Free Looking for X by Deborah Ellis

had your chance to do that earlier,” she said. She did kiss me goodnight, but it didn’t feel like she meant it.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
MUD
    When I got to school the next morning, the windows were boarded up. Not all the windows. Just the ones on Miss Melon’s classroom.
    â€œWhat happened?” I asked a kid in my home-room class.
    â€œSomebody broke all the windows in Melonball’s class last night. Threw mud and leaves and stuff all over the classroom, too.”
    â€œHow do you know?”
    â€œOverheard the teachers.”
    â€œDo they know who did it?”
    â€œProbably somebody who didn’t like Miss Melon.”
    There was a strange feeling in the class all that morning. The boards on the windows made the classroom dark and eerie, even though all the lights were on.
    The other kids were acting strange, too. They’dlook at me, and look away again.
    I stood alone at the fence during morning recess. Some kid was throwing a ball against the boards where the windows used to be, until a teacher yelled at him to knock it off.
    Tiffany and her gang walked by. They looked at me and laughed. I turned my back to them so I wouldn’t have to see their goofy faces.
    Mom was coming up the sidewalk toward the school. I raised my hand to wave at her. Just then, she looked at me, and I stopped my hand in mid-wave. She looked angry, disappointed and...hopeless.
    I didn’t have to wait long to find out what was going on. As soon as we got back to class after recess, Miss Melon gave the class some chapters to read. Then she looked at me and said, “Come with me.”
    She held my arm all the way to the principal’s office.
    The same gang of sour adults was there, minus Tiffany’s mother. A cop was with them. He was ten feet tall.
    I was getting scared. This wasn’t like my last visit to the principal’s office, where I knew I’d be punished, but I didn’t care. I knew then that what I had done was right, even if it was wrong, if you know what I mean.
    This time, I didn’t even know what I had done, although I was pretty sure they all thought I had done something.
    And this time, Tammy wasn’t jumping up and down to defend me. She just sat still. She also looked very, very tired.
    The principal was the only one who spoke. He called me by my unmentionable name. I listened for Tammy to correct him, but she said nothing.
    â€œAs you know, there was damage done to the school last night. We’re trying to get to the bottom of it, and we’d like to know where you were yesterday evening.”
    â€œI was at home.”
    â€œBefore you were at home.”
    â€œI was in Allan Gardens with...” I started to say “with X,” but I didn’t want the cop to know about her. “With a friend,” I said instead.
    â€œWhat is the name and address of this friend?”
    I looked at the cop. He towered above everyone, and his frown was aimed at me.
    â€œAnswer the question.”
    â€œAm I in trouble?” I asked, my voice sounding very small.
    â€œYou were seen running away from the school last night. You returned home with your clothes torn and muddy, and you could not give your mother an explanation of how they got that way.Yes, I’d say you were in trouble.”
    I stared at Tammy, my jaw dropping to my chest. My mother had ratted on me to the enemy. She had never done that before. I had believed, deep down inside me, that she never would.
    Tammy looked right back at me, but there was nothing in her face or eyes to make me feel better.
    I looked away from her.
    â€œI didn’t break those windows.”
    â€œThen where were you last night?”
    â€œI told you. I was in Allan Gardens with a friend.”
    â€œIf you were in Allan Gardens, why were you running away from the school?”
    I had no answer for that.
    â€œWill you at least tell us the name of the friend you were with?”
    I looked at Tammy again. She