Cold panic washed over me. I let out a gasp. Then I lowered my head and ran.
All five of us were running hard. Our shoes thudded on the pavement. It sounded like a cattle stampede.
I could hear the teacher screaming angrily from his stoop. His voice was high and shrill on the heavy night air.
I didn’t turn back.
Had he really seen us? Had he recognized us?
Lenny is so tall. I’ll bet he recognized Lenny, I thought.
The front lawn was so bright, he had to have seen us! I decided, feeling a chill of dread.
Cassie stumbled into Jordan but quickly regained her balance. Spencer led the way, running hard, waving his flashlight high in front of him.
A thousand pictures flashed through my mind as I followed him, running so hard my side started to ache.
I pictured the police at my front door, dragging me away as my parents watched in horror.
I pictured myself trying to explain to my parents why I was out in the middle of the night, destroying Mr. Crowell’s Christmas display.
I pictured Mr. Crowell standing over me, accusing me. Accusing all of us. I saw Mr. Hernandez, the principal, handing me my records file, telling me I could never go to Shadyside High again.
Horrible, frightening pictures.
And then, as I shook them from my mind, I heard laughter.
I felt so startled, I nearly stopped running.
I heard laughter. Spencer’s laughter. Gleeful laughter.
“That was awesome!” he cried, waving his flashlight high. “Awesome!”
And then Lenny and Jordan were laughing, too.
“Did you see the look on Crowell’s face?”
“He went as red as the reindeer’s nose!”
“Happy holidays, Mr. Crowell!”
“And Happy New Year!”
The boys were laughing and congratulating each other, slapping Spencer on the back, hooting and shouting loudly. Too loudly. I glanced around, wondering if we were waking up people in the nearby houses.
Once again, we stopped in front of Spencer’s house. Two large gray cats stared at us from the driveway. They tilted their heads as if trying to figure out why five teenagers were out so late.
“Spencer—that was horrible!” Cassie scolded. She gasped in air, trying to catch her breath.
“You loved it!” Spencer shot back gleefully.
“It was horrible!” Cassie repeated.
“It was awesome!” Spencer argued.
Lenny turned to me with a grin on his face. “Wish I had a camera,” he said softly.
“What if he saw us?” Cassie demanded.
“No way,” Spencer insisted. “He could only see our backs.”
“He could never prove it,” Lenny added. “Even if he saw us. Even if he suspects it was us. He has no proof.”
“Right,” Jordan agreed. “We were all home safe and sound in our beds, right?”
“I thought we weren’t going to do illegal things,” Cassie said angrily.
“Yeah. You should have warned us,” I told Spencer.
He didn’t reply. “When do you guys want to go out again?” he asked. “Tomorrow night?”
“Huh? Go out again?” Cassie cried.
Spencer nodded. “How about tomorrow night?”
“Excellent!” Lenny exclaimed. “What do you say, Diane?”
I swallowed hard. My throat felt dry. My heart still raced from our long run.
“Only on one condition,” I replied. I turned to Spencer. “You have to warn us before you do anything crazy,” I told him.
“No problem,” he said. He grinned and scratched his white-blond hair.
“Do you mean it?” I insisted. “No more surprises?”
His grin grew wider. “I promise,” he said, raising his right hand. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”