Delusion Road by Don Aker Read Free Book Online Page A

know people on the first day.” She flashed a smile at Bailey, who returned it warmly.
    “That’s really something about your brother’s carving,” Keegan said to Raven. “And Bailey, that stuff about the writing contest was impressive.”
    Bailey’s face turned pink. “Raven’s the first person I told about it. She asked so many great questions it just slipped out.”
    “Writing contest?” asked Russell.
    “Yeah,” said Greg, and there was no mistaking the enthusiasm in his voice, “she placed second in this year’s Atlantic Writing Competition.”
    “Jeez, Bailey, that’s great!” exclaimed Russell.
    The pink in her face deepening, Bailey waved away the compliment. “It was just the poetry category, and I don’t imagine too many people entered.”
    “
Nuh
-uh,” said Greg, shaking his head and tapping his phone in his shirt pocket. “The minute Raven told us, I checked it out online. There were nearly three hundred entries, Bailey. Coming in second is pretty terrific.” Keegan could see Greg’s face redden in splotches, his acne emphasizing his own embarrassment, and he wondered if Bailey knew the guy was crushing on her.
    “When’d you find out about this?” asked Russell.
    “A couple weeks ago,” she replied.
    Russell’s eyes widened. “And you didn’t
say
anything?”
    Bailey looked down. “I didn’t want certain people to, you know …”
    “Give you a hard time,” Greg finished for her.
    Bailey nodded.
    “I don’t get it,” said Keegan. “Who would give you grief over something like that?”
    Russell leaned toward him, no easy task given his considerablebelly. “There are a few seniors—” He stopped and seemed to consider his words before continuing, “Let’s just say you don’t want to get noticed around here. It’s usually best to keep your head down, if you know what I mean.”
    Keegan
did
know what he meant. There were enough yahoos at his old school who took pleasure in singling out people for their own amusement. One group in particular had been a real problem for two of his friends, Curtis and Lamont, who’d made no secret of the fact that they were gay. But as often as he’d seen it happen, Keegan could never understand the mentality behind the need some people had to ridicule others.
    “I don’t think he does,” Greg said to Russell. “Know about keeping his head down, I mean.”
    Bailey nodded in agreement, releasing a low whistle as if for auditory emphasis.
    “What?” asked Russell. He turned again to Keegan. “Okay, what’d you do?”
    Keegan shrugged, figuring Raven must have told Greg about the no-hats incident with the VP in the office. But he was wrong.
    “He dissed Willa Jaffrey,” said Greg, his voice noticeably lower.
    Russell gaped at him. “Seriously?”
    “In front of our English class,” Greg explained. “Including the whole royal party.”
    “Oh, man,” said Russell. He glanced over his shoulder, then back, an expression of relief on his face. “You’re lucky they hardly ever eat in the cafeteria.” He shot a look at the others. “What happened?”
    Bailey explained the task Richardson had given them. “And Keegan got to introduce Willa,” she said.
    Now Raven spoke up. “I think I’m missing something. Keegan didn’t say anything bad about her. In fact, he didn’t say much at all.”
    “That’s the point,” said Greg.
    Russell groaned. “Tell me you at least mentioned her trip to Italy.”
    “Look,” said Keegan, “I had a run-in earlier with her and her friends. I was pissed, so I thought the less I said about her right then, the better.”
    “He said,” Greg offered to Russell, “what you see is pretty much what you get.”
    Russell echoed Bailey’s whistle. “Oh, man,” he said, shaking his head. “You are in some serious shit, dude.”
    “I probably should’ve said more,” conceded Keegan, “but she got under my skin. Especially after the way she looked at me when she found out my dad works for