Walking Away

Okay

Raven

I couldn't get his voice out of my head.

"Spell your name, Elizabeth."

I whispered it over and over again. Replacing his voice with mine.

By now Kenny had watched the video. By now Johnathan knew all about it.

By now the whole school will have access to my dad's stupid website.

My phone rang, and I answered automatically. "Yes?"

"Hey, any chance you could tell me where you are?" Kenny.

"Not really." I had walked around the school, but I hadn't left. Mostly because I couldn't convince myself to get on the bus, and so I didn't have a ride home. Not my brightest moment, as mom didn't get off until nine. And that's if she didn't work late tonight.

"Okay." Kenny didn't sound too worried about it.

"Okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it. I'll see you soon." Kenny hung up, leaving me to wonder what psychic powers he was trying to use.

I wandered around the courtyard, eventually sitting down at one of the tables. I put my head down, for once not fighting the quiet. Why bother? I was about to lose what friends I did have. Mom was too busy at the hospital to notice if I kept it quiet.

And I would. Just because my life would suck doesn't mean hers should.

I pictured what school would be like once the rumors spread. Once everyone looked at me the same way the other kids had.

I'm not sure when the tears started. I'm not sure they'll ever stop.

"You are not an easy person to find." Kenny's voice surprised me, and I looked up in time to see him sit down across from me.

"Then how did you?" I asked. I put my head back down. I'm a mess he doesn't need to see.

"I asked around. I had a feeling you wouldn't be around people, so your bus was out. And my best buddy the janitor told me he saw you on campus, so I walked around until I either saw you or was convinced you left." Kenny shrugged. "My next plan was to use Jonah's GPS to visit your house."

I had lifted my head back up at some point. And now I was just staring.

Kenny suddenly looked concerned. "I promise I only use my slightly stalkerish powers for good."

As upset as I'd been, it still made me laugh. "I'm glad to hear that." I wiped away the stray tears. "Where is Johnathan?"

"I sent him away. He wasn't thinking straight." I guess he saw my confusion, because he explained. "When Jonah gets mad, bad things happen. It doesn't happen often, but when it does? Worlds could burn. People could die. A perfectly good baseball bat could hit a tree so hard it breaks into several pieces."

Kenny shook his head, feigning sadness. "I never should have handed it over." Then he bobbed his head as if reconsidering. "Better the tree than me, though."

I was laughing again. "Poor tree." I tried to imagine it. I couldn't.

"Poor baseball bat." Kenny added.

It occurred to me that if Johnathan was that mad, he must have learned something.

"So I guess he's mad I didn't tell him, huh?" I didn't want the answer, but if anyone knew, it was Kenny.

Kenny shook his head. "No, he isn't mad at you. He's mad at himself for not figuring it out, he's mad at the psychopath that created that website, but he isn't mad at you."