G-157 (22 page)

All that changed
at seven forty-five on a Friday morning.

Troy and Aire were strolling through the campus common area to meet Melissa and Gary in front of the library. She pranced across the grass with Troy as she spoke rapidly about her upcoming meeting with the mayor. Today was the day she would get her test scores and learn her fate. Her giddiness vanished and her bones grew cold when they heard Dillon Thomas scream for help. They sprinted around the cafeteria to witness Bowie and Terry Sandoval enraged in a fist fight.

The boys swung and clawed at each other like two badgers fighting over a kill. Quiet smacks resounded off the wall as fists met flesh, and blood poured from their faces. Spittle and sprays of blood
splattered on the ground
with every successful blow. A thundering crack made her gut clench as Bowie landed a hard right to his brother’s temple, spinning Terry on his heel to land with a hard thunk on the ground. His eyes were swelled shut, and two of his teeth glinted on the concrete next to him.

Aire stood
in silent shock at the savagery until
the thud of Terry’s unconscious body
slamming to the earth startled
her into motion. She looked around the crowd for help, but all she
saw was the twitching masses, two boys running away screaming, one convulsing in a fit of laughter as he spun in circles with his arms stretched out, and Kristin Bowers sitting next to the building, a blank look in her eyes.

A petrifying screech made her jump and whip around back to the scene. Her hands covered her mouth as she watched Bowie sit on Terry’s back and begin slamming his face into the pavement.

“Stop it!” Aire screamed.

She pummeled through the crowd and ran full speed at Bowie, feeling the air whoosh from his lungs as her small body tackled him to the ground. Choking and gasping for air, Bowie wriggled out of her grip and landed a sharp right hook to her left eye. She managed two good punches to his ribs before Troy tackled the boy and began to wail his fists into him.

The fight lasted another thirty seconds before three teachers pushed into the circle and dog piled on top of Troy and Bowie. Aire saw Troy’s hands fly up in surrender before they released him. It took several moments for Bowie to cease his struggles. She heard him whisper
something
as his body stilled before they allowed him to stand.

He was crying great wailing sobs that pierced through the campus walls. His face was smeared in dirt and blood and tears as he kneeled over Terry.

“Oh no,” he screamed. “Oh no what did I do? Someone help Terry, someone help him!”

Her knees were still trembling when the ambulance came to take Terry away. They loaded his unconscious body onto the stretcher, bumping his feet as they closed the doors behind him. She shivered when the lights came on and the siren screeched. Murmurs that Terry would be fine trickled across the dispersing crowd. She
hugged her arms tight
across her chest, trying to warm away the cold thought that
she had witnessed a
murder.

A strange silence fell upon the school. The idle chatter and bustling between classes remained, but a thickness choked
the air, and Aire felt as though she were a fish struggling to breathe in a pool of gelatin. Even the clock seemed to feel the thickness as she watched the hands
trudge
across its face until the end of day bell finally rang.

Her stomach panged as she packed up her books and pens. Walking quickly, she passed the library and cafeteria, going out of her way to avoid the common area on her trek to the restroom. She’d had to go since fifth period, but between each class she became too distracted with the whispered rumors about the morning’s fight. Now she was paying for her inattention to her bladder, and sharp shooting pain stabbed into her abdomen with every step. Her stomach bulged, and she squeezed her thighs together as she did a mini sprint into the doorway of the girls room
and slammed the stall door behind her. She let her head fall back and gave a moan of relief
.

Bladder empty, toilet flushed, she opened the door and froze when
she saw Sarah Hadley crouched under the row of sinks. Greasy blond hair fell over her blank eyes as she crouched in squatting position next to the pipes, her arms wrapped around her knees. She did a slow rocking motion back and forth, unaware of Aire’s presence.

“Sarah?
” Aire said as she crept closer to the vacant girl. “Sarah what are you doing?”

“It’s sad,” her voice creaked from white, cracked lips. A tiny scab had formed in the middle of her bottom lip where the skin had broken and bled.

“Sarah, how long have you been in here?”

“Bells. Lots of bells.

“Bells?”

“Dark, lots of dark.”

“What do you mean
‘lots of dark?’
” Aire asked as she brushed the dirty hair from the girl’s eyes. She cupped her chin and forced her to look up. “Sarah, you’re not making any sense. What do you mean lots of dark?”

“Night.”

“You’ve been in here since last night?”

“Three.”

“You’ve been in here since Tuesday?”

Sarah shrugged, her head bobbing forward and back. “It’s quiet.”

“No one came in here the whole time?”

“Jodie did.”

“And she didn’t do anything?”

“She ran.”

“What do you mean she ran? Why”

“She was afraid.”

“Afraid of what?”

“Afraid.”

“Gracious,” Aire whispered. “Come on Sarah. Let’s get you home. Your mother must be worried sick.”

Aire grabbed the girl’s boney arm and wrapped it around her neck, grunting as she hoisted her limp body from the tile. Her nose crinkled when she got a whiff of the three day’s worth of
pubescent
stench building under her armpit.

Breathing through her mouth, Aire drug the girl down the street. Her skeletal frame had been easy to support at first, but after three blocks she could feel her muscle
s
beginning to weaken. Her knees were shaking and starting to buckle when she reached Sarah’s house. Her thigh muscles locked up on the second step of the porch and nearly sent them both toppling forward. She waited a few moments to give her muscles a break before continuing, her whole body trembling when she reached the top.

