Trembling(10)

I met Jude at the door to Mr. Sutherland's class. We made our way to our seats the back corner. Mr. Sutherland wasn't much for seating charts, which was good, as far as I was concerned. If I got separated from Jude, this class would be unbearable.



"Tell me all about this Lilith chick," said Jude as we sat down.



God. How could I? There were some things I just couldn’t share with everyone. It made me sound nuts to say that my family had turned out to be Satanists. No one would believe me if I said that Jason and I had been chased across the country by a secret society bent of global domination. I shrugged. "She was my best friend in West Virginia," I said.



As far as Jude knew, I'd moved here because my parents died. That was it.



"Was?" asked Jude.



"Well, she was sleeping with my boyfriend, so I kind of wasn't speaking to her anymore."



"She was sleeping with Jason?" Jude asked.



The bell rang.



"Excuse me," said Mr. Sutherland in his British accent.



No one listened to him. "No," I said. "Not Jason."



"Class!" said Mr. Sutherland. "Quiet down for announcements."



The room still didn't get quiet.



"A different boyfriend?" asked Jude.



"Yeah," I said.



"Who you're not dating anymore," said Jude. "So what's the big?"



Why didn't anybody understand this? "She betrayed me," I said. "I don't trust her."



"Next person to speak loses free time," said Mr. Sutherland.



Free time was Mr. Sutherland's way of keeping his classes in line. Everyone got five minutes to chat at the end of class, unless they misbehaved. Losing free time meant you had to do menial tasks for Mr. Sutherland like passing out papers or cleaning up trash from the floor or emptying the pencil sharpener.



Everyone got quiet.



"Thank you," said Mr. Sutherland.



The loud speaker beeped. "Good morning Bayshore High. This is your principal, Mr. Dingle."



He started out announcements like that every day. Like we didn't know who he was. And if you dealt with teenagers every day, would you really advertise the fact your last name wasDingle?



Mr. Dingle was a strange man. He was young, blonde, and tan. He always seemed very excited, and he carried a bell around with him, one of those silver ones with a wooden handle. If students were doing something he didn't approve of, he would ring the bell in their faces and say, "Now, now. Let's make a better choice, okay?" He'd rung the bell at Jason and me many times for kissing in the hallway. I really didn't like him.



A soft murmur began in the classroom as students began to talk again.



"You think she'd do it again?" Jude whispered to me. "Are you worried about Jason?"



Was I—? That was silly. "Of course not," I said. Jason would never do that. He was devoted to me.



"Jenna, that's your free time," said Mr. Sutherland.



I shut my mouth.



Mr. Dingle continued, "The most important announcement this morning is that my bell has been stolen."



Really? That was great! Awesome. I hated that bell.



Other students seemed to share my sentiment, since a few laughed and one guy emitted a whoop.



"Class!" warned Mr. Sutherland.



"Anyone with any information about the whereabouts of my bell should contact me or your teachers. When I find out who has taken the bell, he or she will be punished severely."



I rolled my eyes. Everyone in class laughed.



"That rocks," said Jude.



I grinned. "Yeah."



The entire classroom had erupted in conversation.



"Quiet!" yelled Mr. Sutherland, but it was a lost cause. Any further announcements were drowned out by the rest of the class talking.



"So," Jude said, "why is Lilith here?"



I sighed, picking up my purse to look for a pen. "She ran away from home. She's staying with us for a few weeks."



"Aren't her parents going to be looking for her?"



I shrugged. "She's eighteen. I don't know what they can do."



I couldn't wait until Jason and I were both eighteen, which wouldn't be until the late spring. Jason's birthday was soon, but mine wasn't until May. When that happened, we wouldn't need Hallam anymore. We could move out and be on our own.



I searched through my purse with my hands, not really looking at it. I felt for the small cylindrical plastic of my pen. Instead, my hand brushed cold metal. What was that?



I pulled it out of my purse to look at it, and everyone got quiet suddenly.



Dammit. It was Mr. Dingle's bell.



How had it gotten in my purse?