The others gave Zoe a once over as she did them, but no one greeted her. At least that part of their relationship hadn’t changed.
Less than a minute later, Mr. Curtis came into the room and glanced at Zoe. She wouldn’t get the privacy she wanted this Saturday. And that sucked, but it was better than revealing the real reason for being there.
Instead, she focused on the decorated box resting in her teacher’s hands.
What’s he doing with that? Zoe wondered.
‘Take your seats around the table,’ Mr. Curtis said, plopping the box in the middle of one of the long six-foot tables usually reserved for group projects.
Zoe got up from her seat at one of the smaller tables and shouldered her bag, sticking to the back of the group. She waited until everyone else took their seat before choosing the last empty one between Teddy and Holly.
Holly twirled a chunk of her blonde hair around her finger while staring at Mr. Curtis. The neon-pink fingernail polish was striking against the golden strands.
Teddy offered Zoe a small smile. It was the most interaction they had had in about a year. Zoe passed it off as just a circumstance of their current predicament.
Q turned his chair around before sitting.
‘Please sit the correct way, Quentin,’ Mr. Curtis said.
‘It’s Q,’ Q said, not moving from his seat. Q gave every teacher a hard time which he thought was hilarious but most of the time was disruptive and made class go by so much slower than necessary.
‘My apologies,’ Mr. Curtis said, smiling. ‘As you are well aware we’re all here for four hours. As one of the newer teachers in school, Principal Killian selected me to run Saturday detentions for this semester.’ He looked at each of the kids as he gave his introduction. Everyone except Zoe, who’d heard it before.
‘Our same principal requested that I put you all to work this weekend since there are more of you than usual,’ Mr. Curtis continued. ‘If you recall, we held the underage-drinking chain event this week.’
He ceremoniously lifted the box and hundreds of white strips of paper piled on the desk in front of them. He leaned toward the next table, grabbing six staplers and two full boxes of staples and placed those in front of them too.
All last week, during lunch, students were encouraged by the student council to pledge not to drink. Three years ago, two of the more popular seniors died in a drunk driving car accident. Sure, Zoe felt sorry for their families, but she didn’t drink. And every day she was bombarded by the peppy Student Council members to sign a promise to continue with the same lifestyle she already chose. The Student Council wanted to beat the length of the chain from the previous year which meant they were extra aggressive with promises.
‘Your task for today is to create the chain from the promises,’ Mr. Curtis said. ‘It will be strung up in the cafeteria on Monday, so you all need to finish this by the end of the day.’
‘You can’t be serious,’ Jackie said.
‘Who did you expect to do this, Ms. King?’ Mr. Curtis asked. ‘Weren’t you on the committee?’
‘Yeah, but the freshmen were supposed to do the stapling.’
‘Well, now you can take part in the rest of the project,’ he said. ‘Unless that’s a problem?’
Jackie huffed loudly but said nothing else.
‘Listen, guys,’ he said, squatting next to the table, dropping down to their level as if they were members of his team. ‘Principal Killian needs this done today. On any other Saturday I’d let it slide, but if you help me out here, I’ll help you out.’
‘Can we get out earlier if we finish quickly?’ Teddy asked.
Mr. Curtis considered that. ‘Maybe.’ He stood up and clapped his hands together. ‘So, if there are no other questions, you can get started,’ he added with a smirk.
Zoe squirmed in her seat as Mr. Curtis rested his eyes on Jackie as if waiting for her to talk back.
‘What if I have to go to the bathroom?’ Cece asked, dropping her giant purse next to her chair.
‘Why? Do you have your period?’ Q asked.
Jackie pulled a face.
‘Ew!’ Cece whined.
And Holly groaned.
Zoe cringed on the inside. Q knew how to cross a line.
Q sat back, grinning at the rest of them.
‘You’re each allowed one five-minute bathroom break,’ Mr. Curtis said, ignoring Q’s crude comment. ‘Let’s not make this harder than it needs to be, okay?’
Cece let out an exasperated groan.
‘And one more thing,’ Mr. Curtis said, placing the now-empty box in front of them. ‘Cell phones. Put them in the box.’
‘No friggin’ way,’ Jackie said.
‘What if there’s an emergency?’ Teddy asked.
‘Your parents are aware you’re here. They can call the school if something is wrong. This isn’t my rule.’
‘This is ridiculous!’ Cece said.
Mr. Curtis sighed.
Zoe wished they would stop fighting him. Didn’t they see he was doing his best? He seemed as annoyed as she was. She doubted he’d expected such a big group this week.
‘Maybe you should have thought of that before ending up here. Phones, now, please,’ Mr. Curtis said.
Zoe dropped hers into the box first, hoping the others would follow without complaint. Mr. Curtis briefly nodded at her before settling his gaze on the others.
The rest complied, but Holly and Jackie hesitated. Jackie hugged the phone to her as if it were a lifeline.
‘You first,’ Holly challenged.
Jackie grumbled and tossed her phone in, then Holly did the same.
Zoe exhaled, not sure why she’d held her breath. Had she expected a bigger fight? Mr. Curtis held power over them today, so it was in everyone’s best interest to do as he asked. She doubted anyone wanted another detention.
Well, anyone except for her.
Mr. Curtis lifted the empty box from the table. ‘I’ll be in the office right over there if you need me. But I suggest you get to work. This will take you until the end of detention.’
Mr. Curtis went into the office, which was partially blocked by two large bookshelves.
Jackie passed out the staplers while Cece started sorting the slips of paper in front of them.
Zoe watched her teacher dump the phones into a filing cabinet and then lock the drawer. Then he settled into his chair and turned toward the computer. Today hadn’t started off as planned. But if they finished early, there was a possibility of getting it back on track.
‘I can’t believe that loser took our phones,’ Jackie muttered. ‘Loser’ was her word of choice. Zoe had heard that word directed at everyone who wasn’t in Jackie’s cheer clique.
‘How will your little friends survive without you?’ Q asked with a sneer.
‘Shut up, loser,’ Jackie said.
‘Ooh,’ Q jeered. ‘I’m shaking in my boots.’
She looked down at his feet. ‘Hideous boots.’
Q eyed her for a moment before scanning the others at the table.
Zoe focused on the slips, making a neat pile in front of her.
‘How