I stepped back, overwhelmed. “Are they all from East Metropolis?”
“Not most,” James said, “but more than I figured. There are even a few others who agree that Butler lets it happen by not doing anything.”
“Anything about the Warheads?” I asked.
“Shhh,” Maddy hissed, but it was too late. Because said Warheads were nearly on top of our small cluster of justice and truth and gutsy reporting. And they would not be mistaken for fans anytime soon.
Gone were the mocking leers and grins, replaced by stone-faces that were somehow worse. They radiated dislike, disapproval, discontent.
No discord, though. They remained too similar for that.
“Creepy,” Maddy whispered.
“Looks like I made myself some enemies.” I sniffed, to show it didn’t bother me. “Not the first time.”
Even though it was unsettling. They were unsettling.
I tried to exile the memories of that shove against my mind in the cafeteria, of the hot explosion in my shoulder in the game.
The Warheads’ synchronized movements slowed, and then stopped, so they were standing in a strange, strained half-circle around us Scoop staffers. But I realized that wasn’t it. There was something about how they positioned themselves. It was . . . tactical.
They were arrayed around all of us, sure, but if I wasn’t mistaken, they were focused on Devin.
The hall had gone silent as an abandoned tomb, people quieting in anticipation of seeing some kind of showdown. I was never one to disappoint. Except maybe my parents.
“You guys didn’t really strike me as big readers,” I said, shifting over toward Devin. “I’m so honored. But, then, it was about you, and you are egomaniacal jerks, so maybe I’m giving you too much credit. What do you think?”
Devin coughed beside me, and when I looked over, he shook his head. Then he did it again, a quick shake, back and forth. Like something was bothering him. I’d seen Anavi do the same thing.
Forget standing tall in front of our audience or the Warheads. The actual scope of Project Hydra, whatever it was, remained a mystery. And so the important thing was to get Devin away from these losers. My story was supposed to stop the madness of targeting Anavi, and push them into giving up more clues about what was going on at the lab in the process—not get someone else put in their jerkhead sights.
Speaking of . . . where was Anavi, anyway?
Lucky for me, Principal Butler decided to put in an appearance. The bell rang and the hall began to clear, and he got a few raised eyebrows as students rushed past him.
He was rumpled, even though it was barely past eight. His suit was wrinkled and tie loosened. Like he’d taken a dozen complaining phone calls already and needed not to feel like he was wearing a noose.
“School board read it too?” I asked before I could stop myself.
Butler directed a furious look my way, but he must have been too angry to speak to me. He said, “My office now,” to the gamers.
He’d be coming for me sooner or later. Probably when there weren’t so many people watching. Even he wasn’t bold enough to collar me here and now.
Though he did finally say, “I’ll be checking your facts, Ms. Lane. You’d better hope they were confirmed,” before herding the gamer Hydra back up the hall toward his office.
Their many heads swiveled to give me . . . and then Devin . . . one last round of unsettlingly similar hard looks.
Devin was still being quiet in a way that I didn’t care for.
“Dev, you in there? I’m out here stealing your dire wolves,” I said.
For a second, there was no hint of a response from him, and even James and Maddy seemed vaguely alarmed.
But he shook his head once more, and then said, “In your elf dreams.” If his voice was flatter than normal, the others pretended not to notice.
I wasn’t always as good at pretending as I wanted to be, not in front of people who mattered to me, and so I towed him in the opposite direction of the principal and the Warheads.
The hall was mostly empty, and I waved away Maddy and James.
“Go on to class, you two,” I said. “I want to ask Devin something.”
They left, but not so happily—until James distracted Maddy by speaking to her.
Maddy’s playlist. I couldn’t forget to listen to it. I wanted to be able to tell her genuinely how much I liked it. I could at least stick to one part of my plan, even if the rest was kaput. The part where I made a friend here.
But right now, there were more pressing matters.
I stared at Devin, knowing that rumors would be flying if anyone saw us, me peering up into his face with my hands on his arms.
“Dev,” I said, “did they do anything to you?”
He looked down at my hands, and then back up, probably noticing the same thing I had about the two of us standing so close. He struck me as in control of his faculties again.
Especially when a half smile crossed his face, and he said, “Why haven’t I asked you if you have a boyfriend? Lois, are you single?”