The Education of Hailey Kendrick - Eileen Cook [20]
“Holy shit,” someone whispered a few rows in front of me. I looked up and saw Mr. Winston standing with Mr. Hanson, the football coach, who was holding the metal arm from the knight. A few people started to giggle, but stopped as Mr. Winston’s gaze fell on them.
“That is priceless,” Kelsie whispered to me.
“People, this is not a joke. I see no reason for laughter. This statue is a symbol of this institution. It stands for the values that this school is based upon. It was a gift from a benefactor from the 1950s. This crime is a slap in the face of every student here.”
“How the hell did they get the arm off? They must have had a blowtorch,” Kelsie said, leaning forward to see the arm better.
I shrugged. I wondered if I’d left any fingerprints on the statue. Would the school have some sort of CSI crew that could dust it? Crime wasn’t my usual thing. I had never even stolen a Tootsie Roll from the bulk section of the grocery store. I could feel myself starting to sweat.
“I would like the guilty parties to do the honorable thing and stand up and admit to their crime,” Mr. Winston said. People looked around to see if anyone felt honorable. My butt felt glued to the seat. My eyes shot over to Joel, but he was staring around like everyone else. I forced myself to slow my breathing down.
“Very well.” Mr. Winston straightened up. “Would Hailey Kendrick and Tristan Johl please come forward?”
I felt everyone in the room swivel around to look at Tristan and me. I wanted to sink into the bench. Kelsie was staring at me with her mouth open. The link between my brain and my legs didn’t seem to be working, and I didn’t think I could stand. Tristan was standing, but looked confused.
“Ms. Kendrick. Front and center, please,” Mr. Winston bellowed.
Tristan came to the end of the row and held out his hand for me.
“Don’t worry. We didn’t do anything,” Tristan said softly in my ear.
I wanted to explain to him that it was complicated, that I had done something, but I couldn’t get my mouth to form words. Everyone was watching us, and Mr. Winston was standing at the front like an executioner. I was shaking, but I managed to stand, and we walked to the front. There was a rustle of whispering. I would have turned and run out of the hall, but there was nowhere for me to go. You can’t really run away in rural Vermont unless you have your own car.
“Mr. Winston, I’m sure there’s been some sort of mistake,” Tristan said, turning on the charm.
“Really?” Mr. Winston looked down his nose at Tristan. It was well known that Mr. Winston preferred the kids who came from “old money.” He thought kids who were connected to Hollywood were trouble. He seemed almost happy to have finally caught one doing something wrong. “The both of you should know you could be expelled for this prank. Ms. Kendrick, I am especially disappointed in you. I expected far more from you as a member of the student council and a leader in this school. What do you have to say for yourself?”
I stared into his eyes. My mind seemed to have lost the ability to communicate.
“We had nothing to do with this,” Tristan said, motioning to the severed arm that Mr. Hanson was still holding.
“I saw you,” one of the security guards said as he stepped forward. “I heard something, just after eleven and when I got to the statue, I saw the arm on the ground and you standing there making out. I looked you straight in the face,” he said, looking at me. He crossed his arms over his chest.
“But I was in study group,” Tristan said, sounding lost.
“Then, who were you with?” Mr. Winston asked, turning to me. I could hear someone in the audience gasp.
“You were with some other guy?” Tristan asked. He looked as if I had slapped him.
“Tell me who else was involved,” Mr. Winston demanded.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Joel starting to stand. The situation was going from bad to worse. If Joel admitted that he was the person I’d been making out with during the Great Statue Destruction, then Tristan was going to be completely crushed. He already looked at if someone had scooped his guts out