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camera and smiled
at them. “Hope you guys can afford food this month.” His friends
laughed with him as they turned around and walked back to the room.
They gave each other high-fives, chuckling the entire
way.
    Calloway and Breccan stared at the
camera in misery. The camera was checked out to them so it was
their responsibility to replace it if it was destroyed or damaged.
The teacher would call Breccan’s parents and force them to pay for
the equipment. Calloway shook in anger then punched the metal
trashcan violently, bloodying his knuckles.
    “ Girls are never worth
it.” Breccan sighed as he gathered the pieces of metal in his hands
and carried it back to the room.
    Calloway walked beside him. “We’ll tell
Mrs. Ezquibel Hawk broke it,” Calloway said. “It isn’t our
responsibility to replace it.”
    “ Aren’t you forgetting
about the other two witnesses?” he asked. “It’s three to two.
There’s nothing we can do. And even if we had evidence, she
wouldn’t do a single thing—you know that.”
    “ I can’t believe this is
happening,” Calloway said as they came back into the classroom. He
wasn’t sure how much the camera would cost to be replaced but he
knew it was more than his aunt and uncle could afford. This entire
situation was his fault because he stood up to a bully when he
should have just let it go. Now his aunt and uncle were going to
suffer the consequences of his hasty decision.
    Breccan carried the pile of rubble to
the teacher, and when Mrs. Ezquibel looked into his hands her eyes
widened in shock. Calloway stood next to his cousin with his hands
in his pockets.
    “ What happened?” she
yelled. “What did you do? It’s broken into dozens of pieces—it’s
destroyed!”
    The other students looked up from their
computers at the sound of her cry. Calloway glanced at Beatrice and
caught her staring at him. The whole class, including Hawk and his
gang, were watching them.
    Breccan sighed. “Hawk broke it,” he
said.
    Calloway closed his eyes. He knew there
was no point in blaming Hawk. They had no proof.
    “ Is this true?” Mrs.
Ezquibel asked him.
    Hawk shook his head. “I’ve been here
the whole time.” He smiled. “Just ask the class.”
    The entire class knew he wasn’t but no
one spoke up. It was obvious he was guilty but the teacher was so
ignorant of her students that she didn’t know what to think. And
she didn’t want to be the one to discipline the principal’s
son.
    “ I’ll have to call your
parents.” she sighed. “They’ll be expected to replace the
camera.”
    Calloway dropped his head. “If we gave
you the money could you not call them?”
    “ Do you have two thousand
dollars?” she snapped.
    Calloway’s eyes widened. He knew the
camera would be expensive but that was ridiculous. His family could
never afford that.
    “ I didn’t think so,” she
said as she opened the contact information in her binder. “I’ll
call them after class,” she said as she glanced at the clock. “The
period is almost over.”
    When Calloway and Breccan returned to
their seats, the bell rang. They grabbed their backpacks from the
floor and walked out the door.
    “ Hey,” Hawk said to his
gang. “Let’s order from the value menu at McDonalds,” he said
loudly so Calloway and Breccan could hear. “Let’s eat like poor
people.”
    Calloway stopped and was about to turn
around when Breccan grabbed him by the arm. “That’s enough for one
day.”

Eternal Night
    “ I thought this day would
never end,” Calloway said as they walked to the parking lot where
they were supposed to meet Easton.
    “ For the first time I’m
glad I don’t have a cell phone,” Breccan said. “Now my mom can’t
call me.”
    Calloway sighed. “Do you think they
know?”
    “ I’m sure Mrs. Ezquibel
already called.” He sighed. “We’ll find out our punishment when we
get home.”
    “ This isn’t your fault,”
Calloway said. “I’ll take the blame. If I hadn’t defended