“Or whatever, and you don’t live up to your own freaking hype, Vic! You want me to show respect and you show me none if you freaking surprise me like this.”

“Something came up. I came to let you know.”

“Don’t lie to me!” he said. If he were any angrier, he might have a vein standing out on his forehead. “You wanted to snoop! You quizzed Val! You came to my place and you poked your nose in where it doesn’t belong!”

There were times he seemed so adult, and there were times he seemed so young. This was the latter.

“Victoria told me you were doing a good job with volunteering—”

“Why tell Val anything!?” Chris asked, voice raised. “It’s none of your business.”

“She also,” Val said, staying calm, her voice quieter, “said your breaking curfew shouldn’t be a big deal. I can tell the other teachers that.”

“I don’t give a shit! She shouldn’t say anything and you shouldn’t have brought it up!”

“Language,” Val said. “Break the rules and I’ll go into your room and take the save cards for your consoles. If you really push it I won’t give them back.”

“I need those.”

“I need you to calm down and be a good example for the little ones.”

I saw as Chris worked to suppress the anger. Seemingly only now becoming aware that the other kids existed, he looked around before identifying one. “You.”

“That’s Sam, Chris. His room is two doors from yours.”

“Whatever. How long were they talking before I got here?”

“Um,” a boy of about twelve gave the answer. Sam. “A while?”

“A while,” Chris said, locking eyes with me. “Yeah, that’s great.”

“Everyone’s getting together this afternoon,” I said. “If we waited for the internet to come back or for you to turn your phone on, you might have missed it. If you don’t like it, keep your phone charged.”

“Okay. I’m going out, Val,” Chris said. He stormed past her and toward the gates. “Don’t go in my room.”

“You don’t get to set rules, Chris,” Val said.

“Don’t,” he said, giving her the evil eye. “I’ll do my own laundry for now.”

Then he walked away. It seemed like he expected me to have to follow.

“It was nice talking to you, Victoria,” Val said. “Maybe we could meet for a friendly coffee sometime.”

Chis wheeled around, ready to jump right into the fray with more incensed words.

Val put her hands up in mock surrender.

It didn’t necessarily help me, but I could almost see why she’d done that. The push, the pull, letting Chris know she could fight back.

I matched Chris’s pace, which wasn’t hard. His legs were shorter than mine.