Erebos Read Free Page B

wanted to ask you something . . . It’s about today . . . at school . . .’ He shut his eyes tight, took a breath.
    â€˜About the Chemistry test?’
    â€˜No. Uuuh . . . I happened to see Rashid trying to give you something. Can you tell me what it was?’
    It was a few seconds before Emily answered. ‘Why?’
    â€˜Well, I . . . it’s because . . . A few people have been acting strange lately. Lots of people have been away from school, too. Have you noticed?’ Amazing – he was finally managing to speak in whole sentences. ‘And I think it has something to do with these things that have been going around . . . That’s why . . . you know . . . I’d like to find out what it’s all about.’
    â€˜I don’t know either.’
    â€˜Didn’t Rashid tell you anything about it?’
    â€˜No, he was interrogating me. He wanted to know stuff about my family that’s none of his business – whether they give me lots of freedom, that sort of thing.’ She gave a short, joyless laugh. ‘And whether I’ve got my own computer.’
    â€˜Aha.’ Nick was trying in vain to make sense of this information. ‘Did he say why you needed the computer?’
    â€˜No. He just said he was going to give me something incredibly awesome – better than anything I’d ever seen before, and that I had to look at it alone .’ Emily’s tone of voice made it obvious what she thought of this. ‘He was pretty pushy and frantic. But of course you saw that yourself.’
    The last sentence sounded snippy. Nick could feel himself going red. ‘Yes, I did.’ There was a pause.
    â€˜What do you think it is?’ Emily asked finally.
    â€˜No idea. I’ll ask Colin when he comes back to school. Or . . . I mean, maybe you have a better idea?’ There was silence down the phone line.
    Then Emily said, ‘No. To be honest, I hadn’t thought that much about it.’
    Before his next sentence Nick took a deep breath. ‘Would you like to know if I find out something? Only if it’s interesting, obviously.’ ‘Yes, sure,’ Emily said. ‘Of course. But I have to go now, I have stuff to do.’
    The conversation made Nick’s day. Colin could go and get stuffed. He had made a connection with Emily, and he had an excuse for getting in touch with her again soon. As soon as he knew more.
    Colin was back at school. He leaned against his locker as if nothing had happened, flashed Nick a grin and tossed his dreadlocks over his shoulder. ‘I had the worst sore throat of my life,’ he said, and gestured at his scarf. ‘Couldn’t even talk on the phone, I was totally hoarse.’
    Nick tried to figure out from Colin’s face whether he was lying, but he couldn’t. ‘Bethune went ballistic. I’ve never seen him that mad,’ he said. ‘Why didn’t you tell him you were sick?’
    â€˜Oh, I felt lousy. The old man shouldn’t go on about it.’
    Nick chose his next words with care. ‘What you had must be incredibly infectious. The day before yesterday there were only eight of us. That’s an absolute all-time low.’
    If Colin was surprised, he didn’t show it. ‘So? It can happen.’
    â€˜Jerome was away too.’
    Only the tiniest twitch of his eyelids betrayed Colin’s sudden interest. Nick dug deeper.
    â€˜Speaking of Jerome, tell me, what was it you gave him recently?’
    His answer came like a shot. ‘The new Linkin Park album. Sorry, I know I should copy it for you too. I’ll get it to you tomorrow, okay?’ And with that he slammed his locker door, shoved his Maths books under his arm and looked questioningly at Nick. ‘So, can we go?’
    With a start, Nick shook off the daze Colin’s explanation had put him in. Linkin Park! Was he imagining all that conspiracy stuff? What if his imagination was playing