A/N I do not own the BSC, Anne M Martin created it and you get the picture.
Also thanks to the people who reviewed me ( yes all three of you) some one suggested I find a beta is but the problem is I have used beta's in the past who usually created far more mistakes in my stories.
It's difficult to learn how to trust again after a situation like that.
Chapter Two: Are you sitting down?
When I was fifteen I got into a fair bit of trouble for attacking Cokie Mason during Gym class. I ended up cutting her arm although to be fair she nearly broke my nose; we were both as bad as each other. The councilor showed me this video about this kid who got so badly bullied in England that he ended up killing himself and I think she was trying to imply that I was a bully. I quite calmly told her that the fight started because Cokie called my friend Stacey a whore in front of every one. Even if secretly I may have suspected that what Cokie said was true I still couldn't let her get away with it. Anyway we both ended up having detention for nearly three months and we were told we were weren't suspended. I used my time to work on doing extra credit for my history class and by the end of the year I was the top student, Cokie used her detention time to hit on any guy who happened to be in the room and on a sports team. There was however one thing I noticed when I had detention though, although every one accused me of being paranoid when I mentioned it. Every now and then although not too often to be a regular thing Cary Retlin, Alan Grey and Pete Black would all get detention at the same time.
When you got detention there were two things you could do, clean up the school or do your homework and they always chose the latter. I would watch them leave the room with the custodian holding buckets in their hands.
Then the janitor would report that he's keys had gone missing only to find out that they were back by the end of detention.
The next morning some sort of prank always happened, one time the Principals car had some how been lowered onto the library's roof. Another time the school speakers had been rigged to play the Macarena at a continuous loop and finally in the most famous incident of all the school had been filled with a stampede of wild dogs and cats all stolen from the animal welfare center.
Whoever did it (and to me the culprits were obvious) they were professionals, they never broke in and they never left marks.
The school tried changing the locks and only I noticed that every time the boys had detention the janitor would loose his keys.
The old Kristy would have reported it, but the new Kristy knew perfectly well that she needed evidence if she was going to prove anything.
Unfortunately I finished my detention for the year and soon after I did the pranks stopped for a while.
It was easy to grow complacent and I stopped thinking about them until I had started going through the disciplinary detention lists on the schools server.
Alan Grey, Pete Black and Cary Retlin were all under going a week of detention finishing on Thursday.
Obviously they hadn't done anything yet but they were planning something.
Something big.
"Rise and shine boys" I said cheerfully as I marched into the student courtroom switching on the lights. Rick and Greg turned away from where they were busy playing solitaire and glared at me.
"Oh god she's back, wake me up when she dies" Greg cried his head hitting his arms.
"Nice to see you to Greg, now Rick sit up and pay attention because I'm going to tell you about my plan" I smirked.
"You have a plan? "Oh god" Rick moaned.
"We're going to catch the pranksters" I finished.
"Oh come one you can't be serious, every one knows who pulls all the wild stunts but no ones been able to catch them" Rick sighed.
"I will, they'll be here tonight with the janitors keys" I continued.
"Kristy even if the pranksters did show up it's not our job to get involved, we lay our heads down low ok and nobody bothers us" Rick sighed patiently.
"Of course it's our job! Whatever they're planning on doing this time it's going to be huge and what if it's dangerous? Remember the car incident? Several people were hurt when it crashed through the ceiling" I pointed out.
"Well yeah but it's not like there drug dealers or anything.. Some of their pranks are kinda funny" Rick said.
"It doesn't matter if they're funny, they steal the janitors keys! And what if they suddenly decided they were bored with putting stuff on the roof? What if they broke into the computer lab?" I pointed out.
"Well.." He began and I knew I had to bring out the big guns.
"I can get you a date with Claudia Kishi" I said and his eyes widened a fraction.
"Oh really?" he asked suspiciously.
"One date for your assistance on this mission, it seems fair enough" I said folding my arms and he considered this for a few moments
"Fine" he said and then he idly picked up a half empty can of coke and poured the contents all over one of the computers keyboards.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I shrieked as there was a crackling sound followed by smoke.
