I followed Lien Hua to the principal’s office. “So what are we doing now?” I asked. “Calling the police?”
“Nah,” Lien Hua said, sticking out her tongue for some reason. “Tina doesn’t like the police to get involved. We’ll probably handle it ourselves.”
“Ourselves?” I squeaked. “What do you mean—handle it? Handle what? Did he just die? Did he die here at school?”
“I think so,” Lien Hua said coolly, like it was no big deal at all. “We can handle it, though. We always have before.”
“Before?” I was sort of shocked.
“Yeah,” she said, continuing to smile. “Remember when the band director ran off to Wyoming last year?”
Lien Hua shook her head. “Uh-uh,” she said with a knowing wink. “Wyoming? I don’t think so. Maybe the cemetery in Wyoming,” she said, yanking me into the rest room.
“What are we doing in here?” I asked as she practically threw me against the sink.
Lien Hua continued to smile. She seemed really happy for some reason, despite the fact that Mr. Talbert was mysteriously dead. “Here,” she said. “We got you a present.” She reached into her chain-mail purse and pulled out a tiny little box. I knew right away it had to be my gray contacts.
“Put them on,” Lien Hua urged. “They’ll look great on you.”
I wasn’t so sure about that, but I humored her anyway. I thought that was best. Actually, since my eyes are already blue, the gray contacts didn’t make a real huge difference. I just looked sort of washed out, that’s all, like in a bad picture.
“Oh, you look great!” Lien Hua chirped in delight, clapping her hands and jumping up and down. “Okay. Now we have to get to the office. Tina’s waiting for us.”