Souls in Peril (9 page)

“I
’
ve had better days,” Max answered honestly.

“I
’
m sure you have. Remember what we
’
ve talked about. Write it down, get those feelings out.”

Max had no clue what to say to that. He hated writing with a passion, and preferred dealing with his feelings on the ball diamond.

Mr. Roberts cracked a few windows open, before coming
back
over
to JD. “Since Emma isn
’
t here today, I
’
d like you to work on the story about the rat problem in the cafeteria.”

“We have rats in the cafeteria?” Max blurted out.

Mr. Roberts laughed. “Emma told me she may need help with the story. You should ask her.”

Emma and JD working together? Max liked that idea. “Um, Mr. Roberts, would you mind if I sat out today
?
I
’
ll do extra homework or something, but my head is really pounding.” Though
it was
not the real reason he wanted to sit
out of class, it was the truth.

“No problem. Would you like to go to the nurse
’
s office and l
ay
down?”

As tempting as the offer sounded, Max declined. He picked a desk as far away from everyone as he could get and sank into the chair. He laid his head down on the desk and let the rays of sunshine streaking across it
,
bathe his head.

No Emma. He
’
d wanted to see her so badly. Now it
’
d have to wait until tomorrow. It seemed like a million years away.

Third period Lit didn
’
t hold much interest for him either. He wasn
’
t big on reading the classics
,
even though Emma tried to encourage him too.
Now he had to sit and listen to boring Professor Bennett blabbering on
and on about them
.

“
Good morning, class.
”
She was dressed from head to toe in pink. Max had to turn his head to keep from laughing.
“
JD, so good to have you back. Come, take your seat.
”
She pulled out a chair at the desk nearest her. Max stumbled to the front, ignoring the snide comments as he made his way. Settl
ing
into the vacant chair, Max noted how happy he now felt. Well, happy may have been a bit of an over statement, but clearly JD enjoy
ed
Lit class.

“
Today we will be reading poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
”
Professor Bennett smiled as if that were a good thing. Max and almost every other guy in the class groaned. The female population opened their books gleefully.

They read poems till Max
’
s ears bled, or so
it felt like it
. Despite the anguish he
experienced
, he couldn
’
t deny the happy little place inside him that delighted in the poems. In spite of himself, Max smiled.
JD likes poems
.
I never would
’
ve guessed.

At lunch, he searched out Izzy
,
and the two of them ate lunch in a deserted classroom. To Max
’
s surprised, Izzy actually ate, even though her diet seemed a bit bland. It gave credence to his drug theory about her. When she finished, she removed a couple of pills from her purse and swallowed them down with
out water, as if she
’
d been taking
them for years. The thought made Max sad. He started to say something, but decided it wasn
’
t the place. Besides, he ha
d
a more pressing issue on his mind.

“
Izzy, I have a question about the pact.
”

She about jumped out of her skin.
“
Are you crazy? We can
’
t talk about that here.
”
She glanced out into the hall to make sure no one overheard him.
“
We agreed not to
talk about it until the day of. R
emember?
”
  Max nodded, mostly because he didn
’
t know what else to do.
“
Don
’
t you dare chicken out on me, JD. This is right and you know it.
”

“
I
’
m a little fuzzy from the accident still.
”

“
You
’
re right. I
’
m sorry. Do you want help with your math homework tonight? My dad
’
s not going to be home until Friday
,
so you can come over if you
’
d like.
”
Max watched as she picked up all the wrappers and carefully wiped down the desk, erasing their presence from the room. She carefully opened the door, and when the hall was empty they crept out of the classroom.

“
I
’
ll let you know on the math. Okay
, Izzy
?
”

“
Sure. I
’
ll wait for you by my locker after school so we can walk to the bus together,
”
she said, sliding her book bag up onto her shoulder.
“
Safety in numbers,
”
she added as she held out her left
index
finger.

Max wasn
’
t sure what to do, but she expected him to return the gesture. He raised his left
index finger
to her. She wove her around his and gave one hard shake.

“
Keep to the code.
”
She looked at him.
“
JD!
You didn
’
t say it.
”

“
Sorry,
”
Max said shaking her
finger
with his again.

In unison, they both said,
“
Keep to the code.
”
She smiled and left.

