Fallout (Lois Lane) by Gwenda Bond Read Free Book Online Page A

talk during a test.”
    The whispers ceased, but that didn’t mean silence won. The Warheads switched to low, offended laughter. Anavi shook her head and made her best attempt to return to the sheet in front of her. Her hand still clutched the pen.
    “You’re not.” Ms. Johnson did step in, finally, focusing on the pack of offenders.
    Took you long enough.
    “You should stop disturbing the others,” she told them. She finally showed some irritation. “Hydra doesn’t mean you can act however you want. Not in my class.”
    Now
that
was interesting. I made a mental note to find out what “Hydra” was, and why a teacher would bring it up to them. That couldn’t be a coincidence.
    “I’m disturbed,” said one of the Warheads.
    “Aren’t you?” another said.
    “Anavi, Anavi, Anavi,
” several of them chanted her name in a near sing-song, “are you disturbed?”
    Anavi’s hand trembled around the pen, and I couldn’t imagine that what she was producing on the quiz was legible. But she was trying to take it, trying not to give in. That, I admired.
    I scribbled down a few more answers, guessing the whole way and mostly paying attention to Anavi and the whispers. When the egg timer dinged, Anavi jolted in her seat in shock, triggering another round of sarcastic laughter. The girl had completely lost her cool.
    While I clung to my spellcheck, I’d seen spelling competitions like the one Anavi had been in. The night before, after my game research, I’d looked up Anavi’s winning year and found a video of the last few rounds.
    Some of the participants’ composure had melted away as they got closer to the finish line. But not Anavi’s. She stayed completely cool, calm, and alphabetically collected, right up to the end. Even when she won, the most extreme part of her reaction had been to crack a big smile and pump one fist in the air before walking over and hugging her proud parents.
    But here she was, about to pass out over a pop quiz in a subject she usually made A’s in. I wanted to know how she’d done this time.
    So I reached over to take her paper to pass it up front, then subtly leaned in when I handed it to Devin. “Give it a quick look,” I told him.
    Even if I hadn’t witnessed how Anavi’s pen shook, the quality of the marks on the sheet made it plain. Devin skimmed the page and murmured, “This is weird.”
    “What?”
    But Ms. Johnson hovered over us, her hand outstretched. Devin accepted my quiz and added his own, handing them to her.
    Once she walked away, he said, “They were wrong. All of them. Nothing even close to right. Like I said, Anavi was acing this class. She’s as good at this stuff as anyone in here.”
    The Warheads stared over at us.
    And there it was. I had earned the full smirk. From all of them.
    That was better than them being focused on Anavi. So I accepted it and sent back a look of challenge of my own, proud.
    Until I glanced over and caught the expression on Anavi’s face. It was even more pained than it had been before.
    For the rest of the class period, she sat folded in on herself, with only an occasional movement.
    Every time, it was that same unnatural jerk, a flinch like an invisible fist had just punched her or a voice was hissing insults in her ear.
    If there was one thing I hated, it was bullies.

CHAPTER 5
    Finding Anavi in the crowded cafeteria at lunch was harder than I expected.But eventually I ferreted out her near-hidden spot in one of the back corners. Alone, which wasn’t a surprise. After what I’d witnessed in class, I felt sorry for her. I’d have to ask Devin if her being a loner was new behavior.
    “You mind?” I scooted the chair opposite Anavi out with my boot and gingerly put down my lunch tray. I didn’t want to spook her.
    The pizza on my plate was the sad-slice variety, staple of food courts and gas stations everywhere. But it was still pizza, and more recognizable than most of the other cafeteria offerings. And I was