Non-classifiable
Something he said made me panic. I looked up. He was staring straight at me. Did he know my secret?
"Everything here is backward," Melissa complains.
"Yeah," Zach agrees with a laugh.
My hackles rise. Was Melissa always this anal?
"Maybe it's you that's backward," I say. Melissa and several of the others turn and stare at me. Then their eyes glaze over as if I'm not here.
"Did you hear something?" Melissa says to the girl beside her.
The girl shrugs. "No, just a weird buzzing sound. Street noise, I guess."
They turn their backs on me—as if I care.
"One more thing," Stike called as I mounted up. "Keep your eyes open."
"Huh?" Keep them open for what? What did he mean?
"We had a kid last year who ran into some trouble. Some crew didn't appreciate his cleanup. They waited for him one morning and jumped him. Kid ended up in the hospital." He grinned at me as if he were telling me about some fond memory.
"Watch the watchers," he said. "If you think you're attracting some of the wrong attention, you let me know. Crews don't scare Stike."
I had the feeling that not much scared Stike. But the thought of getting jumped by a gang sure scared me. I began to wonder if Dave Marsh had done me a favor after all.
I can hear them. It's like I'm right there. I probably know who just scored.
Despite what my math teacher might think, I'm not stupid.
I'm not mean either. At least I try not to be.
So that's not how I got into this mess.
I got into it because I was bored.
I know that's a dumb excuse, but I bet I'm not the first person to use it. My guess is boredom's the reason lots of people get into trouble. It can drive you nuts. It can make you do stuff you'd never do in a million years.
For me, that meant hanging out with Richard.
That sounds cruel, but what can I say? If you knew the guy, you'd probably feel the same way.
