his fingers. “There are so many things wrong with that sentence I don’t know where to begin. Let’s see, first, you’re a narc. Second, you’re a narc. And third—oh, right, I covered that. I’m not staying here to be lectured by you.” He stood up.
“Just tell me I’m wrong. Tell me you’ve got a prescription and you get it from Nurse Reilly every morning like you’re supposed to.” Devon pressed on. “Or, what if I wanted some Adderall? Just a few pills to get me through the Chem homework this week. All I need is a piece of green paper, right?”
Matt’s eyes darkened. “You’re an asshole, Dev.” He reached for the door.
“If I figured it out that easily, don’t you think someone else will too?” Devon called after him. Her words stopped him at the door. “Matt, I really don’t want you to get in trouble. I just want to help.”
Matt pushed his wet hair behind his ears. “Yeah? How are you going to help me?”
“Will you sit down?”
“Fine.” He plopped back down in the leather cushion. His lips twisted into an uncomfortable smirk. “You haven’t told anyone?”
“No, and I’m not going to tell anyone. Not even Robins. Okay?”
“Okay.” Matt chewed on his cuticle again.
“I know you give the orders to Bodhi in Monte Vista,” Devon continued. Matt stopped chewing. She had is full attention now. “Can you tell me how the whole thing started?”†
“I.…” His fingers started drumming again.
“Matt? Please. I think it’s an important piece of what happened to Hutch.”
Matt sighed and folded his arms. He wouldn’t look at Devon, but at least he started talking. “Bodhi used to have a friend that worked at the Monte Vista Pharmacy, like years ago. I don’t even know his name. At the time, Eric was at Keaton taking all sorts of stuff for depression, anxiety, ADD, so he had all the prescriptions anyone at school could have wanted. The guy at the pharmacy would slip Eric a few extra pills here and there and Eric hooked up other students from time to time. That’s kind of why he was so good at chemistry. It wasn’t a class; it was like a way of life for him. But then Eric graduated, went all pre-med, and went off the pharmaceuticals.”
“So when Bodhi got the job at the pharmacy, he and Hutch started it up again?”
Matt shrugged. “Bodhi’s guy left the pharmacy, and Bodhi and Eric went to college. But Bodhi dropped out of MIT and came back to live in Monte Vista because of his dad. Since he was back, he got the gig at the pharmacy, so he called Eric. Eric introduced him to Hutch sophomore year, and the whole thing started up again. PharmClub Version 2.0.”
“But why would they sell the pills? Hutch and Eric didn’t need the money. You don’t either, right?”
“It’s not about the money. I don’t know why Bodhi and Eric started in the first place, probably just to see if they could get away with it. That’s kind of Eric’s thing, pushing against the rules to see how far he can bend them before they snap. Bodhi, I don’t get. He’s pretty chill. I guess when he started up again with Hutch he wanted to stick it to the Keaton powers that be, make a little extra cash, something like that.”
“Okay, but what about you? Hutch is gone, why not just end it?”
“It’s not that easy. Do you know how many people depend on me?” Matt finally stopped twitching and looked at Devon.
The thought hadn’t even occurred to her. It was amazing to think how different their worlds were, even though they lived in the same community with the same 300 people. Matt was talking like most of the school bought from him. Did they? Was she really that much out of the loop? Keaton didn’t have easy-to-define cliques, of course; the whole vibe was more free-flowing; computer nerds could be jocks; cheerleaders could be drama geeks; they were often the same people, just flexing different talents. But a few kids did rule, just like at every school. Hutch had been one of them. And Matt still was. And The PharmClub, if that’s what it was called, seemed to cover everyone. The only requirement was people that were willing to do or take anything to be better than the rest. Or maybe it was another example of Keaton students in the habit of bending rules in their favor. Either way, Devon still felt the sting of