Page 10 of Artifice (Pros and Cons Mysteries #4)

O live hated to admit it, but only ten minutes into the math class and she was already bored out of her mind.

She’d never liked math in the first place.

The teacher was a woman in her thirties who probably looked closer to sixty because of the dowdy clothing she wore, her drawn expression, and the dullness in her gaze.

Something about the woman made Olive feel as if she’d stepped back into the Victorian era.

Maybe it was her poofy gray skirt or beige blouse. She wasn’t sure.

What was up with all of the employees here looking so serious and gray all the time?

The woman’s tone had no inflection, and she made no effort whatsoever to make class interesting.

The students seemed to share Olive’s feelings as they sat at their desks. As soon as one of them started acting up, however, Ms. Strickland was on it. She walked to the student’s desk and smacked a ruler on it.

The action seemed so old-fashioned. Yet Olive knew stricter rules were needed at the school since the teens here had mostly found themselves in trouble.

Olive had already observed everyone in the class. Specifically, she’d been looking for Peyton. She wanted to believe she could identify the student just by seeing their eyes.

But she had no such luck. Either Peyton wasn’t in this class or Olive wasn’t as observant as she thought.

Nor did she see Abe.

Which made sitting through this class feel like a huge waste of her time. Yet she couldn’t get up and leave yet either. Instead, she grabbed her cell phone and slipped it under the desk.

She checked her messages and saw that Jason had texted her again.

I miss you.

Her heart started to warm, but she immediately pulled the emotion back.

However, she reminded herself, just because Jason’s dad might have had something to do with her family’s death, that didn’t mean that Jason knew about it. None of this meant he was involved.

But somehow that information skewed her view of him, whether she liked it or not.

Neither had promised each other anything. However, she wouldn’t ghost him. Their relationship was already complicated since they lived so far apart.

She typed back:

Miss you too. I’ll try to call later tonight if you’re available.

He replied:

I’ll be anxiously waiting.

Despite herself, Olive grinned.

She was about to text Tevin when she felt a presence above her.

Then a shadow darkened her desk.

Her breath caught, and she straightened.

When she looked up, Ms. Strickland was staring at her, the sour expression still on her face. “Perhaps you didn’t hear that cell phones are not permitted in my class.”

A round of snickers peppered the air around Olive.

Great. So much for not calling attention to herself.

Olive raised her chin. “I wasn’t aware the rules applied to me.”

“Adults must set the example.” Then Ms. Strickland extended her hand.

Did this woman really think Olive would hand over her cell phone?

Liv Bettencourt would never do such a thing.

Instead, she rose, hoisting her purse over her shoulder. “I’ve seen enough. Thank you, and I’ll let you go back to teaching.”

Ms. Strickland’s gaze bore into her as she left.

How would Margaret feel about that exchange? Olive was sure the staff here had been instructed to be on their best behavior.

Ms. Strickland had failed.

As Olive stepped into the hallway, she glanced around. She no longer had an escort. Margaret had planned on meeting Olive here after class.

Without her, Olive felt a new sense of freedom.

Olive glanced at her watch. That class still had fifteen minutes until it was over.

Maybe this would be the perfect time for Olive to take a little tour around this campus herself . . . without being under Margaret’s hawk-like gaze.

Carefully, Olive strolled down the hallway. She heard the instruction going on through the doors on each side of the hallway and wondered if every class was as boring and uninspiring as Ms. Strickland’s.

Why, out of all the teachers here at Lighthouse Harbor, had Margaret chosen Ms. Strickland’s class for Olive to observe? For someone who wanted to put their best foot forward, it didn’t seem like such a wise decision.

Olive resisted the urge to peer inside the small windows on each door, looking for either Abe or Peyton.

Instead, she quickly scanned her messages again to see if Tevin had any updates for her. She didn’t see any.

Tevin was hiking today, trying to mingle with more people in town to see if they might know something helpful. Maybe he hadn’t had time to do more research yet.

Olive paused when she realized where she was: the doorway she’d seen the student peering out of yesterday.

Right now, the door was closed.

Was anyone inside?

“You don’t want to be put in there,” someone said beside her.

Olive turned and saw a girl, probably fourteen, with black hair and deathly white skin staring at her.

“What is that room?” Olive asked.

“It’s the Quiet Room. That’s where students go when they need to rethink their decisions.”

“That doesn’t sound like fun.”

“It’s not.” The girl’s gaze darkened. “You have to stay in there until you learn your lesson.”

Olive sucked in a breath at the thought. “Have you ever been in there before?”

“Just once. Now I know I need to do whatever I can to not end up in there again.” The girl nodded at another door in the distance. “Sorry, but I gotta get to class before I get in trouble.”

The girl scurried away.

When she was gone, Olive glanced at the door to the Quiet Room again.

She scanned the hallway and noticed no one was in sight.

Drawing in a deep breath, she walked toward the room.

It was probably locked, she told herself. But her curiosity got the best of her.

She paused and reached for the handle.

Swallowing hard, her fingers wrapped around the cool metal.

When she twisted, the handle moved with her.

The room was unlocked.

After another moment of hesitation, Olive pushed the door open, her lungs frozen as she waited to see what was inside.