicily. “I think everything is gonna be fine.” Sicily clutched his chest and relaxed a bit. I wanted to say more, but Connor’s hand sat on my shoulder and pushed me on. “I’ll call you guys later, okay?”
With that, I let Connor guide me out into the parking lot and into the back of a black SUV wi
th tinted windows. I stared at my mom’s car in the lot as the car drove away, knowing I’d have to find a way to come back later and get it before it got towed. I imagined that Connor was going to be pissed. Maybe he felt like I’d embarrassed him, or maybe he would have to pay some large sum of money for the cop to look the other way. Why he was contacted instead of my mom, I had no idea, but I was at least partially grateful for my mom to be uninvolved for the time being.
“What happened, Deon?” Connor asked calmly.
“I really don’t know,” I said. “I went in there to fucking ask her for help with my homework, and she flipped her shit. She brought up Nathan, asking if he told me something, and then she walked over to the window and just fucking jumped out.”
Connor took a deep breath in, then out. “That’s all she said?”
“Yeah. She didn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
“Did you tell your principal the same story?” he asked, which was weird, but I ignored it.
“Mostly. I left Nathan out of it,” I replied, and he nodded.
When the SUV reached the highway, I was relieved that it took the on-ramp headed to North Postings as opposed to South Postings. At least I was headed home. I sat quietly while Connor clicked rapidly at his phone. Then he locked it and slid it into his pocket. There was a knowing expression to his face, but whatever he knew or didn’t know couldn’t matter less to me. I just wanted to go home.
I had a phone call to make.
“Do you think you can keep the details of this interaction to yourself?” Connor asked. “We don’t need nasty rumors flying about.”
“There’s nothing to share,” I replied. “Whatever this has to do with Nathan is between y’all.”
Connor nodded. “Very good.” The SUV pulled up in front of my house, and the lights were off, meaning my mom was probably already gone for work. “Don’t worry about your parole officer. I’ll deal with that. Principal Hix as well.”