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week. They’re interviewing people in case anyone saw something.”
    I say, “If someone saw something, they would have already reported it.”
    Maxwell says, “You’d think so, especially when people are getting shot right in our parking lot. I’m glad the cops are all over this.”
    One of the girls says, “So what if a drug dealer gets shot? It’s one less drug dealer.”
    Maxwell says, “It doesn’t sound like he was a big player. Poor bastard might have owed the wrong guy money.” He calls over to the girls, “You want the cops just to let them shoot each other in our parking lot? What if one of us gets caught in the crossfire?”
    Mila says, “Maxwell is right.” She smiles at him. Maxwell stands up tall and puffs out his chest. He looks at me as if to say, Can you believe this? Mila is pretty, which makes it all the more amazing that she knows his name.
    I feel Cyn’s hand on my waist. Her touch is light and so brief that I’m not sure she meant to touch me. But then her fingers slip under my shirt and trace the top of my jeans. I glance at Maxwell, but he’s busy watching Mila’s butt as she bends over the work station. The rest of the classroom blurs as Cyn tugs my waistband. She says, “Walk me to my next class, okay?”
    The bell rings and Maxwell slams his notebook closed. “That experiment was so easy!” I realize I haven’t made a single note, and I don’t even care. I grab my stuff and follow Cyn out of the classroom.
    The hallway is packed and I almost have to run to keep up. A few people give me dirty looks as I shoulder past them. Where the hallways intersect, a couple of school liaison cops stand like big blue islands in the throng. Their arms are crossed, and they are scanning the crowd. One of them follows Cyn with his eyes. I don’t know why, but I feel my face flush red. Cyn notices the cop too and ducks her head. The cop curls his finger at me, motioning me to come over. Cyn blows me a small sideways kiss and then disappears in the crowd.
    The cop introduces himself as Constable Nagle, gives me his card and pulls out a tablet. He asks my name, what grade I’m in. I’m thinking about the cop watching Cyn, and how her fingers touched her lips as she blew the kiss. The cop tap-taps. Do I live near the school? Do I drive? Where do I park? I think about Cyn’s fingers on my belly. The cop is just looking at me. Did he ask me something else? He seems to be waiting for me to answer.
    “Huh?”
    The cop sighs. “I said, when was the last time you were in Meridian Park?”
    I think about last night, with Cyn, on the bench in Meridian Park. I think about the lamplight hanging in the trees and how the cold raised little bumps on Cyn’s ski, and how warm she was when she held me. Just now, in the hallway, was she blowing me a kiss? Or was she shushing me? The cop raises his eyebrows. “Well?”
    Why wouldn’t Cyn want me to say anything to the cop? She and I were there last night, but the shooting was last week. We didn’t see anything. We weren’t doing anything wrong. But I don’t really want to explain to the cop what we were doing there at one in the morning. I say, “Meridian Park? I can’t remember the last time I was there.”

Chapter Five
    Two days later Cyn is standing at my locker, chewing on her thumbnail. As I approach, she smiles and throws her arms around me. She kisses me on the cheek. “How would you like to drive the Honda?”
    “At lunch?”
    She shakes her head. “Right now. It needs gas.”
    “Now? I’ve got a class. How about we go together at lunch?” I open my locker and reach for my textbook.
    She puts her hand on mine. “No, it’s got to be right now. My brother is picking it up, and he’ll lose his mind if I haven’t filled the tank. I’d go, but I’ve already skipped this week.”
    Has she forgotten that I’ve skipped too?
    She says, “And I’ve been late. Twice.” She presses the keys into my hands. “There’s forty bucks in the