I turned sharply. Began walking toward the street. Not running. But taking long, rapid strides.
The North Shadyside bus pulled up to the stop in front of the high school. I hurried to the bus, planning to jump on.
But the bus was filled with kids arriving for school. They piled off one by one, blocking my escape.
Were the two officers chasing after me? I didn’t dare glance back.
Hurry, hurry! I silently urged the kids jumping down from the bus. Luckily, none of my friends was onboard.
Finally I climbed into the bus. The doors closed behind me. The driver turned the wheel, and the bus pulled away from the curb.
I turned, lowered my head, trying to see out the glass door. The two officers remained at their posts at the school entrance. They hadn’t spotted me.
I turned to see the driver, an old man with a red face and bright blue eyes, squinting at me suspiciously. “Shouldn’t you be in school?” he asked, slowing at a stop sign.
“I—I’m sick,” I lied. “I—” I realized I didn’t have any change. Just the money I had jammed into my jeans pocket.
“Pull over!” I cried. “Please!”
The driver frowned, but obediently pulled the bus to the curb.
“I—I’d better get out,” I stammered.
He opened the door. I leaped down to the street. “Sorry!” I called back to him. But he had already closed the door behind me.
I watched the bus roar away. Then I gazed around. I had traveled exactly one block. Just far enough to escape the eyes of the two policemen.
But now what?
I still needed to talk to Margie or Hannah.
I can’t spend the rest of my life running from those two cops, I told myself unhappily. I have to find Lucy. Fast!
I crept back toward the school, thinking hard. I wondered if there were officers at the back, too. Keeping behind a tall hedge, I made my way toward the back of the school.
“Hey—what are you doing there?”
I let out a startled cry. Turning, I saw a woman holding a garden hose in the middle of the yard. “What are you doing in my yard?”
“Sorry,” I called to her. “I’m just going to school.”
“This isn’t a shortcut!” she called sharply.
I hurried through a break in the hedge out to the sidewalk.
The back of the school was guarded, too, I saw. Two other officers had been posted at the door across from the student parking lot.
I ran across the street and pressed up close to the tall fence that ran along the football stadium. I stopped there to catch my breath.
I could hear the first bell ring. The kids were all inside now, except for a boy frantically pedaling his bike toward the bike rack.
Keeping in the shadow of the fence, I took a few steps closer to the back of the school. I had a good view of the two officers. They were shaking their heads, frowning as they talked.
Giving up.
They thought I’d show up for school and they’d grab me, I decided. But now they’re giving up in disappointment.
I was right. I watched them step away from the back doors. They disappeared around toward the front, probably joining the other two officers.
I waited a few seconds, making sure they weren’t returning. Then I made a wild dash to the building.
I had a plan. A plan to see Margie.
I pulled open the back door and ducked inside. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the dim light of the corridor. The hall was empty. Everyone had gone into their homerooms.
The second bell rang as I crept to the gym, just around the corner to the right. I pushed open the door and hurried inside.
No one there. The gym already felt like an oven, first thing in the morning. Glancing up at the bleachers, I saw that one end of a GO, TIGERS banner had come loose. The banner tilted over the top seats.
My sneakers squeaked over the polished floor as I trotted to the girls’ locker room. Margie had gym fourth period. Same as me.
My plan was to hide in the locker room until then.
Then I would pull Margie aside and confront her, force her to tell me where Lucy was.
I pulled open the locker room door and stepped inside. The room felt cooler than the gym. I heard the plink plink of water dripping in the shower room.
Where to hide?
I hurried past the rows of wooden benches and dark lockers. Someone had left a black hightop sneaker on the floor, and I stumbled over it.
At the back wall stood a small equipment closet. The door was half open. I pulled it open all the way and peered inside.
Empty. Glancing down, I thought I saw a dead mouse curled up on the closet floor. But as I squinted at it, I realized it was a clump of dust.
I heard voices. Behind me at the locker room door. Moving quickly, I slipped into the empty closet and pulled the door almost closed.
I backed into the darkness until I pressed up against the closet wall. The air smelled stale and sour. I’d left the door open a crack. Now I heard more voices, girls’ voices that I recognized, the shuffle of feet, the clatter of gym lockers being opened. They were getting changed for first-period gym.
This is going to be a long wait, I told myself with a silent sigh. But it will be worth it if I can find Margie and force her to tell me about Lucy.
I carefully lowered myself to a sitting position on the closet floor. My hand fell over the clump of dust. I brushed it away.
I knew that no one would open the closet door and discover me. There was no reason for anyone to go into this closet.
Locker doors slammed. The room became quieter as girls headed out to the gym. I could hear the thump of basketballs. I heard Miss Hawkins’ whistle blow.
Leaning back against the closet wall, I shut my eyes and let myself be swallowed up by the darkness. It was already starting to get hot and sticky inside the closet. But I didn’t dare step out. There were always girls coming in and out of the locker room once the day started.
I can make it till fourth period, I assured myself.
I decided the wait would give me some quiet time to think. To think about Lucy and why she murdered the three people she cared about most. To try to figure out why she hated me so much, why she left me to take the blame.
The hours passed. Girls changed and played basketball, then changed again to go to their next class.
But I didn’t think of any answers. It was as if the answers hovered just beyond my reach, just beyond a thick wall of fog. And no matter how I struggled, I couldn’t clear away the fog.
When the fourth-period bell finally rang, I shook away my confused thoughts and climbed to my feet. Alert to every sound, I listened to the girls’ voices as they piled into the locker room, voices I knew so well.
I could hear Margie kidding around with two other girls. So near. She was so near, I knew I could push open the closet door, reach out, and grab her.
But I waited. Margie was always one of the last to change, always one of the last to leave the locker room. I hoped she would linger behind today. I hoped I could confront her without a dozen other girls in the way.
I pressed both hands against the door, preparing to spring out. I listened hard. I had to catch her before she ran out to the gym.
My heart started to pound. The voices all blended together in my ears. I tried to shut them all out, all except Margie’s.
A shrill cry made my heart jump.
I heard other frightened cries. Shuffling noises. Loud shouts. The thud of running feet.
What has happened? I wondered.
What is all the commotion?
I pushed open the closet door and plunged out into the locker room.
I saw a cluster of girls in their gym shorts and T-shirts. Their faces were tight with fear.
They were gaping down at a girl on the floor. A girl sprawled on her back on the locker room floor.
“Margie?” I cried.
Yes. It was Margie.