I STOOD IN THE HALLWAY shaking from head to toe. I’d gotten out of my last class a little early by faking a headache and asking to go see the nurse, and I’d come to this classroom to confront Mr. Bishop and find out the truth.
I’d never had him as a teacher, but I’d heard he was mean. The freshmen always complained about what a prick he was and how hard his math class could be. His reputation made me even more nervous about confronting him, but it was the only way I could get to the truth.
Spence wasn’t talking about what was going on with him, but whatever it was, it was tearing him apart. He was moody and distant, wasn’t eating much at lunch, and he’d stopped working out with his friends after school. All he did was come to class, say very little, then go home to mow lawns until dark. We hadn’t spent any real time together lately because he was always either exhausted or busy working. For the first time in our relationship, we were struggling, and it was killing me.
And then there was the lasting tension between him and Jamie, who’d been his best friend since elementary school. All of it had me worried enough to confront Bishop and find out why he’d threatened Spence. I couldn’t prove it was Mr. Bishop on that porch when Stacey and I had come back from shopping, but I was ninety percent sure it’d been him.
At last the bell sounded and the classroom door burst open. Kids came pouring out, and I stuck close to the wall to wait for the room to clear. Finally it appeared empty, save for one figure earnestly erasing the chalkboard.
Gathering my courage, I stepped into the room and said, “Mr. Bishop?”
The figure turned. I blinked. The man standing in front of me was much younger than Mr. Bishop and looked nothing like him.
“He’s on permanent leave,” the man said. “Did you have a math problem you need help with?”
I was so surprised that for a long moment all I could do was stand there with my mouth open. “He’s on…permanent leave?” I asked.
The man moved to the corner of the teacher’s desk and perched sideways on it. “Yes. I’m Mr. Clawson. I’ll be taking over through the end of the year.”
“Why?” I asked. “I mean…what happened to Mr. Bishop?”
Mr. Clawson shrugged. “Hey, somebody offers me a job, I don’t ask too many questions. Anyway, I didn’t get the feeling he was coming back next year. I’ll probably take over for him permanently.”
I hugged the large binder I was carrying to my chest. “Oh,” I said, totally at a loss. Now how was I going to get to the bottom of this? Belatedly, I realized Mr. Clawson was staring expectantly at me. “Um…thanks,” I said, and fled the room.
Making my way through the mass of students hurrying to get their things and escape from school for the day, I finally reached my own locker and, with a heavy heart, saw that Spence wasn’t there.
He always waited for me after school to drive me home. With a sigh, I put my head against the door of my locker and fought back tears. I wanted to tell somebody what I suspected was going on and I immediately thought of Mr. White, but if I went to him, I knew he’d start digging and he wouldn’t stop until Spence got his acceptance to UCLA revoked.
I still held hope that Spence and I would go away to school together. He’d gone to meet with Mrs. Bennett yesterday, and afterward he’d told me that he was pretty sure she was going to grant him the scholarship even though she’d heard all the rumors about how he’d cheated on his SATs. I knew with her help we could come up with the rest on our own, and it was such a relief when he told me that. I thought he’d be happy about it and all the tension and anxiety he carried would finally go away, but if anything, since talking to Mrs. Bennett, Spence seemed even more on edge.
“Amber!” I heard behind me. I whirled around, startled out of my own moody thoughts, to find Bill Metcalf there with a panicked look on his face. “You gotta come with me!” he said, reaching for my arm.
“What?” I said in alarm. “Bill, why? What’s happening?”
“Spence and Jamie!” he said, tugging me at a run down the hall. “They’re fighting!”
We raced to the end of the hall and found a crowd of kids blocking the doorway. Far behind us came the urgent calls from Mr. Stewart, the gym teacher, but nobody was letting him through. Bill pushed and shoved and forced our way through the kids and out into the open, and there, rolling around in the dirt, were Spence and Jamie, each of them bloody and going for broke as they rained blows down on each other and tried to gain the upper hand.
I pulled out of Bill’s grasp and threw my binder at them. “Stop it!” I screamed. “Stop it right now!”
The binder hit Spence in the forehead, and with a grunt he let go of Jamie, rolling away from him. Bill lunged forward, grabbed Jamie around the waist from behind, and pulled him away from Spence. Meanwhile, I put myself between the pair while Spence got to his feet, breathing hard and looking mad enough to murder someone.