Power Play by Beth Mcmullen

Author:Beth Mcmullen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

Chapter 19

AND SOMETIMES YOU GET SURPRISED.

AS IS TRADITION, the Friday of Spring Fling weekend is declared a “free day” by Headmaster Hunter. A free day means that classes are canceled and the students have no obligations. They can wear pajamas and hang out in the Annex eating cheese fries all day. But most of us make a pilgrimage to downtown Watertown. For normal kids, walking downtown is no big deal, but for prisoners of the Smith School it’s an event.

We skirt along the bordering stonewall for about ten minutes, puddles from the rain soaking our shoes, before a cut-through lands us on the sidewalk. I’ve been roped into wearing a dark blue, alarmingly sparkly confection to Spring Fling that my best friends say makes me look fabulous. But I know better. I look ridiculous, like a little kid who fell in the dress-up box. They refused my plea to wear regular clothes. I have no date. My job is to stand around in case Izumi needs me. Couldn’t I do that in track pants? But I guess it doesn’t matter because I will only be wearing the dress for a little while. On Saturday night, at seven o’clock sharp, my plan is to sneak away, ditch the dress, and get to the bus stop. If my calculations are correct, and let’s hope they are, I should arrive almost exactly when Toby does.

Spontaneous little rivers run down the long hill to the main drag of downtown. Main Street Watertown was probably cute when horses and carriages were cutting-edge technology, but now it leans toward run-down. There are several shuttered storefronts, dusty FOR SALE signs hanging in their doors. There’s a pharmacy, a convenience store, a used bookstore, and Sweetness Reigns, a candy shop with wall-to-wall bins of sugary goodness. Fill a paper bag for a flat rate of ten dollars. It might be the best thing about boarding school. I assume this is our destination because whenever we get a chance to break for downtown, Sweetness Reigns is where we end up.

But today Charlotte drags us into the used bookstore. “We have to make a stop.” A small bell over the door announces our arrival. Dust floats in the light thrown off from a dangling bulb.

“Hello?” Charlotte yells. Her voice is immediately absorbed by hundreds of tattered books. Warped shelves fill every available space. The proprietor surely likes to buy used books, but does she ever sell any? A woman with long gray braids emerges from a back room hidden by a cascade of beads. She wears thick black-framed glasses that give her giant bug eyes. Her lips are a slash of bright red.

“Ah, Charlotte.” She coughs a few times to clear her throat. “Sorry. Sorry. I just got a collection from one of the old estates up on Maple, and I’m sure there are mold spores in there.”

Mold spores. Wonderful. Charlotte gives the woman a big hug, as if they are long-lost friends. I should point out that Charlotte has never mentioned the bookstore woman before.

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