"Making a distraction, don't worry I've done this twice before" he said casually and the classrooms door opened with a bang.
The guidance counselor barged in dressed from head to foot in lavender with a black shawl flapping around her shoulders.
"Rick you didn't accidentally spill coke on one of the keyboards again did you?" she asked.
"How did you know?" I asked.
"I felt the power surge in my office next door and when you've been around Mr. Chow long enough you know how to recognize a keyboard accident" she said briskly moving to the computer.
"Mr. Chow go get another one from storage, I'll see if I can wake Mr. Greg up and fix this" she said.
"You did that on purpose, why?" I asked.
"Sometimes Greg and I need to use the computer lab because out own networks lack the right amount of memory so we distract Miss Flint and take her spare school key" Rick explain leading me into Miss Flints office.
Rick explained that technically speaking it wasn't immoral because Mrs. Flint made so many spare keys that it was like wasn't really stealing at all.
I remained unconvinced but then I recalled the times the BSC had to hire Cary Retlin to break into various peoples Lockers, sometimes the wrong thing was after all the right thing to do.
Which was why I found myself in Abby's car as we drove up to the school later in the evening.
"Breaking into buildings with a dash of mystery and self righteousness, it's just like an episode of CSI and I love it" Abby squealed and I rolled my eyes.
"Back down Sherlock Stevens, I'm just going to go in there and get proof that they're up to no good, you're going to stay here and keep the engine running" I said going over the plan again,
"Awww Kristy you're no fun! Why do you get to sneak in all Mission Impossible style while I'm stuck out here in the car?" she whined.
"Because you're a klutz! You'll trip over nothing and blow our cover," I pointed out.
"That does make sense, your logic is outstanding Thomas" Abby admitted with a wry grin.
"I'll be back in fifteen minutes hopefully, they'll most likely target the gym or the library," I said putting a digital camera in my pocket.
"If you don't come back I'll tell your family you love them and erase all the porn off your computer" Abby said sincerely.
"Shut up Abby" I snapped.
"Remember the code word is Pink Fluffy Tigers," she added tapping her nose.
"Whatever Abby" I smiled affectionately.
The schools front doors were already unlocked, but inside there was nothing but darkness. Normally I was against making a fuss over clothing, after all it was just clothes but even I knew it was a bad idea to walk around wearing a bright red t shirt and jeans when I was attempting to be stealthy. Instead I'd put on my black strong bad baby toll shirt with my black jeans and I'd used a black ski hat to cover my hair. I'd also put on my mother opera gloves to hide any finger prints and my sneakers which were so well worn they made the sound of footsteps impossible. I crept through the school ducking behind lockers and garbage bins, barely able to see anything in the dark blue moonlight.
Then suddenly when I got closer to the auditorium I heard several muffling squeaking sounds and I moved into the theatre ducking behind the seats.
I could see him clearly in the moonlight, Cary Retlin doing something peculiar to the stage. My first instinct was to rat him out immediately and use my phone to call the Principal but then I paused.
There was no proof yet and Cary could worm himself out of it, claiming he was working late for the school play or something similar.
Instead I crawled underneath the stairs and began to inch my way forward like I'd seen army soldiers do at boot camp on TV, of course it was difficult to keep doing that while my digital camera was being pressed painfully into my chest and I made a small frantic hissing sound.
I stopped inwardly cursing myself and the noises from the stage had stopped as well.
They were followed by footsteps and I sank lower until I was completely hidden underneath the row of seats, I then willed myself to stay still.
The problem with willing yourself to stay still is that you usually have to stay still and this results in leg cramps or if you're really unlucky the dreaded but cramp. The last time I'd ended up in such a situation was when I had to hide in a closet after my friend Stacey and my brother Sam decided to do it on my rec rooms lounge chair.
This time however was worse; the person on the stage (and I was sure it was Cary) didn't leave for nearly twelve minutes.
