Zoe swallowed the lump in her throat as Mr. Curtis entered the room. A thin sheen of sweat covered his face, and his eyes were wild.
Mr. Curtis was the one who killed Jacob? That wasn’t true. It couldn’t be, could it? No matter what Holly said about the rest of them, Mr. Curtis would never hurt a child like that and just leave him in the road to die.
They all rushed over to him, and he backed away, holding his hands out in front of him as if he were scared of them.
‘Mr. Curtis,’ Cece said. ‘Holly has done terrible things to us today.’
‘Slow down,’ Mr. Curtis said, shaking his head. ‘What’s going on here?’
‘She set me up in the theater,’ Q said, raising his bandaged hands for emphasis.
‘She’s crazy!’ Jackie added.
‘You need to call the police,’ Cece said, whirling around to accuse Holly.
Zoe’s heart dropped when they all turned to see that Holly was gone.
‘Where is she?’ Q asked, rushing over to her seat. His eyes darted across the room.
Zoe’s stomach dropped. How had Holly disappeared that quickly?
‘Her timing is impeccable,’ Teddy noted, sounding a little impressed.
‘Shut up!’ Jackie said. ‘Mr. Curtis, she made it look like I was cheating and did this to my face.’ She lifted the hat, revealing the skin rash.
‘I-I don’t have time for this,’ Mr. Curtis said, barely looking Jackie in the eyes. ‘I have to go.’
Had he heard what they were saying? He had a stake in this whole situation, but Holly must not have told him all of them were involved too. Well, at least the rest of them. Zoe had no idea what she’d done to be roped into the group.
‘Listen, uh, I need to go home. It’s a family emergency,’ Mr. Curtis said, rubbing his hands against his shirt. Dark circles stained the fabric under his armpits.
Zoe blinked. All of his strange behavior that day made sense. While Zoe thought the phone rang for the librarian, it was for him. Was that his task? She thought he was just as upset as she was about spending detention with all of her classmates, but he had suffered at Holly’s hand, and she completely missed it.
‘What about detention?’ Teddy asked.
‘Don’t worry about it,’ Mr. Curtis snapped as he strode by them. He rubbed his hands against his jeans while his other hand rubbed his chin. ‘We all need to leave, now. I’ll mark you down as being here for the day. You’ve served your time.’
Zoe wanted to say something to Mr. Curtis. She wanted to scream and make him listen. If Holly’s claims were true, he’d done this to himself. The teacher who was so well respected at school was accused of murdering a teen in cold blood. What else was Holly going to do to him?
Should Zoe warn him?
She opened her mouth to say something, anything to make him stay, but nothing came out.
Teddy touched her arm, and he shook his head, silencing her. ‘We’ll clean up, Mr. Curtis.’
‘I’m trusting you all to be out of here in ten minutes. I’ll inform Victor to lock up behind you,’ Mr. Curtis said. ‘See you all Monday.’
When he left, Teddy gathered up his part of the chain and set it on the table.
‘Why did you stop me?’ Zoe asked.
‘Because he’s in the middle of his task, obviously. Megan will give him what he deserves.’
‘He couldn’t have done this,’ Zoe said. ‘Murdering a kid? That doesn’t seem like something he would do.’
‘Why do you care?’ Jackie asked. ‘He probably did do it. Megan did a lot of research. She was right about all of us. Not everyone is as they seem.’
Zoe knew that first hand.
‘What do we do, now?’ Cece asked. ‘We should call the police about that psycho.’
‘And risk our involvement? You saw her cell phone. I may enjoy pissing off my parents, but I’m not about to get arrested for anything that she’s found out about me.’ Q asked. ‘Hell, no. We’re keeping our mouths shut. All of us.’
No one asked Zoe about her involvement with Jacob. And she began to worry about that. Was this a part of Megan’s plan? On the intercom message, the voice said ‘six’. They mistakenly thought that meant Zoe and Holly, but Zoe knew it was her and Mr. Curtis. Her secrets had caught up with her, even though the rest of the kids had no idea what went on in Zoe’s life.
