Payback, page 10
I rise, and start walking toward the door when he holds out a hand.
“I don’t know what I want to do yet,” I say, because it seems like the safest answer.
“There’s still time,” he says reassuringly. As if we’re just any student and school director talking about the future. “Can I offer you some advice?”
No. “Sure.”
“Think about who you are. What makes you you. And if that’s not the person you want to be, use the next few years as a vehicle to get you there.”
I give a stiff shrug. “What happened to you’re fine just the way you are?”
I’m trying to lighten the conversation, but the words fall flat.
Dr. O chuckles. “Then I suppose you, like me, have found your place in this world.”
He holds open the door for me to step out, and I do, taking my first full breath in minutes.
But through the slim window beside the door, I see Geri’s father make a turn around the fountain in his red sports car, and feel like I’ve just stepped off the edge of a very steep cliff.
CHAPTER 10
Geri’s father was at Vale Hall to talk about Geri’s upcoming college visits. At least, that’s what Geri thinks.
Or rather, what she tells me.
She knows what her father does, and she keeps her nose out of his business. The less she knows, the better. If she interferes with her father’s jobs for Dr. O, that puts her dad in jeopardy, and he only works for Dr. O because he wants to give her the best shot at making something of herself.
But I can’t help thinking something bad is about to happen.
And I can’t help wondering if Grayson is worried too. At breakfast, he lets his cereal go soggy before pouring it down the drain. During our calculus exam review, he stares blankly at the wrong textbook. I want to ask him what he knows, but I can’t be sure it won’t go straight back to Dr. O.
I tell Charlotte, Henry, and Sam about our visitor. I call Caleb, and he promises to go to headquarters at the train yard and spread the word to Margot, Renee, and Raf. I look for Moore, hoping that he has some clue as to why Geri’s dad was talking to the director, but he’s gone, driving Dr. O to political strategizing meetings with the mayor.
It’s like waiting for the other shoe to drop, when that shoe is wired with explosives.
I’m unable to think about anything else until Model UN that afternoon, when I realize as June stalks in, avoiding my gaze, that I blew her off at lunch.
“I’m sorry about earlier,” I tell her before the session starts. Shrew’s already announced that it’s going to be a doozy—we’re teaming up to strategize a resolution to world hunger, which is hard to get in the right frame of mind for with the holiday music piped in through the overhead speakers. “I had to do some stuff before class.”
“I’m not crying about it,” June says, chomping on her gum. “Do whatever you want.”
I hurt her, and I wish I hadn’t.
“Maybe tomorrow?” I offer, overhearing Geri, across the room, singing the harmony to “Deck the Halls.”
“Are you even going to be here?”
My back straightens. “Why wouldn’t I be here?”
“I don’t know.” She prods gently at her thick mascara with one fingertip. “Aren’t you and your pals part of some secret club?”
My heartbeat slows, each single beat pounding in my ears.
People are starting to notice.
My eyes lift across the gym, to where Grayson has just joined Switzerland’s table. He’s watching me, too. His gaze is narrowed and unflinching.
“Of course not,” I say.
“That’s what I’d say if I were in some secret club too,” she says.
I can’t tell if she wants to be a part of the group or doesn’t. Either way, she’s paying attention to what we’re doing, and that can’t be good.
Unless we can trust her.
We need more allies at school, people not loyal to Dr. O. June doesn’t appear to be spreading anyone’s business, even though she’s clearly observing from a distance. If she’s looking for friends, we might be able to turn her before Dr. O gets his hooks in too deep.
We need to move fast. He’ll be a senator in two weeks. And if Charlie was right, the director is already tying up his loose ends.
“Let’s talk tonight,” I tell her, leaning close. “There’s something I want to ask you about.”
Her eyes light up.
“What’s this? China and Australia conspiring before the start of session?” Grayson, striding over from his table, flashes his son-of-a-senator grin, but his gaze stays hard on mine. “Pretty sure that’s not fair.”
