Blue Bloods

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.

He didn't turn around. She saw him walk purposefully down to the second landing, where Mimi Force was coming out of a classroom. She saw the two of them together, noticing as if for the first time that they had the same lithe form, the same panther limbs, they were the same height, the same coloring. She saw Mimi smile when she saw Jack. As Jack slung an arm around his sister's shoulders in an intimate and affectionate way, something in her heart broke.

"What did Jack say?" Bliss asked, meeting Schuyler and Oliver for coffee at the Starbucks across the street during their free period.

"He's no help," Schuyler said, the words dead in her mouth.

"Why not?"

"He's changed his mind. He says that what he told me was a mistake. He told me to forget about it." She tore a paper napkin into tiny pieces, meticulously ripping it apart until her tray was filled with confetti. "He said The Committee will explain everything in time, we just need to be patient," she said bitterly.

"But what about Dylan?" Bliss asked. "We can't just let them charge him for something he didn't do!"

"We're not. It's up to us," Oliver said. "We're the only, ones who can help him now."