11

Mari spun on one heel and hurried after the science teacher. “Mr. M, wait!”

He slowed his pace but kept walking. “What is it?” he asked with a glance over one shoulder.

“Look out!” She was nearly out of breath when she caught up to him. “Golf balls. Everywhere. Don’t trip!”

They turned the corner, and the teacher looked around. “I see what you mean.”

The final bell rang. She’d be late for P.E. again, but she didn’t mind. She’d saved Mr. Motoyama from a serious injury.

“Thank you for the warning. If I had slipped on a golf ball, I would have been teed off.” The teacher chuckled at his own joke. “Get it? Ha!”

Mari smiled at the corny joke. “I’ve got to run.”

She wasn’t surprised when the girls’ P.E. coach sent her and two other students to round up golf balls in the science wing. Backpack still slung over one shoulder, she walked back to the science wing with Diana and Anjelia.

Once again, a security officer stood in front of a line of orange cones.

Once they’d gotten past the guard, Mari noticed the school nurse and the vice principal crouched over a third person. Who? She’d saved Mr. Motoyama.

As she neared, she got a better view of the injured person. Her heart lurched. It was Jenae! She sat with her back against the wall, an ice pack pressed to her forehead. The sickening sight was made even worse because Mari felt responsible.

“What happened?” she asked as they cautiously approached.

The vice principal said that Jenae had slipped on a golf ball and hit her forehead against a locker door. She would probably need stitches.

Mari covered her mouth with one hand. She felt as though she was going to be ill.

“Whoever did this is going to be in serious trouble,” the vice principal added. “Did any of you see anything?”

Mari admitted that she’d witnessed the prank but insisted that Aaron couldn’t have been the one who planned it. Mari handed the mesh bags to Diana and Anjelia to started collecting golf balls, figuring she would use her backpack again. She knelt next to Jenae. The nurse was applying a bandage to her forehead.

“Is she going to be okay?” Mari asked.

The nurse nodded, then told Jenae, “An ambulance is on the way. You’re going to be checked out at the hospital.”

When the nurse left them to go speak to the vice principal, Jenae looked up at Mari. Her eyes were red from crying. “Do you think I’ll have a scar?”

Mari didn’t know, but she said, “No. Probably not.” She patted her friend’s leg reassuringly. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? You didn’t do it.”

Mari hesitated. “I just feel like . . . maybe I could have done something differently. I could have stopped you from getting hurt.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Jenae grabbed Mari by the hand. “You really don’t think Aaron did it? If he did, I . . . I don’t know what I’d do.”

Mari felt even worse. Not only had Jenae been injured, but she feared her own boyfriend might be to blame.

“It wasn’t him,” Mari insisted. “I’m sure.”

“But who else would have been able to get the golf balls into his locker? They’d have to know his combination.”

Mari shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said truthfully.

* * *

By the time the three girls had retrieved all the wayward golf balls, paramedics had arrived for Jenae. The vice principal was watching the janitor clean the area. Mari averted her eyes, not wanting to see her friend’s blood.

“We must have more than a hundred golf balls here,” Anjelia said, holding up her mesh bag. “I found thirty-seven. I wonder how Aaron got them all into his locker. Or, you know, whoever did it.”

“It wasn’t him,” Mari insisted again. “We should get back to P.E.”

The vice principal strode toward the girls. “Come with me,” he told Mari. “We’re taking statements from anyone who witnessed the prank.” Turning to Diana and Anjelia, he added, “You two get back to class.”

The vice principal’s cell phone buzzed. Mari knew the message alerted him that the police had arrived on campus. “Stop by Admin to give your statement. I have to go talk to the cops.”

Mari nodded. She wondered what the police would do about the prank. And if Aaron wasn’t responsible, who was?

* * *

The rest of the afternoon was like a sitcom rerun. Things happened just like the first time. Kids signed each other’s yearbooks and chatted about their summer plans.

But in math class, Jenae was missing. By now everyone had heard that she’d been taken to the hospital. Their teacher reported that Jenae was getting stitches but would be fine.

Mari kept her eye on the clock. The minutes were ticking down on the last day of school.

Finally, the bell rang. Jenae wasn’t there to tell her to “go for it,” but that was all right. Mari had spent the entire day preparing for this moment.

As students sprang to their feet and raced toward the door, she hung back. She waited for Evan’s keychain to fall to the floor, then she moved closer. She bent to retrieve the harmonica-shaped keychain. As she examined the colorful pegs that poked through each side, she thought of Mr. Motoyama’s joke. If I’d slipped on a golf ball, I’d have been teed off. Get it?

That’s what these wooden pegs are, she realized. Golf tees. The keychain was a golf tee holder. She turned it over in her hand. “SWANSEA” was printed in gold letters on the other side.

Evan had already zipped his backpack and was headed for the exit. Mari hurried to catch up to him. She called his name and tapped his shoulder. He turned and flashed a familiar smile.

“You dropped this.” She held the keychain toward him. “I saw it fall out of your backpack and figured you’d need it.” She didn’t stumble over her words this time. She’d practiced them a dozen times in her head.

He reached out to take the keychain. Once again, Mari felt a spark when his fingertips brushed against hers.

“Yeah, I do. Thanks.” He pocketed the keys and looked back at her, still smiling.

“You’re welcome.” She returned his smile. She had butterflies in her stomach, but she wouldn’t let them take over. You got this, she told herself. She opened her mouth, but he spoke first.

“Sorry your friend got hurt earlier,” he said, his smile fading.

“Yeah. Me too.”

Someone shouted Evan’s name. His friends from the cafeteria were waiting in the hall. One of them hooked his arm through the doorway and called, “Come on!”

Evan started to turn away, but Mari said, “Wait!”

She steadied her nerves and smiled. “Will you be my date to the bonfire?”