3

Mari didn’t know which hurt more—her tailbone or her pride. Kids were crowded around, laughing at her. Her cheeks flamed with embarrassment. The worst part was that this had happened right in front of Evan!

She glanced around, then frowned in confusion. Evan had been standing there a moment ago, but now he was nowhere in sight. He must have rushed off to his next class. Chelsea was among the students who lingered in the hall.

Before today, she’d barely known who Chelsea was. They had no classes together and no mutual friends. But now that she knew that they both liked Evan, she could only think of Chelsea as a rival. So it was extra annoying to see her standing there laughing at Mari’s expense.

In that moment, Mari decided not to be a victim. She refused to let Chelsea and the others see that their laughter bothered her. So she joined in. “It’s a great day for public humiliation,” she said, a fake smile plastered on her face.

Last year, Mari had been part of the crowd that witnessed Selina Miller drinking from the booby-trapped water fountain. Now she regretted laughing at Selina.

“You okay?” someone asked.

Mari looked up to see Aaron standing over her, hand outstretched. She took his hand and pulled herself up. “I’m fine.” Actually, her shoulder was beginning to throb. She had a vague memory of banging it against the wall as she went down. But she said, “Thank you.” Then she hurried toward the gym, careful not to step on any more golf balls along the way.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Mari was back in the science wing, but now it looked like a crime scene. A line of orange cones blocked the hallway. A school security officer had been posted at the entrance.

The P.E. teacher had assigned Mari and two other students to gather all the golf balls. The prankster, whoever he or she was, had unintentionally donated to the school’s collection of athletic supplies.

Mari held up a pair of empty mesh bags and told the guard, “Ms. McAllister sent us to pick up the golf balls.”

The officer nodded and let them through the temporary blockade. “Check inside the classrooms and bathrooms too. They could have rolled anywhere.”

Mari noticed that there were several other people in the hallway. The school nurse and the vice principal crouched over Mr. Motoyama, a science teacher. Mr. M sat with his back against the wall, an ice pack pressed to his forehead. A bloody handkerchief was on the ground next to him.

Mari felt terrible. She liked Mr. M. He peppered his lectures with corny jokes. They weren’t very funny, but the way he chuckled at his own puns was endearing.

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

“He slipped on a golf ball and hit his head on a locker door,” the vice principal explained. “He’ll probably need stitches. Whoever did this is going to be in serious trouble. Did any of you see what happened?”

“I did,” said Mari. “The golf balls came out of Aaron Daniel’s locker, but he seemed totally shocked when it happened. I don’t think he had anything to do with it.”

The vice principal nodded. “He claims he’s innocent. He’s in the principal’s office now. We’ll get to the bottom of it.”

The three girls divided the task of rounding up golf balls. Mari volunteered to check the classrooms and restrooms in the science wing while Diane and Anjelia worked their way down opposite sides of the hallway. They’d only been given two mesh bags, which Mari handed to Diane and Anjelia since most of the balls were pooled in the hall.

Mari still had her backpack with her and figured she could use it to carry the golf balls she gathered. Unzipping the backpack, she entered the first classroom.

Crouching low, she looked under desks and behind wastebaskets, collecting more than a dozen golf balls and plopping them into her backpack.

Even though the boys’ bathroom was empty, she felt weird as she tiptoed inside to pluck a golf ball from underneath the sink. This one glittered under the fluorescent lights. Holding it closer she saw it was imprinted with a logo in gold ink. It had faded, so she couldn’t tell what it was supposed to be. Some kind of bird, perhaps.

She noticed the same faded logo on some of the other balls. As she worked, she wondered how someone could have filled Aaron’s locker with golf balls without his knowledge. He had truly seemed surprised, but she supposed it could have been an act. For Jenae’s sake, she hoped that Aaron was innocent.

When the period was almost over, the girls met up in the hall. Mr. Motoyama and the nurse were gone. The vice principal was watching the janitor clean the area where the science teacher fell. Always squeamish, Mari averted her eyes in case there were still any signs of blood.

“We must have more than a hundred golf balls here,” Anjelia said. She held up her bag. “I found thirty-seven. I wonder how Aaron got them all into his locker.” With a sideways glance at Mari, she added, “Or, you know, whoever did it.”

Mari shrugged one shoulder, feeling a stab of pain as she did so. “We should get back to P.E.”

The vice principal turned toward the girls. “Is it true you were injured too?” he asked Mari.

She shook her head. “I fell, but I’m okay. It was no big deal.”

“Good to hear, but I still want you to get checked out by the school nurse.” He turned to Diana and Anjelia. “You two get back to class.”

Diana promised to let the coach know Mari had been delayed, then she and Anjelia hurried toward the gymnasium.

The vice principal’s cell phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, then told Mari, “After you’ve been checked out by the nurse, stop by Admin. There’s an incident report you’ll need to sign. I have to go talk to the cops.”

The cops?

Mari’s head was spinning. Why were the police involved? It was a simple school prank. Whoever was responsible didn’t intend for anyone to get hurt. Now she really hoped that Jenae’s boyfriend was not to blame.