“
Great.
Now if I only knew what the code was.
”

His next class held his only hope of seeing Emma today.
She had math in the room next to JD
’
s human physiology class.
He peered around the hall, hoping to catch a glimpse of her.

She
never showed. He walked in
to class late and sat at the back. Miserable.

By the end of the day, exhaustion owned him. The abuse he
’
d endured all day wore on him. The disappointment of not getting to seeing Em only added to his depression. The heavy burden of feeling JD
’
s emotions along with his own surprised him. He planned on going straight to bed when he got home. He didn
’
t care how much homework he had.

He strode to the lockers, wanting to lighten his backpack before meeting up with Izzy. He looked around for her, but had no idea where her locker was. Being a senior also, she should be somewhere nearby, but he couldn
’
t see her anywhere. He decided to put his things away then head over to the bus loading area and wait for her there.

He removed the schedule f
rom
his pocket and found the locker combination
Mary Sunshine
, the admissions secretary, gave him. He had to redo the combination three times before it would work. He tugged on the door, but it was stuck. He took both hands and jerked hard.

An explosion of what smelled like pizza sauce
splashed
all over him. He removed his glasses and tried to wipe off his face. Laughter echoed in his ears, but the sauce running down his face spilled into his eyes, making it impossible to see.

“
Oh my goodness.
”
A teacher, at least Max hoped it was a teacher, led him down the hall into room. She handed him a wet towel and Max wiped the sauce out of his eyes and off his face.

“
Who is responsible for this?
”
Max turned to see
Mary Sunshine
standing in front of him.

“
I have no idea.
”
Max wanted to tell her she could pick any one since they all seemed to hate JD. He finished wiping his face, digging the sauce out of his ears and hair. It was everywhere.
“
Invasive stuff
,
pizza sauce,
”
he said, rinsing the towel out in the sink. He handed it to
the secretary and
thanked her.

Max raced back to his locker to grab his backpack, JD
’
s urgency pushing him to get
to
the bus. This time he opened the locker carefully, standing off to the side. Nothing exploded, but he did
discover a three
-
by
-
five
inch
index card taped to the inside of the door. It read:
You have blood on your hands-MURDERER
.

Stay strong, JD. It
’
ll take more than a little pizza sauce to break us.
To Max
’
s surprise the anxiety level dropped slightly as he assured JD.
He
smiled and
headed for the bus.
However,
when he got there, it was gone.

Fear surged through him so violently, he almost
fell
to his knees.
S
tronger than the fear that knocked him back against the door earlier that morning
.
S
tronger than the fear that gripped him on
the
bus ride.

JD
’
s instincts kicked in and Max could only follow. He took off running, darting behind houses and ducking into business doorways. When he came to an open field, Max could hardly breathe.
“
Too . . .  much . . . JD,
”
Max puffed out.
“
You
’
re not . . . in good enough shape . . . to be running . . . this hard.
”

Tires squealing sent Max off again before he caught his breath. A stitch in his side made it impossible to run upright. Max looked up and saw a strip mall
,
and knowing that JD wanted to go there, turned and crossed the road
. But instead of going
inside
the buildings, he
ran
behind
the
m
, straight to a large dumpster.

Oh no
.
I
’
m not going in there. This is enough
,
JD
.
Stop running and face whoever
is after you like a man.

But JD
’
s fear was still in control. Max lifted the lid and dove into the smelly, disgusting garbage just as the same squealing tires came tearing around back.

Max retched twice as the odors
spiraled
their way up his nose. He slapped his hand over his face to try an
d
cancel out the smell, but it was hopeless.
S
omething hard d
ug
into his back, but when he started to reach back to dislodge it, an almost audible scream told him to lie perfectly still.
That
’
s pretty hard to do when you
’
re panting and shivering with fear,
Max thought, disgusted
with JD
.

A car door opened, then another. Max hear
d
the driving beat of music screaming over the car
’
s stereo.

“
Where the freak is th
is
guy hiding?
”
demanded a male voice Max thought he recognized.

“
I don
’
t know, Nate. I really thought we had him this time,
”
replied a female voice.

Nate Stackman. Max was sure of it. The guy got a thrill out of bullying, and Max couldn
’
t stand him. Nate wasn
’
t exactly popular with anyone else either.
L
ast year
he punched his girlfriend
with a glass mug
after a football game, breaking her nose.
He ended
up
doing time in Juvy for it and was expelled f
rom
Port Fare High.