Spiraling by H. Karhoff Read Free Book Online

cinnamon-flavored gum and stuck a few pieces in his mouth. Then he dropped the rest of the pack into the large back pocket of his wide-leg jeans. Kennedy was still grumbling when he glanced over at me. I quickly turned back to her, pretending I’d been involved in what she was saying the entire time.
    “Anyway, if your mom doesn’t totally freak out on you maybe we can go to the mall tomorrow night.” Kennedy concluded. “Becky doesn’t have practice, so she might be able to drive us.”
    “I’ll have to see,” I said, knowing my mom would most likely say no. Even if I hadn’t gotten detention, she rarely let me go anywhere on school nights.
    “Ok.”
    She smiled at me. Then she shut her locker and left for class. As soon as she’d gone, I put my biology book away and made sure I tucked the detention slip into my backpack so that I didn’t lose it. If I didn’t return it signed the next day, I’d get another two days.
    “How was biology?” Devon asked as I closed my locker.
    “Pretty sucky,” I answered. “What about… Um, was it history?”
    “Yeah.” He nodded. “It wasn’t too bad. Caught up on some sleep.”
    The playful grin on his face made it hard to tell whether or not he’d actually slept through class. It wouldn’t have surprised me if he had. I could picture him leaning back in his chair, kicking his black combat boots up on a desk, and sleeping through a boring lecture. The image made me chuckle.
    “Where you headed now?” he asked.
    “Keyboarding,” I answered.
    “Sounds like fun.”
    “Oh, yeah,” I replied sarcastically. “Tons and tons. Where are you off to?”
    “English.”
    “Don’t you need your book?”
    “Got it.” He reached into the large back pocket of his jeans and retrieved a tattered paperback copy of Moby Dick as the tardy bell echoed through the halls.
    “Dang it.” I scrunched my face. “I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
    “Looking forward to it.” He smiled.
    Turning around, I rushed to class. Miss Devereaux frowned at me as I scurried past her to take my seat in the computer lab. She didn’t immediately say anything about my tardiness, so I was hopeful that I’d skated by as I opened the typing program we used to complete our assignments. Halfway through class, however, she set my second detention slip of the day on the table beside my keyboard. If I’d had any hope at all of my mom forgiving me for the first infraction, it was gone. There was no way she’d overlook two detentions in one day, especially after I’d just gotten a less than spectacular report card.

Five
    I kept my head down as I walked through the open door into the small classroom used for detention. The back was reserved for repeat offenders, so I sat in one of the front seats and put my bag on the floor. I could hear the girls behind me cracking jokes at my expense, but I kept my eyes forward. The day before I’d made the mistake of eavesdropping on their conversation after I’d heard Devon’s name. When one of them spotted me, she told me to mind my own business and not-so-politely informed me of the unofficial seating chart.
    As I leaned over to get my algebra book out of my bag, I saw the desk next to me move. My first thought was that one of the girls had decided taunting me wasn’t enough. I was terrified. They weren’t big girls, but they were a lot tougher than I’d ever dreamed of being. I knew I wouldn’t fare well in a fight against any one of them.
    Cautiously looking up, I was relieved to see the chair-mover wasn’t one of the girls. It was Devon. He sat down and flashed a smile.
    “Hey,” he said. “What are you doing here?”
    “I got detention for being late yesterday,” I replied.
    “Sorry about that.”             
    “It wasn’t your fault. I could have just gone to class instead of talking to you.”
    “Or ditched it altogether.”
    “Is that what you did?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “Yeah. Looks like that worked out really