“It’s about as fair as a Swiss hot chocolate delivery,” says June. She’s one of the few people here unimpressed by Grayson, which happens to be a prerequisite of our rebellion.
“But everyone likes hot chocolate,” he says. “And no one likes secrets.”
I’m reminded again of what he didn’t tell Dr. O, and that worried look on his face this morning when he saw Geri’s dad.
“Good thing I’ve got nothing to hide, then,” I say. “How about you, Grayson?”
The air cools between us.
“I’m an open book,” he says. “Ask me anything you like.”
A strange look passes over his face—challenge, I realize. As if he wants me to ask him something, and he’s ready to answer.
I square my shoulders. I do have questions, but I’m not asking them here, with half the student body filing into the gym. Even if I did confront him on what he knows about Geri’s dad, or even the true nature of his relationship with Dr. O, I couldn’t be sure he was telling me the truth.
“Oh, good!” Henry strides toward us, cutting across the gym floor. He’s wrangling a messenger bag over his shoulder like it’s alive—the strap pulls at the collar of his undershirt as he struggles to reach inside.
“Henry?” I move to intercept. Whatever Henry’s planning here can’t be good. Just the sight of Grayson has him unhinged.
“I got you something, Switzerland,” says Henry.
“Is it a thank you for the hot chocolate?” Grayson asks. His voice is amused, but his eyes are anxious. He’s been caught off guard, and he doesn’t like it.
Henry pulls a silver, spray-painted piggy bank from his bag and holds it in front of Grayson’s face. He’s drawn a lot of attention now; almost everyone is staring in our direction.
“Since you’re so intent on winning everything, here you go. Take Petal. We don’t want her.” Henry shoves the coveted platinum pig into Grayson’s chest.
“Hold up,” Geri says, marching toward us in her platform heels. “Did you go in my room?”
Henry winces. This must be the secret mission Sam mentioned.
Grayson’s smug grin has faded.
“No one picked a winner yet, Australia,” calls Joel, but no one’s listening.
“I know what you did last night,” Henry tells Grayson, jabbing a finger into his shoulder.
“Drama,” sings June. “I told you.”
“Henry, I need your help over at our table.” I yank on Henry’s arm. This is not a conversation I want everyone overhearing.
“I know you told Belk we were messing around, but we were just doing homework.”
Grayson folds his arms over his chest as Geri grabs Petal out of Henry’s hand. He doesn’t even seem to notice.
“Okay,” says Grayson.
“This isn’t a game,” Henry continues, his cheeks flaring red. “I’m a real person. We’re all real people. The things you do affect others.”
“What about the things you do?” Grayson counters. “What about the games all of you play?” He’s speaking quietly, but the entire room is watching.
Henry blinks rapidly.
“Grayson, stop.” I might as well be a gnat. He doesn’t even register I’m there.
“What did I do to make you hate me?” Henry asks quietly, as if realizing Grayson’s true feelings for the first time.
It’s that simple with Henry. He doesn’t see people using others as pawns, even in our line of work, because he wouldn’t.
I’m ready for another snappy Grayson comment, but it doesn’t come. Instead, he deflates like a balloon, chest caving inward, head tipping forward. He stares at the ground at Henry’s feet.
“I don’t hate you.” His voice is a bruised whisper.
“What’s going on over here?”
I jerk at the sound of Moore’s voice, hard with anger, as he strides over to where the crowd has gathered. His gray suit is wrinkled today, but his glare is cold and steady.
“Get to your seats,” he orders. “Henry, what’s the problem?”
But Henry isn’t moving. He’s watching Grayson, who now appears to have run out of batteries and stalled completely.
“Nothing,” says Geri. “We were just discussing Petal.” She holds the pig up.
June’s gaze glances off mine. She purposefully turns her chair away from the crowd, as if to say she was never a part of it, and hunches over her team’s research binder.
“Henry,” Moore says more pointedly. “Is Grayson bothering you?”
Grayson gives a small snort, then finally lifts his head.
