Riley

16

At the seventh-grade recess, Theo set off to scout the ground floor. He immediately peeped into the bathroom, where he discovered it was located in front of a classroom hidden by light and above its first-floor counterpart. He entered it, then locked himself in one of the vacant bathrooms. Tight, but enough to hide in.

"The bathroom has been checked," he told himself. "Now it's Toby Marlowe's turn."

Sally had given him a scanty sketch, in keeping with what was the 13-year-old's dull, lonely personality. Afro-black hair and a dark complexion. Yes, just two features that were enough for Theo to spot him in his classroom near the teacher's lounge. He peeked inside from behind the door and prepared an unsure face ready in case anyone saw him. Pretending to be lost was a good excuse not to attract the attention of a bunch of seventh graders. Or so Sally had told him the day before.

She found him sitting in the first few desks, arms and head on the desk, he was bored and didn't want to know about moving from his state of boredom.

For a moment, Theo felt like he was seeing himself again before group work with Riley. Had Toby still not found a friend? The answer came soon after, one his classmate had called him, and his bored state abruptly disappeared. He stood up abruptly and disappeared from his sight. He had friends

"That's him," he spoke in a hushed voice and hid his head. "Afro-style black hair is there, dark complexion is there. It must be him."

An idea flashed through his head: go in and ask for him. A suicide mission? With only a few minutes left before the end of their intermission? Would it make sense to take that risk? What if then it wasn't him? Questions and doubts came flooding in!

"Are you lost, primus?" asked the little girl's voice, sounding out of tune.

"Primus?" summed up the expression from before again, but it sounded more to a fool. "What does that mean?"

The little girl with black hair covering part of her face and irreverent clothing touched his nose. She replied amused, "You're a sixth grader, so you're primus."

Theo preferred not to argue, feeling offended for a second. "Is this Toby Marlowe's class?"

"He's a classmate of mine. So yes, this is our class."

Theo had nailed it. He pulled a red envelope out of a pocket and handed it to the little girl. "Could you give it to her? È... from... a friend of mine who... has a crush on him."

Suddenly, the little girl looked at him despondently, seeming to restrain herself from laying hands on him. Theo was already beginning to regret taking Sally's advice; he could feel the tension in the air.

He thought, "I'm doomed!"

"Now the primus want it too?" she asked tensely.

Theo kept his composure. "Why does it...bother you?"

The girl gave him a questioning look. The 11-year-old had no idea what he had provoked.

"Come with me."

"But...don't you start l-le lessons again now?"

"Just follow me, primus!"

Theo straightened up in fear and began to follow her. He said to himself, "Sally, if I survive this, I will kill you!"

The girl led him into the art room. As luck would have it, no class was occupying it at that moment; that calm was more eerie and Theo felt addicted.

"Who is it?" thundered the little girl.

"Who is who?" asked Theo nervously. (He was thinking of the next lie to tell her, as Sally and Riley had told her, even though she had expressly told him "A lie must not create a chain of lies!" and he was agreeing with her.)