Talented (On Hold)

Chapter Seven

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Chapter Seven

"Zack!" Conner called to Zack in the hallway. "Zack, slow down, I need to talk to you!"

"What?" Zack called back without stopping. He did not want to be late for class. Conner hurried up slightly, taking care to go only as fast as he could without running.

"I need your help." Conner said breathlessly.

"With what?"

"Meet me at lunch outside under the oak." With that he hurried off.

Conner waited under the tree. Finally Zach arrived. "What took you so long?" Conner snapped.

"What's the hurry?" Zack asked, a bit annoyed by Conner's snappish behavior.

"I need your help to break into the record room." Conner said quietly.

"You want me to help you what?" Zack said, confused "I mean, I love a pranks, but in the record room? What are you planning?"

"I want to read Alina's file."

"Why?"

"She's hiding something. Remember when she mentioned her file in class yesterday? I want to know what's in it. "

"Conner, you're my friend and all but Alina's my friend, too. I don't want to help you spy on her."

"Look, if you won't help me, I'll do it myself."

Conner strode off across the grass. Zach ran to catch up. "Wait. I don't want you to get in trouble." He gave Conner a wiry smile. "Besides, snooping is my specialty."

"You have to admit, you're curious."

"Maybe a bit.

They stood outside the door. Looking both ways to make sure no one was coming. Zack handed Conner a ring of keys. "I swiped this of Mr. Curin's desk."

Conner looked at him strangely.

"Hey, you want to get in, right? Besides, his door was unlocked."

Conner fitted one of the keys in the lock and turned. The door popped open.

"I'll stand watch." Zach said.

Conner slipped inside the dark room by himself. His heart was beating fast, and he could imagine teachers jumping out from any corner and yelling, "Detention for a month!" It also didn't help that the principal could teleport. Maybe one of the teachers had invisibility. No, he reminded himself. Calm down. He walked quickly over to the filing cabinet and searched for the "R" section. Finding that, he opened the drawer that said "Radley - Riley". Reaching in, he pulled out the file marked "Alina, Raven". Thumbing through it, his eyes widened.

"Hurry up!" Zach whispered loudly from outside the door.

Reaching in, he pulled out a bunch of newspaper clippings and shoved them in his pocket.

"Coming!" He said and hurried out. They locked the door behind them.

"So?" Zack said. "What did you find?"

Wordlessly, Conner pulled out the clippings and laid them on the table. Each was just a snippet of different articles.

The first ones headline read "Couple Dies in House Fire". The column below read "Jason and Ariel Raven died yesterday in a fire that swept through their two-story house in a matter of minutes. The sole survivor of this tragedy is four-year-old Alina Raven, their daughter. It is still being investigated how the fire started."