Souls in Peril (18 page)

“
Do you remember anything?
”
Em looked at him hopefully.

“
Not really, but the deer thing does seem familiar.
”
He hated seeing the look of disappointment on her face.

“
That
’
s a start, right?
”
she said.
“
The official report will be released tomorrow. My dad said the local press will do a write up on it too. Hopefully people will stop blaming you now.
”

“
I
’
d like that,
”
Max said,
staring
into her sky-blue eyes
. Oh, how
he missed them.

“
How are you doing? I
’
ve heard some of the kids have been pretty nasty to you, blaming you for M—ah, the deaths and all.
”
She fidgeted with her ponytail, wrapping the long blond strands around her fingers. Max smiled. He loved it when she did that.

“
It
’
s been rough,
”
he said dryly.
“
But maybe things will get better now.
”

“
Alright, Em. Let
’
s get a bandage on this,
”
the nurse said, hustling into the room. She pressed a bandage carefully in place, covering the wound.
“
Now, stop doing the pyramid.
”

“
It
’
s for the championship game
if the team wins.
S
ort of a grand finale. Most of the squad graduates in June and we want to go out with a bang,
”
Emma explained as she rose from the cot.

“
Yes, spending the rest of your life in a wheelchair is a great way to end senior year.
”
She shook her head and followed Em out of the room.
“
You
’
ll be lucky if you only break your neck. You could very well die, young lady.
”

“
See you later,
”
Em twisted back to Max
, rolling her eyes
.

He waved and watched the love of his life walk away. Sulking, he dragged himself to a sink in the nurse
’
s
office
and wiped off the blood from his face and hands.

“
Are you ready to go back? Let me check the bleeding.
”
The nurse examined his nose, shaking her head.
“
You are probably going to have a couple of black eyes tomorrow, JD. I don
’
t feel good about letting you go just yet. Stay through second period, then if everything looks good, you can go.
”

Through second? That meant no Emma. He protested
,
but stern Nurse Ratched was not a woman to be argued with. He lay back down and plopped the ice bag on his face until the bell signified second period had ended.

“
Thanks for the ice.
”
Max handed her the bag as he left and jogged back to gym to change out of his uniform. Seeing Em only reinforced his sense of loss. He didn
’
t want to stay at school. He wanted to go home and crawl into his bed and sleep. Just like JD.

Taking a long breath and reaching deep down inside himself, he told JD,
“
Sorry, buddy, no quitting today.
”
Max changed and headed for his third period class, steeling himself for the barrage of insults that
no doubt
awaited him.

At lunch, Max search
ed
everywhere for Izzy, but couldn
’
t find her. Not in any of the deserted classrooms, not outside
at
the picnic tables
.
N
owhere. To make matters worse, his head
now
pounded from his run-in with the basketball. He went to the nurse
for
some ibuprofen. As she
unlocked the
medicine cabinet, Max glanced down on her desk and saw Izzy
’
s name on a form. She
’
d gone home sick again.

“
Here you
go
, JD, and here
’
s some water.
”
The nurse dropped two small tablets into his left hand and placed a small paper cup covered in pink and yellow daisies full of water in the other.
“
Let me check your eyes again.
”
She shined an annoying light in each.
“
Everything looks good,
”
she affirmed, and sent him on his way.

By the time he arrived in the cafeteria, almost everyone had gotten their food and
was
seated around the oblong tables eating. He cast his eyes to the table
outside on the patio
he a
nd Em used to eat at every day.
Max recognized the friends she sat with.
T
heir
friends. Friends he knew and had hung out with. Friends he
’
d joked and teased with. Friends who
’
d never spoken to JD. Max wondered if they even knew JD existed.

He
took his
tray with a
chicken salad sandwich and bottle
d
water
on it
and sought out a convenient place to hide so he could eat in peace. But that didn
’
t happen.

“
Hey, murderer.
”
Max
’
s tray of food flew up in the air before raining back down on him. Leo, his best friend since elementary school, stood in front of him. His jet black hair combed back from his face allowed every last ounce of hatred and anger to be visible on his features.

