Chapter 25
The morning is one big blur, but the smell of chicken nuggets and fries snaps me out of it as I drag myself into the cafeteria and head for our table. Kids keep staring, talking in low voices, and pointing at me. A couple of people say “hey” or “glad you’re back,” but mostly I just keep my head down and beeline for the Coders.
From the corner of my eye, I see her. Sitting at the center table. A bright pink cast stretches from her toes to above her knee. There’s a line snaking around the table; people waiting to sign it. Peaks surround her like body-guards. For a split second, our eyes meet. I smile, but she doesn’t. She looks away.
Before I can chicken out, I start toward her table. Stuart appears beside me. “Darcie…” he warns.
“I just want to say hi.”
The conversation around Amelia grows louder as I get closer. Nobody even notices me until I’m standing right beside her wheelchair.
“Hey.”
The table falls silent as Amelia looks up. “Hello.” Her voice is polite, but not friendly.
“How’s your leg?”
“Broken.”
A couple people laugh. Not because it was funny, but because she said it. The strap on my book bag slips from my shoulder, and I jerk it back into place.
“We didn’t get a chance to say hi in math this morning, and you weren’t in PE.”
She gestures toward the cast.
“Oh. Right. I was wondering if maybe we could talk.”
The Peaks exchange glances and Amelia smooths an invisible wrinkle in her sweater. “What would we need to talk about?”
I stare at her. Seriously? How about you almost dying? How about Grover? How about everything we went through together? The lump in my throat is almost too big to swallow down. “You know…what happened.”
A flash of something flits across Amelia’s face, so quickly, I almost miss it.
“We already told the police what happened.”
She might as well have pushed my face into a snow bank.“That’s not what I mean.”
Crystal moves in beside Amelia. She folds her arms. “What exactly do you mean?”
A bad feeling creeps into my stomach. “I’m sorry?”
“Like what do you need to talk about? How the kidnapper is suddenly a saint?” The group laughs in that fake sort of way. It feels mean.
“I never said he was a saint.”
“Pretty sure you did. My brother said you told NBC thirteen that Grover saved everybody.”
What’s going on? “I never talked to channel thirteen.” I say, backing up a few steps.
“Then why were they saying that on the news?”
More kids are listening now. The room grows more and more quiet, and the number of eyes on me increases exponentially. “He did save Amelia,” I whisper.
“And there it is,” one of the guys flanking Amelia says.
“What?”
“The Shadow Man fan club of one,” Crystal laughs. “Are you in love with him, or what?”
My whole body feels like it’s on fire. I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.
The Peaks break out in hoots of laughter.
I look at Amelia. This is the moment where she’s going to tell them the truth. She’s going to say that Darcie’s right. That Grover pulled the tree off her, carried her through the blizzard. That he sat up all night changes bandages to stop the infection. That he saved her life. Twice. But she doesn’t. She lowers her eyes. Says nothing.
“Amelia?”
She won’t look at me. Finally she says, “I don’t remember much. I had a fever.”
I take a step back, then turn away slowly.
Behind me someone calls out, “Hey Darcie!”
I should ignore him, but I don’t. I stop and turn.
“Tell your boyfriend we said hi.” The laughter follows all the way across the cafeteria.
I collapse into a chair beside Stuart. Trash fills up the table—empty sandwich baggies, pudding cups, chip bags. “Why did I go over there?”
Stuart leans closer. “I tried to warn you. Those Peaks are never going to change.”
“Don’t let those creeps bother you.” Sebastian opens a package of strawberry twists and offers one to me. “We’re all behind you. They’re just…”
I look up, wiping the tears from my eyes. “Thanks guys. I don’t know why I ever wanted to be a Peak.”
Sebastian waves a piece of red licorice like it’s a conductor’s wand, “What if we help you make a bunch of signs? Like protest signs—you could put them up before your presentation. It’d show those Peaks that we’re behind you.”
“You’d do that for us?” I say, scooting closer.
Terrence snorts, nearly choking on an Oreo. “Oh—that’s actually kind of sick!”
“You think everything’s sick,” Maria says.
“Right?” Sebastian grins and takes a bite of his licorice. “You bet we’ll do it. Won’t we guys?”
I peel open my yogurt. “What do you have in mind? Like what would they say?”
“I don’t know.” He uses the licorice to paint the air. “Save the Shadow Man?”
Terrence wiggles his eyebrows. “What about something dramatic? Like, ‘This is a Mistake.’”
“I like that…” I grab his arm, “or what about, ‘Everything You Heard is Wrong’?”
Stuart leans in, hanging an elbow on my shoulder. “I told you they were all in.”
