Vol 1 Chapter 8 (1/2)
Chapter 8: Hartnett
Hartnett quickly strode over, glaring at Seron and Larry
“I thought I told you to stay away fro here?”
“It’s an eency” Larry replied Seron took the picture from Jenny and held it out to Hartnett
“Could you take a look?”
“What is this?”
“A photograph of the barred s, taken yesterday There’s so a face in the basement”
“…What?” Hartnett breathed, exasperated He took the photograph
As the students watched in anticipation, Hartnett carefully scrutinized the photograph Then—
“…”
He frowned
“We thought that soht be in the basement and came to see for ourselves Would you please keep this in o ahead with the work to cover the s?” Seron asked
Hartnett’s ansas simple
“What a joke”
He rolled up the photo and slipped it into his pocket
“Huh?”
Seron and the others watched in confusion
“I thought secondary schools raised future elites, not bored pranksters This is ridiculous”
“Hey! At least give back the the picture!” Larry cried, charging at Hartnett He reached forward, ready to grab the photograph out of his pocket if necessary
“Wait, Larry! Don’t—”
Seron tried to stop his friend But he found hi
Just as Larry reached Hartnett, Hartnett grabbed his ar to break his wrist At the sa step back with his left foot Larry was forced to do a half-turn and landed back-first on the ground
“Huh?” He intoned, finding hi at the sky
Before anyone knew it, Hartnett isting and pulling up Larry’s right arm with both hands Larry was rendered immobile
Natalia, Meg, Jenny, and Nick froze
“…”
Seron narrowed his eyes His gaze was fixed on Larry, who had been so easily thrown to the ground
“What do you think you’re doing, kid? You scared ly
“Ugh!”
Larry desperately tried to free hile with his back raised above the ground Hartnett bent his thumb and pressed down on Larry’s twisted wrist
“O o!”
“Justified self-defense, kid!” Hartnett cried He al himself
“Mr Hartnett, we apologize For Larry’s actions as well as ours Will you please let hio?” Seron asked
“It’s okay, Seron! I can— o ow!”
Larry’s efforts were in vain
Seron repeated hihtly with his hand over his chest
“Hmph”
Hartnett let go of Larry al hiround
“Ouch!”
Larry turned to the side,away from Hartnett, and slowly stood His sweats were covered with dirt and small pieces of litter
“You shouldn’t have done that, Larry Apologize” Seron said
“…I’aze as bowed his head
“Neverthe picture”
“But sir! Isn’t that a little ued But—
“There’s nothing we can do, Larry” Seron said calmly And to Larry’s shock, even Jenny nodded
“It’s fine”
Larry tilted his head
“All right, I’ll keep the picture And I suggest you don’t try this prank with any other adults, unless you want to huain”
“We won’t No one would fall for so like this”
“Your name, kid?”
“Seron Maxwell, sir”
“Seron You’re a smart kid How many people have you tried to prank like this? Theyfor the first time
Seron also smiled and replied firmly,
“We haven’t tried with anyone else, sir”
“Okay, Seron I want an explanation” Larry said Confusion and bewilderment were clear in his expression “Make it so everyone can understand”
“All right” Seron nodded
The group was standing in a circle in the rass
“I brought everyone here because—”
“Because you don’t want anyone to overhear us”
“That’s right, Nick”
After leaving the old building, the group had gone straight to the estion
“Right And?”
“It was a mistake to show the photo to the adults individually I’ure’ card, it was over”
“Huh? So that’s why you lied and said you didn’t show it to anyone else?” Asked Larry
Seron shook his head
“Not quite I can’t say why just yet, so ask me later”
“Seriously? Fine”
“Wait, we’re just glossing over this? I want answers, Seron” Natalia demanded
“Don’t worry, Lia” Said Larry “Seron will explain later”
“…I’ you are”
“I was quite surprised, Seron Jenny” Said Nick “Why did you not put up any resistance to the photograph being confiscated?”
