* * * * *
The next two hours dragged on and on. I kept looking over my shoulder to see if the Shadow Regime had anyone spying on me. I found out I shared my Language Arts class with Dan, who would understand if I decided to tell him everything that happened that day. But all I got the chance to do was exchange worried glances with him, since our teacher spent the whole hour reading the rules. I’d have to wait until tomorrow to fill him in on the identity of those shadow people, if I made it that far.
Luckily Penny told Ryan all about her theory by time I joined them in the lunch line, which, by the way, extended out into the hall. I could tell because Ryan’s face had turned that paste color.
“Great, huh?” I asked, squeezing into the line.
“Yeah.” Ryan hung his head. “So sorry about this, Rita. I bet Mr. Gorfel’s going to give A. Gist my address, too.”
“Stay over at my house tonight,” Penny said, staring at me with her brows raised again. “They won’t look for you there. I’ll find some excuse to tell my parents.”
“Yeah. You wouldn’t get away with staying at my house. There’s nowhere to walk,” Ryan said.
I shot her a look. Penny’s parents would never let anyone stay over on a weeknight. They used to barely let us have sleepovers on the weekends. But if anyone could think up a good way to help me out and sneak me in, it was her. I opened my mouth to take her up on it, but she jumped in front of me and backed up, shoving me into Ryan. “Rita! Get behind us!”
With a gulp, I took a peek around her. Guess who was coming down the hall?
You got it.
Mr. Gorfel strode down the hallway towards us. He had this satisfied smirk on his face like he’d just punished another class. My stomach turned, which it probably would have done anyway at the sight of him, but knowing he might be an agent of the Shadow Regime made it worse. He drew closer. Closer. Penny couldn’t be right. He’s nothing but a horrible teacher…just a horrible teacher…
Mr. Gorfel stopped a few feet away and adjusted his tie. To spy on us? A shudder raced over me. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I thought of cutting through the line and getting out of there just then. I lifted my foot to start tearing out of there, but Mr. Gorfel cut in front of a bunch of people and grabbed a tray off the end of the salad bar.
I let out a sigh of relief, hoping nobody heard it. “He’s just getting lunch.”
“How do you know he’s not following you around?” Penny asked.
My stomach rolled. Good point. I didn’t. If he was following me, he wouldn’t make it look obvious. I had nothing to prove Penny wrong. Except for one crazy idea I had cooking in my mind since Basic Computers.
Mr. Gorfel slopped a heap of coleslaw onto his tray. A bunch of cheerleaders ahead of us glared at him. First day of school, and everyone hated him. He’d win the Jerk Teacher Award of the Year for sure.
“Shadow Regime material,” I muttered. “We need to talk as soon as we’re out of line.”
I heaped some nachos covered in greasy cheese onto my tray, paid the lunch lady, and stepped into the noisy cafeteria. Mr. Gorfel paid in the other line and bolted back out into the hallway, vanishing into the crowd. To the teachers’ lounge, I hoped. If he ate with the students, I’d go home.
My back didn’t leave the wall until Penny and Ryan came out of the lunch line. Ryan still had that pasty color on his face and Penny bit her lip, all serious. Here it came.
“I’ve got a way to see for sure if he’s working for A. Gist or not,” I said, careful to make sure no one around us heard.
Ryan steadied his tray before his hamburger took a dive to the floor. “How? It won’t be easy finding out he’s just a teacher. It’s not like you can walk up to him and ask, ‘Hey, do you work for the Shadow Regime?’”
I swallowed. “I know. That’s why we’ll have to break into his classroom after school.”