‘I can’t believe we just let her go,’ Cece said. ‘There has to be something we can do.’
‘There’s nothing,’ Jackie said, defeated. ‘We move on with our lives and hope that Megan can move on with hers.’
‘I don’t believe that,’ Cece said.
‘If you tell anyone about this, then everyone will be exposed,’ Q said. ‘You’re going to keep your mouth shut.’
Cece wrinkled her nose.
‘We all have to promise,’ Teddy said. ‘If my mom finds out, she’s going to be so disappointed.’
‘And my reputation will be ruined,’ Jackie said.
‘No way am I getting kicked out of this place when I only have one year of Hell left,’ Q said.
‘Cece?’ Teddy said. ‘You need to keep this a secret. We all do.’
‘This will only work if we all agree,’ Q said, eyeing Cece.
Cece’s eyebrows drew together. ‘I’m already screwed. There’s no way I want anyone else to know about this.’
‘Then it’s done,’ Q said. ‘Let’s finish up and get out of here.’
‘Fine,’ Cece said. ‘Whatever.’
‘I don’t know what I’m going to do,’ Teddy said. ‘The transfer went to some website. I wonder if Megan routed the money to her account.’
‘I wouldn’t put it past her,’ Q said. ‘I’m going to destroy her at school on Monday.’
‘Do you think we’re ever going to see her again?’ Zoe asked.
Q let out a sigh then shook his head. ‘She’d be asking for it if she did.’
‘I’m scared to go home,’ Zoe admitted. ‘What if something horrible is waiting for me there?’
‘She’s gone now,’ Teddy said. ‘I think you should count yourself lucky.’
Even though everyone promised not to tell about what happened that day, Zoe wasn’t at ease with how it ended. A lightness in her stomach twisted around her insides just like they did when she rode a roller coaster. The inevitable drop loomed in the distance. And she had no idea when it was coming.
Zoe went to the librarian’s office and grabbed the large cardboard box that held all the slips. She brought it back into the room and placed it on the table. Q stood there, useless without his hands. Everyone else picked up the slack, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. As if leaving the scene of this terrible game would help them forget. But no one would.
‘I’ll finish up,’ Zoe said. It was the least she could do for them after the trauma each of them had gone through.
‘Are you sure?’ Jackie asked.
‘Yes, I can lock up too,’ Zoe said. ‘And I’ll let Victor know we’re done in here.’
Cece didn’t need another second to think about it. She practically bolted from the room.
Q and Jackie were right behind her, walking out, side-by-side. Something that Zoe never thought she’d ever see.
‘I’ll help,’ Teddy said. He reached into the box, brushing her hand.
Zoe sucked in a breath. ‘I don’t want to suffer like everyone else, but why wasn’t I targeted? What was the point of me being here?’
Teddy placed his hands on the side of the box and shrugged. ‘I have no idea. But you should feel grateful. To be honest, I never thought you did anything anyway.’
Zoe considered him.
‘I know we haven’t been close in a while, something that I do think about a lot, but you’re still a good person. And you’ve managed to stay that way even after what happened to your dad.’
The corners of Zoe’s mouth tugged down involuntarily. She wasn’t going to cry in front of him. She slid the box off the table and brought it back to the office.
With a moment to herself, she took a breath, still feeling the prickling sensation on the back of her neck as if someone was watching her. She shook it off and placed the box down on Mrs. Jenkin’s desk.
She was about to leave when a red piece of paper caught her eye. Zoe choked on her next breath. She touched the slip. Her name was on one side. She didn’t try and question how Megan placed it there without anyone seeing. She flipped it over, and there were only two words written. ‘Walk home.’
A slow breath escaped her lips. She nodded and placed the box down, shoving the slip into her pocket.
When she came out, Teddy was waiting for her. ‘Do you need a ride?’
‘No, thanks. I’m going to walk home.’
‘I’ll see you Monday?’
She nodded, hoping she’d be able to keep that promise.