Page 26 of Revenge At Raleigh High
“Shit!” The kid standing next to me, a nerdy type from computer club, catches sight of the weapon and turns, bolting toward the school building. Half of the other the spectators do the same, backing away from the scene with their hands in the air and fear in their eyes. The other half are frozen, their feet rooted into the ground, unblinking.
Alex’s hand tightens around mine. I can already see him jumping into this melee, putting himself in another dangerous situation that might cost him his life, and horror blooms like an ugly flower in my chest.Not this time, Moretti.Notgoing to happen.I close my other hand around the top of his arm, digging my fingers into the leather of his jacket. He immediately looks back at me, tension in the lines of his face, and I shake my head.
“Don’t. God, please don’t. Not this time.”
Rosa holds the knife in front of Zen’s face, showing her the wicked blade. “How you gonna fuck with other people’s guys with your face all cut up, bitch?” Rosa spits. “You still think it’s funny, huh? Still think it’s your god given right to try and take what doesn’t belong to you?”
I loved Zen once. She was one of only four other people in the entire world who really, truly knew who I was. I would have done anything to protect her. A little over a year ago, I would have charged at Rosa myself, desperate to get her the hell away from my friend, but now a cold and indifferent shield goes up around my heart. This is really fucking bad, but there is such a thing as justice, therehasto be, and too many people have gotten away with far too much at Raleigh High. Maybe it’s time that people started paying for their sins.
Zen screams, a high pitched, reedy, pathetic sound, and my stone-cold resolve falters. Rosa grimaces, jabbing at Zen’s face with the knife, and I see the determination in her eyes. She’s not just here to scare Zen this morning; she’s here tohurther. Witnessing the intent on Rosa’s face is seriously fucking disturbing.
When did we become this? At what point did rape, murder and assault become acceptable to the students of this school? Was there a defining moment that made one of us snap? Did the actions of that one person then make it okay for three other people to discard common decency and take whatevertheywanted? Has this all been a domino effect of pain and suffering, because of one small, defining moment that might have seemed insignificant at the time but is now responsible for eighteen lives?
Rosa slashes with the knife, but she doesn’t follow through on her threat and cut Zen’s face. She grabs a handful of Zen’s hair instead, hacking and sawing at her wild, bouncy curls, and then letting clumps of it flutter away on the breeze.
“No! No, no, no, not my hair.Pleeease!” Zen sobs. Her hair has been a part of her identity for as long as I’ve known her. Zen’s one of the vainest people I’ve ever come across, so this? Hacking off her hair? It’ll feel almost the same as scarring up her face to Zen. At least this isn’t permanent.
“WHAT IN GOD’S NAME IS GOING ON HERE?!”
Principle Darhower’s roar of anger splits the air in two, deafening even over the shouting of the crowd. He charges into the knot of people, his navy-blue tie flapping in the wind over his shoulder. His suit pants are soaked well past the ankle. Rosa looks up at him, hesitating for second, but she doesn’t let go of Zen or the knife.
“Ms. Jimenez. What thefuckare you doing?” I’ve never heard Darhower curse. Not even after the shooting. His face is so purple, he looks like his head is about to burst open from all the pressure building up inside of it. “Haven’t we had enough ofthisto last a lifetime?” he demands. “What the hell are you trying to accomplish here? What do you think’s going to happen now?”
“I don’t know,” Rosa admits. “I don’t really care what comes next. This little slut just needed to pay—”
“Drop the knife, Rosa,” Darhower grinds out. His hands are on his hips, his head bowed, shoulders heaving. “I swear to you now, if you drop the knife, we’ll work together to figure this out. If you don’t, the situation will be beyond my influence.”
Zen whimpers, tears coursing down her cheek. Our eyes meet for a split second, and for the first time in over a year, I’m not met with disgust and contempt. I’m met only with fear.
“What do you mean?” Rosa demands. “Beyond your influence?”
“What do you think I mean? Sheriff Hainsworth’s on his way. Ms. Gilcrest’s calling your parents as we speak. If the Sheriff pulls into this parking lot and finds you holding another girl at knife point, things are going to be very bad for you.Verybad.”
Rosa swallows, turning the knife over in her hand. She stares the principal down, searching his face, perhaps looking for some sort of sign that he’s lying. Her shoulders relax, her body loosening, and for a second I think she’s going to let Zen go. But then she rips Zen’s head back, grabbing another giant handful of her hair, and she saws through it crazily, slashing out with the razor-sharp knife, cutting more and more of Zen’s hair away.
“ROSA!”
Next to me, Alex shakes his head, eyes hard, jaw clenched. “Holy fuck,” he mutters under his breath. “It’s like fucking Lord of the Flies up in here. I thought Raleigh was supposed to be one of thegoodschools.”
Zen sobs as Rosa finishes up her insane task, throwing the last puff of Zen’s hair right into her face. Her hair is shorn so close to her scalp in places that Rosa’s blade must have nicked the skin; a thin trail of blood runs down the side of her head, following the curve of her skull, coursing around the back of her ear and down the side of her neck.
In the distance, the high-pitched wail and throb of a police siren echoes over the trees that surround Raleigh High.
Rosa Jimenez drops the knife.
Alex has been fixed on the girls the entire time.
He hasn’t noticed the grim presences of Jacob Weaving, standing apart from the crowd, shooting knives atme,like he’s plotting my very slow and painful death.
10
ALEX
Monty: Couldn’t get the bag. Bring it here by four? I have news on the Weaving situation.
It’s a running joke that Mrs. Webber, our AP math teacher, is so short-sighted that she wouldn’t be able to make out a bus before it hit her. The woman’s near-blindness works in my favor as I openly reply to Monty’s text from my seat at the back of the classroom.
Me: Sure. See you then.
