Hardboiled: Not Your Average Detective Story (The Lillim Callina Chronicles Book 5) Read Free

wasn’t there. I watched as her door shut with a near-inaudible click before staring back down at the paper in my hand.
    “Okay… I have physics first period,” I mumbled to myself, which was a little embarrassing. I really needed to stop doing that before I did irrevocable harm to my image.
    “Physics, eh?” asked a boy who stood just on the other side of a wooden half-wall that separated the counselor’s waiting area from the rest of the office.
    “Uh… yeah,” I replied, blushing and shaking my head. “Do you know where that is?” I asked.
    “Yup, there’s only one physics teacher,” he said, glancing around before covering his mouth with one hand. “Want me to show you?” he asked under his breath.
    “Okay,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him because he was acting suspicious. Then again, he was a teenage boy dressed in a black skull and crossbones t-shirt and black jeans. If that didn’t say “I’m creepy, be wary of me” I wasn’t sure what did.
    “Okay,” he replied, gesturing for me to come toward the gate. “But don’t tell anyone I helped you, it would ruin my image.”
    “No problem,” I said, smirking as I opened the gate and stepped through.
    “So…” he said once we were out of the office. “Who does your hair? I mean, I tried to color mine,” he pointed up at his hair which was a cross between black and forest green. “But the color never comes out like yours.”
    My left eye twitched as I reached up and pulled a lock of hair down in front of my face. It was soft lavender. I felt my cheeks burst into flames as I glanced nervously at him and was partially tempted to just tell him the truth: that I was a freak who had purple hair. I’d dyed it black yesterday… how had the dye already faded?
    “My friend did it for me back home. It was a going away present,” I said nervously. “It doesn’t look all messed up? I was worried it wouldn’t look… uh, natural.”
    He shook his head, sending his mop of half-green hair whirling around his face. “It looks natural, but you won’t find someone who is that awesome at hair coloring here.” He glanced at me as we came to a stone stairwell. It led upward as though it was the entrance to a castle tower. “I’d enjoy it while it lasts.”
    “I will,” I said, already deciding to get hair dye on the way home even though it probably wouldn’t last very long. Do they sell travel dye packs? Maybe I could skip my first class and go to a drugstore now…
    He opened the door in front of me and gestured at it. “After you,” he said, ushering me inside.
    Before I knew what was happening, I was standing inside the room with several dozen faces staring at me. Had I missed the first bell somehow?
    “Connor,” a man in his mid-twenties with long red hair and a goatee said, “is this our new student?”
    “Yes, Dr. Matthers,” the boy who had escorted me said, glancing down at his black skater shoes. So… he had been sent to get me? Why that little… and here I thought he was being nice.
    “Well sit down, Connor,” Matthers said, weaving effortlessly through the throng of desks until he was standing next to me. He looked me up and down before his eyes settled on my hair. A small sigh escaped him. Then he turned, glancing at the rest of the class who were all staring at me, the freak with the purple hair. Already, I could hear people starting to murmur. Why had my hair picked today of all days to fade back to normal so quickly? Why? Normally my hair took at least a week to shed the dye, this was fast, even for me.
    “Class, we have a new student starting today. Her name is Lillim Callina,” he said, turning toward me. “Why don’t you come to the front of the room and tell us just a little about yourself.” He glanced up at the wall clock. “But be quick about it, we have a state-mandated schedule to keep.”
    “Um… okay,” I replied as I followed him up to the front. When I turned, everyone was staring at me, and