CHAPTER 16
Later that morning, back in the dorm, I could still taste Jed on me, could smell him, feel the spot on my chin that had been rubbed raw by his stubble. It already felt like a dream, the whole night—Jed driving me back, telling me I didn’t have to go, that I could just stay with him, go back to Portland. I wanted to say yes, but I knew that wasn’t the answer. I had to figure out how to get out of Red Rock free and clear. I had to get my life back. Jed said he understood and promised that he and Clod would be waiting for me when I got home. Then I snuck back into the room, where Bebe was laying awake in her bed. She flashed me a thumbs-up sign with a questioning look and I flashed her a thumbs-up back, along with the world’s goofiest grin. She silently cheered and motioned for me to get into bed. I lay there, watching the sun come up through the shades, savoring the night.
At 6:30 A.M., the lights went on, and Sheriff’s voice boomed over the speaker, “Rise and shine, girlies.” I didn’t want to erase Jed’s scent by showering, so I just got dressed. At seven, I shuffled out to roll call. I had to clench my mouth shut to keep from smiling. Normally roll call was split by Levels—Three and Four in one group, and Five and Six in another—but this morning we were all ordered outside to the quarry. When I got out there, V sidled up next to me. “Something’s up, something’s happened,” she hissed. “Whatever you do, don’t say a thing. I mean it, Brit. Not a word.” And then she disappeared to line up with all the Level Sixers.
The counselors came out and did the head count, same as they did every morning. When they were done, they went and conferred with one another and Sheriff. There hadn’t been a school-wide roll call since I’d arrived, so this was a rare event. Everyone was buzzing, talking to one another about what was happening. V was giving me her sternest look. I had a bad feeling.
After some talk, Sheriff came back out. “I bet you girls think you’re pretty smart,” he began, scanning the crowd. “I bet you think you’re so clever. Well, let me tell you, this ain’t gonna end pretty. One of you girls decided to take a little night off, didn’t you? We got a call this morning saying that someone had spotted a Red Rock uniform over in St. George. Nah, I thought. My girls are smarter than that. They know better. But just to be sure, we got out our surveillance tapes, and you know what we found? We found that someone here had broken the trust. We got it on tape.”
Shit, shit, shit, shit, I thought to myself. I’m so screwed. But even as I knew I was about to get nailed, sent down the river to Level One or worse, part of me didn’t care. I wouldn’t have traded last night for the world.
“We got ourselves a bit of a problem,” Sheriff said. “It’s dark. And we don’t have a good shot of who it was, but we’ve got some ideas. And trust me, we’re going to find out just who our runaway is. So before we get into this further, I’m giving the guilty party this one opportunity to step forward.”
V was practically burning holes through me with her eyes, her brows in full-arch mode. I kept my mouth shut.
“I can’t say I’m surprised. A liar, a cheat, and a rat, that’s who the guilty girl is. And rats don’t come out easy, but there’s ways to smoke ’em out. You girls are gonna help, too. Starting now. If anyone knows who our runaway is and wants to tell us about it, step forward. I can promise you, you’ll be rewarded.”
Tiffany! She would fink me out in a second. She’d been snoring when I left, but who knew if she’d woken up to pee and saw that I was missing. I stared at her and saw that Bebe was looking her way too. But Tiffany was watching Sheriff with rapt attention. She was too dumb to fake dumb. She didn’t know.
“Again, I can’t say I’m surprised, girlies. Disappointed, but not surprised. So how about we add a little incentive to the pot, something to motivate you girls into helping us find our guilty party? As of right now, you are all dropped down a level.”
A yell erupted from the crowd. “No way.” “That’s not fair!” “It’s not our fault.” Everyone protested.
“Quiet!” yelled Sheriff. “You’re right, it’s not fair. But we’re a family here and we take responsibility for each other’s actions. One of you girls broke the rules. So this is the way it’s gonna be until we figure out who ran out last night. Now here’s where you girls can help yourselves. I know that some of you must know what happened. Whoever did this didn’t act alone, is my hunch. So here’s our little game. You have a week, and in that week I want to find out who ran out last night. If any one of you names the culprit in a week, you’ll all be restored to your current levels. If you don’t, you’ll drop down again. Is that understood?”
Another wail went up among the girls. Some were crying. I had to hand it to Sheriff. He was more clever than I’d pegged him to be. And his plan was successful. I knew that the Sisters would never give me up, but there was no way I was going to let everyone drop a level. I took a deep breath and started to work my way through the crowd.
“That won’t be necessary, Mr. Austin,” V said, striding forward, just as Bebe yanked me back by my collar. “I did it. I’m the one who went to St. George.”
Just like that, everyone was silent, and then in unison, everyone gasped.
“Larson, why am I not surprised?” Sheriff said. “I will meet you in my office, girlie. The rest of you are restored to your levels, but let this be a warning: if any one of you runs out again, I will knock all of you down a peg, immediately. So you might want to keep a close watch on each other, to prevent this kind of breach from happening again. Now get to breakfast.”
The crowd shuffled away, atwitter with all the drama. As our unit walked by, Sheriff called out “Hemphill, Howarth, Wallace, Jones, you come here.” Bebe, Martha, Cassie, and I slunk over. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed the little club you girlies have formed for yourselves. Don’t think for a second I think any of you is innocent in this monkey business. Just so you know, I’m gonna be watching you very closely, waiting for you to slip up, and when you do, I’m gonna be there to kick your butts. Now get out of my sight,” he said, wiping the saliva from his lips.
Silently, we walked toward the cafeteria. All around us, the other girls were giddy with gossip. “Can you believe it? God, that was so stupid,” one Level Three girl said.
“I know. Like, she’s Level Six. She’s about to get out. Why would she blow it like that?”
I was wondering the very same thing.
As I walked down the hall, I saw her there, standing outside Sheriff’s office, looking small, with a goon guard on either side of her. She was staring at me, trying to impart one of her silent cryptic messages. I knew she wanted me to look back at her, to receive the message. I knew that I should. I should be grateful. She saved my ass, took my fall. But I couldn’t look at her and I wasn’t grateful. I was furious.