“We were just messing around, weren’t we, Henry?”
“I didn’t ask you,” snaps Moore.
Lightning zings down my spine. If there was one thing I learned from living with my mom’s ex, Pete, it was how to read when someone was on the verge of losing their control. I like Moore. I trust Moore. But right now, he’s about to crack.
Around us, the song has switched to “Jingle Bells.” The cheerful melody sets my teeth on edge.
Geri backs slowly away with a long “Okay.”
I should do the same, but I force myself to stay. Not just for Henry, but for Moore. Something’s wrong with him. He can’t be sick, like I thought before. He’s become edgier since Grayson’s arrival. That cool, calm demeanor is slipping. He’s no longer the man who picked me up from Devon Park to deliver me to Vale Hall.
“We’re fine,” says Henry, but he doesn’t sound very convincing.
Moore’s gaze zeroes in on Grayson. “I thought I made it clear to you that if you so much as looked wrong at a single student in this school, you would answer to me.”
My eyes widen. Moore threatened Grayson? Moore told Henry and me to keep our distance from the senator’s son, but he never mentioned that he’d told Grayson the same.
Grayson’s strength returns at Moore’s words. His shoulders roll back. A smirk lifts his mouth just as a dangerous gleam brightens his blue eyes.
I’ve come to learn that this look from Grayson is very bad.
“You don’t have to worry,” he says, smooth and untouchable again. “Henry and I had a disagreement, but we worked it out. He put me in my place, didn’t you, Henry?”
Grayson lifts his arm and drops it over Henry’s shoulders.
Henry doesn’t even have time to respond. Moore is on him like a shot. He shoves Grayson and Henry apart, and pins Grayson against the glass wall of the gym.
My heart leaps into my throat. This isn’t right. Even if Grayson is nothing more than another of Dr. O’s henchmen, he’s still a student. Moore can’t hurt him.
My hands are fisted in the back of Moore’s suit. His hands remain on Grayson’s chest. He’s knocked two chairs over in the attack, but doesn’t seem to notice.
Grayson doesn’t fight back. He stares at Moore with hate in his eyes, but his arms stay limp at his sides.
“Moore!” I pull harder, hearing stitches pop in his jacket.
Henry’s jumped between them too, and is trying to pull Moore’s grip free.
“What is this? Grayson? Mr. Moore!” From behind comes Shrew’s shrill voice, pumping a new fear into me.
“You have to stop,” I hiss at Moore. “Moore!”
He releases Grayson at once, and his quick glance in my direction says he’s shocked to find me standing there. In horror, he looks at Grayson, then jerks back two full steps.
“Take your seats,” he says unevenly. “It’s time for class.”
He turns and strides past Charlotte and Sam out the gym doors. I glance at Henry, finding equal confusion on his face, and then tear after our security guard.
Moore doesn’t head back to the house. He cuts a straight line across the lawn toward the entrance to the garden. I look over my shoulder, but no one’s following us, so I pick up my pace, intercepting him right at the bench near the garden entrance.
“What was that?” I demand.
“Get out of here,” he growls.
“No. You just attacked a student! You could be fired!”
“I could be.” He paces in a tight circle, rubbing his forehead. I’ve never seen him so unnerved. I’ve never seen anything get to him.
I throw myself in front of him, but he only diverts his course and keeps pacing. “I could be? That’s it? You leave, and I’m … we’re…”
Alone.
If Moore is fired, we’re alone here with Dr. O. Henry, Charlotte, Sam, and I are at the mercy of Ms. Maddox’s spying, and Belk’s threats. Even the other students who don’t see what the director is doing need Moore here. He’s the only adult we can really trust.
Moore has stopped, and is staring at Barry Buddha, the fat-bellied gold statue on its marble column that someone’s dressed up in a Santa hat. How many times have I wished for Barry’s help when I’ve been in trouble? Now Moore’s staring at his jolly smile with the same desperate intent.
“I can’t do it with him here,” he says.
