The Perpetual Motion Club Read Online Free Page B

behind them for a moment.
    “Not true,” May said. “I think Justin Blaine is kind of cute.”
    “Justin Blaine!” Elsa laughed. “Yeah, he’s cute all right with that red rectangle in his hair.”
    “I know, I sort of felt sorry for him.”
    “May, he was drooling in class.”
    They turned their attention to the middle of the left half of the schoolyard where a dark muddle of somethings had gathered. The early drop of the sun rendered anything further away than 15 feet indistinguishable. All the girls could see was a group of people, but they knew who they were.
    “It’s them,” May said. “This is so macabre.”
    “I see them,” Elsa answered, cool.
    “I don’t want to walk by them. They give me the creeps. You never know what they’re going to do.”
    “Probably nothing, but okay, we’ll go in another door.” Elsa pulled May over in the direction of the East Wing.
    “Slice,” May said in a quiet voice. She averted her eyes to the right as if not acknowledging the danger on the left would take away its power. She tried light conversation to prove she was calm and not afraid. “Hey, there’s a new boy in school,” she said. “A basketball recruit.”
    “I ran into him this morning,” Elsa said, glad for the subject change.
    “Really? What’s he like?”
    “Tall.”
    “Cute?”
    “If you like that sort of thing,” Elsa lied.
    “Let’s go look,” May answered.
    “We’ll be late. Besides he’s coming to the science meeting.”
    “You’re kidding.”
    “I talked to him myself. He said he was coming.”
    “Why would someone with a basketball scholarship care about the Science Society?”
    “Just because someone is talented in sports doesn’t mean they don’t have interests elsewhere.”
    May clicked her tongue in disbelief. “You sound like Dean Williams in assembly. I don’t believe it, anyway. I’ll bet you a two-for that he’s in there.” She pointed to the gym.
    A two-for was a double of cigarettes. It cost twenty dollars and was considered a bargain because one ciggy alone cost thirteen. The lunchroom supplied two-fors out of the same vending machine that sold the milk and cookies. Phillip Morris sponsored the setup: machine, ciggies, Horizon, Oreos. A true win/win situation for the students, the school, and of course Phillip Morris.
    “You’re on,” Elsa said. She didn’t smoke as much as May, but a friendly bet was always fun, especially if you were definitely going to win.
    By now they’d made it to the front doors of the East Wing which responded to their attempts to enter with a canned message.
    “I’m sorry but as per after hours rules, these doors are locked. If you are a—”
    “Shit,” Elsa said under her breath. “Come on!” She grabbed May and pulled her around to the rear side of the building without waiting to hear the message about consulting their email to determine which doors were tonight’s designated entrance. She had no intention of walking past the anti-Rifs to the West Wing. The only alternative was to try the door at the backside of the gym.
    They knocked until an annoyed Coach Budzynski, with a whistle held between his lips, leaned into the door from the inside to open it and see what the hell was going on.
    “Yeah,” he said keeping his eyes on the play, the whistle in place. He was uninterested in whoever it was interrupting his session. He dropped the whistle and screamed at a hapless player, “the other left, the other left!”
    As Coach B. shouted orders, the girls peaked around him and scanned the room for the new boy until Budzynski returned his attention to them. “Yeah?” he repeated, louder.
    “Uh,” they mumbled together, then Elsa said, “We need to get in for the science meeting.”
    “Oh, for Chrissake’s girls, West Wing. What’s the matter with you?” He left off the door and returned to his session.
    The door’s spring action effected a quick closure, leaving Elsa and May stranded outside. They listened for