Page 101 of Crew
"I'm not--"
Jordan moved in a flash, but so did I.
Jordan went for the teacher, and I went for him.
"Stop it." I shoved him back.
We couldn't touch a teacher. Everything would be at risk then. Not just us, or me, but everything. The whole crew system.
There were gasps behind us. Some guy said, "Holy shit." But other than that, silence.
A guy from the back row ran from the room. The door slammed shut behind him, and Jordan and I shared a look. We only had a few moments before school security would be here.
I turned around, slowly, to face Mr. Jenston.
He was scared. I understood, and a part of me--the part that wanted to be a good student, a good kid--ached at that. I never wanted a teacher to fear me, but I was not normal. I never could be.
Maybe one day they'd know why, but I hoped not.
"You know my name. You know my family," I said quietly. "And yet you still talk to me like that." I paused, making sure his eyes were on mine. I felt my knife against my skin. It was there to calm me, and a part of me wanted to pull it out. I didn't dare. This teacher wouldn't understand how it was my security blanket.
I spoke even more quietly, so only Mr. Jenston and Jordan could hear. "You dismissed me from this class, and you never once looked at me." I pointed to my face. "This is why I was gone. You treated me just now like I'm invisible, like I'm not worth a second look, or even a first look. My absence was excused, and I did nothing this morning except come to school. And when I got here, you attacked me. That's how we view it. When you talk to us like that, you attack us."
"That's no--that's not..."
He couldn't talk. His eyes cut to Jordan's, and Jordan stepped back. I felt him.
Mr. Jenston's head lowered. He pointed to the camera in the corner. "That's not going to show what just happened here, not accurately."
Dread traced up my spine.
"Look." Mr. Jenston coughed, tugging at his collar. He looked in pain, or humiliated. I was going with humiliation. Or so I hoped.
"I can speak up for you, but it will look like you're threatening me. They won't believe me. They'll enforce further action against you both, but mostly against you, Bren." The corners of his mouth softened. "They'll blame you, so the best way to stop anything else from happening is to get that video."
"What do we do?" Jordan asked over my shoulder.
We ran out of the classroom as Cross ran in.
We almost crashed. The guy who'd dashed from the room was right behind him.
Jordan's jaw went slack. "Thought you narced."
The guy shook his head, but ducked around us and went back into the room.
