When All is Null and Void

Chapter Thirty-Two

What?she mouthed, hoping the others had stopped looking. It seemed the only person in the room who hadn't noticed Caleb's presence, though, was Mr. Bradford.

"Come here!" he said. Again, his voice was muffled, quiet.

Danielle put a finger up at him, adjusting her pile of clothing. Caleb tapped his wrist to tell her to hurry up. She stood and walked up the aisles to Mr. Bradford's desk. "Can I go use the restroom?" she said, trying to cover the sounds of tittering laughter. Caleb was now smiling and giving thumbs up to people, as if he were some sort of celebrity. She found herself smiling a little bit, as she caught Caleb sticking his tongue out at Ezra, but cut it off.

"Sure, but I won't give you extra time." Mr. Bradford's hands were floating above the keyboard, probably itching to get back to the email he'd been typing. What was it with teachers and always writing emails? Who did they have to talk to?

"That's okay," she said. "Thanks!" Danielle walked to the hallway. After easing the door shut, she pulled Caleb down the hallway. They didn't need an audience. "What are you doing here?"

"You need to come with me!" Caleb grabbed Danielle's hand and tried to pull her down the hallway. She followed for a moment before sense took over.

"Wait," she said, pulling her hand back. "I'm in the middle of taking a test." She exhaled a laugh. "I can't just leave."

Caleb crossed his arms over his chest, giving her an oddly imperious look to challenge her sassy one. "Okay, but this is a little bit cooler than a test. Besides, we'll be back before the test is even over."

"We're just going to walk around the school?" She couldn't keep the impatience out of her voice. She did love spending time with Caleb, but this was just a little bit weirder than what she'd come to expect.

"You're hilarious," Caleb replied, somehow still chipper and unabashed. He grabbed her hand once more, his golden purity ring pressing coldly into her skin. It glinted with a sort of effervescent energy in the hallway's recessed lighting. "But in all seriousness, I need to show you something. And you'll freak."

Danielle was still mutinous, but she let Caleb pull her down the hallway, toward the Commons. "Why can't you show me here?"

"Because I'd rather not tell you something this important in the hallway where someone could just walk by." At that moment a girl Danielle sort of knew walked by. Caleb shoved his thumb at the girl and nodded. See, what did I tell you?

Caleb walked her a bit faster, using her arm as the leash binding them together. They walked through the front doors and into the frigid air beyond. Rain mixed with bits of snow fell in light flurries, and Danielle was glad the awning by the door meant they weren't getting wet. She wished she'd brought her scarf, or her sweatshirt at least. The sky's gray pallor seemed darken upon each passing moment.

"I can't just leave school..." Danielle spoke uncertainly; she'd never been one to skip class.

"Would you just shut up for a second." Caleb said, smile hanging on. Their hands were still connected, and Danielle looked down, eyebrows raised. He stepped away, muttering, "Sorry."

"How'd you even get here?" she asked. Caleb didn't have a permit, wasn't sixteen, and Alexander was nowhere in sight.

Caleb groaned. "Can you just stop asking questions for a second?"

"Sure," she said. "Fine."

Caleb lifted up his hand—the one with the purity ring on it. "So you might want to sit down, because you might think I'm insane."