Whitmore Prep

Chapter 23

     Delilah runs in to the dorm a half hour later. I lie on the floor, curled into the fetal position. My room stands around me in ruins, books torn apart, pillows ripped open, food crumbs mixed with broken glass all over the floor. Among it all, I lie in the middle, recovering from a panic attack. My phone is still clutched in my hand, the call sent to Delilah still in progress.

    The door shuts closed behind Delilah, and Parker and Adrian appear in front of it, looking around shocked. "Man, Tine, you're room's a mess..." Adrian mumbles, picking up one of the destroyed books, the pages clinging desperately to where it is still attached to the spine.

    "Yeah, I thought girls were good at keeping their room clean." Parker jokes, we ignore him.

    "Ash wouldn't do this." Delilah sighs, stepping carefully around the broken glass, "Her stuff is ruined too."

    "Yeah, who would do this?" Adrian asks, picking up the rest of the books.

    "I don't know." I croak against the carpet.

    "I'll call Ash and tell her to come here." Parker pulls out his phone, thankfully becoming serious. 

    "Let's see." Adrian sighs, stacking the books on Ash's desk, "Who has a reason to do this?"

    "Calum?" Delilah asks, sitting on the couch lightly.

    "He would need my help to get in here, and I sure as hell wouldn't do that." Adrian comments, sitting next to his girlfriend.

    "So it would have to be a girl." Delilah nods, "And they would have to be an Honors kid to get to this floor."

    "Or they could have stolen someone's key." I shiver from the floor, wiping my face with my hands.

    "The normal kids were upset this morning." Adrian remarks.

    "Ash is on her way, she's in the woods." Parker says as he walks out of the bathroom where he went to make the phone call.

    "We think a normal kid did this. One from this morning." Delilah fills him in.

    "They seem like the most reasonable suspects." Parker nods, turning to the door. "Whatever key they had, I don't think it was for this room."

    I stand up slowly, dusting off the crumbs and broken glass that decorate my clothing. Moving to Parker, I see what he means. The doorknob hangs loosely in the hole cut for it, obviously broken. A bobby pin is wedged in the outside handle, an attempt on unlocking it. When that didn't work, they must have forced their way in.

    I jump back when the door swing towards me, showing a shocked Ash on the other side. "What happened?!" She gasps, rushing past Parker and me to look at her destroyed belongings.

    Elise stands in the hallway, looking uncomfortable. "What's up, Elise?" I ask her, concerned.

    "I couldn't find my key, so I had to wait until Ash came to ride up with her." She mumbles, leaning against the wall behind her.

    "Whoever has your key is whoever broke into our room." I sigh, glancing back at the room behind me. "Do you remember anyone acting suspicious today? Looking through your stuff?"

     "Um... no? Not that I can remember." Elise shakes her head, puzzled. "Do you want me to go get Headmaster?"

    I look back at Parker and Adrian in my room, helping Ash and Delilah pick up the debris around our room. "Give us a minute." I answer. No matter the circumstance, the boys would be expelled if they were found in our room. I won't let them take get in trouble for helping me. "And go to the lady at the front desk first, she'll get you a new key and get in contact with Headmaster."

    "Ms. Jewell?" Elise asks. That must be the name of the receptionist. How have I gone this long without learning her name? I nod, and Elise starts to move back towards the elevator.

    "Wait." I stop her, moving back in the dorm to get Parker and Adrian.

    "No, Mom, I'll be there in a minute, I just can't find my keys..." Ash mumbles into her phone, stuffing the rest of filling back into her pillow. I quietly tell the boys to follow Elise back down to the lobby as Ash finishes her call.

    Adrian grabs Parker's shoulder and the two of them disappear before my eyes. "Okay." Ash sighs, watching the door swing open and shut as our invisible friends exit the room, "All my life's training has led up to this."

    "Yeah, they wouldn't like this situation..." Delilah motions around the room.

    "You think? I'll distract them for tonight, but they'll want to come back here tomorrow..." She runs her hands through her hair.

    "Don't worry, Ash. We'll take care of this." I try to comfort her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

    She nods slowly, her hands still on the top of her head, "Just make sure I'm not going to sleep on broken glass."

    Delilah lifts up her comforter and checks beneath it, cringing, "No promises..."
                                                                                                 ~~~~~

    Headmaster stands in my dorm about an hour later, her arms crossed as she looks around. Delilah and I sit on the couch that we dusted off as best as we could.  Unfortunately, I still feel crumbs under my butt.

    "After all that happened today..." Headmaster sighs, shaking her head softly.

    "It was a forced entry, so they didn't have our room key, but they had Elise's so they can get onto this floor." I explain.

    Headmaster takes this in, thinking for a second. "We'll search the student's rooms."

    "If they were smart they would have ditched the key already." Delilah notes, picking at the crumbs around us that we missed.

    "If they were smart, they wouldn't have broken in here in the first place." Headmaster fumes. "These students need to learn to respect not only the school's property, but the other students that use it. Whoever did this will pay, I will see to it." She pauses, taking a deep breath. She then looks to me, deep in thought. "How are you, Tine?"

    "I'm fine." I lie, adding a shrug for good measure.

    Headmaster narrows her eyes at me. Delilah speaks up next to me, "She had a panic attack."

    "Gee, thanks Delilah." I hiss at her.

    "Yes, thank you Ms. Vern. Do you think you can house Ms. Hark and Ms. Bahkma tonight?"

    "So she can keep an eye on me?" I groan.

    "No, so you don't have to sleep in this environment, Ms. Hark." Headmaster snaps at me.

    "Come on, Tine. It'll be fun, a sleepover!" Delilah gushes, grabbing my hand.

    "On a school night?" I laugh.

    "Yes! It'll be fun!" I roll my eyes at her, but smile with her.

    "Now that that's all sorted out." Headmaster gets her cell phone from her jacket pocket, "I will not sleep until that key is found."

    "Wait, you're starting the search tonight?" I ask, looking back at her.

    "I'm starting the search right now; some teachers are on their way." She slips her phone away. When she sees the worried look on my face she continues, "Get some sleep, Tine, by tomorrow morning whoever did this will be out of this school."