Locked (The Heaven's Gate Trilogy) Read Online Free PDF

tan.  No, tan doesn’t do it justice.  He seemed to
glow, he was so golden.
    He broke through my
reverie with his chuckle, blue eyes sparkling with humor.  “I think it was the
smoke bombs in the boys’ bathroom this time.  Van Aken hates that.”
    “Van Aken?” I asked,
aware that I was gawking and feeling strangely stupid as I tried to follow the
conversation.
    “The principal,” he said,
cocking his head to one side as he looked me up and down.  “You don’t look like
you belong in the principal’s office,” he said.  I felt myself flush. 
Flustered, my hand flew to the back of my head, smoothing my long hair over my
neck, making sure my scarf was still in place.
    The lady from the front
desk slipped by us, cracking the door to the Principal’s office open to whisper
something to him as she shoved in some files.
    “Michael? Michael Boyd?”
the principal’s gruff voice cut me off before I could respond.
    “That’s my cue,” the boy
said, and with a wink, uncoiled from the bench and slipped inside the office.
    I didn’t have to strain
to hear their conversation; the principal’s voice boomed and Michael, in turn,
was not intimidated, talking back to the principal as if he were an adult.  Out
of the corner of my eye, I could see the woman behind the counter hanging on
their every word.
    “What’s this business
about you being absent again?”
    “I had a written excuse. 
Surely this is not a problem?”
    “Are you just doing this
to make me look like a fool, Boyd? Because I won’t be made to look like a
fool,” the principal threatened in a thick Georgia drawl.
    “Sir, this has nothing to
do with you.”  Michael’s voice was calm and conciliatory.  “I just had other
things to do those days.”
    In the pause that
followed, I could almost imagine Van Aken scowling.  “It’s that damned
emancipation.  If you had adults who could advise you, we wouldn’t have to deal
with all this foolishness.”
    “Yet I am emancipated,
and am legally able to make these decisions for myself.  I promise you, I have
and will continue to make good use of the guidance counselors here to avoid
making any foolish mistakes.”
    Emancipated? What does
that mean? I thought
to myself.
    “Well, as you say, you
are legally able to make these choices for yourself.”  I heard a shuffle of
papers as the Principal apparently signed off on some form.  “Just don’t make a
habit of it.  This is a school, not a country club.  I can’t have you messing
up my No Child Left Behind performance with a string of unexcused absences,
even if you can write your own damn note.”
    “Thank you, Mr. Van
Aken,” Michael said smoothly. 
    The door swung open and
the counter attendant scrambled to look busy. Michael came out and passed his
form to her, pinning her with a wide smile.  “I think this should do it, Mrs.
Thompson,” he grinned. 
    “Michael,” she said,
nearly blushing with pleasure as she took the paper from his outstretched
hand.  “You give us all fits with this emancipation business, don’t you?”  He
laughed and shrugged.  “Do me a favor, hon, and bring this new girl to her
classes.  We had a little mix up yesterday but I think we’ve got it all
straightened out.”  She passed another form across the counter to him.
    He scanned it quickly. 
“Hope?” he asked, flashing me a brilliant smile.  “Let me show you to your
class.”
    ****
    I still hadn’t gotten
into Home Ec, but Art was a step up from Shop.  All of my other classes seemed
to have been magically rearranged, and oddly enough, Michael was in most of
them.
    “It’s because we’re both
new,” he’d replied when I asked him about it halfway through the day.  “Nowhere
else to go.”
    “That doesn’t sound
right,” I frowned, nibbling the eraser on my pencil as I settled into the AP
environmental science class we now shared.
    “Well how about that
we’re just smarter than everyone else, so it’s natural we’d