The Key to my HeART

06 Zip Ties

M A X

Zip ties. The clever girl zip tied my locker closed. I'll need scissors to break them and I'll be late for class. I would just forget it, but my math homework was buried within the confines of my locker and I needed to turn it in if I don't want double tonight.

"Hey," I flagged down Harper's friend and neighbor, Tyler. "You got scissors?"

He looked at me and then smirked. "Maybe you should ask Josh?" And just like that, he'd gone.

Ah, so she hit him too and she had help from her friends. I was fairly positive Lexi had a hand in this as well. I looked at the hall clock. I had a minute and a half to get to class. I'll never locate a pair of scissors in time. I swung my backpack over my shoulder and headed toward math class. I'd just have to take my punishment.

I fall in behind Zane, reaching the door just as the bell rings.

"You got scissors?" I asked as we take our seats in the back of the room.

He looked at me with eyebrows raised. "Scissors? No, why?"

"Harper Wilson zip tied my locker shut."

His face contorted with laughter. "Amazing. Obviously, she didn't appreciate your little alarm clock joke." He opened his bag and produced his own homework. "I got to hand it to her. I didn't think she'd pick up a racket and play."

I rolled my eyes. I wished she'd stayed sidelined. I was going to have extra homework tonight. Which was annoying, but at the same time, I had to admire Harper's craft. Zip ties. Genius.

Mrs. Georges came into the class with her glasses pushed up on top of her head as always. Her black curls are barely contained in her scrunchie. "Please pass your homework to the front of your row," she said, putting her books on her desk.

Methodically she goes to the first student in each row, gathering and counting papers to make sure everyone has turned in something. When she gets to my row she frowns.

"Who didn't turn in their homework?"

"That would be me, Mrs. Georges." I don't even bother to play coy. She would figure it out sooner or later.

"And why not?"

She's nice but doesn't tolerate excuses. I could tell the truth, throw Harper under the bus, but I won't. There was no victory in snitching during a prank war.

"I didn't do it." My voice sounded aloof to my ears.

"That's not like you, Mr. Draven." Her eyes bore down on me. "You will have extra problems tonight and I expect today's homework in my hand tomorrow. Is that understood?"

I nodded and said nothing else. In my head, I silently applauded Harper's daring. She might have been caught messing with my locker by any number of teachers or hall monitors that patrol the hallways, but she did it anyway. She deserved some points for style and audacity. I would have to help Josh come up with a way to get her back.

~*~*~

Rain poured from the sky when the last bell of the day rang. I heard the rain pounding on the roof as students flooded into the halls. The soothing sound of the rain was very quickly drowned out by the chatter of my classmates.

I went back to my locker, knowing Harper would be coming to her own to get her books. The moment I saw her I walked over and leaned against the locker next to hers. She did her best to ignore me when I came up, but I could see her looking at me from the corner of her eye.

"I don't suppose you have scissors?" I asked, patiently waiting for her response.

"You know something, I actually do. Though, why do you need scissors?" Her tone held all the sweetness of a milkshake. She still didn't look at me. Instead, she bent down grabbing books and shoving them into her backpack. I caught the ghost of a smirk though.