Victor, Victorious

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The police believed Sway's death had been an accidental electrocution.

Colin had gotten away with another crime. This didn't sit well with Victor at all. Not that Sway hadn't deserved what he got. He would've died young, one way or the other. No doubt about that. Sway lived like an idiot, and he died like one.

Mikaela still hadn't returned to school. Victor began to think she never would. Still, each day, he got a little excited that she might finally show up.

Victor visited Huntley Park as often as he could, on the off-chance that he might see Mikaela sitting on her brother's bench. No such luck.

He'd probably never see her again. And it was all Colin's fault.

Colin—the little jerk!—shouldn't get to slip through the cracks for what he'd done. He had to be punished somehow.

Victor knew that no one could prove Colin was behind what happened to Sway or Mr. Koontz.

But what Colin did to Mikaela—there had to be a way to prove that.

Which meant, making Courtney turn on her brother.

Which meant, Victor would have to break the cardinal rule of the streets to force her hand.

He was gonna have to rat. Tattle. Snitch.

That's why Victor found himself in Ms. Todd's classroom early one day after the confrontation in the alley.

The teacher was at her desk, on her computer. She glanced up when she saw the boy standing sheepishly at the open door.

"Victor, hi," said the woman. "How are you?"

"I'm good, for the most part."

"Nice. How're your new classes going?"

"They're alright, I guess. I wish I was still in here, though."

"Well, I think you'll be okay. You're smart. You just need to focus and do your work."

"Yeah..."

She noticed the boy had trouble looking her in the eye. Something seemed to be weighing him down. "Can I help you with anything?"

Victor hesitated. "I...I've never done something like this before. But...But I think it's what I shoulda done from the start."

If he and his friends hadn't tried to deal with Colin on their own—if they'd just asked for help—much of the horror could have probably been avoided altogether.

Ms. Todd furrowed her brows. "What's up?"

Victor gulped. "I...I know who...who took those pictures of Mikaela and sent them around school."

The woman's ears perked up. "Really? Who?"

Victor almost didn't give a name. He almost ran out of the room. He'd always been taught that snitches were dirty, low creatures. Worse than rats. Rat crap come to life. Cursed to live with—or die because of—what they'd done.

But he had come to a realization. The ones who gave snitches a hard time were the people who just wanted to get away with breaking the law. Too many people wanted freedom to hurt others, to create terror in the streets. They were afraid of being caught themselves, so, to protect themselves, they made snitches the "bad guys". But snitches were the only people who actually ever stood up to the lowlifes.

However, knowing this didn't make it any easier for Victor to say, "Colin. Colin Cisneros did it."

He expected to feel like puking or fainting. But he actually felt pretty great. Not unlike how he felt after losing his powers.

Lighter. Free.

Ms. Todd asked, "You aren't just saying this because you and Colin don't get along, are you?"

"No," said Victor. "I promise. I think his sister took pictures for him in the locker room. That's how he got them on his phone."

"Okay. Thanks for the info. I'll let the right people know so that they can look into it."

Victor was suddenly drowned by a wave of fear. "You...You won't tell people I snitched, will you?" Not even Sergio and Bart knew he was there.

"Well, I won't give up your name if I don't have to. How about that?"

"Alright, I guess. Well, see you later." The boy turned to leave.

"Victor, wait."

"Yeah?"

"This is a good thing. A brave thing. The right thing. Not everyone does what you just did."

Had he been "brave"? Really?

Were snitches in a way like heroes, doing what most others can't in order to protect the innocent? He didn't know about all that, but maybe being one wasn't the end of the world.

Victor said, "From now on, I'm gonna try to do the right thing a lot more often."