Page 56 of A Scandal in Homeroom
Some kind of game.
I waited then, wondered if Coyle might casually put his arm around her shoulders, kiss her like she was his. What if I’d been played this entire time? What if she knew the kind of effect she had on me, and had used that advantage to distract me from finding out what was really going on?
I’d wanted to know who was behind the List so I could give that information to Fitz in trade for a favor.
If Irene had played me purposefully, then it was her intention that I not find what I was looking for.
So she and Coyle were somehow behind the List and the List was connected to whatever was happening inside Thornfield. The two events had money in common.
All perfectly logical.
Except I didn’t want it to be true. I didn’t want what I’d shared with Irene to be that superficial. I thought about her exposing her breasts to me, the vulnerability in her expression when I’d finally been able to take my damn eyes off her tits and look at her face.
Could that have been an act?
Focusing my attention back on the couple across the street, I was somewhat mollified not to see any physical contact. No hugs or kisses. No shared words really. Coyle counted off a wad of cash and handed it to Irene. Irene took it, then turned, locked the door behind her and walked off in the opposite direction from Coyle.
They hadn’t even said goodbye to each other.
I could approach her. Ask her what it was all about, but the truth was I wasn’t ready to hear it. I needed a better plan than asking a bunch of questions I knew she would answer with lies.
I waited until she’d turned a corner to head to the West End of town, then I walked home.
* * *
Reen
Quietly,I slid up the window to my room. Using the short stepladder I kept hidden in the backyard of the house next door, I boosted myself up and through the window. I’d been doing this so long without incident it felt as commonplace as walking through the front door.
Which was why finding Mr. Sumner laid out on my bed was so utterly jarring. As if he was a stranger who’d broken into the house rather than its owner. The sound of the window, which even in his repose he must have been listening for, jostled him awake.
I watched him run his hand over his face a few times to wake himself up.
“What time is it?” His voice was rough and raspy.
“Almost five,” I answered honestly.
He sighed. “You going to tell me where you were?”
“Do I have to?”
He glanced up at me then. He didn’t seem angry, or even particularly worried. Why would he worry about me? It wasn’t like I was his actual daughter. I was just someone who was passing time in his house because the state paid him to allow it.
He did, however, seem resigned. “Look, Reen, we don’t want any trouble. We’ve done right by you. Kept you fed, sheltered, clothed. All we ask is that you follow the rules.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” I was sorry. I didn’t want to be a disappointment to anyone. “I wasn’t doing anything…”
I stopped myself. I couldn’t say illegal. I couldn’t even say unsafe. I’d been a witness to some criminal activity beyond a bootleg poker game. An activity I very much expected was some kind of blackmail ring.
Why else were people purposefully dumping money to Mr. Bennet?
Fortunately, Mr. Sumner didn’t force me to continue. Instead, he stood, his hands on his hips, his expression serious.
“Look, Irene, you’re a bright girl. You get good grades. You could get a scholarship to college if you really worked for it.”
“I’m not going to college,” I snapped. “You know it and I know it. I don’t have what it takes to get a full ride and I don’t see any point in putting myself in debt just to get a degree. There are other ways to make money.”
Another sigh. “Like I said. Sally and me, we don’t want trouble. I’m not going to abide you doing anything illegal while under my roof. I won’t have that around this house or my family.”