“
Why couldn
’
t it have been you that died? It would be no great loss, know what I mean?
”
Leo shoved
him
back a few inches.
“
Let me guess, Lumpy. You were high, right?
”
Max shook his head.
“
No? Eating then. I
’
ll bet you were stuffing your fat face with food and didn
’
t see the
Sánchez
’
s car. Am I right, Lumpy?
”

He
didn
’
t answer. He had no idea what JD was doing
during the accident
. And since Emma had told him in confidence about what her father had learned, he couldn
’
t very well tell Leo that.

Leo planted his hands on
the front of
Max
’
s shirt, bunching the material in his fists.
“
I
’
m going to make you wish you
’
d never been born.
”
Leo pushed his face directly into Max
’
s.
“
Because I know I do.
”

Max stood there, completely
shocked
. He knew he had great friends, and that his death would hurt them, but he didn
’
t understand their lack of compassion for JD. The guy flew through the windshield and
had been in a coma.
Did no one care at all about how he was doing? It
angered
Max, and it sickened him.  How would he have treated JD if it had been Emma instead of him in the car that night?

Max, lost in his anguish, didn
’
t notice Leo had cocked back his arm to punch him. All Max could do now was shut his eyes. Leo
’
s fist caught him square in the gut. Max didn
’
t have time to tighten his stomach muscles to soften the blow a little. A swoosh of air flew from his lips and he double over and stumbled, knocking over a round black trash can filled with discarded lunches.

“
Knock it off.
”
Emma. She bent down to help Max straighten up.
“
Are you okay, JD?
”
Still too winded from the punch to talk, Max only nodded.

“
What the freak are you doing, Emma? This guy killed Max. Why are you defending him?
”
Leo spit out.

“
And you know that how?
”
She slipped her arm around Max
’
s shoulders
,
guiding
him to a nearby bench.

“
I
’
ve heard the stories, Em. They
’
re all over the school.
”

“
Really? Because my dad just barely finished the report last night and filed it this morning, so there is no way anyone could know what really happened since JD can
’
t remember.
”
She rose to her full height and folde
d
her arms. Max knew the look. He
’
d gotten that same look when he did something she didn
’
t like. Max smiled, just a little.
Leo is going down
.

“
Doesn
’
t remember, my butt. He
’
s lying to cover the fact that he killed Max and his family.
”
Leo stepped toward Max. Emma moved directly in front of Max.

“
Do you want to know the truth? Or would you rather
keep
feed
ing
your delusions
?
”
she asked bluntly.

Leo dropped on the table top directly across from Max, signaling for Emma to proceed.

She repeated the report to the small crowd that had now gathered. Everyone listened. Max could tell some doubted the story, but he also noticed some guilty
expressions
. When she finished, she said to Leo,
“
Now what do you have to say?
”

“
I still don
’
t like the fact that Max had to die and he gets to live,
”
Leo scowled.

“
That is a reprehensible statement, Leo. I
’
ll bet Max would be as ashamed of you as I am right now.
”
She turned to Max.
“
I
’
m sorry Leo has a heart of stone, JD. I, for one, am grateful someone survived, and Max would be too. I know it.
”

Max gave her a weak smile as a second rush of guilt swept through him. He really didn
’
t deserve a girl like Emma.

“
What is going on here?
”
The
Vice Principal, Mrs. Volkel, walked up to the small gathering. She had on a peach business suit and Max silently thanked his mother for never wearing anything that hideous.
“
JD, are you alright? Someone said a fight had broken out in the cafeteria.
”
Her eyes went from Max, to the garbage spread across the floor, to Leo.

“
Just a misunderstanding, Mrs. Volkel.  I tripped over the garbage can. I
’
ll clean that up.
”
Max
stood
.

“
No, JD. I heard about your bloody nose earlier.
”
Mrs. Volkel
stepp
ed to Max and picked out a few pieces of chicken salad still in his hair.
“
I think you should rest. We don
’
t want that to start up again
,
do we? I
’
m sure Leo would love to clean this
mess
.
R
ight?
”

“
Yes,
”
Leo bit out.

“
Good. And I hope there will be no more spilled garbage in the future, Mr. Leonardo.
”

He
nodded and cleaned up the mess, muttering under his breath.