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“Call them,” I said.
Mrs. Sharp blinked. “What?”
“Call the police,” I repeated, louder this time. “If a crime has been committed, let’s follow the law.”
The room went deathly still.
Cliffhanger: “You’ll regret this,” Mrs. Sharp hissed, her eyes narrowing into slits. She snatched the receiver of the classroom landline and punched in 911. “Police? There has been a theft at Oak Creek Middle School. Suspect: a student. Yes, a significant amount.”
She slammed the phone down and smiled a thin, venomous smile. “They’re on their way. I hope you have a lawyer, Mr. Bennett.”
Chapter 2: The Ghost from the Past
I helped Lily gather her belongings. We sat in the back row, exiled to the corner. She wouldn’t look at her classmates.
“She’s had it in for me since September,” she whispered, wiping a tear from her cheek with a dirty sleeve. “She wanted me to tell her who posts funny memes about her in the class chat. I refused to be a snitch. She told me last week she’d find a way to punish me.”
I wrapped a heavy arm around her, pulling her into the rough fabric of my jacket. “She won’t hurt you, Lily. Not anymore.”
I pulled out my phone. My hands were shaking, not from fear, but from a rage I was struggling to contain. I searched my contacts for a name I hadn’t called in six years. Not since the funeral.
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