I knew because I'd been counting off every single second on my digital watch.
Finally there was a shuffling sound followed by the slamming of the auditoriums back exits. I moved silently creeping forwards in the darkness until I reached the orchestra pit where something grabbed my attention.
It was a piece of abandoned sheet music and I picked it up staring at it curiously, of course I couldn't read music but I knew some one could.
There was the sound of approaching footsteps and I climbed up onto the stage hiding behind the velvet curtains.
"Look is there anyone in here? Alan is that you?" a voice called and I recognized the patronizing drawl, it was Cary Retlin.
I said nothing.
"Humph I can hear you breathing you know" he continued and I shoved the piece of music into my spare pocket.
"And I just heard that crinkling of paper, really who ever you are you're not very good at hiding" he continued and I inched backwards trying to remember the auditoriums floor plan in my head. Beyond the curtains there was the back stage, which lead to the costume room that had an open….window.
I'd been on the track team for nearly two years but the problem was that I was a distance runner and it would take me a few moments to build my speed up. By the time I'd run into the costume room I could hear pounding footsteps behind me and I slammed the door behind me before heading for the window.
It wasn't locked; you'd have to be a brilliant climber to even consider trying to escape from it.
Thankfully I also held the girls record for rope climbing and I grabbed onto the blind hoisting myself up and onto the window ledge.
The door slammed open the same instant I'd managed to open the window and as I climbed out I felt a hand grab straight onto my shoe.
"Gottcha and judging by this slim feminine line you are in fact a girl, now turn around and show yourself" Cary grunted and I kicked the shoe off freeing myself, I then did the only thing I could do, I jumped out the window.
Stoneybrook high school was a double story building and the lower levels had their own separate roofs, which you could climb onto from the second story windows. Personally I thought the buildings plans had come from an architect that knew a lot about teen angst because it was impossible for anyone to kill himself or herself by throwing themselves off the building. They'd just roll down onto the next level where they would end up bruised, embarrassed but most importantly not dead.
Back before I'd joined the student council when I was in my fighting with Cokie Mason phase Abby and I managed to climb out onto the roof during one of the school dances. It was Abby's idea; she wanted to see if it was possible to actually climb around the entire school without ever having to touch the footpath. No one else wanted to do it, Stacey said it was immature and Mary Anne declared that it was too dangerous. She'd followed us from window to window clutching onto her cell phone ready to call 911.
"Lets see, the front of the school is to the left" I whispered as I began to walk to run across the roof ignoring the Mary Ann voice inside of me who was telling me I was about to get myself killed.
There was a grunting sound behind me as I turned the corner and I realized Cary must have figured out the roof trick as well.
"Shit" I hissed and unfortunately my cell phone going off interrupted my thoughts.
"What is it Abby?" I hissed.
"It's been fifteen minutes, are you dead yet?" Abby asked as I ran towards the library.
"No but Cary is chasing me across the rooftop" I whispered.
"Ok that sounds like a line stolen from Spiderman, where are you?" she asked and I heard a banging sound followed by cut off swearing, Cary had tripped over the slippery puddle I'd managed to avoid.
"Um outside the library" I said peering into the next window.
"Ok you should be approaching the maple tree with the low branches, try to grab onto the branch which touches the gutter and climb down" Abby instructed.
"Since when are you such an expert on escaping the school?" I asked.
"I hate math," she said simply and I realized I didn't want to know.
"Right I see it, what now?" I asked.
"Climb down and run for it, I'll bring the car around" Abby finished and I sighed as I quickly shoved my phone back into my pocket.
Several minutes later I was sitting inside Abby's car trying to get my breath back as we drove home.
"You look like you've just run a marathon" Abby snickered.
"You try running across a theatre, a roof top and then shimming down a tree and see how hot you look" I snapped back rubbing my temples.
"Um Kristy I know that normally you don't really care about fashion but why are you only wearing one shoe?" she asked and I groaned.
"Because Cary stole it," I cried.
