Classified

Chapter 21 - "They leave on their own."

Donovan heard the words Mrs. Marshall said as she broke down the equation on the board. Donovan even managed to transfer the equation to his notebook and write notes below it. Outwardly, he knew he appeared normal and concentrated but he didn't think at all of the world around him or the lesson in front of him. The only thing in his mind was Carter's raw knuckles.

He knew that type of redness. It came from attacking a punching bag with ferocity, not with precision and trained execution. Those kinds of marks came from feeling too much and needing to let it out.

Donovan knew because he'd worn those same bruised knuckles before.

What was the cause?

Even as he wrote the mathematical breakdown of solving the equation, he worked through the evidence surrounding Carter.

Besides her knuckles, she'd put up a guard around herself. It wasn't defensive, he knew what that looked like from the first week of getting to know her. This guard felt different... fragile, as if a single word or action could crack it. Coming from a girl who had spent years building her defenses, this didn't fit.

The look in her eyes told him that even the mind that was constantly at work, picking people apart, analyzing the world, spinning in hundreds of directions had been... stopped? No. Not stopped but iced over in a way. The thoughts were there but something bigger kept them from brightening her eyes.

She'd been called into the office, he doubted she'd done anything to warrant a talk with the Principal. He'd read her file, she didn't act out without good reason. She might have high emotions but logic heavily dictated her actions.

He didn't think it was her father that caused her to be called in. If something happened she'd get a call. With how much she loved her father, she'd risk having her phone go off in class. No, he didn't think it was her father for the reason of her going into the office.

Then what was it?

Sighing, Donovan dragged his hand through his hair. The biggest question of all staring at him. Why did he care so much?

She was Link's friend. She was someone who had a father who'd been shot. She was someone he, for the first time, could be real with.

"Hey," Link said.

Donovan looked up at him and found him wearing a baffled expression with a slight frown of concern.

"What?"

The question made Link frown even deeper. "The bell rang. We need to leave."

Hearing this, Donovan gazed around. When had the class stopped and when had he stopped being aware? He mentally shook himself. That was dangerous. He couldn't lose focus. His job was not to care about Carter, it was to care about Link. He needed to remember that.

Quickly packing up, he followed Link out of the classroom and into the crowded hall. Donovan didn't search the mass of faces. He focused straight ahead, forcing his eyes to remain trained on their path, nothing else.

"Do you think Carter is okay?" Link asked.

"Why wouldn't she be?" Donovan asked.

The question came too quickly, too blunt. Even Link with the many minute details he often missed, gave Donovan a look. Donovan held his emotions in, hiding them from Link.

"Because she got called into the office," Link said. "And usually we cross paths as we go to math and we didn't today. I was just wondering. Aren't you?"

Yes, Donovan was and too much for his liking.

"We have free period together and she's usually in the library before us," Donovan said, casually. "You can ask her if she's okay then."