I fought to hold in a choke of protest. 'How do you know about that?'
'Part of my job as your school psychologist is to give you guidance,' Miss Greene said. 'Please promise me you'll be very, very careful around Patch.' She looked at me like she was actually waiting for my oath of promise.
'It's kind of complicated,' I said. 'My ride left me stranded at Delphic. I didn't have a choice. It's not like I seek out opportunities to spend time with Patch.' Well, except for last night at the Borderline. In my defense, I honestly hadn't expected to see Patch. He was supposed to have the night off.
'I'm very glad to hear it,' Miss Greene answered, but she didn't sound fully convinced of my innocence. 'With that out of the way, is there anything else you'd like to talk about today? Anything weighing on your mind?'
I wasn't about to tell her that Elliot broke into my house. I didn't trust Miss Greene. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something about her bothered me. And I didn't like the way she kept hinting that Patch was dangerous but wouldn't tell me why. It was almost like she had an agenda.
I hoisted my backpack off the ground and opened the door. 'No,' I said.
Chapter 16
Vee was leaning against my locker, doodling on her cast with a purple marker.
'Hi,' she said when there was nothing of the hallway left between us. 'Where've you been? I checked the eZine lab and the library.'
'I had a meeting with Miss Greene, the new school psych.' I said it very matter-of-factly, but on the inside, I had a hollow, trembly feeling. I couldn't stop thinking about Elliot breaking into my house. What was stopping him from doing it again? Or from doing something worse?
'What happened?' Vee asked.
I spun my locker combination and traded out books. 'Do you know how much a good alarm system costs?'
'No offense, babe, but nobody's going to steal your car.'
I pinned Vee with a black look. 'For my house. I want to make sure Elliot can't get inside again.'
Vee glanced around and cleared her throat.
'What?' I said.
Vee did a hands-up. 'Nothing. Nothing at all. If you're still bent on nailing this to Elliot… that's your prerogative. It's a crazy prerogative, but hey. It's yours.'
I shoved my locker door closed, and the rattle echoed down the hall. I bit back an accusatory response that she of all people should believe me and instead said, 'I'm on my way to the library, and I'm sort of in a hurry.' We exited the building and crossed the grounds to the parking lot, and I came up short. I looked around for the Fiat, but that's when I remembered my mom had dropped me off on her way to work this morning. And with Vee's arm broken, she wasn't driving.
'Crap,' Vee said, reading my thoughts, 'we're earless.'
Shielding my eyes from the sun, I squinted down the street. 'Guess this means we'll have to walk.'
'Not we. You. I'd come with, but once a week is my library limit.'
'You haven't been to the library this week,' I pointed out.
'Yeah, but I might have to go tomorrow.'
'Tomorrow's Thursday. In all your life, have you ever studied on a Thursday?'
Vee tapped a fingernail to her lip and adopted a thoughtful expression. 'Have I ever studied on a Wednesday?'
'Not that I recall.'
'There you have it. I can't go. It would be anti-tradition.'
Thirty minutes later, I hiked up the steps leading to the library's main doors. Once inside, I put homework on the back burner and went directly to the media lab, where I combed the Internet trying to find more information on the 'Kinghorn Hanging.' I didn't find much. Originally there had been a lot of hype, but after the suicide note was discovered and Elliot was released, the news moved on.
It was time to take a trip to Portland. I wasn't going to learn much more sifting through archived news articles, but maybe I'd have better luck doing legwork there.
I logged off and called my mom.
'Do I need to be home by nine tonight?'
'Yes, why?'
'I was thinking of taking a bus out to Portland.'
She gave me one of her You must think I'm crazy laughs.
'I need to interview some students at Kinghorn Prep,' I said. 'It's for a project I've been researching.' It wasn't a lie. Not really. Of course, it would have been much easier to justify if I weren't burdened by the guilt of keeping the break-in and ensuing police visit from her. I'd thought about telling her, but every time I opened my mouth to say the words, they slipped away. We were struggling to survive. We needed my mom's income. If I told her about Elliot, she'd quit immediately.
'You can't go to the city alone. It's a school night and it will be dark soon. Besides, by the time you get there, the students will have left.'
I heaved a sigh. 'Okay, I'll be home soon.'
'I know I promised you a ride, but I'm stuck at my office.' I heard her shuffling papers in the background, and I imagined she had the phone cradled under her chin and the phone cord wrapped around her body several times. 'Is it too much to ask you to walk?'
The weather was just this side of cool, I had my jean jacket, and I had two legs. I could walk. The plan sounded a lot more reasonable in my head, because the thought of walking home left my insides hollow. But aside from spending the night in the library, 1 didn't see any other choice.
I was almost through the library doors when I heard my name called. Turning around, I found Marcie Millar closing the distance between us.
'I heard about Vee,' she said. 'It's really sad. I mean, who would attack her? Unless, you know, they couldn't help it. Maybe it was self-defense. I heard it was dark and raining. It would be easy to mistake Vee for a moose. Or a bear, or a buffalo. Really, any hulking animal would do.'
'Gosh, it was nice talking to you, but I've got a lot of things I'd rather be doing. Like sticking my hand in the garbage disposal.' I continued toward the exit.
'I hope she stayed clear of those hospital meals,' Marcie said, keeping at my heels. 'I hear they're high in fat. She can't stand to gain a lot of weight.'
I spun around. 'That's it. One more word, and I'll…' We both knew it was an empty threat.
Marcie simpered. 'You'll what?'
'Skank,' I said.
'Geek.'
'Slut.'
'Freak.'
'Anorexic pig.'
'Wow,' said Marcie, staggering back melodramatically with a hand pressed to her heart. 'Am I supposed to act offended? Try this on for size. Old news. At least I know how to exercise a little self-control.'
The security guard standing at the doors cleared his throat. 'All right, break it up. Take this outside or I'm going to cart the both of you inside my office and start calling parents.'
'Talk to her,' Marcie said, pointing a finger at me. 'I'm the one who's trying to be nice. She verbally attacked me. I was just offering my condolences to her friend.'
'I said outside'
'You look good in uniform,' Marcie told him, flashing her trademark toxic smile.
He jerked his head at the doors. 'Get out of here.' But it didn't sound half so gruff.
Marcie sashayed up to the doors. 'Mind getting the door for me? I'm short on hands.' She was holding one