Panting, she p
r
opped Sarah against the wall. The girl’s unblinking eyes
stared at nothing towards the street
. Aire grabbed her face and forced the girl to look at her.

“Sarah, are you listening?” she asked. The girl gave a weak nod. “I want you to go inside and get some rest, okay? Your mom can take care of you from here. I’ll tell your brother to stop by too. Can you go inside and lay on the couch?”

“Mike will be sad, so sad.”

“Mike will be fine. Are you sure you can make it to the couch?”

The girl nodded.

Aire opened the front door and guided her inside. “It’s sad,” Sarah repeated, and disappeared behind the door.

Aire looked at her watched, then back to Sarah’s door. It was nearly
three-thirty
already, and if she left now she would be only a few minutes late meeting Jenkins. She had to leave, but
felt
a tiny invisible hand pulling at her to go inside the house. Something was very wrong at the Hadley
residence, and it made
Aire’s head
spin
that a mother wouldn’t have cared to look for her daughter after three days of not coming home,
especially
Sarah and Mike’s mother. Her children became the center of her world after Mr. Hadley had been recruited. Something had to be wrong.

An opening and slamming of drawers came from the kitchen. Aire breathed a sigh of relief as she heard Sarah wandering around for food. She spun on her heel and set off at a quick jog towards City Hall.

Twenty minutes later, Aire arrived in Mayor Jenkins’ office
,
breathless and sweating. The secretary smiled and gestured towards the mayor’s door.

“Go right in, sweetie. He’s waiting for you.”

“Thank you,” Aire said, and disappeared down the hall.

The scent of
leather and furniture polish
welcomed her into the spacious office. The mayor was looking over some papers on his desk when she tapped on the open door. He looked up and smiled.

“Aire, come in.”

“Sorry I’m running a bit late today,” she said as she shook his hand and sat down.

“I’m sure you had good reason. How have things been going?”

“You haven’t noticed?”

“Noticed what?”

“Well
,
the fights, for one.”

“Fights?
” Jenkins asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah
,” Aire said, shifting in her seat. “Didn’t you hear what happened this morning? Half the town is at each other’s throats and the other half refuses to leave their rooms. People are being taken by the dozens now. Something is wrong here.”

“Hmm,” Jenkins said as he folded his hands into an A and placed the fingertips to his lips. “Well I suppose peace is never a permanent state. Flair ups do
occur every once in a while,
but don’t let it get to you. These things have a way of working themselves out.”

“You’re not at all concerned?”

“Aire, let me explain something to you. I am concerned for the town’s well being, but it’s not a pressing matter. I’ve seen this before. It’s the normal growing pains every city in the United Community experiences. Did you hear about the child permit restriction?”

“Yes,” she nodded.

“Well, there you go,” he smiled. “Population gets too large, people feel cramped and crowded, and they get a little cranky for a short period of time. The same thing happened when we cut the child permits from allowing three children per couple to two. It’s nothing to worry about, of that I can assure you.”

Aire nodded, her lips pressing together as she dropped her gaze to the floor.

“Well,” he said, leaning forward in his chair. “Let’s talk about what you came here for. I’m sure you’re anxious for your test results?”

“Definitely.” Her eyes looked back up to him, a bit of brightness returning to them. “I’ve been going crazy waiting for this moment.”

Jenkins grinned and reached to a small bin on his desk. Extracting the large manila envelope, he released the sealed clasps one by one, careful to not to tear the flap as he separated it from the glue holding it to the envelope’s body. His hand paused when he reached inside.

“Are you sure you want to see these?”

“Of course.” She wiped her palms over her thighs.

“Are you absolutely positive?”

“
Mayor
Jenkins,” she began.

“Alright,” he smiled. “I have to have a little fun every once in a while.”

He pulled the contents out of the envelope, and placed them on his desk so that they were right side up as they faced her. He pointed to a bold number towards the middle of the first page.

“This is your total score, 1590. Below are the scores for each section of the test, but I don’t think you’ll have much interest in those.”

“Why is that, sir?”

“Because,
Aire,
”
he said, a
smile
tugging at
the corners of his eyes. “You only missed one question on the whole test.”

Disbelief dulled her senses, and the room became a far, looming thing in the distance. The large red numbers grew from the page, branching across the bookshelves and over the window. The number was the only thing in the room with her as her hands covered her
gaping
jaw and joyful tears rained happiness upon her cheeks. Jenkins’ voice was a hollow echo
, as though coming from the far end of a tunnel
.

“I’m pleased with your results. The only problem you missed was an advanced physics question, which is a course you haven’t taken yet. But no matter. Your score is good enough to submit to any college in the country.”

“Oh my goodness,” she breathed, the room sharpening into focus again
. “This is…
I
mean it’s…
it’s unexpectedly brilliant. I mean, I studied hard, but I had no idea I’d do this well.”

“None of us expected this,” Jenkins said. “But that’s the reality of the situation. You did a phenomenal job, Aire.”

“Thank you, thank you so much, sir. This really means a lot to me. I’ll be sure to dedicate the first book of my scientific research to you.”

“That’s a wonderful gesture, but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves,” Jenkins said, stuffing the results back into the envelope. “Your scores may have been outstanding, but academics alone aren’t good enough to get you into an ivy league school. They want not only brilliant minds, but those who focus on life outside of notebooks and classrooms.”