“How about my place at six-thirty?” I say. “I’m grounded from leaving the house, but it I’m sure it’ll be fine if you come there.” I steal a Frito from Stuart’s bag, already feeling the tension leave my shoulders.
“Okay, great.” He offers me another. “Pick up at…?” He raises an eyebrow.
“I don’t know, like eight-thirty? That gives us two hours.”
He pours the Frito crumbs into his mouth. “Perfect. Bring posters, markers, ideas—whatever.”
“I don’t have any poster board,” Terrence says.
Sebastian rolls his eyes. “So get some from art.”
“I’m not stealing—” he says, stuffing the last Oreo into his mouth.
“You took like three glue sticks last week.” Sebastian flicks his licorice in Terrence’s face.
“Stop! He shoves his hand away. “That was an emergency.”
Laughing, I hold up a hand. “Don’t steal them. I have plenty.”
The bell rings and everyone grabs their stuff. We head to class together, talking over each other about tomorrow.
Ms. Kendrick is waiting at the door when we get there. She lays a hand on my shoulder. “Thank God you’re alright.”
“It’s okay. I’m fine.”
Sniffing, she pulls a tissue from her pocket and waves everyone inside.
The classroom feels warm, like stepping into sunshine after being in air conditioning all day. It always smells good too—sometimes lavender, sometimes vanilla. There aren’t desks, just round tables, and bright posters everywhere, about speaking up and making a difference, working as a team, being good citizens. Rugs scatter around the floor, and for a minute, my mind flicks to the cave—those rugs. I shake it off.
On the wall there’s a new poster of Martin Luther King Jr. ‘Be the Voice of Justice.’
“Ms. Kendrick?” Shae raises her hand. “Can Darcie tell us about what happened? I mean, if she’s okay to talk about it.”
Everyone has something to say about that. Ms. Kendrick holds up her hands, “I don’t know...”
I bite my lip. “No—I want to.”
“Okay. If you’re sure. Whenever you’re ready.”
“What do you want to know?” I say, glancing around at the faces.
Three Peaks sit near the back of the classroom, arms folded.
“We heard the Shadow Man took you.”
I peel my eyes away from them and focus on the people who are really interested. “Grover—the Shadow Man…” How should I say this? “He’s not a bad guy. I thought he was—at first.” I shake my head. This isn’t coming out right.
Someone in the back humphs. They won’t say anything though. Not in here.
“What’s he look like?”
“Terrifying—gigantic—wears animal skins around his neck.”
“Didn’t he take you to a cave? We heard you were held in a cave.”
“Yes. But it’s not that simple.”
Everyone talks at once.
Ms. Kendrick snaps her fingers. “Let her finish.”
“Okay, so—” My sweaty palms slide against my jeans. I tell them about Andrew disappearing. About the tree falling on Amelia. About Grover carrying us to the cave.
The more I talk, the quieter the room gets. Even the kids like Terrance who can’t sit still are paying attention. A few look totally hooked, but others look like they’re waiting to catch me in a lie.
By the time I finish explaining how we ended up in the mountains with the man everyone calls the Shadow Man, nobody is whispering anymore.
I leave out the worst parts for now. The smell, the cold. The sounds Mommy made when she coughed. Some things are hard enough to deal with without having to explain them to an audience.
When I finally stop talking, Shae’s eyes are huge. “So you’re saying the Shadow Man actually saved Amelia?”
“I don’t believe it,” Sharon says. “Amelia told me none of this happened.”
And there it is. Reasonable doubt.
I basically ignore the accusing tone in her voice and answer, “Well, maybe because most of the time, Amelia was not aware of what was going on. She had a bad fever—from the injury.”
“What was the scariest part? I mean, if you can say.” Shae scoots closer.
“Mommy.”
The room erupts with questions. I answer as best I can, explaining who she was and why Andrew mattered to her. “But weirdly, by the end, she wasn’t the thing I was afraid of any more.”
That gets everyone’s attention.
“She was just someone’s mom that got left behind.”
The room is silent until the heat kicks on. Then it’s just white noise.
“That’s sick,” Terrence finally mutters. A few people groan.
Max gets to his feet and gives a few slow claps. “Great job, Darcie. Funny how Amelia remembers none of that.”
The bell rings, loud and sudden. Everyone jumps, but they don’t move right away.
“It’s the truth.” I say. “I’m the one telling the truth.”
“Sure you are.” He picks up his bag and heads out and the rest of the class eventually follows.
Ms. Kendrick places a hand on my shoulder. “You know, every time we’ve studied someone who stood up for what was right, there was always a crowd telling them to sit down and be quiet. Doesn’t mean the crowd was right.”