"Dude, you don't know how to relax," Sali said over lunch. Ashe pushed his tray over so Sali could spear his uneaten carrots. Sali didn't care what the food was; he was hungry.
"And I suppose you're going to tell me?" Ashe snapped, his voice harsher than intended toward his best friend.
"Nope. I don't do yogurt."
"That's Yoga, furball," Cori settled beside Ashe. "Besides, your animal is a given with two werewolves as parents. I heard Mr. Harris got a letter from Randy Smith."
Ashe might have been less surprised if a grenade had been tossed inside the cafeteria. He and Sali jerked their heads toward Cori at her statement. "But," Sali said.
"Yeah. That's what I said. I don't know that he would do something like that, especially after he was expelled and we had to move away. His mom and dad went to live in Santa Fe." Cori opened her milk carton and stuck a straw in it.
Ashe watched as Cori went through the routine of lunch, but her hands shook as she placed a paper napkin in her lap and lifted her fork. The news about Randy Smith's letter upset Cori more than she was letting on.
Ashe didn't know Randy Smith personally; he'd been five years old when Randy, the son of a human-werewolf marriage, was forced to leave their community at age thirteen and ordered to attend a human school. Children born to human and werewolf parents would never be werewolf. Barely six months later, Randy let something slip in the presence of humans regarding the hidden paranormal community and everybody had to pack their things and leave their homes in New Mexico.
Randy's parents had also been forced to seek a home elsewhere. Now, the exiled boy would be old enough to attend college and the community was comfortably settled in Cloud Chief. Randy's name was still whispered angrily among the adults, however. None of them had forgotten their betrayal at the hands of a thirteen-year-old half-human.
Only Randy's age had prevented the death penalty from being levied against him at the time. Revealing information on the Pack carried an automatic death sentence for any adult. Ashe's parents didn't think he knew anything about Randy Smith, but everybody did. The gossip at school was enough to give nightmares to the younger students.
"What did Mr. Harris do? When he got the letter?" Sali chewed carrots he'd taken from Ashe's tray. Cori frowned at him for talking with food in his mouth.
"I don't know. I just overheard the stuff about the letter when I went past Principal Billings' office. I'll bet the information is in Billings' computer, though." Cori smiled hesitantly at Ashe.
"Don't look at me. I had scary dreams for weeks after the last time." Ashe stared at his tray—Sali had emptied it. "I dreamed Billings turned into a bull and chased me through Cloud Chief."
"He never knew," Cori scoffed. "And all you did was get in to check grades. You didn't change anything." The year before, Ashe had hacked into the Principal's computer after Cori begged him to do so. Terrified that she wasn't passing algebra, Cori was sure her parents would ground her for a failing grade. Ashe discovered she had a low C after breaking into the Principal's computer, and Cori was satisfied with that. "I'll bet the password is still the same," Cori added, toying with her meatloaf.
Ashe snorted a laugh at Cori's statement. He figured Billings' password was still the same, too, unimaginative as it was. BigWolf had gotten him right in the first time. Benjamin Billings was an old werewolf, born long before the peace treaty between the vampires and the werewolves. The two races now cooperated and had for the past forty-seven years. Ashe knew his father was old, too, but Aedan never talked about the times before. Neither Ashe nor his mother knew how old his father was. When he'd asked once, Aedan had carefully steered him away from the subject.
"Come on, Billings always goes home early on Fridays. And it's the start of spring break. Everybody will be out of here in no time. We can slip into Billings' office and find out before we go home today," Cori wheedled, slipping a lock of long blonde hair behind an ear, her green eyes begging.
"What if he locks his office?" Ashe wanted to wriggle out of sneaking into the Principal's office, although Sali was now staring at him with mischievous interest.
"Lock's broken. Marco did that," Cori smiled maliciously at Sali. Sali's older brother had broken the lock; he and James Johnson had been sent to Principal Billings' office for disrupting class. They'd shoved each other while standing near the door, waiting for the Principal to call them in. Marco slammed into the door, breaking the lock and causing the door to swing wide. He'd gotten detention for a week over it.
"It's still broken 'cause Billings doesn't know how to fix it," Sali muttered. "And he won't ask Dad to come fix it for him." Cori snickered at Sali's explanation. Marcus DeLuca, the werewolf Packmaster, was also a locksmith with a small office in Cordell.
"Look, dude, everybody else is gonna be crazy to get away from here. And Old Harold won't come by to clean until eight." Sali was just as curious as Cori was. Ashe frowned at his friend; Sali wouldn't be the one in real trouble if they got caught.
"Come on, it won't take five minutes," Cori coaxed. "How are we going to learn what really happened if you don't?"
Shrugging his thin shoulders, Ashe gave in. "All right. If nobody is around and you agree to keep watch."
"Great!" Cori giggled and clapped her hands.
* * *
"This isn't going to work," Ashe muttered to himself as he and Sali hung back while their classmates raced away from the classroom. Spring break was officially started.
"Getting cold feet?" Sali slapped Ashe on the back. As a werewolf, even a young one, Sali was stronger than he looked, nearly knocking Ashe out of his chair.
"I had cold feet when Cori mentioned it the first time," Ashe replied, watching as Miss Campbell, their Social Studies teacher, left the room.
"Let's go find Cori. Maybe we won't have to dawdle after that," Sali gathered his backpack and slung it over a shoulder. They'd waited ten minutes before rising to leave the classroom behind.
"I think the others are gone." Cori found Ashe and Sali instead, right outside their classroom. Ashe blinked at Cori in near-darkness—the hall lights had already been turned off as the last teacher left the school, leaving only weak afternoon sunlight shining through the school's front doors to illuminate the hallway. Ashe knew Cori and Sali, being what they were, could see much better than he could in the dimly lit corridor.
"I just walked past the Principal's office," Cori whispered, bringing Ashe's attention back to their intended espionage. "It's empty."