Troy High (16 page)

But I didn’t hear whatever it was Greg was about to say. Because at that moment, a loud boom thundered throughout the gym and bits of flowers, dust, and wire rained down all around us.

Shrieks filled the air that had clouded with smoke and then someone cried out, “Fire!”

People ran past us, girls holding up their skirts as they ran barefoot and guys slipping on the polished floor in their nice shoes. Someone pushed me backward into Greg, and he caught me to keep me from falling.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

The fire alarm suddenly screeched so loudly I could barely hear anything else. I spun around as Greg pulled at my arm. “Come on, Cassie!” he said. “Run!”

At the far end of the gym stood what remained of
the horse parade float—a mess of broken wire frame and burned flowers. Above it, flames licked across the painted banner. The fire spread rapidly over the fabric, moving up the wall toward the strings of lights, paper streamers, and Troy’s basketball championship banners.

People pushed past us, their skin coated with dust and debris from the explosion inside the float. Coach Wellens and Ms. Fillmore and a few other members of the Troy High staff stood at the doors, directing students toward the street.

Greg grabbed at me, dragging me along behind him as he moved toward the exit. Once outside, we were nearly separated, but Greg squeezed my hand tight and pulled me closer to him.

“Wait!” I said as something caught my eye.

I stopped at the foot of the headless Trojan statue. Spray-painted across the gray stone were the words
SPARTANS WIN
.

I stood frozen in place, staring at those blue letters, the paint still wet and dripping, until Greg pulled me away.

“What’s going on?” I asked when we reached the street, where the rest of the Trojans had gathered. The stunned faces of my schoolmates surrounded me. Some of the girls cried, huddled together in small groups or wrapped in their boyfriends’ arms.

“We have to go, Cassie,” Greg said, reaching for my hand. He pushed through the crowd, running down the sidewalk with me in the direction of my house. We moved in silence for several moments.

I felt as if we moved in a dream.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Greg muttered.

I stopped short, pulling my hand from his grasp. “What do you mean?”

Greg looked as if he were fighting back rage. “Nothing. Let me get you home.”

But I stepped back when he reached for me. “What do you mean, Greg?” I asked again through clenched teeth.

Greg stared silently at me.

“You knew about this?” My voice was barely above a whisper. “You knew something was going to happen tonight?”

I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear him say it. I wanted to hear him admit everything to me.

“No,” he said. “I mean, yes, I knew something would happen. But it wasn’t supposed to be this. Not something dangerous.”

I felt as if someone had reached inside my chest and squeezed my heart tight. “You used me.”

“No,” Greg said, stepping toward me. I stepped back again.

“Yes, you did. You used me to get inside Troy tonight for your stupid prank.”

“I didn’t, Cassie, I swear! Some guys snuck into the gym before the game ended so they could rig the float to explode at a certain time.”

“So they could burn down my school?” I shouted. The wail of sirens echoed in the distance. “Someone could have gotten hurt.”

“No!” Greg’s face contorted into a deep frown. “It was only supposed to be a small explosion to send the flowers shooting off in the air, you know, just to give a little scare. I don’t know what happened. I would never have agreed to an explosion that could cause a fire.”

I choked back a sob as I looked into his eyes. He wasn’t the Greg I knew.

“Go home,” I said.

“Cassie—”

I picked up a rock from the road and threw it at him. He ducked, and it sailed over his shoulder.

“Go away,” I told him.

“Cassie, listen to me,” Greg pleaded.

“No!” I shouted as tears fell down my cheeks. “I hate you! I never want to see you again!”

I turned and started running back toward school, toward the people I belonged with. But Greg’s arms
suddenly circled my waist, pulling me back to him. I turned around and pushed at his chest, trying to get away.

And then Greg pressed his lips to mine.

For a moment, I felt as if I were melting. My legs grew weak and I wouldn’t have been able to stay standing if Greg hadn’t still held on to me.

