Free Halifax by Leigh Dunlap Page B

heck?”
    Carolyn bounced up and brushed the dust off her pleated skirt. “Don’t worry,” she said. “Even if you can’t be a cheerleader you can still cheer. Go Lexham!” Her former friend began clapping in unison with the other cheerleaders and backed away from Izzy to stand proudly next to head cheerleader Shana Rowen. Shana beamed a thousand watt smile at Izzy, almost as if to say—“She’s
my
friend now…”
    Farrell was relieved that Izzy was there. She could watch over things while he concentrated on basketball. Not that he really needed to concentrate on basketball. It didn’t help their mission in any way other than to keep up appearances and look normal. Part of being normal, though, was not letting someone like Andre Davies show him up.
    As a Westminster player dribbled past him, Farrell stepped in and expertly stole the ball mid-bounce and was about to take it down court when he noticed something in the crowd. Shana Rowen had left the other cheerleaders and was whispering in the ear of a girl in the bleachers. The girl had long, unruly, black hair and thick, dark eyebrows that threatened to overtake her face. Shana took the hairy girl by the hand and led her towards the girl’s locker room.
    Farrell absent-mindedly dribbled as he watched this, even as his fellow teammates screamed for him to pass the ball. Now completely distracted, Farrell was an easy target and a Westminster player swooped in and stole the ball back from him, taking it to the hoop to score.
    Andre jogged past Farrell, slamming him in the shoulder as he passed by. “Stop looking at my girlfriend!” he warned him.
    “I wasn’t looking at her,” Farrell said, and then he turned and
did
look at Nora. She looked back at him and then they both turned to look as Shana Rowen and her new friend left the gym.
* * *
    Rom stood before the librarian. He patiently waited for her to acknowledge his existence. She finally looked up from the crossword puzzle she had been diligently filling in. “Do you need something, Mr. Halifax?” she asked. She didn’t even try to conceal her annoyance.
    “What do you do in detention?” Rom asked. He was serious even if the librarian didn’t think he was.
    “How about your homework?”
    “I’ve completed my homework,” Rom said.
    “Well, this
is
the library,” Ms. Goodman said, stating the obvious. “Why don’t you read a book?”
    “I’ve read all these books.”
    “You’ve read
all
these books?”
    “Yes,” Rom replied.
    The librarian looked at the stacks and stacks, the literally thousands, of books surrounding them. “You’ve read…
Great Expectations
?”
    “Yes.”
    “
Little Women
?
A Wrinkle in Time
?
War and Peace
?”
    “Yes,” Rom told her. “My brother has a very extensive library. Much better than this one.”
    The librarian gripped her pen tightly and took a deep breath. After a moment of stewing she finally came up with an idea. She reached under her desk and pulled up a very thick copy of the White Pages telephone book. It was the residential listing of everyone who lived in the Valley and was hundreds of pages long. She dropped it down in front of Rom.
    “Here, Mr. Halifax. Why don’t you read
this
?”
    Rom studied the phone book for a moment. Ms. Goodman probably didn’t expect him to take her up on her offer, but Rom picked up the book and headed back to his table. He thumbed through the pages as he walked. He seemed to actually be reading it.
    The librarian shook her head in wonder. What an odd boy. She then picked up her pen and continued the hard work of completing her crossword puzzle.
* * *
    “Halifax!” Coach Gwynn screamed from the bench. “Keep your eye on the ball!”
    It seemed ridiculous for Farrell to keep his eye on the basketball when Andre and his teammates were making sure he would never get his hands on it. Besides, there was something so much more interesting to look at. Shana Rowen had returned to the gym and had brought the hairy girl