"Cary stole your shoe? That's like Cinderella accept with sneakers and breaking and entering" Abby mused.
"I know and I saw him there but I never got to take a photo, the only evidence I have is this sheet of music" I replied.
"So basically we broke into the school for nothing?"
"I'm sorry" I apologized.
"Don't be, this was way more fun then watching old Adam Sander movies on cable, besides watching Cary fall off the roof was hilarious," she added.
"I just wish I knew what he was planning' I sighed.
"Why are you so obsessed with beating Cary Retlin?" Abby said wearily.
"Because! Because if I don't no one else will" I finished.
The sheet of music offered no clues at all, I'd taken it to Anna who was supposed to be a music expert and she blushed bright red before insisting that she had no idea what it was.
She then told me to leave because she had a lot of homework to do, it was suspicious but then again every one knew that Anna was the evil twin.
Friday rolled around and I trudged off the school bus my stomach churning. I knew that whatever Cary was planning on doing would occur soon and I knew I had no power to stop it.
"Oh my lord have you seen it?" was the first thing Claudia shrieked as I made my way across the lawn.
"Yes for the last time I've seen your bright purple knee socks Claudia" I sighed wearily eyeing Claudia's outfit.
Claudia was going through a color phase, which according to her matched her aura (she'd been to a psychic at a medieval fair in Stamford which was a complete disaster) Fridays were her purple days.
On that particular Friday she was wearing a purple fishnet shirt with a violet satin bustier over the top, a lilac pleated mini skirt, purple striped stockings and a set of lavender ballet slippers. She'd even done her hair in hundreds of tiny twists around her head filled with grape colored ribbons.
"I'm not talking about that Kristy, I'm talking about the front of the school! It's like an artistic statement," she cried leading me to the front steps.
"Oh god" I whispered.
The front of the school had literally been covered with photocopied pictures of the shoe Cary had wrenched off my foot.
Some one had scrawled an email address on the bottom along with a question mark.
"It's so post structuralism!" Claudia squealed.
"Post what?" I asked and she rolled her eyes.
"You know where you take an object and words and you twist their meaning in order to completely confuse the person looking at it," she explained slowly.
"I swear to god sometimes I'm convinced you make this up" I sneered and I marched towards the nearest leaflet snatching it up.
"Oh look at that Kristy some one has lost their shoe" I heard Abby say in a mock innocent tone of voice.
"How terrible" I said still staring at the leaflet, I had really liked my sneakers but obviously the only way to get my shoe back was to admit to Cary that I was the one in the school.
"Seems like some ones making a lot of effort about a shoe, guess they must really want it back" Mary Anne mused.
"Oh believe me they do," I snarled heading for the schools front doors.
"Maybe they'll make an announcement about it during today's assembly, you know in the auditorium" Abby said wickedly.
"Shut up Abby" I hissed.
"I saw the leaflets, was that what you were talking about?" Rick said later as we filed into the auditorium.
"No that was just a side affect, it's something else," I whispered back and Claudia who was ahead of us glanced over her shoulder giving us a curious look.
"Side affect? Are you sick?" she asked and I heard Rick make a strangling sound.
"Hey Claudia you're looking really purple today! Like a the ribena commercial guy accept you're a girl and you're not black" he stuttered and I grimaced.
"Oh my lord that was the look I was going for! You're so dibble Rick" Claudia smiled.
"Dibble?" Rick asked.
"It's a good thing," I explained as I slowly shook my head.
Rick seemed to take that as a sign that he and Claudia were destined to be together and he sat between the two of us without even bothering to ask. Claudia didn't seem to mind; she just started babbling about how the world would be a better place if every one spelt potatoes using the letter e.
I tried to settle in my seat as the auditoriums lights dimmed and the Principal stood at the podium. Some where I heard Cokie Mason's distinct laugh (it was a cross between a horny donkey and a broken car) and then there were a few hushed whispers.
The school orchestra began to play the national anthem and then I sighed leaning against my chair.
