Indelible (39 page)

“I need some time to think.”

“Take all the time you need. Although you might want to hurry. For your young friend Mr. Springsteed, time is already running out.”

v

“I don’t care about the video,” Cherie said. We were sitting in the commons building courtyard. We hadn’t even bothered to take our books out of our backpacks to pretend to study.

“Maybe, but your parents will.”

Cherie took a deep breath. “I know, but my dad is a great lawyer and they have a lot of money. I’ll be okay. But you . . .”

“I won’t be.” I ran my finger along the grooves in the stone table. “We aren’t that rich. I’m barely able to afford tuition here. My dad doesn’t know any powerful lawyers and I know your dad won’t defend me.”

Cherie’s cheeks colored. “My parents love you.”

“They do. Until they see me as the one who ruined your future.” I dropped my forehead onto the table. “And what about everyone else involved? They were only trying to help Brent.”

“Yeah.” She twisted a strand of her blonde hair around her finger. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are you really considering saying yes?”

I turned my head so my cheek rested on the table. “Yes.”

“You can’t do it. It’ll be way more serious than destruction of property. I’m thinking rummaging around a judges chamber to find out how he’s leaning is a major offense.” Cherie folded her arms on the top of the table. “If you ever do anything to displease them they’ll hold it over your head. They’ll own you.”

“Hey guys what’s up?” Audrey asked as she sat down in an empty seat at our table.

“Yara’s about to sell her soul, that’s all.”

“I think I missed something,” Audrey said. Cherie caught her up to speed and Audrey grew more and more pale as the story went on.

“They have us all on video?” Audrey had tears brimming in her eyes. “I’ve never even had detention before.”

I reached out and squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry you got involved in all of this.”

She grabbed a tissue from her pencil box to dab away her tears. “I wanted to help Brent.”

“I don’t think anything will help him now except for the cure. They’ll only give him one little vial at a time. I don’t even know what I’d need to do to get the whole stupid, green bottle.”

Audrey paused mid-nose blowing. “Is this green bottle shaped sort of wavy? With some thick liquid inside.”

I paused at her words, trying not to get my hopes up. “How did you know that?”

“Because I saw a couple of those and some little test-tube things of it sitting on Mr. Crosby’s desk last week. He was just putting them back in his safe when we came to interview him for the yearbook.”

“Brent’s cure is here at school?” My thoughts started churning. “In a locked safe.”

“Not just any safe,” Audrey said. “It was high end. It had a fingerprint recognition thing and an ocular scan. It was like out of a spy movie.”

“Oh.” My swirling thoughts stopped. “Then it might as well be in outer space. I need a plan.”

“A plan for what?” Brent sat down across from me.

“I’m trying to figure out a way to help you without getting the rest of us in more trouble.”

“Please don’t do anything stupid. It isn’t worth it.” Brent laced his fingers through mine.

“Yes it is.” I gave his hand a squeeze. “You told me that last year and I’m the one who got Thomas out of your body.”

“With a major assist from me,” Brent pointed out. “Whatever you have planned, please include me.”

“I will. At least this time someone hasn’t kicked you out of your body, this is—” a sudden idea sprang into my mind, a way to gain access to the cure. It might mean kissing everyone’s futures goodbye, so I’d have to clear it with them first, but I knew this could work.

Brent frowned at me. “I don’t like that look in your eye.”

I grinned at him. “I have a plan.”

v

I kept patting my backpack to make sure the brownies were there. I clutched the bag close to me to try and hide my nerves. I could lie on my feet easily, but this would require more skill than I usually needed.

“He’ll see you now,” Teri, Mr. Crosby’s secretary, said.

I was shaking as I stood up. She held out a dish of candy, offering me one. “He’s all bark. He’s really a softy.”

The sad thing was, she really believed it. I declined the candy and walked into the enemy’s lair.

Assistant Headmaster Crosby was sitting behind his mahogany desk, his arms folded across the shining top, his lunch on a plate in front of him.

“Yara.” He smiled without warmth. “You’ve caught me eating again. Please come in. I expected you a few days ago. You held out longer than we thought you would.”

