sure?â I asked.
His silence was all the answer I needed. âThe water can get really cold in the River Denial,â I said.
And I should know.
Chapter 10
W hat else could go wrong?
(Okay, just for the record, one should never ask that question, âcause inevitably something else will happenâ¦.)
It really wasnât like Ryan to keep things from meâespecially important things like âOh, by the way, I beat the shit outta Noah last night but I didnât kill him. He was alive and kicking when I left.â
The truth was, I no more believed Ryan killed Noah than I believed in Santa Claus. The bigger truthâno matter what my momma and that âbiteâ test said, I still had doubts about my own innocence. I could only hope Iâd feel better when Momma got those venom test results back.
The guilt weighed like a wet blanket, heavy on my back and shoulders, as I thought about Noah. Suddenly I could smell moss and wet leaves. As I had been in my momâs office, I was transported back to Saturday night, to the moment I licked the sweat from his neck. My heart kicked it up a notch and my mouth watered.
But a movement by the window startled me. I shifted to glance outside as the hairs on my neck stood on end. I quickly scanned the woods.
I was going out of my mind. As if someone was really out there watching me. From my second-floor window. What a schizo.
My cell phone rang as I crossed myself and pulled the shade down. My Catholic guilt might make me paranoid, but it didnât hurt to cover my window, anyway.
I sat down on the edge of my bed and answered, âHello.â Spike stretched and meandered over to me, plopping down on my lap.
âHey,â Malia said. âAre you okay? You nearly plowed me over running out of the office today.â
âYeah. Iâm fine. I had just found out about Noah and was totally out of my head. Sorry about that.â
âNo prob. Finding out about Noah nearly did everyone in. They released us after the announcement today.You couldâve heard a pin drop in the gym when they told us. Except for the sniffling, it was dead quiet.â
Dead quiet. How appropriate.
âSo, anyway, I was calling to warn you about tomorrow,â Malia said with an edge to her voice.
âTomorrow?â
âYeah. Can you believe Crabby Crandall scheduled a pop quiz for tomorrow? Sheâs giving us a ten-question test over tonightâs reading assignment. That woman is completely out of her mind! She knows everyone is in shock over Noah and that the reading wonât get done. Oh, and I heard theyâre having a memorial service tomorrow. You wanna go after school?â
I sighed and felt my shoulders slump. The very idea of going to Noahâs memorial service made me sick to my stomach. âYeah. Letâs go together. Iâm sure Bridget will come, too. So, how did you find out about the test? Is it on the syllabus?â The one I didnât get.
âI donât think so. I was still registering during her class, so I didnât get a syllabus. I overheard her talking to her evil minion assistant outside of the teachersâ lounge after all the students were dismissed today. They were both so giddy, their dried-up raisin faces were almost plump with delight.â
âDammit. I donât wanna study tonight. But I also donât wanna fail her test. I donât think I could handle that condescending smirk of hers right now. I guess I donât have a choice.â
âThis is crap, AJ. Donât do the reading. She canât do anything if everyone fails.â
âIf you didnât want me to study, you shouldnât have told me about the quiz.â
âWhatever. Mrs. Crandall shouldnât be such a hard-shell crab.â
Yeah, but failing her test wouldnât soften that shell anytime soon. As a matter of fact, Iâve always suspected Mrs. Crandall is a little bit (okay, a lot bit) of
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