your tiny brain. It’s not happening.” My fingers pinch the air in front of me to emphasize my words.
Ricardo shrugs. “If you say so. Oh, I almost forgot.” He fishes a thumb drive out of his pocket and holds it in the palm of his hand so I can get a good look at it.
“Is this supposed to mean something to me?” I ask, the annoyance clear in my voice.
“It will in a minute. I told you I was working the surveillance desk and saw you get back last night, right?”
I go still. I had completely forgotten about the surveillance video. Ricardo saw it. Who knows who else saw it. And if they put two and two together, which they will, I’ll be screwed. My composure starts to crumble. Yanking my headband out of my hair, I smooth the strands down with the mini brush I keep in my purse before sliding the metallic band back into place.
Once I’ve set the lines of my expression, I level a glare at him. “Are you trying to blackmail me, Ricardo? Because that’s low, even for you.”
“What? No! Here.” He drops it into my waiting fingers and holds both hands up. “I downloaded the video onto this thumb drive, and edited the file on the school’s drive so it doesn’t show your car getting back. I don’t think the security guard will notice it, but the police were on campus this morning asking for the footage. They’ll see the skip in the video. It’s the best I could do.”
I squeeze the thumb drive in my fingers and hold it over the floor, frozen in indecision. Part of me wants to crush the evidence before anyone else can get their hands on it. The other half wants to watch it over and over again, to give my mind more ammunition I can use to pummel myself whenever the guilt starts to fade, to keep the heavy, suffocating pressure in my chest.
Making up my mind, I tuck it into my purse. I’ll watch it later. Then I’ll destroy it.
Still, the doubt niggles in my mind. I have not been nice to Ricardo. It doesn’t make sense that he’s giving me this so freely. In my experience, no one at Brat Academy does a favor without expecting something in return. So what does Ricardo want?
If he decided to, he could turn me in to the authorities, and I’d be toast. I smooth down the lumps in my skirt. Maybe I should try to keep him happy. Placate him, somehow. Maybe I should have taken him up on his offer to fake date, just to keep an eye on him, but I can’t seem to make myself open my mouth and tell him I’ll do it.
Maybe now is the moment my hard-fought plans go up in flames.
7
The cold winter days are lengthening, but it’s still dark early. The moon is an orange orb in the sky, caressing the pavement as I run laps around the academy track. I don’t dare run outside the grounds, even though, unlike everyone else at school, I’m not worried about there being a repeat of the other night.
My knee is solid as my foot pushes off the sidewalk. Good thing my doctor okayed me to go start exercising over Christmas break. It would kill me if I didn’t have a way to burn off some of the excess energy coursing through me.
Lights in the dormitory windows draw my attention. Adrienne invited me to watch a movie with her and Mikhail in the student lounge, but I couldn’t sit still. Had to get out.
I’ve been avoiding Cal all day so I don’t have to explain where his car went. It helps that I know him so well I know where he’s likely to be at any given time of the day. From there it’s simple to stay out of his path. My addiction to knowing the details has proven useful, for sure.
I’ve also been keeping tabs on Gul, who has spent nearly the entire day filling everyone in about Professor Rook’s death as soon as they’re in the door. She’s single-handedly started a handful of rumors about the professor’s death, beginning with the one about him purposely jumping in front of the car that killed him, to his death being a hit ordered by someone who didn’t like that he’d been peddling drugs to their special little snowflake kid. So far I haven’t heard anything even close to what really happened, but Gul