It turned out that Matt was right after all. It was more than an hour before the police finished searching the building and by then it was well into seventh period. Instead of making everyone go back to class, the principal announced that school was over for the rest of the day. They were all free to leave. The entire school cheered, the annoyance of being forced to stand around with nothing to do for an hour forgotten in the shared elation of an early dismissal.
While a lot of kids headed back into the school to get their backpacks and other stuff from their lockers, Reed headed toward the parking lot. He didn’t have anything he needed in his locker and he was anxious to head home. A number of others must have had the same thought because several cars were already beginning to pull out of their spaces. As he walked toward his car Reed smiled as he caught sight of Paige Stone and a couple of her friends, Magdalena Wasilewski and Amanda Carpenter. He and Paige had been best friends since they met in kindergarten. He knew Magda and Amanda through Paige. They had all hung out together a few times, but Paige was his buddy. He thought of her as if she were his little sister, even though their birthdays were only a few months apart.
He adjusted his course to catch up with them. Then he saw that there was someone else with their group, and his smile faded. It was Jack Anderson, Paige’s so-called boyfriend. Reed couldn’t stand Jack, but he hadn’t said anything to Paige. As long as Paige wanted to be with him Reed wouldn’t make any waves. But Reed knew that it was only a matter of time before Jack did something to hurt her. Paige was one of those people who was very open and giving. She didn’t like it when anyone around her was hurt or upset and just wanted everyone she knew to be happy. Of course that left her wide open to be taken advantage of by people like Jack. Jack Anderson only cared about one person in the entire world: Jack Anderson. His parents had a little money and they spoiled him by buying him just about anything he wanted. He was the first kid in town to get the newest smart phone when it came out and he always came to school dressed in the latest fashion. They had even bought him a new car as a gift for his eighteenth birthday.
As far as Reed was concerned Jack was so full of crap it was coming out of his ears. But he had somehow managed to convince Paige that he actually cared about her. Until he did something to her, Reed wouldn’t interfere. But if he ever hurt her, the gloves would come off.
As Reed approached them he noticed the way they were all standing around talking. Even though he couldn’t see her face, he could tell by the way Paige was standing that something was wrong. He started to pick up his pace when a voice called out to him.
“Reed, just a minute.” It was the principal.
Reed stopped and turned in the direction of the voice. Getting out of here early had seemed too good to be true. He folded his arms and waited for Mr. Reynolds to catch up with him. He wouldn’t ignore Mr. Reynolds, but he wasn’t going to come on command like a trained dog either.
Mr. Reynolds was squinting at him as he walked over to him. Somehow Reed didn’t think it had anything to do with the brightness of the afternoon.
“I think we need to have a little talk about your whereabouts an hour ago,” Mr. Reynolds said as he stepped up to him. He looked Reed up and down as if he were searching for something.
“I didn’t do anything, Mr. Reynolds,” Reed said. “Honest, I was sitting in Mrs. Barber’s class learning all about how to change the base of a logarithm. It was actually very interesting.”
“Are you sure you weren’t out on one of your ninety minute bathroom breaks?” Mr. Reynolds said as he reached to take him by the elbow. “Why don’t we go back to my office and check out your story.”
“It wasn’t Reed, Mr. Reynolds,” a voice said, surprising them both. Looking to his right Reed saw Tom Gallo standing next to them.
“Tom?” Mr. Reynolds said. “Are you vouching for him?”
Tom held Reed’s eyes for a moment then turned to the principal. “It’s like he said, Mr. Reynolds. Reed was in Mrs. Barber’s class the whole time. I was there. He never left the room.”
Mr. Reynolds hesitated then let go of Reed’s arm. “If you’re willing to vouch for him, then okay.” He frowned at Reed for a moment, searching for something to say. “Stay out of trouble,” he said finally, then turned and walked away. It wasn’t any secret that Mr. Reynolds didn’t like Reed—and if truth be told Reed had done some things in the past that probably justified his suspicions. But the principal wasn’t a complete tool either. Reed hadn’t done anything this time so he let the matter drop. Of course that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be keeping a close eye on him for the rest of the year.
Reed let out a long breath. “Geez! I’ll be glad to get out of here.” He looked at Tom and for a few moments was at a loss for words. Tom Gallo, Mr. Upright Citizen, had actually stuck up for him. This was a first.
“Thanks,” Reed said.
Tom shrugged. “I couldn’t just stand there and let you take the hit when I knew it wasn’t you.” An awkward silence hung between them for a few moments. “See you around,” Tom said eventually, then turned and walked off.
High school can be a really weird place, Reed thought.
Most of the students had cleared the football field when Reed turned to head back toward Paige and her group. As he got close to them, Paige turned away from Jack suddenly and buried her face in Magda’s shoulder. He could see her shoulder’s heaving and heard her sobbing.