My brows crinkle. I move slowly closer.
“Who? Grayson?” I ask, even though I’m not entirely sure he’s talking to me.
“I promised to protect them. But every time I look at him, I think about what he did…”
“Who did you promise? Dr. O?” Is he talking about his job?
He clasps his hands together, bringing them to his forehead, as if praying.
Everything inside me begins to quake. Moore can’t leave. He can’t fall apart. He’s the rock here. I didn’t realize how much I depended on that until this moment.
Everything I’ve been doing has been a risk, but I always thought, deep down, I’d be okay because Moore would be there. He’d have my back.
I never thought he’d be struggling too.
“I’m sorry.” His voice is a broken whisper.
I don’t know if he’s talking to me, or someone else.
I don’t know what to do.
We need each other.
If I were Henry or Charlotte, I’d hug him. If I were Sam, I’d explain how logically this doesn’t make sense—his job is to protect the students, despite our line of work.
If I were Caleb, I wouldn’t say anything. I’d listen. Then I’d tell him we’ll figure it out.
But I’m not my friends. I’m me. I come from the hard side of the wrong end of town. I fight for everything I need. I don’t give up, ever.
And that’s why I like Moore. Because he came from the same place. Because he fights too, and he doesn’t need a hug to tell him I care.
So I straighten my back, and tell him the same thing he told me three months ago when I was falling apart.
“That’s enough. You’re Hugh Moore from Devon Park. You don’t do this.”
His hands fall slowly to his sides.
“If you’ve got a problem, fix it. But do it fast, because there’s another twenty-eight students at this school besides Grayson Sterling, and we need you.”
Moore’s chin lifts.
He nods once, his eyes still on Barry.
“Good,” I say, and leave him to gather his thoughts.
CHAPTER 11
We lie low for the next few days. Breakfasts are uneventful. Evenings are quiet with everyone studying for exams. The Model UN is strictly by the books. There are no more hot chocolate deliveries, or pledges of support from Switzerland to Australia. Grayson doesn’t even turn his chair in our direction, but I catch him staring at Henry when he thinks no one else is looking, and the hurt in his eyes worries me.
June joins our group for lunch, and instantly fits in. She tells us Geri’s had it out for her since June got the part of Lysistrata in their drama elective, and that ever since, Geri and her friends have been stealing all the blueberry bagels at breakfast, which is the worst, because that’s the only kind she likes.
Henry pledges to replace them with raisin bagels when they aren’t looking.
My afternoons are consumed with physics, precalculus, and music theory, which now involves chords, aka tons of notes all put together at the same time. Finals are next week, right before Christmas and Dr. O’s swearing in-ceremony on New Year’s Eve, so after dinner it’s down to the pit for homework.
We pretend like everything’s normal. We eat copious amounts of Ms. Maddox’s Christmas cookies while pretending she isn’t listening to our conversations as she cleans up after us. We stream the cheesiest holiday movies we can find. Charlotte studies like crazy, blaming her recent weight gain on impending internship stress. Sam makes daily trips to the public library, where he claims to focus better as he works on their escape plan. Henry and Grayson find a way to act cordial when they’re in the same room. Even Moore is back to his usual cool and collected self. But it feels like we’re tiptoeing around land mines. Every hour we draw closer to Dr. O’s swearing-in is another we’re all in danger. Our friends are out there, vigilant but unprotected. Charlie’s probably the safest among them, and he’s surrounded himself with Wolves.
Anytime I’m not focused on a task, my mind drifts to dark places. If Dr. O can use his resources to hunt us down, and get rid of our marks and those who stand in his way, what good will us blackmailing him do?
It won’t matter what we know, he isn’t afraid of us.
But short of making him disappear, I don’t know what to do. If he stays, we’re in danger. If he becomes senator—which he will in less than two weeks if we don’t stop him—he’ll have even more power. If he goes to prison, he’ll find a way to punish us—we’ll all end up there with him, or dead, like the others Charlie mentioned.