Suddenly I realized the whispers had reached a fever pitch.
The school orchestra was not paying the national anthem.
"That's that old song by that dude David Bowie!" I heard a senior yell.
The Principal was staring at the orchestra his mouth wide with confusion and then the curtains opened.
I still don't know what I was waiting
for
And my time was running wild
A million dead-end
streets
Every time I thought I'd got it made
It seemed the
taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I've
never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
I'm
much too fast to take that test
There was a movie playing on the white back drop usually used to cover scenery. The Vice Principal of the school who had once infamously put the entire sophomore year on detention. Who measured her pencils so they all had the same length. Who actually wore the blazer she had earned in the army, was singing David Bowie Karaoke dressed in a Santa's hat and her slip while standing on top of our PE Teacher Coach Longgrove.
"Oh my .." Claudia began.
"Don't say it" I began.
"How did they get the footage?" Claudia hissed.
"Web cam, probably hidden during the staff room during last years Christmas party. You can tell because it's so grainy," Rick said and then he blushed when Claudia shot him a delighted look.
"THIS IS AN OUTRAGE, WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?" screamed the Vice Principal Victoria Brown her ginger hair escaping her respectable bun. But of course no one was paying attention, half the student body was dying of laughter while the other half were singing along to the words flashing at the bottom of the white screen.
"If this gets out the wife is going to kill me!" screamed Coach Longgrove. The orchestra's conductor tried to stop the musicians but they played along madly not even remotely paying attention to his frantic shrieks.
"Come on Rick, this looks like a job for student court" I said glaring at the movie. It was one thing to go to so much trouble to show a joke, but it was completely different when it wasn't even funny.
Besides no one got away with using David Bowie to mock the Vice Principal.
No one noticed us when we left they were too busy singing.
"What exactly are we going to do?" Rick began.
"They wouldn't stay in the hall incase Vice Principal Brown accused them, they're not that stupid. Besides the whole thing was programmed on the computers, but they would need to have some one close by to make sure everything runs smoothly, some one in the projection room" I said as we quietly walked down the halls until we reached the door that led into the tiny room.
"Do you have any weapons?" I hissed.
"Why would I have any weapons Kristy?" Rick asked flatly.
"Never mind, we'll have to use brute force" I sighed forcing the door open.
There was a scattering frantic sound from within and I smirked triumphantly as I watched Alan Grey try to hide behind the projector.
"Hello Alan" I smirked and he sighed as if defeated.
"I should have listened to him, he said you'd show up" Alan began and I slowly shook my head.
"Who?" I began.
"Cary" Alan admitted.
One of the things I'd always hated about Cary Retlin (it was part of a very long impressive list) was the fact that whenever I was sure I'd beaten him he always managed to find some way of upstaging me.
This time however was worse, Alan lead us down the empty halls and I felt like a cop in action movie who thought they'd defeated the bad guy only to find out the bad guy knew he was after him the whole time.
It wasn't a good feeling.
"Alan what the hell is going on?" I growled.
"Oh this? Well you see Corporal Kristy your about to walk into the biggest cover up since the Kennedy assassination" he explain over his shoulder.
"Oh I saw that in a movie, didn't it turn out that they killed him because of Cuban made pants?" Rick asked.
"Zoolander was a work of fiction Rick" I sighed.
"If it was fiction then why did it have Paris Hilton in it?" he pointed out and I suddenly realized getting him with Claudia would be a travesty against the human gene pool.
"Why are you hanging out with Rick Chow?" Alan asked.
"We're both in the student court, we don't hang out," I said and he laughed.
"Oh yeah Cary told me about that, he said it was perfect for his plans and everything.. God that boy is brilliant, really brings pranking to a whole new artistic level" Alan sighed his eyes growing glassy with praise.
"As apposed to you who still buys fake dog crap," I replied.
"Hey don't knock the classics, there's a reason why they work," he scolded me and I realized Alan had led us down to the boiler room.
