Ednor Scardens (Charm City Chronicles), Volume One

Chapter 4 - Crisis

Anita wasn't the only one who saw Michael at the door with me. I glanced at Gabe as I sat down at my desk. His eyes shifted from the door to me and then back to his worksheet again. The dismissal bell rang, and Anita leaped out of her seat, pressing against me. "Spill it, Kate" in an urgent growl through her teeth with a ventriloquist's skill.

"Wait until we're outside!"

"Just a moment, boys and girls," Sr. Teresa commanded. "Every one of you is to remain in your seat until I get to the bottom of this." We looked around, puzzled. "Someone in this class has stolen chalk from the board. We will all sit here until the thief confesses," she announced. I swallowed and began to panic. After my trip to the eighth grade today, I couldn't possibly confess to my crime. As long as my girlfriends didn't look at me, I might escape detection. Gabe must have figured it out, but he didn't let on. All of us sat there for 10, 15, 20 minutes in silence. This was stupid. No one was going to confess to MY crime. And I certainly wasn't. Suddenly, Gabe rose from his desk.

"Sister, I took the chalk," he said, actually looking remorseful. My head snapped around, mouth gaping in disbelief. Sister motioned him to her desk.

"Please face the class, Mr. Kelsey. Shame on you for stealing from the Church! You may report to the principal now." Poor Gabe. His face was even redder than mine had been as he picked up his books and made his way down the hall.

"Class dismissed!" Sister Teresa announced in a near-scream.

Anita and I ducked through the front door, locking her arm around my elbow and extricating me from the mass exodus. "Well, that was strange. Why would Gabe take the blame for you and that stupid piece of chalk?" she wondered briefly before shifting gears. "Listen, you're killing me! Tell me everything that happened with Michael." I quickly recounted the whole thing, giggling at her open-mouthed, disbelieving stare. I was as high as she was over the events of the afternoon.

"Do you think he likes YOU?" she asked incredulously. I grimaced, offended by her tone - like I would be totally unworthy - but knew what she meant.

"Oh, come ON, Anita! He's an eighth grader. He could have any girl he wanted. Why would he bother with me?" I couldn't help thrilling over the quick fantasy picture that flashed through my brain, flooding my face with a furious blush.

My words still hung in the air when Gabe passed by less than five feet away. The corner of his mouth tilted, but he didn't stop.

"Oh shoot, Anita! I know he had to have heard that. Now he's going to tell his brother." Anita waved her hand, rejecting my protest.

"Get real, like he doesn't know that every girl in this school wants him for a boyfriend." Missy and Ellen walked up and the four of us continued on our way home while Anita excitedly filled them in on all the details. The group grew progressively smaller as we passed our respective houses. Finally it was just me and Ellen left. I wrestled with whether to tell her what Michael said about the infamous chalk message. As she started to turn toward the steps that lead to her porch, I blurted, "Ellen, uh, oh crap, I'm really sorry. Michael knows about the chalk heart I drew." She whirled and unleashed the fury that I knew would come.

"WHAT? How do you know that? How could you DO that? I thought we were FRIENDS!!" I cringed, afraid to respond.

"When he brought me back to class, he said to thank you for it," I mumbled apologetically. She was silent for a few seconds while she scowled at me, narrowing her eyes to slits. Turning, she ran up her steps, slamming the front door as she went inside her house.

That night at the dinner table, I pushed the Jimmy Wu's chow mein (normally my favorite) around my plate and chewed my lower lip. I felt sick at the thought of showing up at school the next day. Nan watched cautiously while Mom blurted, "How was it, wearing your new bra today?" My stomach twisted as my brain recalled the gawk-fest in Sr. Earle's room. Lips pressed into a thin line, I glared at her in disbelief. Nan silenced Mom with her eyes and quickly changed the subject. It didn't matter. I had to get to my room.

"Can I be excused?" I pleaded, looking at Nan as she nodded.

My feet hadn't even touched the first stair when the tears started. Taking two steps at a time, I threw myself across the bed. My eyes closed in a dreamless sleep of exhaustion.