“I think so.” Of course I remembered. I’d seen Maggie’s entire anatomy and physiology and captured it on film. Good gravy! It’d just occurred to me that the copy-Kitten had highly sensitive information. There was more at stake than just our reputations.
Megan nodded. “It was totally weird. You know the only reason he was able to hook up with Maggie was because she didn’t understand English. If she did, she would have known that he was a complete butthead.” I laughed. My thoughts exactly.
“Ladies, do you mind?” Ms. Lipton asked, tapping her black boot on the shiny classroom floor.
“Sorry,” I answered, turning back around. I didn’t like being scolded.
“By the way,” Megan whispered from behind me. “The cheer squad’s not nearly as good now that you’re gone. Caught their practice the other day, and their cheers were pretty lame. You really rocked as captain. Way more original.”
I pressed my lips into a smile and glanced down at the sheet on my desk. It was sweet of her to say, but my stomach dropped. I missed the squad, being a part of something. Dismissing the thought, I looked closer at my test. I apparently had other problems to think about because none of the questions on my test looked even remotely familiar. I rubbed my eyes and checked it again. Nope. Not a clue.
My cell phone vibrated in my pocket. For a second, my heart sped up, but then I remembered that it wasn’t the SOS phone—it was just mine. I hadn’t gotten used to that yet. With a cautionary glance toward Ms. Lipton, I slid my pink cell out of my pocket and looked at the incoming number. I didn’t recognize the area code.
I clicked the phone off and slipped it back into my jeans, turning back to my test. Honestly, had I even read Death of a Salesman? It sounded tragic.
“Ms. Crimson?”
I looked up, startled by Ms. Lipton’s voice. She was sitting at her desk, staring at me. Next to her was a freshman I barely recognized, clutching a slip of white paper. He handed it to her and walked out.
“It’s from Principal Pelli,” my teacher said. “He wants to see you.” She pursed her lips as if the next part disgusted her in unspeakable ways. “You can come in during lunch to finish the test.”
“Really?” That was excellent news! I’d be studying all through the morning. Hm, where could I get CliffsNotes at this time of day?
“Meow,” Ralph Moss said as I stood up.
“Moss, I’m beating your ass after school,” Chris Townsend called from across the room. I smiled a little. It was nice of him to stick up for me.
“Enough, gentlemen.” Ms. Lipton shook her head.
I shoved my pen into the front pocket of my backpack and grabbed my test, handing it off to Ms. Lipton.
She took it, her face tightening at the sight of my blank page. Ms. Lipton rolled her eyes and handed me the hall pass. “See you at lunch, Ms. Crimson.”
I made my way out the classroom door and into the deserted hallway. I was a little creeped out. The corridor was empty, but I couldn’t shake that paranoid feeling. That feeling of being watched. Having someone break into your house will do that to a person.
I wrapped my arms around myself and began the long walk to the principal’s office, listening to the echo of my footsteps.
“Hey, prez.”
I twirled around to see Chloe Ferril hang her dark leather jacket in her locker. Immediately I was reminded of my vow to investigate her. The corner of my mouth twitched.
“Chloe.” I nodded in her direction.
Since last year, her style had gone from vixen to vampire. She dressed in goth clothes, even going so far as to paint her ragged fingernails bloodred. But I couldn’t complain. At least her br**sts were covered up now.
She smirked. “How’s Aiden?”
I nearly hissed. “He’s great. Thanks for asking.” She knew it got under my skin when she inquired about my ex. That was probably why she did it every time she saw me. Which, thankfully, wasn’t very often.
Chloe laughed, tilting her head so that her smooth blonde hair flowed over one shoulder. “I’m glad to hear that. Tell him I said science isn’t the same without him, okay?”
“Sure.” I most certainly would not.
She smiled and slammed her locker shut before traipsing off in the opposite direction, her boots thudding on the hall floor.
“I’ll get right on that,” I mumbled as she walked away. Well, she definitely shot up on my suspect list. I made a mental note of her locker number and decided that I’d pick the lock after school and see if she was hiding anything inside there. Then maybe tonight I would take a drive by her house.
I pulled my lips into a pout. Seeing Chloe today was particularly irksome. At least I didn’t have to deal with Christian. The brother-sister duo would have been a little too much, especially right now.
My phone vibrated in my pocket again. I exhaled, slightly unnerved by Chloe’s mention of Aiden, and slid out my cell to check the number. It was the same unfamiliar one from before.
“Hello?” I asked, my eyebrows pulled together.
“Tessa? Hey, it’s Mary.”
I squealed. “Mary! How are you?” Mary Rudick was our ex-captain and the founder of SOS. She was, like, the ultimate in pep preservation, so she’d called at the perfect moment. “I haven’t talked to you in forever!” We barely spoke now that she was going to school in California.
“I know,” she apologized, her voice raspy but upbeat as always. “I’ve been going crazy with these courses. College. Is. Super-hard.”
“That’s what Aiden tells me.”
“Aiden? He—I mean, I thought Kira told me you two broke up.”
“Sort of,” I said, my stomach turning at the mention of it. “But we’re…um, anyway, he goes to Washington State now. He’s always studying.”
“Oh, well, that’s good,” she said, then paused. “I’ve been there a few times. It’s a beautiful campus.”
I frowned. “I’ve never been up there.” At that, I wondered why none of my sessions with Aiden had taken place on campus. Hm. I’d have to ask him if I could come visit.
“Actually,” Mary said, sounding suddenly serious. “I was wondering if you had a sec. I wanted to talk with you about something.”
Even though I loved to talk cheer, there was the pesky matter of the note in my hand from Principal Pelli’s office. “Do you think I could call you when I get to lunch?” I asked, reaching behind me to rub at my back muscle. “I’m at school, and Principal Pelli just summoned me to the office.”