Page 65 (2/2)

The girl jerks her face away frory second She’s ht as she turns back to the asshole ht, but her hands are as slender as the rest of her, and she’s not evena proper fist

My switch flips

Flashbulb-hot rage launches me from my seat, and I’m between them before she even has to raise her hand, and mine is cocked back for her I hold back my smile at the euphoric rush when his skin splits under my knuckles

“What the hell?” The girl’s gasp slows oes down I spin to face her, but before I can reply I’ins

I’uy with the stiff walk of a college diplopinned to his preppy shirt reads “Teaching Associate” under his naht has disappeared in the opposite direction The blame for all this has landed on me—tends to happen to those with a record

“Seeht right hook”

I rin “Yeah, I’ve been in a scrap or two before” Or twenty

“Not that I condone fighting or anything, but you couldn’t have picked a better guy Maybe Marcus’ll back off a little if he knows so to put him in his place this summer”

“So he’s been here before?”

“Yeah, last year Srins atwith an ill-matched new addition “The dean is pretty cool,” Jereh people saw you defending her, you still started it”

“Right,” I say, as we climb the steps to the director’s office

“Just tell him what happened Maybe he won’t kick you out, if you’re lucky”

I’ll needto be pissed as hell at me

“Mr Tyrell” The SHP director, Dean Burnett, drops my three-inch-thick file on his desk My eyes flick fro I wouldn’t see you in here so soon”

I snort and lick my bottom lip It’s swollen, tender “Never hope for the impossible”

He ignores me, which is probably for the best Hureement, your caseworker and I” He holds up a sheet of paper “You signed it as well”

“I remember”

“You pro”

I stare at the lint of silver catches my eye A sleek, slim letter opener rests next to an antique ink well, its pretty point straight at aze back to Mr Burnett, and say what he wants to hear “I understand”

“I hope you do, Ethan You are a bright, talented young lances at them with raised eyebrows, measures the thickness of the stack of behavior reports behind theer, and then cocks his head at the thuraphs in the back “This kind of work is exactly ant to see at the Scholastic Honors Program But this summer session will be difficult for you if you can’t abide by the rules I also think we’re both aware of what happens to you if you do not coram”

I nod Getting back into an orange juht

“The upside of all this is that we can kill two birds with one stone,” he says “I believe you are to check in with Ms Wallman after you’ve been situated, and I’et into trouble”

He picks up the phone and dials the number written in red ink on the sticky note on the front of my file—I know it by heart—and holds the receiver out toat the other end, and I take the phone