“What?” Stranko snaps.
Wheeler says, “I think I speak for everyone here when I say how appalled I was by this prank. When I heard on the news how much money the school spent for that pornographic photo, I went from being limp on my couch to standing erect. I was stiff with embarrassment for the entire town. Once those delinquents in the Chaos Club are caught, I hope you’re extremely hard-on them.”
Wheeler smiles, looking as sweet and innocent as a child…a child who just threw out three boner euphemisms in ten seconds. Stranko’s chest heaves like he wants to launch himself across forty rows at Wheeler. Instead, in a moment of what must be Herculean restraint, Stranko says a steely, “Oh, they will be punished severely. You can guarantee that.”
We’re all released a few minutes later, and as we head up the aisle, Malone says to Wheeler, “Not smart. Why not just come out and confess that we did it?”
“Oh, come on. What’s he going to do? Expel us?” Wheeler says.
“Uh, yeah, that’s what he just said,” Adleta says.
“He did?” Wheeler says. “I must not have been paying attention.”
Ellie says to me, “Well, we wanted to write our names in the universe’s wet cement.”
“It’ll be fine,” I say.
“Exactly. We knew we’d have to take risks to destroy the Chaos Club. We’re not going to let some silly rules stand in our way.”
As the five of us stand in the lobby, Malone’s nemesis, Libby Heckman, and one of her hangers-on, Sara Yu, emerge from the auditorium. Libby’s carrying a half-finished charcoal drawing that, in all honesty, looks exactly like her, almost as if it’s a photograph. As they pass, Libby says to Sara, “Don’t you wish some people would just do everyone a favor and die?”
“Especially certain people,” Sara says.
Both girls start laughing their bitchy heads off, and something inside me just sort of snaps.
I say to the two of them, “And if some people aren’t careful, someone might falsify evidence proving they’re in the Chaos Club and give it to Stranko.”
Both girls straighten like they’ve just straddled an electric fence. They turn the corner, and Libby does a quick glance over her should at me. Her eyes are full of fear. Then the girls are out of sight, hopefully running for their lives. Wheeler, Adleta, and I start laughing, but Malone wheels around on me.
“Don’t do that again,” she says.
“Huh?” I say.
“I don’t need you or anyone else fighting my battles for me, Max. It makes me look weak, which is what they want. It’s embarrassing.”
“I wasn’t fighting your battles for you. It just sort of came out.”
“Well, try to keep yourself in check. You’re only making it worse. I’ve got it taken care of.”
“Taken care of how?”
Suddenly, Malone’s anger is gone, and she’s rising in front of me, growing somehow larger, her eyes full of fire.
“Well, there’s a contest going on, isn’t there?”
And when I hear the laugh that she and Ellie share as they walk away, I’m the one feeling fear. But for Libby.
“You guys want to do something?” Wheeler says.
“Like what?” I say.
“I don’t know, something. Does it matter?”
“I would but I can’t,” Adleta says. “Lacrosse conditioning and all.”
“You should just quit,” Wheeler says.
“Yeah, like that’s going to happen.”
Adleta leaves us, and I tell Wheeler I know where we can go, thus independently putting an end to Mom’s I don’t want you hanging out with that Wheeler boy rule. We’re halfway down the hall on our way to freedom when we pass Mr. Watson. He’s like a rock in the middle of a stream, standing still as a river of students floods past him.
“Ah, Mr. Cobb,” he says. “Can I talk with you a moment? Relax, you’re not in trouble.”
Wheeler tells me he’ll wait, and Watson and I step into the doorway of his classroom.
“I just wanted to tell you I’ve noticed a marked difference in you these last couple weeks,” Watson says. “And I mean that in a good way.”
“Um, thanks,” I say.
“There’s no need to thank me. I’ve just noticed how you’ve been carrying yourself differently of late, like you’ve grown up somehow. I see it in class, how you participate more. And in the halls, where you’re talking with more people. I’m not sure what happened to you, but I think it’s a nice change.”
“I didn’t think teachers paid attention to things like that.”
“Let me fill you in on a little secret, Max. Teachers are a lot more aware of things than we let on. Seeing you these last couple of weeks, I’m proud of you.”
I can’t help but smile.
“That’s all I wanted,” Watson says. “Go have fun with your friend.”