Nicolae High by Tim Lahaye, Jerry B. Jenkins Read Free Book Online Page B

Vicki. “You gonna go to the office and see about getting new books?”
    “I guess,” she said. “They’ll probably charge me.”
    “If you need any mon—”
    “I know, Judd,” she said quickly. “Thanks. I’ll let you know. But I’m going to find a job soon.”
    “You don’t have to do that.”
    “Oh, yes I do. I’m not a freeloader or a charity case.”
    “Let me get out here!” Ryan said. “I see some of the guys!”
    “Just wait,” Judd said. “We’ve got to talk about what you’re going to say about your situation.”
    “My situation? What do you mean? My parents are dead. How else can I say it? You think I’m going to start crying or something? I don’t think I can cry anymore.”
    Judd pulled into the line circling the entrance, and they crawled along. “Both you and Lionel have to come up with some story about where you’re staying.”
    “You mean lie?”
    “’Course not. But you don’t have to tell people you’re living with other kids. Just say you’re staying with someone from church.”
    “Good idea,” Lionel said. “I’m not sure I’m ready to tell everybody that I’m the only one left in my family. But I’ll bet they try to get us talking about what we think happened. If they ask me, I’ll tell ’em.”
    Judd pulled over and shifted into Park. “You guys are sure you want to walk all the way home after school?”
    “It’s not that far,” Lionel said. “Anyway, it’s either wait here for you for an hour or go home. Nothing else to do.”
    Judd nodded. Vicki said, “We’re going to want to hear all about it, so try to remember everything.”
    “All right, all right,” Ryan said. “Let’s go already! Unlock the doors.”
    “They might ask kids whose parents are gone to fill out new emergency forms,” Judd said.
    “And we’ll put down Bruce Barnes’s name and the church’s phone number,” Ryan said. “We’ve been through this a gazillion times.”
    Judd unlocked the doors, and it seemed Lionel was out as quickly as Ryan. “All of a sudden I feel like a parent,” Judd said, pulling back into traffic. “I could’ve waited ten years to start worrying about what a couple of junior highers are going to do all day.”
    Vicki just smiled and nodded. She looked tense.
    In the parking lot at the former Prospect High School, teachers and coaches and office staff directed traffic and spoke through bullhorns. “Don’t worry about parking stickers today! We’ll deal with that later! Check the bulletin boards for class and schedule changes! We’ll be on a shortened program today, starting in the field house for an all-school assembly! Sit with your class!”
    “Homeroom?” Judd asked through the window.
    “No, your whole class. Freshmen in the west balcony, sophomores in the east balcony, juniors in the back on the main floor, seniors in front.”
    Vicki appeared pale and on the verge of tears as she got out of the car. “You want to stay with me for that opening assembly?” Judd said.
    She sighed. “I really would. You think they’d let me?”
    “You don’t look like a freshman anyway,” he said. “You may have to join your class if they go together, but otherwise, what are they going to do, kick you out?”
    Judd waited as she stopped to ask a teacher what she should do about her books. “If that’s all you lost, girl,” the teacher said, “consider yourself lucky. We’ll deal with that at the assembly. Don’t be late.”
    The halls were as crowded as ever until they got into the field house. When the opening bell rang it was clear that the place, usually jammed for an all-school assembly, was only 70 to 75 percent filled. The teaching staff was depleted by about the same percentage, made obvious because they were sitting in rows on the platform behind the lectern.
    As Judd and Vicki sat with the juniors, the principal, Mrs. Laverne Jenness, stepped to the microphone. “Welcome back,” she said. “I’m proud to announce, in case you