Whispers

Chapter Nine

"A late pass," he replied simply.

"Why were you late?"

"I had some business to take care of."

"What kind of business?"

"There've been rumors circulating the academy. Decided to check them out."

"What?" I scoffed. "You supposed to be some kind of detective?"

He grinned. "You can think of it like that."

"Well, what were the rumors about?"

"A guy."

"What guy?"

"A guy I know."

"What'd he do?"

"And here I thought I was the private investigator around here." He turned to look back at me, his gaze curious and maybe even a little cautious. "What's up with the twenty questions?"

"Just something I do when I'm tired," I shrugged.

"Well, it's getting annoying. Knock it off."

"Sorry." Picking up my bag from the floor, I set it across my lap, hugging it close to use as a mock pillow. I laid my head against the rough fabric. "So, is the guy your friend or...?"

Annoyance quickly dissipated into a look of defeat. "No," he sighed. "He's not my friend."

"So, what? The rumor about some dirt you could use against him?" That was the only logical thing I could think of using rumors for.

"He's been gone a while," he replied. "I heard he was coming back soon so I just wanted to see whether or not the rumor was true. And before you ask, because God damn it, I know you will, yes. He is coming back."

"Well, that sucks for you. Maybe me and this guy can team up."

I watched his eyes narrow to dangerous slits. "What?"

"You know what they say: The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"And so what? I'm your enemy?"

"Well, duh." I pointed at my face. Though the bruising had diminished quite a bit, there was still a hint of yellow encircling my eye.

He growled in exasperation. "I didn't touch you."

"You shoved me in a closet!"

"I. Didn't. Touch. You. When are you gonna get that through your thick skull? I wouldn't touch you with a ten-foot pole let alone my hands."

What an asshole!

"Glad we can agree on something," I grumbled back.

For a while we just sat there, listening to the soft murmur of Mr. Lance teaching the class on the other side of the door. Usually, I'd be more conscious of the boy next to me, considering neither of us were feeling very friendly towards the other. But I was honestly too tired to give a shit. Maybe he was right. Maybe he didn't touch me. That didn't mean he wasn't a threat. A threat I would worry about another day when I wasn't so sleep deprived.

"You go the Nurse's a lot, don't you?" he asked after a considerable stretch of silence.

I yawned. "Sometimes."

"You should stop. It's dangerous."

"What?" I laughed. "Dangerous how?"

"Like I said, that guy is coming back soon. He spends a lot of time there too." With a small huff, Daren pulled himself back to his feet. "He's not someone you wanna get to know."