The Education of Hailey Kendrick - Eileen Cook [78]
“It wasn’t him. I was the one with Hailey!” Joel yelled out.
Joel was standing up. I could tell he wanted to throw up, he was so scared, but he was standing up for me.
“Actually, it was me,” Kelsie called out, and she stood as well. She gave me a thumbs-up.
“Nope, it was me,” Tristan said as he stood.
I felt my eyes start to fill up. There were squeaks and rustles as more and more people started to stand in the hall.
“It was me.”
“I was there.”
“I was with Hailey.”
“I did it.”
Soon more than half of the student body was standing up. Everyone from my old crowd was standing, and even a bunch of people that I didn’t know that well.
Dean Winston looked like he was ready to have a stroke. His entire head had gone red, and the vein in his forehead was thumping like it was laying down a club beat.
“Everyone return to their seats. Right now,” he yelled. He pointed at me. “Return to your place, Ms. Kendrick.”
Drew walked by my side until I got back to my seat. I smiled at everyone as I walked past. They might have been mad at me, but they’d never abandoned me. If it wouldn’t have gotten me into more trouble, I would have stopped to hug each and every person as I went by.
“You can leave now,” Dean Winston directed Drew.
Drew winked at me. “I’ll catch up with you later.” He walked out of the assembly with his head held high. A few people, many of them girls, turned to watch him leave.
“Oh, now, he’s dreamy,” Kelsie whispered. “You should hang on to him.”
“I plan to,” I whispered back.
33
Winston ended the assembly just a few minutes later. He was deflated like a helium balloon the morning after a birthday party. There was a sense in the room that things had changed. Or maybe it just felt that way to me.
Instead of running to class when the assembly was over, almost everyone stopped to tell me how glad they were to see me back. Tristan had his arm draped over Kelsie’s shoulders, and she was busy inviting everyone to the party she was planning.
“Oh! Maybe we should do costumes! We could make it a theme party, dress up like your favorite past Evesham student,” Kelsie said, her eyes sparkling. “Or people could just pick a time period they like, anytime since the school started.” She never met an event that wasn’t made better by dressing up.
“I bet my parents could snag some great 1920s costumes,” Tristan suggested.
“I love those flapper outfits!” Kelsie squealed. A few of the girls surrounding us started to buzz with ideas for food and decorations. It was rapidly changing from a small welcome back party to an A-list event.
Joel touched my elbow softly. “I’m sorry,” he said, so quietly that only I could hear him.
“Me too.”
“I should have owned up to Tristan long ago. I never should have left you hanging. I didn’t exactly come across as a real knight in shining armor.”
“You stood up for me when it mattered. And you told Tristan when you didn’t have to. Besides, I think, since I tried to behead one, I’m not all that keen on shining armor types anyway.”
“Even without the armor, I’m guessing there isn’t going to be a you and me, is there?” Joel asked.
I shook my head. “Someone’s going to be lucky to get you, though.”
We hugged. “There will always be room for you to visit at the White House,” Joel said.
“Visit? What happened to my ambassadorship?”
Joel snapped his fingers. “Right, I almost forgot. You wanted someplace like the Arctic, right?”
I pleaded that I had to go, leaving everyone else to plan the party. It was going to take me time to get across campus to class with my crutches, and I wanted to go back to my room first to pick up my things. Kelsie offered to come with me, but I waved her off. When I stepped outside, the sun was shining. There were still splotches of snow around, but there were also shoots of green popping up from the mud. Spring was coming.
I’d hoped Drew would still be around, but I didn’t see him anywhere. I started heading toward the dorms. A horn beeped, and