"What is with Cary and the boiler room?" I remarked.
"Huh?" asked Rick.
"Oh once Cary made the BSC solve this weird clue about the boiler room involving the radiator, another time Stacey saw him down there reading a book" I said and Alan shot me a curious look.
"Huh not many people know about Cary and the boiler room" he said as if that was something to be proud of.
"As if I care Alan, now tell him to open up because the sooner we get him the sooner we can take him to the Principal" I snapped.
"Ah do you two mind plugging your ears? I need to say the secret password," Alan said.
"The secret password?" I shrieked.
"Cary likes to know if it's a teacher or one of his.. Associates that happens to be stopping by" Alan explained and I rolled my eyes.
"Even if we do plug our ears we'll still be able to hear the secret password," I pointed out.
"I have my Ipod shuffle in my pocket Kristy, we'll take an ear phone each and play the music full blast and then block the other ear" Rick said eagerly searching the pockets of his pressed beige trousers.
I shot Rick a look; it was my infamous are you retarded look.
"That is brilliant" Alan said completely seriously which added to my all males were retarded theory.
"Fine" I sighed knowing that Cary would most likely change the password later. Rick handed me an earphone and I plugged it into my ear, immediately I was assaulted by Ashley Simpson.
I was so distracted by recoiling with horror that I completely missed Alan whisper the password.
"Ugh that was just.. Ugh" I cried yanking the earphone out.
"What's wrong with Ashley Simpson?" Rick asked sounding personally insulted.
"Where do I begin?" I asked as the door creaked open.
One of the other things I hated about Cary Retlin was that when high school started he stopped speaking to me. One of the worst things you can do to your enemy is ignore them; it'll drive them completely crazy. Cary and I were enemies, in away we were complete equals and yet we were opposites, you get the idea.
But then high school started and when you were a straight moderately cute guy you became ever so popular even if you were freshmen. Suddenly there was no more time to play small jokes that involved shoving perfume sachets into lockers and stealing homework. I never mentioned it to anyone but I think people like Mary Anne and Abby knew, they knew that I hated being ignored.
Cary was sitting in the dim light of the boiler room a laptop propped up on his lap. I'd never really paid attention to what he looked like during middle school but if I had I would have noted that he still looked almost the same, accept perhaps a little bigger. Obviously his clothes were a little different as well, fashion had changed a fair bit in the past three years and it looked like Cary was trying to immolate the grungy dark Green Day/Good Charlotte look.
"Alright what is this all about? Why did you show that footage of Vice Principal Brown?" I asked trying to remain as calm and collected as possible, ignoring the snugly fitting band t-shirt and the.. Well ignoring it all really.
"Thomas" he said shooting me a brief appraising look.
"You've grown, the mini politician look suites you" he said his eyes flickering onto my black Capri pants and cranberry colored blouse.
"Explain yourself Retlin, I'm not in the mood for your weird mind games," I snapped.
"Fine, the footage was a distraction, it was the only way I could break into Jonathon Mathews locker" Cary said casually still working on the laptop.
"Take a note Rick, Cary has admitted to stealing from the school presidents locker" I said folding my arms.
"Take a note on what?" asked Rick.
"It was a necessary evil, Alan I've emailed everything back to myself you can return the laptop," he said closing it and Alan immediately ran towards him eagerly like some sort of pathetic yes man.
"You really are pathetic Cary, what exactly are you trying to prove by stealing Jonathon's computer and downloading his files?" I asked and he raised his eyebrows.
"I'm trying to prove that Jonathon Mathews is a criminal" he smirked.
There are certain revelations that have the power to completely twist the universe. Discovering that Bart Taylor was gay was one of them, discovering that my grandmother still had sex was one of them, this one how ever was much worse.
"You're lying," I said stiffly.
"No I'm not actually, Jonathon Mathews has been embezzling money from the school clubs to fund his exchange trip to Japan" he said with a small smile and I glared at Rick.
"Why are you looking at me like that? I don't know anything!" he pleaded and then he stared at both of us.
