Part 22 (1/2)
I wave. To my right I see Brandon ”accidentally” knock into Erin.
”While your boy's in jail,” he breathes at her, ”you can get some from me.” He's licking his lips the same way he did at me that day under the bleachers when he was making me the same offer.
I don't remember moving.
My hands are around his neck. I'm pressing Brandon into the wall. The Amnesty International poster behind him tears, leaving barbed wire floating at his left shoulder. My face is inches from his. He's gone red. He's coughing, struggling to breathe, clawing at my fingers.
I step away, dropping him.
”b.i.t.c.h!” he screams, sliding to the floor, rubbing his throat where my fingers have left red marks. ”f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h! Is that what you did to your boyfriend?”
My urge to hurt him floods back. I step forward.
Brandon cowers. ”b.i.t.c.h,” he whispers.
”Don't,” Tayshawn says, grabbing hold of my upper arm, pulling me away. ”Leave the wuss on the floor. Beaten up by a girl again, Brandon? How many times is that this week?”
Several people laugh.
”f.u.c.k off. She's no girl,” Brandon says, but he's mumbling, looking down. ”Girls don't fight like that.” The bruises are starting to show on his neck. ”b.i.t.c.h.”
I'm realizing what I've done. Shown how fast and strong I am. In front of everyone. Any doubts they might have had about my ability to kill Zach are gone now. I've done what Dad's always told me not to do. I'm lucky no teachers saw. Now it's down to whether Brandon tells or not. But at least he will respect me.
”Stop looking at me,” Brandon says quietly. I doubt anyone but me can hear.
”Why would I look at you?” I say. ”There's nothing to see.”
”Come on,” Tayshawn says, pulling me farther away. The hall has thinned out. Cla.s.ses must be starting.
We pa.s.s Erin. She's staring at me. I wonder if she's grateful that I pulled Brandon off her. Though that isn't why I did it. I don't feel sorry for Erin; I just hate Brandon. After all, Erin isn't dead, is she? Her boyfriend isn't dead either. She's not a wolf. Her life is fine.
”That was amazing,” Tayshawn says. His hand is still around my upper arm. ”Where'd you learn skills like that?”
”Dad used to be a boxer,” I lie.
LIE NUMBER FOUR.
What I told the police isn't what really happened the last time I saw Zach.
School was out for the day. We were in the library. Both of us on giving-back-to-the-school duty. Brandon and Chantal weren't there. They'd forgotten.
”How did you find those foxes?” Zach whispered. We were in front of the fiction shelves. Zach was shelving and I was pulling out the books that did not belong.
We weren't the only ones there. The librarian, Jennifer Silverman, and a handful of freshmen, working on a project that seemed to involve a lot of loud talking and giggling.
”Wasn't a big deal,” I said.
Zach wasn't listening. ”I saw how you followed them. I've never seen anything like that. The path was lit up for you: this way there's foxes. I never saw a fox in the park till you showed me. You're like magic or something.”
I looked down to hide my grin.
”What?” he asked. He was paying attention now.
”I kind of cheated.”
”That's a shock. She lies. She cheats.”
He touched my forearm. I tried to ignore it. Just pheromones. Chemical receptors. Biology. Controllable. Ignorable.
”It looked real to me,” Zach said. ”How'd you cheat?”
”I'd seen the burrow before,” I confessed. ”So I knew where the fox was going.”
”Ah. Okay. You already knew? d.a.m.n.”
”You should see your face.”
He looked mad, annoyed, and kind of impressed all at the same time.
”You're a piece of work, you know.”
I did know.
”You suck. You can't track s.h.i.+t. And here was me thinking you were some kind of wild girl of the woods! d.a.m.n.”
”I am. I could have tracked those foxes, I just didn't have to is all.”
”Why would I believe you?” Zach asked, and I could tell he was really angry. ”You lie about everything.”
”Not about this. I know a lot about tracking animals, hunting. Every summer I'm upstate with my grandparents. We hunt together all the time.”
”So you say.”
”Scout's honor,” I said.
”You're not a scout and even if you were I wouldn't believe you. You're a liar, Micah.”
”I could track you,” I said. ”You go hide yourself in the park and you'll see how d.a.m.n easy it is for me to find you!”
”Shhh!” the librarian said, walking over to us. ”I know school's out but there's no need for you to be yelling.”
”Sorry, Jennifer,” Zach said.
”Sorry,” I mumbled.
She walked back to her desk.
”How do I know you won't cheat?” Zach said.
”I can't cheat on this one. I won't know where you're going.”