Page 120 of Class Studies

My scale showed up as a red dot in the administration offices.

Weird, what would Nitis be doing there?

“Fuck,” Ashe said, looking up from his list. “If I call the wrong person, I’ll fucking tip off whoever’s done this.” He crumpled his list. “I’m out of the goddamn loop.”

“It’s Tederwinkle.” Saffron ran his hands through his hair. “I don’t know the why or the how, but it has to be Tederwinkle. All the evidence points to him.”

Ashe huffed. “Circumstantial evidence.”

Tanwyn scoffed, and Vac barked. “This isn’t an MA office, Ashe. In the real world, if it quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.”

Ashe grunted but didn’t respond.

I turned from my fruitless search. “Could I use someone’s phone to call Roisin? She’s a team captain, right? Maybe she’ll know something.”

The professor, who’d hung up his call while we talked, handed me his phone. Embarrassed, I realized I didn’t know her number, but Ashe did. He passed me his device.

Roisin picked up on the third ring. “Hello, Roisin speaking.”

“Hey Roisin, it’s me, A.”

“Hey, I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for days,” Roisin said, her voice scarily neutral considering her words.

Guilt twisted my stomach. “Yeah, I broke my phone, and I guess it’s tough to get a replacement. Sorry I didn’t reach out.”

“No worries,” Roisin said in the same monotone. “I honestly can’t remember why I needed to talk to you.”

I winced. “Did you need a reason? We’re friends, right?”

“Right, sorry, I forgot.”

A bad feeling tingled along my spine. I’d never actually talked to Roisin over the phone—we usually texted, but even in person, I’d never heard her voice this dull and even before.

Just like Officer Keres.

My eyebrows knit together. “So, team captain, is that exciting?”

“Very,” Roisin said, not sounding excited at all. “The Director’s brilliant putting all of this together.”

I frowned. “Roisin, Tederwinkle put this together.”

Roisin paused. “No, I don’t think so.”

I covered the phone and made eye contact with Saffron. “Did you call Cal?”

Saffron scowled. “No response. Called and texted.”

I uncovered my phone. “Is Sandy there?”

“Sandy’s with her new boyfriend.”

I waited for Roisin to add something a detail, an opinion, even an exacerbated sigh, but she didn’t. My knees shook as fear grabbed my heart.

“Are you in your dorm room? Is Mercedes there? Can I talk to Mercedes?”

Roisin didn’t respond, but I heard shuffling, and a distant ‘get that out of my face.’ Followed by silence and eventually: ‘fricking weird-o fine.’

“What do you want?” Mercedes barked into the phone.

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