Easier to Lie

“Hey kid, why aren’t you in school?”

Spencer lifted his head and blinked, confused. He’d been so engrossed in his abnormal psychology textbook that he hadn’t even noticed he’d wandered a little too far from campus.

The truant officer who loomed over him looked like every other jerkface cop who’d given him trouble since he’d started, but Spencer didn’t recognize his face. He must have been new, then, and the others probably hadn’t thought to warn him about the little fifteen-year-old kid who had a free pass from the dean of psychology over at UNLV.

“I’m on my way to class, actually.” Spencer pushed his glasses up his nose, clutched his textbook to his chest.

“Then I’ll walk you,” the cop said. He grabbed Spencer by the collar and started to haul him toward the high school.

“Sir, really, I’m not a high school student,” Spencer said. “I mean, I am high school age, but --”

The cop shook him once, roughly, and Spencer felt, rather sourly, like a mistreated puppy.

“Shut up, kid. Who’s your homeroom teacher?”

“Sir --”

“Who?”

Spencer sighed. “Mrs. Putnam.” It was no use telling the truth when they got like this. The cop didn’t let up on his grip on Spencer’s collar, so he had to tacitly consent to being dragged along like a sack of potatoes. He’d been into the high school before on excursions just like this, and he didn’t miss the garish lockers, the crookedly-drawn posters announcing football games and prom.

He didn’t miss any of it.

The cop dragged him down the hall to Mrs. Putnam’s room. He flung open the door, chest puffed out like a grand-standing terrier, and hauled Spencer in front of her desk.

“You missing a student, ma’am?” He kept his voice gruff. Did he think he was Clint Eastwood?

Mrs. Putnam peered at Spencer over the top of her glasses and smiled sympathetically. “You must be new, Officer Jenkins. Mr. Reid is not a student here, or at any high school in this district. Perhaps your fellow officers neglected to mention it to you. Spencer, aren’t you late for class?”

“My Jung seminar was cancelled for the day, actually.” Spencer felt the cop’s grip on him relax, and he squirmed free. “Have a good day, Mrs. Putnam. Sorry to interrupt.” And he left the humiliated cop behind. Some days, it was just easier to lie.

(402)