Snitch by Kat Kirst Page A

through and prosecute. They’re not taking no for an answer. They’re taking Chrissy to court.”
    “Can they do that?”
    “Oh, yeah. They can. And they will. Andy, her dad’s a lawyer, remember? ” Liz checked to be sure no one else was listening. “I’m not supposed to tell, so you can’t even say anything — even to Johnny — but I don’t think Chrissy will be going to this school anymore. If they can prove she did this, and we both know she did, she’ll have to go to AEP or total ly transfer to another district—if anyone will have her.”
    My eyes widened. AEP stood for Alternative Education Placement. It was reserved for the bad kids, the really bad kids who preferred drugs, alcohol , or violence to books and school clubs. AEP was the end of the line before ending up in Juvie .
    “Dang!” was all I could say before Liz made sure Mrs. Mason had disappeared into her room , and she could give me another quick kiss before rushing off to history. By now the halls were empty and both of us were in probably going to be tardy.
    “ I’ve got to run! I’ll call you,” she was saying when a shadowy wall of trouble stopped her. Charlie and Seth stood shoulder to shoulder blocking her path.
    The words she used were “Excuse me,” but her voice, strong and unafraid , translated them to “Move.” I couldn’t believe how much I liked that girl; even more so, I couldn’t believe she liked me.
    The boys didn’t move.
    My body tightened up, quickly moving into protective mode, words exploding out of my mouth. “Hey! Leave her alone.”
    “Hey, yourself,” Charlie said quietly so no teachers would hear. “We need to talk.”
    “I don’t need to talk to you,” Liz said, her green eyes narrowing into dangerous slits.
    “Then you need to listen,” Seth said. “You two are out here stirring up trouble making me look bad. ”
    “I d on’t think you need us,” I said, egging Seth on because i t felt good to do it. “You’re doing pretty well on your own.”
    “Shut up,” Charlie breathed.
    “Are you guys crazy?” Liz asked. “We all know this all started because of something you did , Seth. Kate didn’t stand on the chair. Kate didn’t shoot the bird at Johnny . Kate didn’t tell anyone YOU were the one that did it. Why don’t you man up?”
    “She told,” Charlie insisted.
    “She didn’t tell. I’ve spent the last few weeks with her trying to find out who did. Kate had nothing to do with it except she was in the class when it happened, and you decided to pick on her.”
    For the first time in a long time, Seth was listening more than he was talking.
    Liz continued, “ So, Seth, the big question you should be worried about is if it wasn’t Kate, which one of your buddies was it? Or was it just another random kid in the class who isn’t really fond of you? Who, in this school, really hates you enough to rat you out? ‘ Cause it’s somebody.”
    Seth was speechless.
    “Oh, and by the way, you can add Chrissy to the list. She’s not exactly thinking you’re her best friend anymore the way you threw her under the bus after all the work she went through to set up the pep assembly and the F acebook page. I guess you better find another girl to do your dirty work.”
    “I had nothing to do with that. If Chrissy did that, she did it all on her own.”
    Seth was so insistent , I began to doubt our conclusions.
    “Seriously ,” he said , “ I didn’t know about it until it was up and running.”
    Liz’s eyes opened a bit but we re still skeptical. “You have to fix this,” she said. “It’s messed up big time, and Kate didn’t do anything.”
    The way Seth reacted, I think he finally believed he had the wrong person. He stared long and hard at Liz, and then took a breath and a step back. It was like watching a movie where someone finally gets what the audience has known all along.
    “We’re sorry about Kate,” Seth said softly.
    Charlie was taken aback. All he said was ,