“It’s fine I can just print it again” Jenny said nonchalantly, her arms crossed
“Ah, of course You still have the film”
“We’ll print as many as we can and show the In fact, we’ll hand out the photos en masse” Said Seron
“Sounds like an interesting idea, but you think they’ll believe us? The picture’s from the tab-I mean, the newspaper club” Natalia said
“I can tell the and had it developed over lunch” Seron suggested
“That works”
“Yeah They’ll believe Seron”
“Excellent idea It’s a wonderful plan”
Natalia, Larry, and Nick said in succession
“Hue Seron continued
“As we hand out the photos, we’ll tell the out in the baseet scared They o to the security office and deuards check out the place They won’t be able to refuse”
“In that case, the poor man in the baseuards beco fretted
“We’ll all make it happen” Seron replied firmly
When Seron saw relief flooding Meg’s face, hts rose to his mind But he did not let it show
He turned to Jenny
“Could you let us into the newspaper club office, Jenny?”
“Yeah Follow me”
The six students headed for the building that housed the newspaper club office
They crossed the vast grounds and entered a building separate from the one where the faculty office was located Eventually, they arrived at a door on the first floor with a sign labeled, ‘Newspaper Club’
Jenny unlocked the door and entered She was the only one who used this room
“Crazy You have this place all to yourself?” Larry gasped, stepping inside
The office was about half the size of a regular classroom
It was furnished ork desks, an area for hanging up photographs to dry, rows of large shelves, a kitchenette with a hot plate, and a parlor-esque area withsofas and a coffee table
There was also a door leading into another roo!” The darkrooe room that was later renovated into its current function
On the cabinet by the as, of all things, a personal telephone Telephones were expensive in Roxche still, and most houses could only afford one But here sat one such piece of lory
“Hey… this is supposed to be a school”
“And? Look, I brought in the telephone and renovated the place with my own funds And e fees for this space Or is donating what ah?” Jenny said plainly
“Okay I’ht?”
Larry and the others did not question the matter of the office any further
“So nohat?”
“Let’s print as many copies of the photo as we can Do you still have paper left?”
“Mountains In grosses”
“Great Do you need our help?”
“You kno to print? If not, you’re just gonna get in my way”
“I knoorks in theory, but I’ve never done it before Let me watch the process, then”
“Look, I don’t need—”
At that moment, Jenny understood Seron’s intention She paused for a moment, then looked up at Seron
“I see You still don’t trust ed that picture You don’t have a lot of friends, do you?”
Seron did not let Jenny provoke him
“I’ood Where’s the film?”
“I put it in storage in a file in the darkroom Can’t lose it now, can I? I’ll show it to you if you’re still suspicious”
“All right Maybe we should have it developed at a store, just in case?”
“It’s not like any of you could gonna figure anything out just by watching me, you know The store’s a waste of ti open the darkroom door There was, naturally, no need to knock
The six students walked in a line into the darkroom
Jenny turned on the light Everyone but her cringed at the acrid s trays as they walked over to the printer
On the glass plate where the paper was supposed to be placed were a light and lenses, the heights of which could be adjusted Photos were printed on the paper by projecting light on the filht and the lenses
Beside the printer was a large file with pockets where film could be inserted Jenny opened it
“…”
And she froze
Several seconds of acrid silence passed in the darkroom
“What’s wrong?” Seron asked
“It’s gone…”
“What?”
Jenny had spoken so softly that Seron did not hear her So this time, she raised her voice—she exploded so everyone could hear
“The fil!”
Seron and the others sat in the dormitory cafeteria
They sat in the same place and in the sa Boys sat across froirls with the table between them
There was still quite a bit of time before lunch So no one else was in the cafeteria
They could vaguely hear the cafeteria ladies preparing lunch in the kitchen
“I don’t believe this…”
Jenny was cradling her head in her hands Her tiny head, covered in short red hair, lay atop the table
The others watched in silence
Earlier, in the darkroom
“The fil!”
The others stood in stunned silence, but Jenny looked hard enough for all six of them
“Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?”
She swept through the darkrooh the desks, and searched inside the printer
“It’s gone…”
She could not find it
“…”
Jenny fell into a chair, exhausted from her search
“I see how it is Once you showed us the film, we’d knoas a fake So now you pretendyou’ve lost the fil for a while there” Seron said, suddenly sounding icy
Everyone stared, shocked
“This is ridiculous Let’s go back to the cafeteria You’re co for a filin with”