Jedi Night

Chapter 12

Keeping secrets from Red is bad. I know that. The guy trusts me. But my life was a mess before he came. I have to try and fix stuff on my own.

I can't stop thinking about seeing dad. Did he want to talk? Does he miss me?

Get a grip, Jak. He was probably there to hand over the cash. They were going to break your legs,  remember?

With a Friday deadline, I need money fast. Packing a bag of clothes Red bought me, I head for a popular second-hand store. Jof's mom bought an outfit here for a job interview. Some of the richer Jedi give old clothes to their staff, who sell them to this store.

Pawning the coolest threads I've ever owned hurts. But I'm desperate. Maybe if I get a job, I can buy them back, and Red will never know.

The store opens early—people who work for upper class Jedi come in before their shifts—so I head over on the way to school. Last time on this block, I was running away from home. My chest tightens. Just casually bleeding on the sidewalk.

The small store is packed with elite brands. The guy behind the counter doesn't say much when I show him the pieces. Red spent a lot.

"You sure?" he murmurs.

No, I want to keep them. This is wrong. "Yeah."

The man pays about a quarter of what Red spent. I take it. At least I've got enough for this week. On the walk to school, I shove the credits into a small cut in the lining of my new jacket.

I can't help thinking Red made a mistake when he chose me. Here I am, planning to lie to him, and pretty much stealing from him since he paid for my wardrobe. He chose the wrong Emissary. I'm tangled in mistakes. My heart thuds.

For the first time in my life, I'm actually glad to get to school so I can stop thinking.

People smile and nod outside the school gates, making me feel like it's another world. An alternate reality, where I'm not the school outcast.

A bored-looking Jeremy leans on the brick wall. "How's the Enforcer?"

"Busy."

With what, I'm not sure. He told me he had a plan, and then refused to explain it. Apparently, I have to wait. Red is way more stubborn than I am.

"I bet he is," says Jeremy. "You okay? You look pale."

"Do you think lying is, like, unforgivable?" Good one, Jak. Very low-key. Not suspicious at all. "I mean, if you found out, would you forgive someone you trusted?"

His answer surprises me.

"I've lied a lot. People always forgive me. Sometimes it makes me feel worse. Like, I want them to get mad. I deserve it. People being kind can make life hard."

I look at the ground. He gets it. I wish I could trust him, but we only met yesterday.

While I was wearing a hotel robe.

And crying.

With pizza.

Wow.

"So, can we go in or what?" He asks.

"Aren't you waiting for someone?"

Straightening, he says, "You, idiot." Slinging an arm around my shoulder, he walks me onto school grounds.

This feels sus. "What are you doing?"

"Relax." He nods to a few senior girls. "Just making it clear we're friends, and you're off-limits."

He waves at Jon whose mouth falls open so wide he looks like a goldfish. I can't help smirking.

"Won't your dad get mad?"

"Funny thing. After you threatened him with Red, he's into us being friends. Alex convinced him it was strategic."

Of course, that's why the's talking to me. My stomach drops. It's not like the School President would actually wanna be friends. "Guess I'm useful."

He stops. "Woah, don't get me wrong. Damon always talks about you. And yesterday, you were cool. I still can't believe you told the Red Enforcer to go to bed, like he was kid. And he did! Epic." Pushing his hair back from his face, he says, "When I look at you, it's like it's okay to be figuring stuff out. You're braver than I am."

Where did that come from? Now I'm the goldfish.

Jeremy pauses in the hall, checking his phone. Who are we waiting for?

Damon appears, answering that question. "Nice threads. The Red Enforcer sure has taste."

"Just call him Red." That title spooks me. I'd rather not think about what he does for work.

"Sure, like I'll use a nickname," says Damon, giving me side eye.

Jeremy heads for his locker with a wave. Was he waiting for my next escort? I guess the idea is to never leave me alone at school.

Damon and I walk to our lockers in the next hall. People keep saying hi, and waving. Creepy AF. I was invisible a few days ago.

"Grandma is giving Red the keys to one of her places today. I'm supposed to take you there after school."

"I need to go to the hotel first to get my stuff."

"She sent movers."

"Oh." This thing where everybody does everything for you is hard to wrap my head around.

How can I make it to Sith territory without getting caught? Being a nobody meant no one cared when I wandered around at night. I was pretty much invisible. Now, if anyone spots me crossing Sith-side, Red will know.

Opening my locker, I sigh. I was gonna slip out tonight, but we'll probably be settling into the new place. I'm running out of time. The money feels like it's burning a hole in my jacket. What if I can't hand it over?

This is getting hella complicated. Closing my locker, I try to think. My stomach growls, angry I skipped breakfast. Hungry is not the way to start a long day.

"Damon, you got anything to eat in there?"

Reaching into his locker, he passes across a protein bar that looks so healthy I'm offended.  Chewing on the seed and nut mash-up makes me miss sugar. Hasn't he heard of processed foods? It's like eating a corner of the forest.

Damon waits till I've eaten half before saying, "Don't freak, okay?"

I am instantly freaking. "What?" No more surprises. My surprise-o-meter is fried.

"You have Jedi combat class now."

"No, my class is in the afternoons. And I'm excused." The only over-protective move my parents made that I support hundo-percent. I spend that period in the library. 

"You were excused. Past tense. The Emissary has to train."

"But why in the mornings? The only class then is..." No. NFW.

He nods sympathetically. "You got moved to the elite class, with me and Jeremy."

Well that's a new level of INSANE. I do not belong with the school's star students. 

Chewing on the last of the squirrel food, I think about how to get out of it. "I'm still healing."

Closing his locker, Damon says, "The best healer on the planet right now came to the city to treat you. Do you think anyone will buy that?"

I think I might throw up. "So how do I get out of it?"

Grabbing my arm, he leads me down the hall. "You don't. Just watching the class will help. Think about it. This is a strategic move. If you're going to be around the Enforcer, you need to know how a fight would go down."

I hear what he doesn't say—and how to survive it.

Jeremy is waiting for us at the door to the Elite Training section. I've never been here, and never planned to. It's run by a handful of scary AF Jedi who prepare the next generation. That is, when they're not off fighting wars, busting drug rings or getting juiced up on serious Force levels meditating or whatever on distant moons.

I must look pale again 'cause he says, "Don't worry Jak, they won't let you get too hurt. Red would kill them."

Is that supposed to make me feel better?