But he lied to me. He knew the Spartans had planned something bad and he wasn’t going to say a word. He let me believe he really wanted to be at the dance with me when in reality he just came to make sure everything was in place for Lacede’s final prank on Troy.

I pushed him away as hard as I could and ran toward Troy High burning in the distance.

“POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING THE CAUSE OF LAST night’s fire at Troy High School, which happened during the school’s homecoming dance. As of now, police have not named a suspect. If you know any information, please call the Troy Police Department at—”

I turned off the TV. I couldn’t stand to listen to any more news reports about what had happened at Troy.

After I’d left Greg, I had run back to where everyone else still stood in the road. The fire had spread quickly, engulfing all the paper decorations and the float, and smoke billowed out of the gym. Even from a distance, the smoke burned my eyes. At least I could blame my watery eyes on that if anyone asked any questions.

I had moved through the crowd unnoticed, so I was
able to take a good look at my schoolmates. Mallory and Kelsey sat on the asphalt, visibly shaken. Some of the guys from the football team watched the flames and muttered under their breaths about Spartans. And nearby, Perry held a trembling Elena in his arms.

Hunter should have been there. He would have known what to do. He would have been able to make us do something, anything other than just stand there looking lost and bewildered as we watched our school burn.

But Ackley had made sure that Hunter wasn’t there with us. Maybe that had been the plan all along. Take out Hunter, and Troy would fall.

The fire department and police had arrived quickly. While the firefighters worked on putting out the flames, the police officers ushered us down the street and away from the school. Everyone started calling their parents and soon cars squealed to a stop in the road and panicked parents rushed over to us.

Mom and Dad were with Hunter at the hospital, so I wasn’t sure whether to call them or not. I found Perry and Elena again and asked, “What should we do?”

“I just called Dad,” Perry told me. “Come on, I’m taking both of you home.”

I curled up on the couch when we got there. As much as I wanted to stop it, I dreamed of Greg. I dreamed of
his lips on mine and melting in his arms as the fire raged around us.

I heard the front door open and I sat up, rubbing at my eyes.

“Anyone home?” Dad called.

“In here,” I called back.

Dad came through the doorway, followed by Mom and Hunter. Mom held tightly to Hunter’s left hand. His right arm, from wrist to shoulder, had been wrapped in bandages and was held in place with a sling.

“Are you okay?” I asked, jumping up and hurrying toward my brother.

“We’ll see,” Hunter said. “The doctor says I have a separated shoulder. Nothing to do now but wait and see how I heal.” He grimaced slightly.

“We lost to the Spartans,” he added somberly.

“Do you need anything, honey?” Mom asked. She grabbed a throw pillow and fluffed it before stuffing it under Hunter’s arm. “Do you want a sandwich? Something to drink?”

“I’m fine,” Hunter said. “Really, Mom. I just want to sit down for a little while. I don’t need anything.”

“What about you, Cassie?” Mom asked, turning to me.

“I’m okay,” I said.

“Okay.” Mom stepped back, wringing her hands.

“Come on, Mary,” Dad said. “We’ve been up all night. Let’s get some sleep.”

After my parents left, I studied my brother for a moment as he sat there with his eyes closed. He didn’t look like a leader right then. He looked broken, weak, and vulnerable. He looked just like everyone else who walked the halls of Troy High.

“Don’t worry about Ackley,” I said as I sat down on the couch. “I promise he’ll get what’s coming to him.”

“He will,” Hunter agreed. “But not from you.”

“I’m not a weak little kid,” I said.

The look of anger on my brother’s face surprised me. “You are so stupid sometimes. Just stay out of it, Cassie.”

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. Hunter had never talked to me like that before.

“I’m just trying to help you out,” I said, clenching my fists in my lap. “And I can’t stand the thought of Ackley thinking he’s won this war.”

“The Spartans did win,” Hunter said, sounding exhausted. “We lost the game, Troy burned, and I’m in these bandages for who knows how long. The war is over and Troy is defeated.” He rubbed at his eyes with his left hand. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore, Cassie. Just stay away from Ackley and those other guys. You should never have been involved in this battle.”