“What did you do?” Reed demanded.
“Hey, I never laid a finger on her,” Jack said. He and Reed were about the same height, but Reed’s broad shoulders and the look of rage etched on his face gave him a menacing appearance. In spite of that Jack refused to back down. There were still a lot of people around so he doubted that Reed would actually do anything. Besides, he had an image to uphold, so he couldn’t back away.
“It’s not my fault if she can’t handle a little bad news,” Jack said, holding his ground. A moment later an idea occurred to him and he looked at Magda. “So Magda, it looks like I’ve got some room in my car if you want a ride home.”
“In your dreams,” she shot back at him.
Jack snickered. “Sure. Another time, then. The offer’s always open.”
“Drop dead, Jack!”
Snickering to himself, Jack shot Reed a cocky look, then turned and strutted toward his car.
“Can you believe that guy?” Magda said. “What a jerk.”
“Paige, are you okay?” Reed said. “What happened?”
“What happened,” Amanda said, “is that he dumped her a week before prom. He said things weren’t working out between them, but I know what the problem really is.”
“Yeah. Me too,” Reed said as he glared at Jack’s retreating back.
Mayfair Park was a unique town on Long Island because it was so ethnically diverse. It was also a fairly small community and everyone pretty much knew everyone else. Around town the Andersons were known as closet bigots. Paige’s family was black and it had always surprised Reed that Jack had even asked her out in the first place. But he had also seen the way Jack played his parents. In spite of all the expensive things they were always buying for him, Jack didn’t have a very good relationship with his folks. He always seemed to be trying to find new ways to pick at them. Reed guessed that going out with a black girl was just another way to get under their skin. But now that prom was almost here he needed to find someone who would be more suitable to appear in pictures on his parent’s mantle.
As Reed continued to glare after him, Jack beeped the alarm on his car, opened the door and climbed in. It was a bright yellow Camaro with black racing stripes. He’d asked for that car especially because it was just like the car in his favorite movie. It was his pride and joy.
The Camaro gave a throaty roar as Jack started the engine and began to back out. It was a five-speed and although he’d had the car for several months, he still had trouble using the clutch. The car shuddered slightly as he finished backing up and put the car into first, almost with
out grinding the gears. That was when the trouble started. A rattling sound came from the engine, which suddenly began to sputter as the entire car started to buck.
Reed continued to stare daggers at him all the while. Soon the car was making such a racket that everyone’s attention was focused on it. After a moment a loud bang sounded from the engine. The car gave one last, violent shudder and went dead. A cloud billowed from underneath the hood. Jack threw open his door and stumbled out coughing as he waved smoke out of his eyes. He stared at his precious car in disbelief, then turned his tearing, red-rimmed eyes to Reed.
“What did you do to my car?” Jack roared.
“I didn’t lay a finger on your car,” Reed said. “It’s not my fault if your car can’t handle your bad driving.”
A number of people were chuckling behind their hands at Jack’s predicament. Even more were openly laughing.
“I know it was you,” Jack insisted. “I’ll get you for this, Reed!”
“Watch out that your mouth doesn’t get your ass in a sling,” Reed said quietly, the menace in his voice clear.
A low “Oooooo!” went through the crowd.
Jack glanced around at the students who were waiting to see if a fight was about to break out. He looked back at Reed and thought better about continuing the confrontation. Instead he gave him the finger, then spun on his heel and stormed off as he dug his phone out of his pocket.
Reed decided that it had turned out to be a pretty good day after all.
When Jack had moved far enough away that he wasn’t likely to try anything stupid, Reed turned to Paige. Although her cheeks were wet with tears she was smiling now.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Paige nodded. “Yeah. Thanks. I guess what goes around does come around.”
“I know Jack’s usually your ride home,” Reed said. “I can give you a lift if you need one.”
“Thanks, but Magda and I have to finish an Economics project that’s due tomorrow,” Paige said. “She’s going to drive us all back to her house.”
“Okay. Just let me know if you need me to tune Jack up for you. I’ve got a crescent wrench that’s just the right size.”
Paige stood on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks, but that’s not necessary. I don’t want you to do anything that will get you in trouble.” She knew that Reed had a temper. Even though she was pretty sure his offer was a joke she also knew he was quite capable of doing something to hurt Jack if she encouraged him. “Things have been kind of going downhill between us for a while anyway. I just didn’t expect him to do something like this…so soon.” She poked him in the chest with a finger. “You just leave him alone, okay? I’m fine.”
Reed nodded. “Okay. But let me know if you change your mind.”
Paige laughed as she wiped the wetness from her face and slapped him playfully in the chest. “Go home, Reed. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Reed gave the girls a brief wave goodbye then both groups turned and headed off in different directions.
Chapter Three