Friday, March 12, 2010

Chapter 2: Sandy

“Herbert!” I looked down the length of the hallway to see who had called out to me. It was Sandy Evans, the principals daughter. You might as well know that Sandy is one of my best friends, even though she is a girl. We’re in most of the same classes, and she has kind of appointed herself my personal bodyguard. I suppose Sandy is kind of cute, if you can see past her thick lensed glasses. They magnified her eyes and made them look huge. Sandy has her own quirks. She fancies herself somewhat of a detective. If anyone can sniff up a conspiracy where there is none, it’s Sandy. Just the other day, she told me that she suspected the school nurse of stealing drugs from the school medicine cabinet and selling them on the black-market. I told her that our 70 year old nurse, Mrs. Salve, probably could find a better way to earn money than selling aspirin, Band-Aids, and antibiotic ointment to drug dealers. She still has Mrs. Salve under close investigation, but if it that’s what floats her boat, I wasn’t about to sink it.
“Herbert.” Sandy was practically on top of me now, her magnified eyes sizing me up. “Are you on the case too? “ I stared at her in confusion.
“Look, Sandy, if you’re talking about the investigation on Mrs. Salve, than no.” I spent too many hours in the infirmary having my limbs sewn back on. I wasn’t about to get on Mrs. Salve’s bad side.
“Don’t be silly, Herbert.” Sandy’s replied. “The case around Mrs. Salve is closing in. I just have to bide my time until she slips up and makes a mistake. I’m talking about a whole new case! We just caught wind of it this morning!”
“We? Whose we?” Sandy rolled her eyes as though she though my question silly.
“I’ve got Brock investing some classified information for me.”
“Brock? You’re having Brock help you on one of your cases?”
“Of course! I can’t exactly walk into the guys locker room, now can I?” She was giving me that, “Are you stupid look, but I didn’t answer since she never really asked the question aloud. I decided to change the subject instead.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to have Brock help you? He’s so… so…”
I suppose now’s as good a time as any to tell you about Brock. Brock was my other best friend. We made an odd trio. I was an averaged height nerd with a knack for disaster. Sandy was extremely short, kinda cute, with an overactive imagination. And Brock… Brock was the biggest kid in school and was extremely popular among the ladies. However, the size of his body seemed to have robbed some of the nutrients from his brain. He was constantly stating the obvious or being surprised at simple common place things. I suppose he could have fit in with the popular crowd, but he didn’t try. Brock had joined our little group, and we were glad to have him.
“But to have him on one of your cases, Sandy? Aren’t you afraid he might give up your undercover position or something?”
“Well, who else was I supposed to ask, Herbert? You avoid the locker room like it’s a leper colony. Brock loves to spend time in the gym. He’s the perfect undercover agent for this case!” I could see her point.
“Okay, I guess that makes sense. What is this case about?”
“Mr. Young.” I turned slowly to my right were Principal Evans was standing. What do you know! I had made it all the way down the scary hall to his office without knocking anyone over or blowing anything up! “This must be my day!” I thought. However, the look on Principal Evan’s face told me otherwise.
“Mr. Young,” His voice was always calm, with a rich and almost spooky quality to it. It made me shiver. I did not call you to my office to have you converse in the hallway. You may enter my office.” I turned to look at Sandy one more time before entering the office of doom. She was smiling adorably at her dad.
“Sandy, shouldn’t you be in class?” Mr. Evans asked.
“Yes, Daddy.” Sandy answered brightly. “I just wanted to make sure Herbert made it here safely.” She gave him a sweet smile, before turning to go back to class.
I turned back to her dad, who was smiling down the hall at her retreating image, before he turned back to me with a serious gaze. He turned without saying anything to me and entered his office, leaving the door open behind him. I took a deep breath before taking a step into Mr. Evans office, only to trip over the doorstop. No, maybe this wasn’t my day afterall.

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