A Dangerous Mission [2]

(Malory)

Lunch rolls in and I’m off to the school’s newsroom faster than the freshmen are to the cafeteria on an average day. I walk cheerily into the room to find a thin, tall guy, sitting on a moss green couch in the corner of the room, tapping away on his laptop. He has the same gigantic, baby blue glasses over his eyes that he’d managed to keep well-maintained since we were both freshmen. I can’t say I’m surprised, though. He seems like that kind of guy who would keep his personal belongings spotless.

“Dean,” I say, smirking as I approach him. He looks up and stops tapping, fixing his glasses and squinting up at me for a second.

“Lloyd,” he acknowledges. “It’s been a while since you’ve last acknowledged my existence.”

That’s true. I haven’t spoken to this kid since last year. I used to help out in the newsroom, sometimes and he was always a big part of news production. Then he went off into the Science class and I ended up in Humanities. We’re only genius acquaintances, now.

I’d come to know of his special abilities in first year. This kid is a human computer. I knew he was going to come in handy someday. Fortunately for me, being someone who always thinks three steps ahead, I had managed to get some “dirt” on him that would allow me to pull some of his strings if I ever needed to.

“I am aware of the fact,” I reply with a smile.

“What can I do you for?” He asks, melodramatically.

“I need to find someone,” I say. I don’t exactly know how to elaborate on that.

“And?”

“And I don’t know how to hack into the school’s system where they keep all the information about addresses, but you do,” I finish.

He smirks. “You do know that it’s like... illegal to do that, though, right?”

Of all the times he could have chosen to be a smartass he had to choose now?

“Now’s not the time to be a smartass, Justin Dean. I need the address of a classmate of yours. It’s an emergency.”

He raises a brow. “Davidson, by chance?”

“Yes. Davidson.”

“What’s going on with him? Our teachers are going crazy trying to get answers out of those big brain goodies in class since he’s not around to do all the work for everyone else.”

I had a feeling that would have been the case. Behind Dean’s distracting voice, I can see him trying to focus on closing off tabs on his laptop screen, and I know exactly what he’s trying to hide.

“That’s what I’m planning to find out,” I said.

“What are you going to offer me in return for this assistance?” He asks, smugly.

I smirk. “I’ll keep your secret.”

He scoffs at me. “What secret?”

I pull out my phone and wave it in front of him. “I’ve been saving this blackmail for a rainy day. You wouldn’t want me to sell you out about what you’ve actually been doing on the computer when you used to skip periods of work under the excuse of ‘writing articles for tomorrow’s print’” I chuckle, “would you?”

His smug look fades. He whispers. “Fine. I get to erase your blackmail, though. That’ll be my payment.”

This kid must think me stupid. I have another copy of it on my computer at home. In fact, I have an entire folder of blackmail content that I can use against any one of the seniors. I’m incredibly slick. Don’t ask why I’ve done it. I’ve just learnt how to be the one to always win.

“After you give me Kyle’s current address. Deal?”

“...Deal,” he says, reluctantly. “I’ll give you the address hopefully by the end of tomorrow.”

The end of tomorrow?

“Psh, I’m sure you can do better than that.”

“Of course I can,” he says, confidently, “but the Information Technology teachers would know someone is hacking into the system while we’re all here during school hours. I’ll wait for them to leave first.”

I roll my eyes. “Whatever. Thanks, Justin.” I turn to leave.

“Oh! Wait, Malory?” He calls suddenly.

“Yerrrr?” I utter as I turn to him again.

“Is it true that you and Davidson got the leading roles for the A.F play?” He asks, sounding genuinely curious.

Truth is I was a bit sceptical about letting anyone involved in the school press in on the business between Davidson and me, but I don’t need to worry about Dean. I still have a good case against him.

I inhale slowly. “Unfortunately.”

He shudders. “Sheesh. How’s that working out for the two of ya?”

Horrible. Terrible. I want to throw myself off a cliff. I want to shove a moving chainsaw down my throat. I want to deliberately bang my head a hundred times on a wall. I want to donate all my blood to someone in need and just give up the ghost.

“Well... it appears Kyle has gone missing for almost a week,” I say. “I’ll say it’s working out pretty well for me. But now I need to find him. That’s not the good part in my opinion, but I must. I’m not letting Kyle Davidson ruin my final year of theatre at Audrey Burkes. He has to be a part of it and neither of us have a choice but to participate and to do well.”

“Was this Beverly’s decision?”

I nod once. “Bev’s decision.”

He grimaces. “Go figures. I’ll get you the address. Do you want a phone number as well?”

Do I?

No I do not.

What would I do with Kyle Davidson’s phone number?

To hell with the thought of calling that fool.

“No, I’ll get it from Ron if I really need it. But thanks, anyway. Just the address is fine.”