Page 33 of Ward D
I make a face. “Jade, you know all the classrooms are going to be locked up by now. We can just use my book.”
“Use your book? No, that’s silly!” She laces her arm into mine. “We’ll just get the janitor to open up the room. Come on. It will just take a second.”
Before I can protest, Jade is dragging me down the hallway toward the stairwell. Her hand gripping my arm has an angry circular red mark in the fleshy part between her thumb and forefinger. It almost looks like a burn. I wonder how she gotthat. But if I ask her, she’ll just make up some crazy story.
When we get to the stairs, Jade is sprinting up them two at a time, and I have to race to catch up. Mr. Riordan’s classroom is all the way up on the fourth floor, which is usually deserted by now except for the cleaning staff. Sure enough, when we get there, there are no traces of any students or teachers—just a middle-aged man pushing a mop across the floor in front of the lockers.
Jade goes right up to the janitor, smiling with her bright red lips. “Hi there!”
The janitor slowly lifts his eyes from the bucket on the floor. “Yes?” he says in an accent I can’t quite identify.
“I forgot my textbook in room 428,” Jade says cheerfully. “Do you think you could let me in?”
I can’t help but notice that as she makes the request, Jade sticks her chest out. The janitor’s eyes flicker down to her breasts briefly.
“It’ll just take a second,” she adds. “Ireallyneed the book to study for my test tomorrow. I would besograteful.”
After another hesitation, the man nods. He reaches into his pocket for a keychain that contains an impossible number of keys. We follow him down the hall to room 428, and for some reason, my heart skips slightly as the lock turns.
“Thank you so much!” Jade gushes. “We’ll just be a minute.”
The janitor nods and goes back to his mop and bucket. I step into the classroom with Jade, holding the door open while she goes to grab her book. But to my surprise, she pushes me out of the way and shuts the door behind me. She presses her index finger to her lips.
“You keep watch,” she tells me. “Let me know if anyone is coming.”
“What?” I say. “Watch for what? What are you talking about?”
To my horror, Jade walks over to Mr. Riordan’s desk and yanks open the bottom drawer. Her eyes light up. “Score!”
“Jade…”
“It’s all the copies of the test for tomorrow!” She pulls a small stapled document out of the drawer and holds it up. “This way we don’t even have to study for eight hours! All we need to do is solve these problems, and then we’ll both get a hundred. Aren’t I smart? You aresolucky I’m your best friend.”
“I’m not doing that!” I glance out the window of the classroom to make sure nobody is looking in. “Jade, you have to put that back. This is cheating. We could get in a lot of trouble.”
“Oh my God.” She rolls her eyes. “You are so freaking dramatic, Amy. It’s just one test! It’s not even a big deal. When are you ever going to use sines or cosines in your life ever again?”
I had no idea this was what she was planning. This is so stupid. I don’t know what is worse—the idea of cheating or the possibility of gettingcaughtfor cheating. Yes, the fourth floor is mostly empty now, but that doesn’t mean someone won’t see us. I look out the window of the classroom one more time, searching for someone who might rat us out.
And that’s when I see her.
The little girl.
She is standing right outside the classroom, her blond hair curling around her face. Staring at me.
“Jade!” I rip my gaze away from the window. “We’ve got to get out of here. Right now.”
Jade stuffs the copy of the exam into her backpack, then she joins me at the door. When we get back in the hallway, the only person there is the janitor. No teachers, no students. No little girls.
Jade wiggles her fingers at the janitor. “Got my book! Thanks again!”
She grabs my arm again and starts pulling me toward the staircase while I’m internally freaking out. I thought we were going to have a study session. I had no idea that this was what she had in mind.
“Jade,” I hiss at her, “I’mnotlooking at that test.”
She pulls me into the stairwell and then stops, folding her skinny arms across her chest. “Why not? You want to do well on the midterm, don’t you?”
“Yes, but not like that!”
