the front of it. It's a printout from the school newspaper's Web page. There's a picture of me taking one of the ribbons off the car and then another picture right next to it of me tossing both ribbons in the trash can.
And a headline:
L OCAL "H ERO " TO T ROOPS : D ROP D EAD !
Oh, boy.
Zero
Chapter 13
Unintended Consequences
T HE REPORTER . That pain-in-the-butt school reporter. He hadn't left yet. From the angle and the size of the shots, he must have been just across the street, getting back into
his
car when he saw me and ...
Crap.
I keep my head down in homeroom, moving only to rise and then sit for the Pledge of Allegience. I try to imagine there's a bubble around me and no one can see through it, but I don't have that great an imagination.
Like a junkie looking for a needle, I look for Leah in the halls between homeroom and first period. Which is stupid because I know her schedule by heart and she's never in my path this time of day.
I do catch Fam, though. Actually, she catches me, grabbing my backpack and pulling me off against the wall before I even realize it's her.
"Hail, Fool," I tell her.
"Kross, please be careful," she says, skipping the "Hail, Fool" nonsense. "People are pissed."
"Yeah, I know."
She pats my hand sympathetically and gives me a look like I'm a dog going to the vet for the last time. I get this weird vibe that, if we weren't both carrying armloads of books, she would give me a hug. Which, like, I totally don't want.
All day, I get the stink-eye from everyone around me. It's like I chopped up a baby and deep-fried it for lunch.
That whole hero thing was annoying, but it was better than the villain thing, let me tell you.
I finally spot Leah in the hall between classes—she's on her way to trig and I'm headed to bio, just like every Wednesday. She's not giving me the Death Glare for unpatriots like everyone else, but she's not giving me the hero-worship look, either.
I guess at this point most guys would just go ahead and tell everyone "My dad made me do it!" and that would be that, but come on! Is there anything in the world more pathetic than blaming your parents for your problems? That's so whiny. And it would just make me look like even more of a wuss. So, no.
I decide I can't handle a lunchtime of everyone watching, so I ditch lunch and head to the janitor's office. My hand actually shakes as I try to unlock the door with my copied key. I guess I'm more worked up than I thought.
Fam opens the door from the inside. I want to kiss her for it and then I'm grossed out by the idea.
"Hey, make up your mind, Kross." It's Flip, lounging at the desk. God, when did
he
learn to read my mind?
"What do you mean?" I ask, all fake innocent.
He holds up a copy of the Web printout. "Hero or villain? Which is it?"
Fam goes ahead and hugs me quickly, then moves to Flip's side. "Leave him alone, Joey. He's having a bad day. Can't you tell?"
Flip grimaces at the use of his real name. "He should have thought of that before he decided to piss all over the troops." But then he shrugs. "Not that I care. There might be something to this..." And he leans back on the desk and goes off into Flip-space, where he can think about such things.
I shake my head. Fam gives me that dog-to-the-vet pity look again, and I can't handle it. But I guess it's better to be here and getting the pity look from her than to be in the lunchroom and getting pelted by flying utensils, right?
Tit shows up and that's it—Speedo and Jedi must not have been able to slip away. "You're having an interesting day," Tit says, because Tit has a black belt in understatement.
"Tell me about it. What the
hell,
man? Why are people so pissed? It's not like I
did
anything."
"Beats me. What are you gonna do about it?"
I throw my hands up in the air. "How can I do something about it when I don't know what the big deal is in the first place?" My voice goes all high and cracky, which I hate, but I can't help it. "I can't
And a headline:
L OCAL "H ERO " TO T ROOPS : D ROP D EAD !
Oh, boy.
Zero
Chapter 13
Unintended Consequences
T HE REPORTER . That pain-in-the-butt school reporter. He hadn't left yet. From the angle and the size of the shots, he must have been just across the street, getting back into
his
car when he saw me and ...
Crap.
I keep my head down in homeroom, moving only to rise and then sit for the Pledge of Allegience. I try to imagine there's a bubble around me and no one can see through it, but I don't have that great an imagination.
Like a junkie looking for a needle, I look for Leah in the halls between homeroom and first period. Which is stupid because I know her schedule by heart and she's never in my path this time of day.
I do catch Fam, though. Actually, she catches me, grabbing my backpack and pulling me off against the wall before I even realize it's her.
"Hail, Fool," I tell her.
"Kross, please be careful," she says, skipping the "Hail, Fool" nonsense. "People are pissed."
"Yeah, I know."
She pats my hand sympathetically and gives me a look like I'm a dog going to the vet for the last time. I get this weird vibe that, if we weren't both carrying armloads of books, she would give me a hug. Which, like, I totally don't want.
All day, I get the stink-eye from everyone around me. It's like I chopped up a baby and deep-fried it for lunch.
That whole hero thing was annoying, but it was better than the villain thing, let me tell you.
I finally spot Leah in the hall between classes—she's on her way to trig and I'm headed to bio, just like every Wednesday. She's not giving me the Death Glare for unpatriots like everyone else, but she's not giving me the hero-worship look, either.
I guess at this point most guys would just go ahead and tell everyone "My dad made me do it!" and that would be that, but come on! Is there anything in the world more pathetic than blaming your parents for your problems? That's so whiny. And it would just make me look like even more of a wuss. So, no.
I decide I can't handle a lunchtime of everyone watching, so I ditch lunch and head to the janitor's office. My hand actually shakes as I try to unlock the door with my copied key. I guess I'm more worked up than I thought.
Fam opens the door from the inside. I want to kiss her for it and then I'm grossed out by the idea.
"Hey, make up your mind, Kross." It's Flip, lounging at the desk. God, when did
he
learn to read my mind?
"What do you mean?" I ask, all fake innocent.
He holds up a copy of the Web printout. "Hero or villain? Which is it?"
Fam goes ahead and hugs me quickly, then moves to Flip's side. "Leave him alone, Joey. He's having a bad day. Can't you tell?"
Flip grimaces at the use of his real name. "He should have thought of that before he decided to piss all over the troops." But then he shrugs. "Not that I care. There might be something to this..." And he leans back on the desk and goes off into Flip-space, where he can think about such things.
I shake my head. Fam gives me that dog-to-the-vet pity look again, and I can't handle it. But I guess it's better to be here and getting the pity look from her than to be in the lunchroom and getting pelted by flying utensils, right?
Tit shows up and that's it—Speedo and Jedi must not have been able to slip away. "You're having an interesting day," Tit says, because Tit has a black belt in understatement.
"Tell me about it. What the
hell,
man? Why are people so pissed? It's not like I
did
anything."
"Beats me. What are you gonna do about it?"
I throw my hands up in the air. "How can I do something about it when I don't know what the big deal is in the first place?" My voice goes all high and cracky, which I hate, but I can't help it. "I can't
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