“Have you told Rose?” Shawn asked.
Lisa shook her head.
He grimaced. “You know it’s going to kill her that you told me first.”
“Things have just been so weird between us lately.”
“Weirder than this?” He gestured between the two of them.
She shrugged. “At least I knew why things were weird with us. With Rose, I’m not even sure what’s going on. It’s like she’s got this whole different life all of a sudden that I’m not a part of, and I don’t know how or why that happened.”
Shawn raised his eyebrows. “Gee, I wonder what that must feel like.”
She gave him a pointed look.
“Sorry,” Shawn said hurriedly, his face flushing a bit. “I meant maybe she’s got something going on that has nothing to do with you, but she just doesn’t want to tell you. Like you did.”
“Maybe,” Lisa agreed. She bit her lip, staring at the photos of her and Rose stuck in the frame of her dresser mirror. “I’m just not sure what to do about it.”
“You can talk to her,” Shawn said with a shrug. “That’s what I wish we’d done a long time ago.”
“Yeah.” Lisa took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. She knew he was right. She and Rose were long overdue for a talk. She just needed to find the right time to do it.
Chapter Fifty-One
BILL
After three days of uneventfully watching locker 247, Bill was beginning to wonder whether the mysterious test vendor was onto them. He and Pat had looked up the locker in the office, hoping their job would be easy, but it wasn’t assigned to anyone. Yet there was a combination padlock on it like many of the students used, keeping them from being able to open it.
So they followed the system. They put twenty-five dollars in an envelope, along with one of Pat’s classes and another unassigned locker number, and slipped it into locker 247. The locker they picked for their fictitious cheating student was clearly visible from Bill’s office.
He stayed every day after school until the building was empty, pretending to work late, and came in first thing in the morning in order to keep watch. They’d put the envelope in 247 on Tuesday, so if Andy was right, there should’ve been something in the receiving locker by Wednesday. But no one ever approached the locker, and when Bill checked, it was still empty.
He wondered whether maybe he’d put the envelope in 247 too late for a one-day turnaround, and the delivery would happen on Thursday instead. But by the end of the day Thursday, the locker was still empty.
Bill sat at his desk, flipping mindlessly through a Time magazine he’d gotten from the teachers’ lounge. It was an August issue, with a cover story warning about AIDS: The Growing Threat. He’d finished that article and moved on to one about year-round schooling—interesting, although he didn’t think it would fly in Buford County—when he heard footsteps coming down the hall, along with the sound of someone humming.
Bill kept the magazine open and leaned his head on his hand, keeping his chin pointed down like he was still reading, while his eyes watched the hall.
The hummer came into view, and Bill recognized the janitor, Michael McMillain, who must have finished up his shift for the day. He was bouncing as he walked toward the school entrance, moving to a beat only he could hear. A Walkman was clipped to his belt, and headphones covered his ears. He twirled his keys around one finger as he hummed along to the music coming out of his headphones, punctuated by a few muttered lyrics every now and then. Bill thought it might be Stevie Wonder, but he couldn’t be sure.
He sighed and stood, ready to call it quits for the day. If there was still nothing tomorrow, he and Pat might need to come up with a new plan.
He stopped midstep, stunned at what he’d just seen.
As Michael passed by the locker Bill had staked out, still grooving to the song, he’d spun around and, in one fluid motion, pulled something from his back pocket and slipped it through the vent on the front of the locker. It happened so quickly Bill would’ve missed it if he hadn’t spent three days watching for it.
Michael looked up and spotted Bill standing in the doorway of his office. He grinned, lifting one side of his headphones so that Bill could hear the music leaking out. “Hey, Mr. Warren, how’s that baby doing?”
Bill forced a smile. “She’s great. How have you been, Michael?”
“Can’t complain, can’t complain. Just dancin’ with my friend Stevie here.” He reached down and dialed the volume up, so Bill could hear Stevie Wonder’s tinny voice scatting while backup singers repeated, “Part-time lover.” Michael spun around again, swinging his arms and singing along with Stevie, “Doot-doo-doo-doot-doot-da-da-da-da.”
Michael laughed, putting his headphones back on, and gave Bill a little wave. “You have a great night, Mr. Warren.”
“You too, Michael.”
After Michael pushed through the front doors of the school and the hall was quiet, Bill took a deep breath and reluctantly approached the locker. He dialed in the combination he’d picked—Millie’s birthday—opened the locker, and gazed sadly at the envelope lying there.
He knew what he’d find, but he still picked it up and looked inside. Sure enough, there was a folded copy of the test they’d requested. Bill unfolded it, and to his surprise, a five-dollar bill fell out, along with a small handwritten note. Sorry it was late. Gave you a discount.
Bill sighed and shook his head, tucking the money and the test back in the envelope and closing the locker, then headed back into his office to call Pat.
FRIDAY
Chapter Fifty-Two
SHAWN
Shawn didn’t mind getting up early on Fridays for his shift in the attendance office. It gave him an excuse to eat breakfast in peace, free of his dad’s scathing looks and biting criticism, and to get out of the house before Gabe Rothman emerged from his room.
The streets of Stone Lake were quiet as he drove through town to school. There were a few people out on the sidewalks, sipping from Styrofoam cups of coffee or walking dogs, but overall, the town was still mostly asleep as R.E.M.’s Murmur album spilled from his truck’s tape deck.
The truck wasn’t much to look at, an old Chevy with a rusting paint job and fraying seats, but at least it gave him freedom. He’d purchased it with the money he had earned two summers ago working at the Dairy Queen, and he’d signed up for Auto Shop class so he’d know how to keep it running. After graduation, it would carry him out of this dead-end town once and for all.
He once had hoped Lisa would come with him. But now that dream was gone. All that remained was the promise of a fresh start somewhere else. The citizenship award would let him go anywhere he wanted. Right now, the only criteria he cared about was that it was somewhere far away.
He sang along under his breath to “Perfect Circle” as he pulled into the school parking lot. There were only a few other vehicles here so far, mostly teachers’ cars filling up the spaces closest to the school. Shawn grabbed his backpack from the passenger seat and walked inside, letting himself into the front office, where the only other person was the school secretary, Mrs. Swenson. She greeted Shawn when he walked in, then returned her attention to the crossword puzzle on her desk.