"I'll ask him," Bliss promised. The three of them walked through the school gates. They were already late for their homeroom classes.
Later, at lunch, Bliss met up with Oliver and Schuyler at the cafeteria. They were seated at the back table as usual, hidden behind the marble fireplace.
"You spoke to your dad?" Schuyler asked.
"What did he say?" Oliver prodded.
Bliss pulled out a chair next to them and planted her elbows on the table. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the two of them. "He said, don't worry about your friend. The Committee is taking care of this."
Schuyler and Oliver digested the information. "That's strange isn't it?" Schuyler asked. "Because Committee meetings have been canceled until further notice."
CHAPTER 32
The whole school was still buzzing with the news that afternoon - and in Schuyler's ethics class, Mr. Orion was trying to calm down his students.
"Settle down, settle down, please," he said. "I know this is a tough time, but we need to remember that in the United States, we are innocent until proven guilty."
Schuyler walked into the room and noticed that Jack was back in his usual seat next to the window "Hey," she said, giving him a shy smile and taking the desk next to his. She would never forget the way he'd kissed her, almost as if he'd kissed her before.
Jack looked more handsome than she'd ever seen him. His hair gleamed white-gold underneath the light, and his clothes were crisply pressed, his shirt neatly tucked for once. He was wearing a black sweater and a gold watch she'd never seen on his wrist before. He didn't look up at her.
"Jack..."
"Yes?" he asked coldly.
Schuyler recoiled at the arctic tone in his voice. "Is something wrong?" she whispered.
He didn't reply.
"Jack, we have to do something! They've arrested Dylan! And you know it's wrong. He couldn't have killed her!" She whispered fiercely. "He's human. He's being set up. We need to find out why."
Jack took out his fountain pen and scratched the nib on his notebook. He didn't look at her. "It's none of our business."
Schuyler whispered fiercely, "But what do you mean? You know it is. We need to find out about what's killing us off. Don't you - didn't you want to - ?"
"Care to share with the rest of the class, Miss Van Alen?" Mr. Orion asked, interrupting the conversation.
Schuyler slouched down in her seat. "No, sorry."
For the rest of the period, Jack sat silent and stony-faced. He refused to look at Schuyler, or even to read the notes she passed to him.
When the bell rang signaling the end of class, Schuyler ran after him.
"What's gotten into you? Is it your sister? What's wrong?" Jack snapped. "Don't bring Mimi into this."
"But I don't understand. What you said on Saturday night - "
"I spoke recklessly. It's not the way I feel. I'm sorry to have misled you."
"Why are you shutting me out? What's happened to you?" Schuyler asked, a catch in her voice.
Jack looked Schuyler up and down. "I'm really sorry, Schuyler. But I made a mistake. I shouldn't have said the things I said that night. I was wrong. My father set me straight. The Committee isn't hiding anything. They've investigated the circumstances of Aggie's death, and we just need to trust them to know what's best. They'll let us know once it's been resolved. I think we should just forget about the whole thing."
"Your father - your father has something to do with this, doesn't he?" she accused him.
He put a heavy hand on her shoulder; gripped it tightly, then released it, pushing himself away. "Leave it alone, Schuyler. For your sake and mine."
"Jack!" she called.