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.Morris snatched my phone from the guy.“Stop it.You’re all animals.” He placed my phone back on my desk and gazed around the room, addressing everyone.“Now everyone stop sending around notes.Don’t think I haven’t noticed the internal postal system we’ve had going on here.We’ve got phones now.Use them.Just don’t answer them in class.Stop wasting trees and my class time with this.” He crumpled up the notes, dropped my phone on my desk, and marched toward the front of the class.He tossed the notes away in the trash before he went back to settle into his own chair at his desk.Was that even my number? I wasn’t sure as I never looked at it.I risked a glance back at Victor.His eyes scorched, daring the class to even try to call my number now.He gripped his pen in his hands until his knuckles were white.I sank further into my seat, wanting to disappear.CODE FOR DANGERBy the lunch bell, my phone was vibrating continuously in my hands.Messages were lighting up the phone, but from unknown numbers.“Let me see it, Princess,” Victor said, walking beside me.He took the phone from my hands, wrapping his lean fingers around the cover.As he held on to it, it continued to vibrate as it received text messages.“What did they do? Text your number to the entire school?”“Can we block the numbers?”“I may just get you a new number,” he said.“But I can’t do it right now.” He sighed, his free hand finding mine.His thumb smoothed across the skin on the back of my hand.“I’m sorry.Let me hang on to it.You’ve got classes with us for the rest of the day, don’t you?”“Yes.”“I’ll give you mine after lunch so you’ve got something.”North wasn’t in the courtyard.Kota and Nathan were gone, too.“Where’d everyone go?” I asked.Luke sat next to me on the bench.He tapped his lips in a gesture of silence.Academy.I sighed.“Are they going to be gone all day? What about after school? And my sister?”“We’ll tell Marie there’s a change of plans.She can ride the bus home today.You can come along with me,” Victor said, sitting on my other side.“We’ll get your number changed.”Silas sat on the grass at my feet.“Why? What’s wrong with her number?”Victor told them what happened.“Shit,” Gabriel said, pushing a palm into his eye.“We don’t need this right now.We’re down three people.Sang’s phone is fucked.Her birthday is this week.Can anything else happen?”“Don’t say that or something will happen,” Luke said.“I’m already done today.I’m ready to go home.” He glanced at Silas.“Can you fill in for North today just in case he doesn’t make it back?”Silas grimaced.“I was kind of hoping to figure out what to do for Sang’s birthday.”Gabriel groaned.“We don’t have time for the diner.”“We can’t bail,” Luke said.“A couple of the waitresses and a busser are out tonight.I think they’ve got the flu.”Gabriel fell on his knees on the grass next to Silas, then collapsed on his back.“Sang, change your birthday.Make it like a week later or something.The tenth.Or the fifteenth.Or fuck it.Make it next month.November’s a nice birthday month.Have a November birthday.”“Okay,” I said, in a very enthusiastic tone.I wouldn’t mind putting this off for a month, either.What did they expect from me? It was just a birthday.I knew other friends got each other little gifts.They totally didn’t have to do it, but I had a feeling arguing with them about this would lead to futile fights that I wouldn’t win.“We can’t put off her birthday,” Victor said.He turned to look at me.“What do you want, anyway?”“A nice birthday card.”“No, really.”I moaned softly, rubbing a finger over my brow.“Really, guys, don’t go through any trouble.We’ve got enough to do right now.”“Sang, it’s your first birthday with us,” Gabriel said.“You’re getting stuff.”“And it’s her sixteenth birthday,” Luke said.Gabriel’s mouth dropped open.“Holy fuck, is it? I didn’t even think about that.” He smashed his palms into his face.“Aw shit, no.No, this isn’t happening.I can’t swing a sweet sixteen in two days.”Victor pulled my phone out from his pocket.“Why won’t they shut up? My butt is already numb from all the vibrating.”“Make sure it isn’t Kota or the others trying to figure out what I’m doing,” I said [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]