Free Truth and Lies by Norah McClintock Page A

without a sound. She hurried up the aisle to the door without looking at me. When she got to the door, she stopped and peeked out, head moving right, then left. Only then did she push her way out into the hall.
    â€œIs she the one?” I said. I tried to sound casual, like it was no big deal, so that there’d be more of a chance thatRiel would answer.
    Riel made a lot more noise than Rebecca when he jumped down from the stage—
ba-bump
.
    â€œWere you eavesdropping?” he said.
    I shook my head. Deny, deny, deny. “I was looking for you, that’s all,” I said. “I need to borrow ten dollars for a dance ticket.”
    Riel’s gray eyes drilled into me.
    â€œOkay,” I said. What was the point? It was obvious he knew. “Okay, so I heard some of what she said. But I wasn’t eavesdropping. I mean, I didn’t come in here to spy on you or anything.”
    â€œThat’s good,” Riel said. “Because anything Rebecca said to me was said in confidence. And I would hate to have that confidence betrayed. It would reflect badly on me. You hear me, Mike?”
    â€œYeah, I hear you.” Then, I couldn’t help myself: “She didn’t recognize anybody?”
    â€œI said she spoke to me in confidence,” Riel said. It was all he said. Well, fine. Time to change the subject.
    â€œSo,” I said, “can you lend me ten dollars for a dance ticket? I’ll pay you back when I get home.”
    Riel dug his wallet out of his pocket and pulled out a couple of fives. “You didn’t see Rebecca here and you didn’t see her talking to me, right?”
    â€œSure,” I said. Whatever.

    I was standing outside the west entrance of the school when Rebecca Whatever-her-last-name-was came through the door at three thirty. I hadn’t been looking for her. I had just come outside, the way any normal kid does when the final bell of the day rings. I had seen Vin standing there, probably waiting for Cat, and I had stopped to tell him about what had happened at the candy store, about getting fired. Vin thought that was pretty funny. He was laughing when Rebecca came out the door.
    It was pure coincidence that I happened to be there. If I hadn’t spotted Vin, I would have kept walking. I would have been halfway home by the time that door opened. But the way Rebecca’s eyes widened, the way they bugged right out of her head and the wild way she scanned the schoolyard behind me looking for—what? friends? protection? witnesses?—told me that she didn’t think it was an accident that I was there. I backed up a few paces, to put distance between myself and her, and felt like throwing up my hands, surrendering, to show I meant no harm.
    â€œHi, how’s it going?” I said, trying to sound friendly. What was with her, anyway? Why was she treating me like I was the entrance to a dark alley in a lonely part of town at two in the morning?
    Her legs beat triple-time, like windshield wipers in a major downpour, as she blew past me.
    â€œWhat’s with her?” Vin said.
    She was scared, that’s what was with her. She hadlooked at me like she was staring down the barrel of a loaded gun. I wanted to run after her and tell her to calm down, tell her I wasn’t going to do anything to her, relax.
    â€œYeah,” said a voice behind me. A girl’s voice this time. “What’s up with her?”
    It was Cat. I didn’t know how long she had been standing in the doorway. She smiled at me. At least, I thought it was a smile.

CHAPTER FIVE
    The next day after school, I went into every store on Gerrard Street and on Danforth where I thought I might have a shot at a job—candy stores, video stores, doughnut shops, the McDonald’s down near Coxwell, even the Italian supermarkets—to drop off a resume and maybe talk to someone, an owner or a manager. I wasn’t exactly greeted with lots of enthusiasm. But