Matt Archer: Monster Hunter (Matt Archer Series, Book 1)

Chapters 13 and 14

Chapter Thirteen

The Monday after Thanksgiving break was bleak. The skies were dark gray with thick, low clouds and the air smelled like frozen iron. A big snow seemed imminent, and I kept waiting for the blizzard to come, hating this feeling of limbo. At home, we all went through the motions, trying not to think about Mike doing a ten-mile run at Fort Carson. In a month, he'd be in Afghanistan, but he was as gone now as he would be then.

When I trudged into algebra, my heart got heavier. Ella was the only person in the classroom. She had on jeans and a kelly-green Notre Dame sweatshirt, with her hair in a twist. The new hair style made her look older, and I liked it. But something seemed wrong. Her eyes were red and she was breathing hard, like she was trying not to cry. I put my books down, walked around to the front of her desk and knelt so I could see her face better. As soon as I did, she started bawling like crazy.

"Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry...I, uh." Oh, crap. What did I do to upset her? "Look, I'm sorry. For whatever I did. Really...sorry."

I probably would've kept on babbling apologies, but three girls came in. I groaned—the Ponytail Gang. Will and I called them that because they dressed alike and did their hair in bouncy ponytails every day. Today they had on mini-skirts and leggings, never mind the cold. They were all cute, various shades of blond and popular. They were also mean as a nest of rattlesnakes. No one had been able to explain that to me yet, why rude people were always popular.

Ella quickly turned her head and swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. I hurried to my desk...but not fast enough.

"Wow, Ella," Caitlin said, an ugly streak in her tone. "That was quick." She tossed her dirty blond ponytail over her shoulder and flopped down at her desk two rows over from us. Tara and Jenna hung in the doorway, identical mocking smiles on their faces.

Ella kept her back to them, turned sideways in her chair. I could see the tear tracks on her face. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to give her a tissue and offer the Ponytail Gang up as bait for my next hunt, but something in the way Ella held herself convinced me to keep still. Jenna plopped her books down on the desk behind Caitlin's and walked over to Ella with a spring in her step.

"Oh, poor Ella. What a tough morning." Jenna glanced at me, smirking. "At least you have someone's shoulder to cry on."

Ella didn't acknowledge Jenna at all, but I saw her fists clench in her lap.

Jenna leaned on Ella's desktop. "This is for the best, you know. You need someone easier to manage. I hear some guys in Chess Club are looking for girlfriends."

What was Jenna talking about? Did she mean...?

Before I could complete that thought, Tara giggled. The only true blond, she wasn't the brains in the outfit. She just came along for the ride and added the laugh-track to Jenna and Caitlin's cruelty. I had no idea why they were going after Ella while she was upset, but man, slamming Carter into a locker seemed nice compared to this.

"Ladies, something going on here?"

I had never been so thankful to see Mrs. Burns in my life. She was like a gray-haired guardian angel in a wool sweater, marching to her desk with her laptop bag and a grim expression.

"No ma'am. Just asking Ella about her weekend," Jenna said, cocking her head like "I'm pretending to be thoughtful, so I can be a witch."

Mrs. Burns watched, eyes narrowed, as Jenna pranced across the room to sit behind Caitlin. She glanced back at Ella then scrawled out a note. "Ella, would you mind taking this to the office? The copier in the teacher's workroom was jammed, and I need to hand it out today. Thirty copies should do it."