The door jerked open. I watched as Cameron grabbed Noah by the shirt collar and tossed him roughly outside. Noah rolled, but before he could even think about getting to his feet, Cameron slammed him against the brick wall. The few kids that were outside started to gather instantly.
Noah’s eyes didn’t register fear as he struggled against Cameron’s rock-solid hold, but sadness.
I hurried to Cameron’s side. “This is the kid from the Clearing the other day.” Then I looked at Noah. “Noah, why did you grab me?”
“I—I need your help,” he said.
“That’s not a very nice way to ask for it,” I said.
“Lor, really?” Cameron said.
“What?”
“Can you let me handle this?”
“Cameron, he’s a kid.”
Cameron looked back at him. “You’re not a kid, are you?”
Noah’s mouth thinned. “No. I just want to talk to Lorelei. She’s in danger.”
“And you came to warn her by grabbing her throat?”
I stepped closer. “What do you mean, you’re not a kid? Are you a descendant?”
“A descendant?” He seemed almost repulsed by the idea. “No. I just want your help.”
“Cameron,” I said, “this is ridiculous. Let him go.”
“What do you think, Noah? Should I let you go?”
He went still and a smile drifted across his handsome face. “Probably not.”
“Why did you risk coming here?” Cameron asked him.
“To warn you,” he said. “If you don’t stop them, we’re all going to die.”
“Hey!” Coach Chavez was walking toward us, his strides aggressive.
“Damn it,” Cameron said. He looked at Noah hurriedly. “Do you know when?”
“Let go, Lusk.” The coach pushed Cameron off him.
“He was threatening Lorelei,” Cameron said as he let go, and Coach Chavez seemed to calm.
He looked at me. “Did he touch you?”
“No, he just got mad at me.”
“Then you need to file a statement with the counselor. She’ll know what to do from there. You,” he said, looking at Noah, “need to be someplace else.” Thankfully, he didn’t realize Noah wasn’t a student.
Noah headed off, but he turned back and said, “Soon.”
Coach Chavez offered him a warning expression, then pointed in the opposite direction of the school. “You too. Go.”
“Can I get my things?” I pointed inside.
“Hurry.”
I rushed in and gathered the snacks I’d bought, then burst out the door and hurried away. While Cameron’s walk was more like a saunter, unhurried, thoughtful, he caught up to me in only a few steps.
“What was that about?” I asked, looking over my shoulder to make sure Coach Chavez was leaving.
Cameron plucked the MoonPie out of my hands. Then he went for the chocolate milk, and I yanked it back from him.
“Dude, Brooke likes her chocolate milk. Take it and you’re risking my life. Just where the heck have you been?”
He stuffed half the MoonPie in his mouth. “I was eating. I thought you were supposed to stay on the bench. You said you weren’t hungry.”
“I wasn’t.” When he looked at the contents of my arms doubtfully, I added, “I am now. What was that about? Who was that?”
“Noah, apparently.”
“You don’t know him?” When he shook his head, I asked, “Then what is going on?”
“He’s possessed.”
I stopped and stared up at him. “What? You mean, like, with a demon?”
He put his free hand in a pocket. “No, Lor. Not like you. He’s possessed like Brooke was when her parents first brought her to Riley’s Switch, to your grandparents. He’s possessed by a rogue spirit. And he must know things if he came here seeking our help.”
I started forward again. “Then we have to help him. That poor kid.”
“That’s just it,” Cameron said. “I don’t think we were talking to the kid.”
DETENTION
“Nutrition bars?” Brooke moaned as I walked up to her. “Granola? What the heck is up with that?” She grabbed one out of my hand and pointed accusingly. “That machine has Cheetos. I’ve seen them. Orange. Crunchy. How am I supposed to live on this stuff?” I plopped down beside her and let her get it out of her system. After a rant that lasted two whole minutes, she opened the nutrition bar and took a bite. “Strawberry. Yum.”
I sat on the bench beside her in a trance. “You will not believe what just happened.”
“Is that a MoonPie wrapper?” She finally spotted the evidence in Cameron’s hand.
“N-no.”
I handed over her milk before Cameron lost a leg.
“Oh, yes. Milk from my favorite color of cows: brown.”
“Brooke, seriously, you will not believe—”
“I was starving,” she said. “I’m surprised you didn’t have to revive me. You took, like, forever.”
Ashlee and Glitch walked up then, Ash’s eyes darting around furtively. “Did that kid try to hurt you?”
“What?” Brooke’s gaze bounced back and forth between Ashlee and me. “Who? What happened?” She finally realized I was taken aback. “Lor,” she said, putting a hand on mine, “what happened?”