It had taken me that long to get everything in place. “You knew I would change my mind?”

He shrugged and sunk deeper into his leather chair, motioning for me to take the seat on the other side of his desk. “We know how sick Brent is. We know you care. It was only a matter of time.” He flicked the reactionary on his desk, and the silver balls bounced back and forth. “After his last seizure, we were sure you’d come around.”

I bit my lip and stared at the lion sculpture on his desk, hoping my anger would look more like grief. I glanced at his clock and frowned. “I have to go eat lunch so I won’t be late for class.”

“I can write you an excuse. Stay until we’ve finished our conversation.”

“Can I eat here? I knew I was seeing you so I picked up a sack lunch from the cafeteria.” Please say yes. Please say yes.

“Be my guest.”

A genuine smile lit my face. “Thank you.”

My hands trembled as I pulled out my sack lunch. The cafeteria had provided me grapes, a turkey sandwich, some chips and a bottled water. What they hadn’t provided were the two brownies I placed on his desk. I saw him eye them before turning back to his own lunch.

“So what are you going to need me to do?” I asked.

“You’ll get the details later,” he said cutting into his salmon.

“If you don’t want to talk about my next assignment then why did you want me to stay?”

He held up his finger while he chewed. “I thought we could get to know each other better. I’m not a horrible person. I think given a chance you may discover we could be friends.”

I couldn’t hold back my snort.

“I understand it will take time. You know the Clutch really turned my life around. I was in a car crash when I was in high school. My father died in it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thank you. But see, it was worse than that. I was driving when it happened. My father was a great man, a charismatic speaker and in the middle of a promising political career. After he died, I was a mess. But then I was recruited by the Clutch and they pulled me through, straightened me out. They saved my life. They can do the same for you.”

I didn’t want to look at him so I stuck a potato chip in my mouth.

“They’ve been powerful friends and allies and I know that they’ve helped me on my quest to fulfill my father’s legacy.”

I didn’t ask him any questions so he directed the conversation towards me. The rest of the lunch was filled with him asking me about my classes and me giving the briefest answers I could. When I had eaten all my lunch but my brownies, which, through careful planning, coincided with his last bite. I picked up a brownie. I bit into my brownie and made a ‘yum’ sound. He raised his eyebrow and looked at my extra brownie.

“May I?” he asked gesturing toward it.

I nodded. He took a bite, dabbed at his mouth with his linen napkin and then bit again. Crosby’s face paled and froze before he was shoved none too gently out of his body. His spirit was expelled so forcefully he went through the wall.

Time stood still. It wouldn’t take him long to get back. Thanks to my time-slip pill, I was still able to move at normal speed. I ran around to his chair and was grateful to find it had wheels. I rolled it over toward the landscape painting and pushed it aside. Behind it was his safe. Raising his hand, I placed it on the black flat panel. Then I put my shoulders under his and lifted him to his feet, sweating and staggering under his dead weight. The man was seriously heavy. I positioned his chin so it looked into the peephole-like spot. Nothing happened.

“It won’t work during the time freeze,” a familiar voice said from behind me as the door opened.

“Brent,” I hissed without turning around. “You’ve got to get out of here before he comes back. If he sees you here, it’s all over.”

“You’re lucky I’m here.” Brent shouldered most of Mr. Crosby’s weight before touching the safe. Once Brent made contact, a blue light flashed, scanning Mr. Crosby’s retina.

A soft hiss indicated the safe was open. I could have wept. Inside I counted thirty vials of the cure, plus the two green bottles. There was enough in here to keep Brent healthy for years. I pulled them all out, and then carefully placed them inside my backpack. While Brent wheeled Mr. Crosby over to his desk, I noticed some familiar sheaves of paper in the back. My journal pages! I grabbed those and stuffed them into my backpack too.

“Go!” I ordered. “Make sure Steve is in position, and get out of here before any of the cameras start working again.”

“I love it when you’re bossy.” Brent gave me a salute, slipped out of the office, and closed the door behind him. I shut the safe and righted the picture. I returned to my own seat, slipped out of my body and waited until I heard his voice on the other side of the door demanding I open it.

