Clear Lake Academy holds the worst of the worst delinquents from around the country. Each and every student there holds a notorious background that led them there and almost everyone avoids them.
After setting the tenth building on fire, which just...
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If you drop me, I swear I'll personally teach you the definition of a cliff." I threatened, eyebrows practically climbing into my hairline. Hendrix didn't even blink.
He made no signs of acknowledgment at my threat, instead waiting as he crouched on one knee, placing his hands on top on one another, in front of him.
Let's rewind for a moment:
A few moments earlier, I'd been glued to Hendrix's back as we rushed through the hallways, my heels clicking like a panicked tap dancer. He shoved open some random door, and before I could question anything, we were suddenly in an empty classroom staring at a window.
I didn't get a change to question his tactics when he pushed the window open and hopped through. I heard him softly land on the other side and watched as he crouched, peeping past the corner like a lousy thief.
He signaled the all-clear, so I climbed through after him and pulled the window shut behind me.
Bentley's voice drifted over from the crowd on the other side of the wall. I leaned over Hendrix's shoulder—steadying myself by grabbing onto him—just in time to hear: "I lost my biology books."
"You don't even HAVE biology today!" someone shouted from the crowd.
I slapped a hand over my mouth to muffle the laugh as Bentley shot a death glare into the abyss. Bentley turned back to the headteacher, opening his mouth to continue whatever train wreck excuse he was working with. He caught sight of us in the corner of his eye just as Hendrix shot to his feet.
On go, Hendrix sprinted across the open area like it was nothing, and somehow, miraculously, he made it across without a single teacher noticing, thanks to Bentley's frantic distraction.
Hendrix dropped into a crouch behind the massive brick wall where half the student body sat, angling his body and checking the far end like he was in a heist movie.
I waited. Heart pounding. He signaled. I dipped my head and took off as quietly as a person in heels could across freshly cut grass—which is to say, not quietly at all. But I made it, dropping into a full crouch the second I reached Hendrix's side.
We waited silently, unmoving as the head excused Bentley, allowing him to join the rest of the students. Some ruffling and hissing later, his head pop up on the wall as he sat beside a head of glowing white —all of their backs turned towards us.
Hendrix stood low, back hunched and made his way to stand behind our friends. I shadowed him, keeping my head ducked low, praying no one noticed my head bobbing between the gaps of bodies.
Talking erupted as the headteacher stepped aside for a moment, turning his back to the entire crowd while he whispered with his staff.
Hendrix suddenly dropped to one knee, looking up at me, and for a horrifying second I thought he was about to propose. I already had my answer sitting on the tip of my tongue when he lifted his hands—stacked one on top of the other—in a boost step.
