Queen of Broken Hearts Read Online Free PDF Page B

I crinkled my face. “Emergency.” Mr. Ronald nodded, and I was off. I pulled out the scrap of paper Pak had slipped into my pocket during passing period. #157 : Lightbulb’s locker number. Pak must have stalked her all morning to get it. Then again, I don’t know anyone who would mind being followed by Pak. Except for me.
    The one fifties are in the hallway beside the gym. I made it there to find Annabelle waiting for me, tapping her steel-toed boot on the floor.
    “I said one seventeen exactly .”
    “Well, I was early,” Annabelle said. “Deal. Now give me your phone.”
    I dug my cell phone out of my pocket and handed it over. Annabelle pulled some wires out of her backpack, climbed up on the bench, and began fiddling with something on the security camera I didn’t pretend to understand.
    “Five minutes,” I said, checking up and down the hall.
    “Yeah, yeah, I got it. They don’t bother keeping these things recording, so whatever you want will have to be new footage. You can monitor it on your phone and save it to there. Got it?”
    I nodded in time to my nervous hopping.
    Finally Annabelle stepped down and handed me my phone back. “Right on time.”
    “Get going. You’ve been here longer than me. Someone might notice.” She set off toward her classroom at a casual stroll, as if we hadn’t just broken five different school rules and two federal laws. Satisfied that everything had gone off correctly, I turned to hurry back to my classroom. And found the principal standing behind me, arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.

Birdie Tells All

Episode 2: Part 2

    “Ms. Anders.”
    My heart hit my throat. In that moment, I absolutely hated being recognizable. “Principal Stevens.” I smiled. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you.” I focused on slowing my pulse.
    “And you couldn’t find a more appropriate time than the middle of class?”
    “I was just running to the bathroom.”
    “And your locker.”
    I dug through my mental box of advice from Mother until I found something relevant to the situation. When committing a serious wrong, always admit to a smaller one. I tilted my face down and peered up through my eyelashes. “I forgot my homework.”
    “Don’t let it happen again, Ms. Anders.”
    “No, sir.”
    “Come back and talk to me during office hours.”
    “Yes, sir.” I would worry about what to talk to the principal about later.

    Between that period and the next, I hid in the supply closet with my phone until I got exactly what I needed. As the bell rang, I slipped into my seat and flashed two fingers to Pak, the signal for “mission complete.” He gave a slight nod.

    At exactly 2:27 p.m., classroom 115 sent the school into chaos. To be more precise, the light fixture above the chair where Tolulu sat exploded, catching her hair on fire. I’ve been told her screams were bloodcurdling. Don’t worry, they put it out before it did any real damage, but her blond extensions were a pile of ash on the floor.
    The fire alarm went off, blaring its no longer helpful warnings. I slipped out of the classroom and down the hall to the broadcasting room, dodging into doorways to avoid students and teachers going the other way. I made it to the emptied studio and began pulling tapes. There was about to be a change in the Friday morning announcements.

    I could hardly sit still in my seat Friday morning. I got to school twenty-minutes early, victory pounding a drumbeat in my veins. I was going to win.
    Pak slid into the seat beside me. “Hold it together, Birdie. If you look any more excited to be in school, they’ll give you detention on principle.”
    I grinned at him. “I haven’t had this much fun since the first time I stole the crown.”
    Pak frowned and looked at the top of my head as if he could see an actual crown there. “For all the good it’s done you.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    Pak shook his head. “Nothing, Birdie. Let’s just get through this. Break into the zoo