I shrug. “I don’t know, Mr. Miller. Principal Finnigan obviously has nothin’ better to do than chat with me.”
Miller gives a short laugh. “I’ll bet. Be back soon or you’ll miss today’s assignment.”
“Yes, sir,” I say.
I catch sight of Monika, who’s in the corner with her assigned group. She gives me a knowing look.
We both know I’m being called out of class because of the prank we pulled last night. I mouth the words “I got this” so she doesn’t freak out. I can tell she’s stressed by the way her eyebrows are furrowed.
When I arrive at Finnigan’s office, Trey, Jet, and Derek are already here. Coach Dieter is here too. He doesn’t look happy. The poor guy probably got his ass chewed out by Finnigan.
“Let’s cut to the chase, guys. Who did it?” Finnigan asks sternly as she paces back and forth in front of us.
“Who did what?” Jet asks, acting like he has no clue that Rolling Meadows’ football field has spray paint all over it.
“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, ma’am,” Derek chimes in with his exaggerated Texas accent.
“Can you elaborate so we’re not in the dark?” Trey says, playing along.
“Yeah,” I say. “I’m clueless over here.”
Finnigan stands in front of me. “Let me tell you something, Victor. Coach Dieter and I are not stupid. You four are the ringleaders of the football team, or should I say troublemakers. One of you, or all of you, are responsible. Who’s going to fess up?”
Nobody moves a muscle.
“You boys know better,” Dieter chimes in. “Vandalizing property is illegal. Obviously whoever did this will get detention and possibly a suspension. On top of that, we’ll have to inform the police.”
“Maybe it was the Rolling Meadows football players tryin’ to get us in trouble,” I say, impressed that I came up with that on the fly.
Dieter gets in my face. “Maybe it was you, Salazar, because the word numero was written in Spanish.”
“Excuse me, sir,” Trey chimes in. “But more than half the student body takes Spanish as a foreign language.”
“You want to fess up, Trey?” Dieter spits out. “Just say the word.”
“He didn’t do it,” I say. “I heard some chicks were talkin’ about playin’ a prank on Rolling Meadows. It wasn’t us.”
“Chicks?” Finnigan questions. “By ‘chicks’ do you mean ‘girls’?”
“Actually, I heard that, too,” Jet pipes in. “Girls can be real troublemakers, you know.”
“Okay, smart guys, you care to tell us which girls you’re referring to?” Finnigan asks. “So we can have the police come and interrogate them.”
“I forgot,” I say.
“You got a memory problem, Salazar?” Dieter asks me. “Maybe you’ve been hit too many times in the head and have a concussion. Our athletic trainer would be more than happy to check you out.”
“My head’s fine, Coach. Alzheimer’s runs in my family. It’s genetic, you know.”
Finnigan claps twice, as if we’re in kindergarten and she needs our attention. “Boys, are you going to tell us who vandalized Rolling Meadows’ football field?” When we don’t respond, she blows out a frustrated breath. “All right. Well, we have to make a good faith effort to punish those involved. Tell you what, gentlemen. I’ll be lenient this time and offer an in-school suspension to the one who fesses up. We’ll tell the authorities we’re taking care of it on our end. If nobody comes forward, then I’m going to suspend all of you from tonight’s game.”
“I did it,” I chime in. There’s no way I’m letting my friends take the fall. An in-school suspension on my record won’t mean shit because it’s already full of infractions I’ve made or been accused of.
“No, you didn’t do it, Salazar,” Jet says. “Tell her the truth. I did it.”
Derek rolls his eyes. “Jet’s lyin’ through his damn teeth. I did it.”
We all look at Trey. “I didn’t do it,” he says as he holds his hands up. “I need to keep my school record clean.”
“Thanks for havin’ our backs, Trey,” I say. I raise my hand. “I’ll take the suspension, Doc.”
“Fine.” Finnigan seems satisfied I’m the one who’ll take one for the team. “You’re all dismissed. Except you, Mr. Salazar. I’ll escort you down to the suspension room personally.”
“I can’t wait,” I tell her, thinking I’d rather be anywhere than in that suspension room.
Chapter Twelve
MONIKA
The first football game of the season is finally here. Everyone is pumped. I’m on the sidelines cheering, feeling the rush of excitement from the crowd with the hope of a victory. I’ve got bruises from falling off the fence yesterday, and my body aches more than usual, but I don’t care. Hearing the fans yell and the excitement of the game takes all my focus.
Between our cheers, I watch the game. My eyes immediately focus on Trey. He’s determined to make himself stand out. He’s so focused I don’t even think he’s looked into the stands once—not even when the defense is on the field and he has a break.
Not even to look at me.
I glance over at Vic, who just got off the field when the offensive line went in. He’s at the water station and when he takes his helmet off his hair falls onto his forehead. I can’t look away and feel goose bumps on my arms when his dark, intense eyes meet mine.