CHAPTER 11

MAGGIE FELT JUST A TWINGE OF GUILT. Hudson stood in the doorway looking pretty ordinary in his black T-shirt and jeans. His face looked calm. Relaxed. But he’d hesitated just long enough for her to realize the truth. He was scared.

And he had reason to be. She could have thrown him a bone. Would it have been so hard just to wave to him? Smile? Wish him good luck? He was going to need it.

Hudson looked both ways and was gone.

She slid her notebook into her pack. Jo’s kick had landed right in her heart. And in a small way, she’d just given Hudson a kick with her little brush-off just now.

Hudson was a wild card. An unknown. He’d helped out Pancake, true. But he’d hammered Zattora in the process. She smiled. Not that she didn’t think Zattora had it coming. It’s just that Hudson’s way of handling him was a little over the top, wasn’t it?

Mr. Cutter stepped back in the room, grabbed an eraser, and stared at the board.

Maggie stood and shouldered her pack. “See ya, Mr. Cutter.”

He waggled the eraser at her. “Glad to see you knew the answer to my time machine question.”

She smiled. “I’m sure some of the other savages knew the answer.”

Mr. Cutter laughed. “Hudson knew.”

Hudson. Was he a hero or a hothead? In either case, he was making enemies faster than he made friends. Wolfe would retaliate.

She stepped into the hall. Poor Hudson. He’d need to be a regular Harry Houdini to get out of this school without being seen. He’d tangled with the wrong group.

“Hey, Mrs. Cutter.” Kat’s voice.

Maggie stiffened. Alexa and Jo were with her too. Kat and her litter. Obviously the plan to avoid them by staying late after class didn’t work. If Maggie could lower herself to be as nasty as Kat, she’d swing her backpack around and paste Kat’s perfect face.

Maggie walked faster. She liked Mr. Cutter. He was an amazing teacher. But she hated the way they made it sound like she was crushing on him or something. Let them take their cheap shots —but don’t fire back. Simple strategy —and stupid all at the same time.

“Nice shoes,” Kat said, “if you’re into ugly.”

“Who would ever buy red high-tops like that —and why?” Jo said.

How could she say that? How could she? Jo knew exactly who had bought those shoes for Maggie —and she knew why. Maggie kept her head down and tried to blink back the tears. Jo knew.

Maggie walked faster. She had to keep her mouth shut, or she’d just fuel them on. Not that she could think of anything clever or cutting to say. Tonight in bed she’d lie awake all night thinking of perfect comebacks.

“Can’t wait to see your post tonight, OneInAMillionMaggie,” Kat said.

Alexa laughed. “Me too.”

Jo didn’t join in —but she didn’t stop them either. She never did.

Maggie didn’t post —and definitely didn’t have a website. Somebody had set one up in her name: www.OneInAMillionMaggie.com. It wasn’t hard to figure out who. Maggie definitely was not going there tonight. Not to see the nasty things they said about her this time. Not to count the “likes.”

“You know what I think?” Maggie spun around to face them.

“Nobody cares,” Kat said. They veered off to their lockers, talking about her and ignoring her all at the same time. Maggie rushed for the exit. She couldn’t let them see how much they bothered her. But they knew, didn’t they?

Maggie found an empty seat on the bus and slid all the way to the window. She leaned her forehead against the glass. Kids poured out the exits like Southfield was puking. Like the building couldn’t stomach the students one more minute. Some kids made Maggie want to puke too.

Pancake was at the bike rack, watching the students leaving Southfield. Waiting for Hudson, no doubt. She pictured Hudson in the cafeteria —jumping in to help Pancake. It was more than she’d done. But Hudson was no hero. Real-life heroes didn’t exist.

And who says Hudson actually helped Pancake at all? Things would probably get a lot messier for Pancake now —and would Hudson stick around to help clean up?

Minutes later the bus lurched forward. Pancake was still waiting —and there was no sign of Hudson. She wondered which bike belonged to him. Or had Hudson left before Pancake got there?

She was going to have a hard time distancing herself from Hudson if she kept thinking about him. It made sense to stay away from Hudson. If Zattora or one of the other idiots from the pack caught her talking to him, she’d be on their blacklist too. As if being on Kat’s list wasn’t bad enough.

The bus rolled out of the lot. Kids laughed. Shouted. It sounded like a Friday afternoon instead of a Tuesday. The bus had filled up while she’d stared out the window, three to a seat in some rows. There didn’t seem to be an empty seat on the whole bus —except the one next to her. Nobody dared. Even when Kat wasn’t around, her influence on others was spooky. Maybe Maggie would ride her bike tomorrow if it wasn’t too cold.

Like that would change anything. Girls like Kat needed a target. Someone to persecute. For some reason, Maggie had become that bull’s-eye . . . and she had no idea why.