Chapter 57

'I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date, ' I thought as I jogged out of Mr. Calloway's room. He'd asked me and Ricky to come in and talk about the baseball season after school, so I was late for gymnastics. On the plus side, the girls should be all stretched out and working when I got there.

I figured I'd hit my locker, grab my stuff, then cut through the south hall, out the back door, across the football field, and jog through the woods to the middle school. In a month, it'll be easier: jump in the car and speed over.

At my locker, I dumped the steno pad I'd been doodling in at the meeting into my backpack, stuffed in my science book, and closed my locker. It was about ten to four, and I figured I could get away with jogging in the hallway, so I took off toward the south hall.

When I turned into the hall, the first thing I noticed was Kenny opening a locker, which was strange cause his locker was in the same section as mine. Then I noticed a kid standing on the other side of him. The kid, I think he was a freshman, looked nervous and was shifting from foot to foot. I stopped and watched. Neither of them noticed me, though I was only ten feet away.

The kid dipped into his pocket and pulled out a folded bill, it looked like a twenty but I wasn't sure. Kenny grabbed it, unfolded it, and smiled. 'Extortion, ' was my first thought, but then Kenny reached into the locker and pulled out a baggy. Something green and leafy. Probably oregano. Kenny was running an herb store for aspiring cooks.

I took three big steps and kicked the locker door hard. It smashed closed, not quite catching Kenny's hand. As Kenny's head snapped toward me, I reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"Let go!" he yelled.

I squeezed, and he dropped the baggy. "Not in my school," I told him coldly. 'Please throw a punch, ' I begged silently. The kid looked like he was about to wet his pants. "Take your money and go," I ordered. "Don't come back."

The kid reached for the money still in Kenny's other hand.

"No!" Kenny bellowed. I squeezed his wrist harder. The kid grabbed the twenty and jackrabbited down the hall. I made a note to tell the track coach about him. The kid could move.

"You don't want me to catch you selling again," I told Kenny as I released his wrist. 'Please try to hit me. You're tough, you know you want to.'

Kenny glared. "You don't run the school. You don't tell me what to do."

I grinned. "You're right, we could discuss it with Mr. Parker. Or maybe Deputy Boyd."

"Narc," he growled.

The truth was, I had an ingrained resistance to tattling on anybody, even Kenny. I just smiled.

"This isn't over," he said threateningly as he walked away.

I hoped not.

I finally got to practice and spent most of it working with Miranda. First she showed me her level six routine, then we talked about the changes we could make. She wanted to change the back walkover to a back handspring.