"Um I'm going to go see if Alan needs any help putting that computer back" he said and then he practically bolted out of the room leaving us alone.
"I refuse to believe you Retlin, how do I know that you're not pulling another one of your elaborate jokes?" I asked and he stared at me for a few moments before reaching behind the radiator. He pulled something out, the rubber soles were melted but it was still recognizable.
"These are yours right? I got an email from Mallory Pike this morning claiming that she recognized it" he said.
"Yeah so what of it?" I asked.
"You were in the school last night" he began narrowing his eyes thoughtfully.
"Have fun trying to prove it," I snapped.
"I'm not going to tell the Principal if you're worried, but in exchange for your silence I will need you to do something" he began.
"I'm not setting you up with one of my friends," I said tiredly.
"You really don't get it do you?" he began.
"Well not when you're being vague," I snapped and he rolled his eyes but almost playfully.
"That's so typical of you Thomas, you never see beyond the obvious. Did it ever occur to you that I might be the good guy?" he asked and I stared at him.
"How do you mean?" I asked cautiously.
"Jonathon Thomas has been stealing money from the clubs fund raisers for years, I figured it out myself a few weeks ago but I knew I needed evidence to prove it was him so I decided to steal his lap top" he began and I narrowed my eyes.
"But you knew that a political figure like Jonathon has freshmen who watch his locker at all times so you decided to rob it when you knew no one would be in the halls, during school assembly" I began trying to think like Cary who tended to think in a corkscrew shaped way.
"Exactly, now I know you can figure out the rest. Why did I show the footage?" he asked smugly and I bit my lip anxiously.
"Why would you do that?" I thought to myself and then I smiled.
"You knew that the teachers would be in an uproar over the prank, they'd be so busy trying to find the culprits that even if Jonathon reported his locker being broken into they wouldn't do anything about it" I realized.
"Brava" he said his expression barely flickering.
"There's one thing you've forgotten about and that's me, I'm on the student court which means I could stop all of this" I said trying to ignore him and he raised his eyebrows.
"Oh you could stop all of it and stop him" he began and I glared at him.
"How?" I asked warily.
"Well like I said you are on the student court Thomas, you could tell every one the truth and they'd believe you. They'd never believe me" he finished and for a second he sounded almost bitter.
"Fine If you can prove to me that Jonathon has been stealing money I'll go to the student court, but in exchange I want you to stay quiet about me being in the school last night" I agreed.
"You mean the breaking and entering situation?" he asked.
"It's not breaking and entering when some one else unlocked the door, it's just entering" I said shooting him a knowing look he smiled at this.
"Either way it's a criminal offence and we'd hardly want to see the great Kristy Thomas tarnishing her reputation, not after the cutting Cokie Mason incident" he mused pursing his lips together.
"Yeah well she deserved it," I muttered and he chuckled quietly.
"I suppose she did, I'll email you the information tonight and you can figure out for yourself if I'm genuine," he said turning away from me, he still held onto the shoe.
"Are you going to give that back?" I asked.
"No I think I'll keep it as insurance" he said hiding it behind the radiator.
"You're infuriating you do know that right?" I asked.
"You have twenty four hours to consider my offer Thomas" he just said slowly standing up, he stretched his arms behind his head and for a brief moment his shirt road up showing a flash of skin.
"Um right, twenty four hours, I'll add that to my day planner" I managed to say forcing my eyes to swivel away.
"You all right?" he asked studying my face intently and I wondered what kind of expression I was wearing.
"No I mean yes I mean I'm fine, I have to go right now this room is way to cramped and hot" I stuttered heading for the door.
"Remember you have twenty four hours" he finished and I shut the door behind me ignoring his trade mark smirk.'
I didn't realize until much later that I'd never given him my email address and yet when I returned home there was a new message in my inbox filled with files. They were the worst files I'd ever encountered and that included the virus that changed all my files from English to Italian.
I realized that as much as I hated Cary I hated the current situation I was in more.