Making the Grade (The Model Spy #2)

Chapter 23 - Together Again

"This all got way out of hand."

Haylee was sitting on the staircase. Max had a hand around the flesh of her upper arm, just in case she tried to escape.

"It was all just a joke," Haylee continued. "Really." Her chin quivered as the tears threatened to fall once more.

I froze. I had been pacing back and forth within the building's small foyer area for the past several seconds. I was going around in circles, like a broken wind-up toy. Jayden, Professor Lewis, and Millie had disappeared into a sea of people. With every second, the distance between us was widening. And I had no idea where they were going.

"Let me go," Haylee pleaded, "please." She looked up at Max, her eyes wide and tearful. Max turned away, his own eyes looking at something far away, looking for Millie. "We never meant to hurt anyone!"

"If I could count all of the times I have ever heard anyone use that excuse," I nearly scoffed. "You killed people and then staged their deaths to look like suicides!"

Haylee's head swung back and forth. She was probably wishing she could fling the accusations away with one swift motion. As if her denying them would reverse all that had occurred over the past several months. "Jayden needs help! He isn't a bad person. He is just so easily swayed-"

"By Professor Lewis." I interrupted.

Haylee bit her lip. "You should have heard the way Jayden went on and on about him." Haylee lowered her head and stared at her lap. "Almost as if Professor Lewis was his-"

"Father." Haylee raised her head slowly and looked at me with large, worried eyes.

"A lot of students loved Professor Lewis because he said things other professors wouldn't," she continued. "He always acted like he was one of us. He told us about all of the protests he staged when he was in school and how he was arrested for civil disobedience."

I started pacing again.

"But Jayden latched on to Professor Lewis much more than the other students. And Professor Lewis..." Haylee's voice broke off.

I stopped pacing to stare at her. Even Max turned back to her and awaited her next words.

Her eyes passed between Max and myself, her mouth opening reluctantly. "Professor Lewis treated Jayden differently than the rest of us," she sputtered. "He gave Jayden private tutoring sessions and extra time to do homework. When Jayden's dad died, Professor Lewis called Jayden every single week to make sure he was alright. He even bailed Jayden out of trouble last year when he set off the cherry bombs in the dining hall."

I remembered Professor Lewis mentioning something about that during our first class together.

"Did Professor Lewis ever say anything that made Jayden think it would be," Max, who never had any problems with words, struggled to find the right word for what he was going to say next, "alright," he flinched, "to attack the other students?"

Haylee covered her face again, realization sinking in and hitting her full force, knocking her nearly breathless with oncoming sobs. There was no way of wiping away the past. "Professor Lewis said it would take a very brave person to stand up to the board and that actions, in some cases, speak louder than words. And..." Haylee's mouth tightened and she shook her head.

"Haylee," I warned, the edge in my voice somewhat alarming me myself. She was about to say something that would change everything.

She remained tight-lipped.