Forlot: The Mom Who Lives Next Door - Book Twelve

Chapter Nineteen

"Dude, I was convinced that you would not make it in time," Milo said.

My best friend and I were by our lockers and putting our supplies away. It was break time, and I was explaining to him in detail about what happened this morning. I really wanted to tell him when I first got to school, but school had already begun.

"I did not make it," I corrected him as I shoved one of my notebooks into my locker. "I was five minutes late."

"But you were let off the hook," Milo pointed out.

"Only because I helped answer questions by the police officers. The principal even called the police department from the next town to confirm it."

"Then they believed you."

I nodded. "They already believed me before the principal made the call. I am the good and responsible kid after all."

In less than a minute, Milo had all of his supplies stuffed in his locker. Even though that he finished way before me, I knew how messy the inside of his locker was. It was not as clean and organized as mine.

He shut his locker and put a hand on it, leaning a bit to the side. Again, he was trying to act cool for the ladies.

"If you really want the ladies to come flying at you, might I suggest something?" I said.

"Sure. What?"

"Take off your backpack and stuff it in your locker for once. Then, wear a pair of shades."

I noticed his eyebrows narrowing. "Dude. First of all, this is not just any backpack. This is Anita. Second of all, if you knew what was in Anita, then you would have more respect for her."

"Okay." I motioned to his backpack...or Anita. "Show me what you carry in that thing."

"Anita is not a thing. My gosh. And sorry. I cannot show you what is inside."

"Yes, you can. We are best friends. You can trust me."

"I know. It is just that..." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "...I do not trust the adults."

I squinted at him. "Oh. I get it. You are afraid that a teacher or principal will see what you have in...Anita...if they walk past us."

He facepalmed. "Gosh, Jackson. Kira is behind you!"

"What?"

I did not hesitate to turn around. And yes. The person was none other than Kira, and she was not alone.

In her arms was the cutest human on the planet. My baby sister.

Amy was cooing softly and sucking that little hand of hers. When she noticed me, her little face lit up.

"Brother!"

I forced myself to smile so that my sister would not know that I was anything but happy and waved to her. Amy does not like when I am unhappy.

"Hi, Amy," I greeted.

Little Amy cooed happily and covered her eyes with her tiny feet.

Kira giggled. "Your sister is such a silly baby, huh?"

"Yeah. She is a blast to play with." I bent down, picked up my pencil case, and tossed it into my locker, not giving a care where it would wind up. "So...what are you doing here, Kira? And why did you bring Amy along? She should be napping."

"You may not know this, but today is National Take-Your-Daughter-To-Work Day. So I decided to let your sister come visit my workplace."

I crossed my arms. I had a hunch that she was lying. "And...where do you work?"

"At your school. That is why I am here."

Okay. Now I knew that she was lying.

"Ms. Kai?" Milo raised a hand. "If that is true, why did you not arrive earlier?"

"Yeah," I jumped in. "Like, classes started hours ago."

She let a heavy sigh, and her face saddened. "I am sorry," she apologized. "I just wanted to see if you were doing alright."

"I was doing just great...until you showed up."

"Jackson!" my best friend exclaimed.

Kira tucked strands of her hair behind both of her ears. "Actually, Jackson. The real reason that I am here is to give you your lunch. You forgot it this morning." She held out a large, brown bag. "I made it and packed it just for you because...I do think of you as my son."

I took the bag and watched as she spun around and slowly strolled down the hall.

Soon, school was over for the day, which meant that it was time for lunch. Everybody packed up their belongings and hurried out of the school building as fast as possible. I swear that Milo and I were the last ones to leave.

Milo and I had decided during break that we would eat our lunches at the park. There are tables and chairs where you can sit and eat.

The park was not far from the school, so we arrived there in no time. There were plenty of empty picnic tables, so we picked out a table and sat down.

"What did Kira give you?" my best friend asked as he began taking different foods out of his lunchbox.

"I do not know," I admitted. "I just hope that it is good."

I unfolded the top of my bag and reached into it. The first thing that I pulled out was a sandwich. But not just any sandwich. My favorite sandwich in the entire world.

I inspected it to make sure. "Yes!" I said. "She packed me a peanut butter sandwich."

I took a bite of it, chewed, and swallowed.

"Mmm. Delicious."

I took a look at my sandwich and noticed something gray sticking out of it. I figured that it was something minor, like a piece of wrapper.

I took off the bread that was top so I could remove the wrapper - and shrieked.

It was not a piece of wrapper. It was a razor blade. Actually, there were five.

Five sharp blades that were in my sandwich.