Page 65 of A Scandal in Homeroom
I turned and jogged towards the gym, and I didn’t turn around to look at him once.
* * *
It gotdark out much earlier now. Not that it bothered me, walking home from school in the dark. For most of the school year it’s what I had to do. Especially during football season when cheer practice happened most afternoons and kept us at the school after six o’clock.
Tonight I had lingered even more because I wasn’t in any super hurry to start my evening with the Sumners. Things had been tense between us since Saturday, and it made living together uncomfortable for everyone. The more uncomfortable I made things for them, the more likely they would be to kick me out sooner.
Junior year, then senior year. It wasn’t too much to ask, was it? That’s all the time I needed, then they would never hear from me again.
I stopped at the end of the street where I was walking and puffed out a breath of cold air. Looking around, I noticed how quiet it was. Well past six now, everyone was home for the evening. It felt like the entire town had settled down for the night.
Stuffing my hands in my hoodie, I made a right onto Potter Street and kept walking. I was still blocks away from my house, but between the cold and the rumble of hunger in my stomach, I was ready to just get there.
There had to be something I could do to make it up to the Sumners. Something beyond just running errands. What if I took some of the money I’d saved and bought them something they needed? Better yet, something they wanted. Like a big-screen TV.
Yeah, how would I explain where I got the money for that?
“Stupid idea, Irene,” I muttered.
“Excuse me.”
I heard the deep voice call after me, but I didn’t stop walking.
“Are you Reen Adler? The cheerleader?”
I stopped and turned. Was this like some crazy fan? I didn’t recognize the voice, only that it belonged to someone too old to know who was on the high school cheerleading squad.
“Do I know you?” I asked, my voice sharp. This was my I-don’t-take-shit-from-anyone voice, and it could be pretty intimidating.
“No,” he said, as he approached. He was big, bulky and that’s when I realized he was wearing a ski mask.
Oh, fuck!
“But Moriarty knows you.”
I didn’t hesitate, I turned and started running as fast as I could. I screamed when he caught me, lifting me from behind. He wrapped his beefy hand around my mouth so fast it was unlikely the scream registered with anyone tucked inside the houses along Potter Street.
“You don’t leave the game until Moriarty says you leave the game,” he said, low and dark into my ear. “He sent me to remind you.”
I nodded frantically, trying to communicate I’d gotten the message. When it felt like he was letting me go, I nearly laughed with relief. Except he wasn’t letting me go. He held onto one arm and used his strength to turn me around toward him.
The first punch to my jaw sent me to my knees. It wasn’t that I’d never been hit before. I had. By girls, by boys. But this guy was stronger than anyone I’d ever come across before. He landed another blow, this time to the side of my head that made me worry my eye would pop out. I fell to the sidewalk, and he got in a few heavy kicks to my ribs. I rolled over, trying to protect the side he’d already hurt, when he stomped on my stomach so hard it knocked the wind out of me.
I was gasping for breath when a beam from car headlights lit up the street. Someone was turning onto Potter Street, and it was enough to send my assailant running. Immediately, I rolled again until I was on my knees. Then as quickly as I could, I stood. I was still gasping, still bent over, but I was walking. I didn’t want the car to stop. I didn’t want whoever was behind the wheel to suspect there was any trouble.
I turned into a driveway and made it look like I was heading into the house. I managed to climb three porch steps when the car passed, the driver oblivious to what had happened. Or maybe he saw something, but just didn’t care to intervene.
Glancing up and down the now empty street, I waited for Moriarty’s hit man to come back, but apparently he was satisfied enough with his work.
Shit. My jaw was already swollen. The right side of my face throbbed. There was no way the Sumners wouldn’t see the damage.
Could I get away with a cheerleading accident? A fall off a pyramid?
Even they weren’t that stupid. Besides the school would have had to report something like that.
I needed to hide. I needed a cover story.
I needed someone who might get why someone randomly attacked me in the streets without asking too many questions.
