Invisible Lines by Mary Amato

Author:Mary Amato [Amato, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-1-60684-529-5
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Published: 2013-11-12T05:00:00+00:00

18.

FRAMED

I’m dreading lunch and wishing I didn’t have to go, and then—lucky me—Xander comes along and shoves me up against a locker before I get there.

“I know you wrote it, Musgrove.”

“Wrote what?”

“The stuff on my locker.”

“What stuff?”

“What seems to be the problem, boys?” It’s Ms. Ramone, the same teacher who took away my permanent marker on the first day of school.

Next thing I know I’m in the vice principal’s office. Somebody wrote “profanity” on Xander’s locker with a permanent marker, and I’m being blamed for it.

I’m mad, but it doesn’t pay to blow up. I push my anger down and focus on staying calm. This is my first time meeting Mr. Gonzalez, and I want to make a good impression. Getting in trouble is bad enough, but getting in trouble for something you didn’t do is just ridiculous.

“Mr. Gonzalez, I didn’t vandalize Xander’s locker.” I add a little smile because innocent people have something to smile about and guilty people never do.

Mr. Gonzalez frowns, leans back, taps his pencil on the arm of his chair, and stares at me like I’m a death cap mushroom that just popped up on his lawn. “Well, Ms. Ramone says that she caught you trying to deface a locker on the first day of school.”

Hard to keep smiling.

“I was only thinking about it, I didn’t do it.”

“I hear that you have a graffiti business and that you were upset with Xander because he didn’t purchase a design from you.”

“What? That’s not true!” My brain hurts, like I just got kicked in the head. Stay calm, I tell myself. You’re innocent. You’re innocent.

“Are you saying that you don’t have a graffiti business?”

Why did I have to be such a brilliant entrepreneur? I look him right in the eye. “Mr. Gonzalez. I don’t have a graffiti business. I drew a few designs on shoes. Just on shoes. To earn a few bucks.” I show him the Musgrove on my shoe. “I was not upset with Xander for not buying a design. I did not vandalize anything.”

Our eyes are locked together. Please believe me.

He sighs. “At this point, we have no proof that you did it. Regardless of that, let me say this: You are not allowed to sell or produce any more graffiti on school grounds—even if it’s only on shoes. We can’t have kids buying and selling stuff because it’s disruptive to the learning environment. Is that understood?”

Understood. The bell rings. I missed lunch completely. Does Gonzalez care? No.

I slip through the door, barely alive.

Diamond is hanging right outside the office door. “How come you was in there?” she asks. She sounds scared that I might have gotten in trouble, which makes me suspicious. It’s like she has some stake in it. I think back to the note she slipped me—RU gonna get Xander? Did she decide to get him for me by writing on his locker?

“Come on,” she says. “Celine told me she saw Ramone bringing you in. How come?”

“Maybe you know.”

“What do you mean?” Her face goes hard.

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