Page 77 of For Your Own Good

“Did you happen to notice if it was there when you entered the room to clean it?”

“Nope.”

“I see,” Teddy says. “Is the camera system working yet? Perhaps whoever took it was—”

“Nope.”

All right. Teddy gets it. Perhaps he did mention Joe to the police when they questioned him about Sonia. And, yes, he did say that Joe probably didn’t like her because of the way she treated him. Then there’s the whole email thing he set up, though it’s unlikely the police have figured that out yet.

All of which is neither here nor there. Teddy has never treated Joe badly before, and quite frankly, he is stunned by this total lack of interest— or help—from the school’s custodian.

“Might you have any suggestions for how I can look into this further?” Teddy says. “It was atheft, for God’s sake. On school grounds.”

For the first time, Joe’s face changes. He smiles, revealing a full set of coffee-stained teeth. “Have you checked the dumpster?” he says. “I know how much you like to root around in the trash.”

48

CRUTCHER’S IN Ashit mood today. Not that it’s anything new, but today he’s treating the whole class the way he usually treats Zach.

The Divine Comedy? A punishment—Zach knows that. Or maybe a judgment, given how much he hates everyone.

“I have allotted four weeks in total forThe Divine Comedy,” Crutcher says. “Which means you should finish the first book,Inferno, by next week. Pay particular attention to who ends up in each ring of hell and why. Hypocrites, for example. Or thieves.”

Maybe that’s it, Zach realizes. Maybe Crutcher thinks of himself as a god, and it’s his job to punish people.

At lunch, Zach eats in the dining hall with everyone else. He doesn’t bring his own food. Nor does anyone else. Halfway through the break, Zach’s phone buzzes. So does everyone else’s. They all receive the same news alert.

BREAKING NEWS

DA cancels afternoon press conference.

More to come...

“I thought Courtney was getting out today,” Lucas says.

“So did I.” Zach reads through the whole article, which is just a recap of the story so far. “This is weird.”

Courtney’s friend, Daria, appears at their table. “Did you see this?” she says, holding up her phone.

“We saw it,” Zach says.

“I talked to her dad last night,” Daria says. “He said they were going to drop the charges today.”

“Maybe they still are.”

She frowns, staring at her phone. Daria is one of those girls with white-blond hair and alabaster skin. Red lipstick is her signature thing. “Maybe,” she says. “But this doesn’t seem right.”

Daria walks away, moving on to another table.

It doesn’t seem right to Zach, either. He considers texting Kay, but a jail guard probably wouldn’t have a clue what the DA is doing.

All afternoon, he continues to check the news. Nothing else is announced. No press conference, no mention of Courtney. It makes him wonder if that news alert was wrong. Wouldn’t be the first time.

When he walks out of his last class, there’s still nothing. No word at all. He gets a text message from Lucas, asking if Zach wants to go to his house. That means get high. Zach stands in the hall, trying to decide if he should go home and start reading or go to Lucas’s.

“Zach.”

He looks up from his phone to see Ms.Marsha. She has always reminded him of his grandmother. The way she speaks makes him do whatever she says. “Hi, Ms.Marsha.”