Page 107 of For Your Own Good

Surprise.

With a last name like that, how could he not remember it? Maybe she’simpressed, or maybe she’s pretending to be. Doesn’t matter. The result is they end up off in a corner, sitting together on a crumbling stone bench.

She’s from Southern California, where it never snows, and until this year she never owned a winter coat.

“Tell me about the beaches,” he says.

She does, and for a little while Zach forgets they’re sitting outside in near-freezing temperatures. He also forgets about the past couple of weeks. The light at the end of the tunnel feels close enough to touch.

Until she asks.

“What’s it like to be arrested?”

“I’m sorry?”

“You were arrested, weren’t you?” Lena says. “At least, that’s what I heard.”

All of a sudden, Lena isn’t so cute anymore. Not after she told Zach he’s becomethatguy. “Yep, that was me,” he says. “I’m the loser.”

“I didn’t say that.” Lena touches his arm. “I didn’t mean any—”

“Cool, cool. I should get going anyway. It’s freezing out here.” He stands up and looks around, realizing that this afternoon party has grown pretty big. Too big. Probably won’t be long before it gets broken up. “Nice talking to you.”

Zach walks away, not regretting it at all. He shouldn’t be here anyway, because Courtney is getting out of jail today. He should go see her instead.

TEDDY SITS INhis living room, a glass of milk empty, a package of cookies gone. While he normally wouldn’t eat so much sugar, today is an exception.

The news replays snippets of Teddy’s interview throughout the afternoon. He watches them all, critiquing himself—the way he looks and moves—and critiquing the interviewer. Lissa may look like a bobblehead, but she’s not half-bad at her job.

“I want to express my thanks to the staff at the hospital. I was impressed by theirprofessionalism and the level of care I received. We are very lucky to have this world-class facility in our community.”

That was one of his favorite quotes. It was a stretch, yes. Even bordering on an outright lie. But the care he received wasn’t bad, even if Allison never visited him.

He hopes she has seen his interview. Honestly, it would be almost impossible for her to miss.

By late afternoon, the Belmont website has linked the interview. It’s right alongside their memorial page to the headmaster, and a page sending well-wishes to the surviving victims: four students, Fallon Knight, and Teddy.

Fallon. She was a fluke, not a target.

Who knew she drank milk? Teddy didn’t know. He hadn’t paid that much attention to her drinking habits. Nor did he know which students would end up with the milk he’d tampered with. He only knew they wouldn’t die.

Probably.

Unless one of them happened to have a heart condition, there wasn’t enough poison to kill them. And he was right.

Except for the headmaster, who’d had that unfortunate heart attack last year.

Very few people knew about it, but Teddy did. Thanks to Allison, who’d told him because he’s her husband and this is what couples do. They talk about interesting things that happen during their day. The Belmont headmaster showing up in the emergency room was one of those things.

And, yes, Teddy also knew he drank milk. Every single day, he showed up first for lunch in the dining hall. And every day, he drank a small carton of milk while he ate lunch among the students.

So maybe Teddy had had a tiny little suspicion that, of all the people who drank milk, the headmaster would be the one to die. Not that hewantedthe headmaster to die; he just knew it was a possibility.

All beside the point. The point, of course, was to save his students.They deserved a better leader, someone who would go the extra mile to save them. Even students like Zach.

A breaking news report lets him know he succeeded.

DAUGHTER RELEASED IN DEATH OF MOTHER. CHARGES DROPPED BY DA.