“Mr. Crosby?” I called through the door. “What’s happening? Why can’t I get back to my body?”

“Open the door, Yara.”

“Okay. I’m not as good at this as Brent so it might take a few minutes.” I stalled as long as I could, rattling the knob, until the orange glow around his body faded. In a few minutes the licorice would be worn off and he’d be sucked back into his body. I opened the door, and Crosby was livid.

“What happened?” I tried to sound confused, but the fear in my voice was all real.

His eyebrows furled. “What did you do?”

“Me? What did you do? I was shoved out my body! Is this another trick to force me to help you? I already said I would do it!” I scrunched up my face, trying to look on the verge of tears.

His eyes kept flashing different emotions: pity, mistrust, anger, sympathy.

“I didn’t do it,” he finally said.

“Well I didn’t do it.” I balled my hands into fists and placed them on my hips. “Then who did?”

His eyes narrowed. “Who gave you the lunch today?”

“Angela in the cafeteria. Why?” I hated pulling Angela into it, but he’d blame me for it soon enough. Especially when he found out there were no brownies on the menu today.

“I see.”

I made the about-to-cry look again. “I like Angela. Do you think she did this to us?” I sniffed. “Why would she do this?”

Right then, the licorice wore off and he was sucked into his body. I entered mine at the same moment.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be okay,” he said.

He wrote me a late pass and my clammy palms held it tight as my stolen goods and I left his office. Steve was waiting for me at the elevator doors and we switched backpacks. He took the elevator and I took the stairs, trying to not look like I was in a hurry. I was only half way down when an out-of-breath Teri called my name. I spun around and found Mr. Crosby storming up behind her.

“Yara, come back into my office with me. Right. Now.”

“Is everything okay?” My courage dimmed a little, but I followed behind him, trying to look innocent.

As soon as we were inside his office he shut the door firmly. “Let me see your backpack.”

“Okay.” I handed him my bag and silently thanked Cherie for adding a bag-switch to the plan. “What is this about?”

“This is about the fact that there were no brownies made in the cafeteria today and the fact that something was stolen from my office.” He unzipped my bag and searched through it. He looked up confused. “It isn’t here.”

“What?” I asked, trying to look lost.

“The . . .” he started then snapped his mouth shut. “Never mind. Are you sure you got your brownies from Angela?”

“I didn’t see her put them in there, but she handed me the bag.”

He ran his fingers through his hair and told me I could go.

My knees shook as I left his office the second time. If I didn’t think he was watching I would have collapsed on the floor. As it was, I forced myself to walk to class, amazed my plan had worked. By now Steve would have followed the rest of the plan and given Brent a dose before hiding the rest off campus.

In the morning I was called to Mr. Crosby’s office.

Teri grinned at me as she let him know I was in.

As soon as I sat down he glared at me. “That was very well played yesterday. I didn’t see it coming.”

“I don’t know what—”

“The security cameras show you handing off your backpack. I’m sure you’re feeling like you’ve won, but that amount of medicine will only help him for a few years.”

A few years gave me time to discover what was in the cure, or to find another way to help him survive. Right now, a few years felt like an eternity for Brent.

“I’m giving you the opportunity to still work with us. You’ll get the cure. I won’t release the tapes. And I also won’t release the information of what Mr. Springsteed was doing for us before he fell ill.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mr. Springsteed could go to jail for a long time. He is over eighteen, after all. There’s destruction of property, breaking and entering, burglary . . . ”

“You have proof of this?” I asked, my mouth dry.

He opened his laptop and clicked play. The surveillance video showed Brent pulling papers out of a filing cabinet and slipping them inside his jacket. “Imagine what the authorities would say if they saw this.”

“But. . .” That
can’t
be right, I wanted to say, but I remembered Brent’s refusal to talk about what they had asked him to do. I thought of how the Clutch had wanted me to spy on a judge as I watched the footage, and with a sickening thud in my stomach I realized it really was Brent on the tape. The Clutch had talked him into doing their dirty work in order to bargain for his life. They were that cold. I stared at Mr. Crosby with revulsion. He ignored me and smiled hopefully.