Blindfold Read Free Page B

would be here soon. The jury should be in place.
    "Robert isn't coming," a deep, unfamiliar voice said from the doorway.
    All heads turned.
    The boy in the doorway, leaning against the frame as if he'd built it himself, was tall, with long legs in jeans, and wide shoulders in a navy-blue suede jacket over a white T-shirt.
    "Oh, wow," Helen breathed, and Lane declared, "Omigod, it's John F. Kennedy, Junior! What's he doing here?" The two cheerleaders sat up very straight, their hands automatically flying to their hair.
    He's a swimmer, Maggie thought, assessing the span of the newcomer's shoulders. She glanced Hel---
    n
    en's way to see if there was recognition on her face. There wasn't, so the guy didn't swim at Bransom. Of course not. If he did, Maggie would have seen him when she went to Helen's meets. And if she'd seen him, she'd remember him, because that was definitely not a forgettable face. Nice bones. Nice skin, still tanned, although it was too late in the year to be swimming outside. Tennis, too, maybe? He had the shoulders for it. Nice eyes. Bright. Keen, as if they could see things ordinary eyes couldn't. Were they brown or hazel? His hair was brown, a little wavy around the edges, and recently combed, Maggie thought. Maybe right before he entered the gym? What was he smiling at? No one had said anything funny. No one had said anything at all. But he was smiling. Like he knew something they didn't.
    Well, he did. He knew that Robert wasn't coming. And why.
    "Okay, I'll bite," Maggie said coolly. Lane was wrong. This guy didn't look that much like John F. Kennedy, Jr. His hair was lighter. "Why isn't Robert coming?"
    The boy didn't move. Four people arrived and passed him in the doorway, but he stayed where he was. Maggie recognized the quartet. It included Susan Blair, this semester's "judge." Behind her, his usual sullen expression present, walked James Keith, a sophomore; his girlfriend, Connie Fox; and James's student "lawyer," Ralph Santini, who looked like he would rather be taking a pop math quiz blindfolded.
    This was James Keith's third appearance before the peer jury this semester, and it was only early October. He had the personality of a badger, the manners of a hyena, and was as sly and stealthy as a snake. We should just sentence him to the zoo, Maggie thought, feeling James's hostile glare. He was focusing it only on her. One of the prices she paid for being foreperson.
    Susan took her seat behind the judge's desk, and the other three sat in front of her on folding chairs. James, short and dark and barrel-chested, stared at her arrogantly. Ralph looked far less confident than he usually did. He knew his "client" well. Everyone at Bransom did. No wonder Ralph looked nervous. Connie, a small, pretty girl, wore a bored expression on her face.
    "Your friend Robert," the boy in the doorway said in answer to Maggie's question, 'Is waging a tough battle in calculus. He decided his time would be better spent by hitting the books than by meting out justice. He asked me if I'd be interested in taking his place, since I'd mentioned to him that I might be going into law someday. I thought about this jury thing, and it seemed like a good idea. So here I am. That my chair?" he finished, pointing to the empty chair on Maggie's left.
    "You can't just take someone's place," Scout protested. "You have to talk to Mrs. Marsh, our principal, or one of the counselors. You have to be picked."
    Maggie and Helen exchanged an amused look that said silently, Boys! Scout Redfern, who was alu
    most as tall as the boy in the doorway and almost, but not quite, as good-looking, was used to being in charge of things. He obviously wasn't thrilled by the arrival of another great-looking guy in his territory. Bad enough that a girl had been selected as foreperson. Now, in the doorway, stood yet another threat to Scout's heretofore peaceful, unchallenged reign at Bransom.
    Helen smiled and Maggie shrugged. He'll get over it, she signaled