Whispers in the Dark by Chase J. Jackson Page B

desk.
    â€œHey, hey, guys,” I said, as I entered the hallway. “You’re gonna have to go outside
with—”
    To my amazement, there wasn’t a single soul in the hallway! How could this be? The
hallway was empty! A soccer ball rolled down the hallway toward me. The sudden silence
caused chills to shoot down my back. I looked up and down the hallway.
    I know I’m not hearing things, I thought. Was I? I grabbed the soccer ball. Maybe
I scared them off. But that fast, though?
    I’d better get ready to leave. Lea’d texted me earlier, asking how late I was going
to be today. I gathered my paperwork and put it in my briefcase. I turned off the
lights in my classroom, then headed down the hallway.
    As I neared the doors, a student sat on the outside steps. As I got closer, I noticed
that it was Isabelle. She was sniffling, and her eyes were watery.
    â€œHey, Isabelle,” I said to her. “Is everything okay?”
    She frowned as she looked at me and replied, softly, “Yeah.”
    â€œAre you sure?” I asked, concerned. “If there’s something bothering you, you can
talk to me.”
    â€œI said I was fine,” she said quickly.
    I knew something wasn’t right. I could hear the pain in her voice. Isabelle’s reaction
was the same way Lea responds when something is wrong with her.
    â€œYour parents late picking you up?” I asked.
    â€œMr. Ramirez, I really don’t feel like talking right now,” she responded, looking
away from me.
    â€œOkay, okay. Well, if you ever want to talk, you know where my desk is,” I told her.
    What was going on with her now? Seemed like it was one thing after another at this
school. I wondered if Robin had opened up to Isabelle about what had happened with
Jason and Ashley.
    â€œHey, Isabelle,” I said, walking back toward her. “One last thing, then I’ll leave
you alone.”
    â€œYes?”
    â€œDoes Robin ever talk to you about Jason and Ashley?” I asked.
    â€œWho?”
    â€œThose two students who Dorian and Raven were arguing about today,” I reminded her.
    â€œOh. Yeah. Them,” she said, shaking her head. “I just know they’re no longer here.”
    â€œWell, yeah, I know that,” I told her. “But did Robin come to you and talk about
them? I mean, I don’t see her talking to a lot of people, and I see you all together
sometimes. So I was just wondering if she talked to you about their bullying her.”
    â€œYeah, she said they said some pretty mean things to her,” Isabelle informed me.
“Well, I heard they said mean things about everybody. So the way I see it, they got
what they deserved.”
    â€œThey got what they deserved?” I asked, concerned. “What do you mean?”
    Isabelle paused, as if she realized what she’d just said. “They’re no longer at this
school. They didn’t deserve to be here. They made fun of people every day. I only
know what Robin told me, and they were really mean to her. That’s all I know.”
    Isabelle seemed like she knew more than she was telling me. I could tell she was
getting irritated with all of the questions. I figured I might have better luck if
I backed off for now and just asked a few questions at a time.
    â€œOkay, well, thanks, Isabelle,” I said. “See you tomorrow in class.”
    â€œOkay.”
    I decided I’d have a talk with Robin and get to the bottom of this mystery.
    I lay in bed reading over The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian . I figured
if Isabelle was reading it, I could probably work it into the curriculum. This was
a pretty good book.
    Lea had sent me a message saying that her sorority had a chapter at the University
of West Georgia, and she was going out with them tonight for dinner. I couldn’t help
but feel like she was only going out because of how much I’ve been hanging out with
Greedy and Justin.
    My