I stood, but I didn’t leave just yet. I glared down at my brother and said, “You’re not the only one who lost here, you know. You may have lost some stupid fight with the Spartans, but I lost my best friend. For
you
. So don’t tell me this wasn’t my fight too.”

“Cassie—”

But I hurried out of the room before Hunter could say anything else.

“HEY, CASSIE.” ELENA PLOPPED DOWN ONTO THE couch next to me on Sunday afternoon. Perry sat down on her other side, slipping his arm around her shoulder.

“Hey,” I answered. I wasn’t in the mood for visitors. I had been sitting on the couch, watching some old movie on TV. Well, I wasn’t really watching it. I was just staring at the screen.

Earlier, Mom had insisted I eat something. I had managed to eat a few spoonfuls of tomato soup, but that was all that I could force down. My stomach felt hollow. So did my chest. Everything felt hollow.

I had been avoiding Hunter ever since our argument the day before. I didn’t want to see him. Every time I looked at him, I just thought about Greg. What exactly
had this entire war between our schools accomplished? Nothing that I could see, other than the fact that Troy High would have no usable gym for the next few months.

It had been a complete waste of time and energy. And now I’d lost Greg.

“The basketball team is really mad about the gym,” Elena told me. “We just ran into a couple of the guys from the team at the mall. They heard that the gym won’t be completely repaired until after basketball season is over. So that means any home games we have scheduled will have to be held somewhere else. People are saying Lacede is the most likely place, since it’s the closest school to Troy.”

I snorted. “How ironic.”

“Yeah,” Perry muttered. “Lacede destroys our gym and now we have to use theirs.”

“This really doesn’t seem like something Lucas would think up,” Elena said. “He’s not that clever. If anyone’s behind it, I bet it’s Ackley. He’s always struck me as kind of crazy, like he would do anything to protect his pride. Anyway,” she went on, turning to me, “how is Greg doing?”

Perry stiffened.

I shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. Greg and I aren’t friends anymore.”

“It’s about time,” Perry said.

Elena elbowed him in the ribs. “Shut up.” She looked at me, frowning. “What do you mean?”

“We were never meant to be friends,” I said. “He’s a Spartan and I’m a Trojan.”

“So?”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “So, the last three months our schools have been fighting a huge war against each other. Or have you not noticed?”

Elena rolled her eyes. “Of course I noticed. But what does that have to do with you and Greg? You two are made for each other. I don’t know why it’s taken you so long to figure that out. I could see it the first time I met you at Greg’s house.”

I shook my head. “We’re just friends. Or we were.”

“Don’t try to lie to me, Cassie,” Elena said. “I’m your fake best friend, remember?”

I laughed a little at that.

“You and Greg understand each other,” Elena continued. “And believe me, it’s hard to find a guy who always remembers your favorite ice-cream flavor.”

“Hey,” Perry said. “I take offense to that!”

Elena raised her eyebrows at him. “Oh, really? What’s my favorite flavor then?”

Perry looked stumped for a moment. Then he grinned and said, “Strawberry.”

“Wrong.” Elena turned back to me. “See, Cassie? When you find the right guy, you have to hold on to him. And my favorite flavor is rocky road,” she told Perry.

“I was close!” Perry protested.

“How is strawberry even remotely close to rocky road?” Elena asked.

Perry leaned toward her and nuzzled her cheek. “They’re both sweet. Like you.”

Elena giggled and kissed him.

It was a good thing I didn’t have anything in my stomach to throw up at the sight of them.

“Okay,” I said, “so maybe I like Greg. But that doesn’t mean he likes me back.”

I tried not to think about the way he’d kissed me. It must have just been something to distract me from the fire.

“Oh, please,” Elena said, breaking away from Perry’s lips long enough to speak. “Why do you think he hasn’t had a girlfriend during the entire two years you’ve been friends?”

Before I could answer her, Perry pulled her toward him again.