The Education of Hailey Kendrick - Eileen Cook [12]
“Is Tristan there?”
“Hi, this is Joel. Nice talking to you. Usually when people call my phone, they’re calling to talk to me.”
“I need to talk to Tristan.” My voice snagged on the words. Suddenly the anger was sharing space with tears. I was even madder that I felt like crying.
“Hey, are you okay?” Joel’s voice turned soft. “Tristan’s not here.”
“Where is he?” My voice came out small. “Can you get him? I really need him.”
“He’s in a study group down in our lounge. He’s not supposed to be back until late. Do you want me to get him?”
The tears started to pour out of my eyes, laser hot as they slid down my face.
“Hailey? You still there? What’s wrong?”
“I . . .” My voice trailed off. I didn’t know how to explain it. How it hurt that my dad didn’t want me around, and how it was even more upsetting that I’d let myself be so excited about the summer, when I should have known better. “You tell him I called?” I squeaked out.
“Yeah. I’ll tell him to call you the second he walks in. Listen, you can talk to me about whatever . . .”
I clicked off the phone without even saying good-bye. My feet tapped on the floor. I couldn’t just sit there. I felt like I was going to fly apart into a thousand pieces. I yanked my door open and stepped out into the hallway right into the path of our dorm matron, Ms. Estes.
“Ms. Kendrick,” she said in her clipped voice.
“I have to go out for a bit.”
“I’m afraid it’s after eleven.” She pointed to her naked wrist as if she were wearing a watch. Evesham required all students to be in their dorms from eleven p.m. to six a.m. on weeknights. No exceptions.
“I—I need to get some air.” I could feel myself shaking. She stood there, unmoving. Ms. Estes had never met a rule she didn’t like to enforce. I wanted to push her out of my way, but instead I stepped back into my room and slammed my door closed.
“Two demerit points, Ms. Kendrick.” I heard her say through the door. Without even seeing her, I knew she was writing it down in the small Snoopy notebook she carried in her pocket, just for these occasions. I kicked the door when I was sure she was far enough down the hall not to hear. My toe gave a loud crack. I bit down to avoid yelling out. I hopped around on one foot. It felt like I had broken my big toe.
I hobbled back and forth in front of my bed, trying to shake off the pain. My phone rang, and I lunged over to grab it. Thank God, Tristan. I looked at the display. It wasn’t Tristan; it was Joel. I threw it back down onto the bed without picking up the call. It felt like I couldn’t get a deep breath. I yanked open the window and took deep greedy gulps of air. I don’t remember making the decision. There wasn’t a go-or-don’t-go pause. It’s hard to know what would have happened if I had stopped to think, but I didn’t. One second I was in the room, and the next I was climbing down the ivy outside the window, jumping the last few feet down to the ground. I stood outside for a beat, looking back at the warm yellow light of my room, and then I took off.
5
The problem with running away at Evesham was that there really wasn’t anywhere to go. It wasn’t because the campus has a giant wall around it, though it does, but because the school is several miles outside of town. Wandering around in the woods on a dark and drizzling night didn’t feel like getting away with anything. It just felt wet and cold.
I paused by the front gate, next to a giant statue of the school mascot, a knight in armor holding a sword pointing toward the sky. Everyone on campus called him the Tin Man. Evesham was named after a famous battle in England in the thirteenth century. The Evesham motto—“Loyalty, Duty, and Honor”—was inscribed in brass letters around the statue’s base.
That was a laugh. Loyalty and duty. Look how far that had gotten me. I was always was the one who smoothed things over, who gave in to make things work. The school could act like loyalty and duty were virtues, but my experience had taught me that