The Principal Rushed In and Asked, “Who Does This Green Backpack Belong To?”

I sat down at our table, and he immediately started asking questions.

“Dude, what was that about? Where did they take you?”

I lowered my voice.

“Someone brought a gun to school in a green backpack.”

Kareem’s eyes went wide.

“What? Are you serious?”

“Dead serious. They questioned all of us and searched my locker. I’m cleared, but one of the other five has it.”

Kareem looked toward the cafeteria doors like he expected someone to come through them shooting.

“Who do you think it is?”

I thought about the other five. Leo was a good student, popular, college-bound on a basketball scholarship; he didn’t fit the profile.

Priya was quiet, artistic, always drawing in the margins of her papers. I couldn’t imagine her bringing a weapon.

The two freshman girls had looked genuinely terrified, not like they were hiding something. That left David.

David Guian with his headphones and his tendency to keep to himself. But was that fair?

Was I profiling him just because he was quiet? I realized I didn’t actually know anything about any of them, not really.

Anyone could be hiding anything. Twenty minutes passed, then Officer Banks appeared in the cafeteria doorway.

He scanned the room, and his eyes locked on our table. He walked over.

“Kyle Brennan? Yeah, come with me, please.”

My stomach dropped. I thought I was cleared.

Why did they need me again? I followed Officer Banks back down the hallway.

We didn’t go to the auxiliary building this time. We went to the main office.

The conference room door was open. Inside I could see Principal Garrett, Officer Reyes, and a woman in a police uniform I didn’t recognize.

She was a detective, based on the badge on her belt. She had short gray hair and sharp eyes that assessed me as I walked in.

“Sit down, Kyle,” Principal Garrett said.

I sat. The detective introduced herself as Detective Linda Voss.

“Kyle, we need to ask you a few more questions. You said you didn’t recognize anyone putting anything in your backpack, correct?”

“Correct.”

“And you said your locker is only accessible to you?”

“Yes, sir.”

She nodded.

“Do you have your phone with you?”

“Yes.”

“Can I see it, please?”

I handed it over, unlocked. She scrolled through my messages, my recent calls, and my photos.

She stopped on something, and her expression changed.

“Kyle, can you explain this text message?”

She turned the phone around to show me. The message was from three days ago from a number I didn’t recognize.

The text read: “Still on for Friday green backpack by the gym doors don’t forget.”

I stared at it.

“I don’t know what that is. I didn’t respond to it.”

Detective Voss scrolled down. There was my response: “Got it. See you then.”

My blood ran cold.

“I didn’t send that. I swear I didn’t send that.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“This is your phone?”

“Yes, but I didn’t send that message! Someone else must have.”

“Who has access to your phone?”

“Nobody. I mean, I leave it in my locker during gym class, but it’s password protected.”

Detective Voss exchanged a look with Principal Garrett.

“Kyle, this message indicates you are planning to meet someone to deliver or receive a green backpack by the gym doors on Friday. Today is Friday.”

“I know how this looks, but I didn’t send that message. Check the timestamp. What time does it say I sent it?”

She looked.

“2:47 p.m.”

“I was in math class at 2:47. Fourth period, Mrs. Chen. Wait, that name’s forbidden. Mrs. Thompson’s class. She can verify I was there the whole time. Check the attendance records.”

Officer Reyes was already on his computer pulling up the information. He nodded.

“Confirms he was in class.”

Detective Voss wasn’t satisfied.

“So someone else sent this message from your phone during fourth period. Who?”

“I don’t know. My phone was in my locker. Anyone with access to my locker combination could have done it.”

“Who knows your combination?”

I thought about it.

“Just me and, I guess, Kareem, my best friend. I told him the combination once when I needed him to grab my calculator.”

Detective Voss wrote something down.

“Kareem’s last name?”

“Okafor. But he wouldn’t do this. He’s my best friend. He has a blue backpack anyway.”

“We’ll need to talk to him regardless.”

They let me leave the conference room but told me to stay on campus. I went back to the cafeteria, but lunch period had ended.

Students were flooding the hallways heading to fifth period. I saw Kareem near his locker and grabbed his arm.

“Dude, they found a text on my phone. Someone sent a message about a green backpack. They’re going to question you.”

Kareem’s face went pale.

“What? Why me?”

“Because you know my locker combination. They think you might have used my phone.”

“Kyle, I swear I didn’t touch your phone! I would never!”

“I know. I told them that. Just tell them the truth.”

Before he could respond, Officer Banks appeared.

“Kareem Okafor? Come with me, please.”

Kareem shot me a panicked look before following Officer Banks toward the main office. I stood in the hallway feeling helpless.

The bell rang for fifth period, but I couldn’t make myself move. Students rushed past me to class.

I should have been heading to English, but instead, I was stuck in this nightmare. My phone buzzed.

It was a text from an unknown number: “Stop asking questions.”

I stared at it. Another buzz: “This isn’t your business.”

Another: “Stay quiet or it gets worse.”

My hands were shaking. Someone was threatening me, someone who had my phone number, someone who knew I was talking to people about this.

I turned and ran toward the main office. I burst through the door, and the secretary looked up, startled.

“I need to see Detective Voss now. It’s an emergency.”

The secretary picked up the phone. Two minutes later, Detective Voss emerged from the conference room.

I showed her my phone and the threatening texts. She read them, her expression darkening.

“When did you receive these?”

“Just now, like two minutes ago.”

She took my phone.

“I’m keeping this as evidence. Officer Reyes will issue you a temporary phone for emergency contact with your parents. Do not discuss these texts with anyone. Understood?”

I nodded. Detective Voss went back into the conference room.

I could hear raised voices inside. Principal Garrett sounded angry.

Another voice I didn’t recognize was arguing back. Then there was silence.

The door opened and Kareem walked out. His face was red and he looked furious.

“They think I planted a gun in someone’s backpack using your phone to set up a meeting. This is insane!”

“What did you tell them?”

“The truth! That I was in class all of fourth period, that I haven’t touched your phone in weeks, that I don’t know anything about a gun!”

Detective Voss appeared behind Kareem.

“Both of you wait in the counseling office. Don’t leave campus.”

We walked to the counseling office and sat in the uncomfortable chairs outside Mrs. Park’s door. The school counselor was in a session with someone; we could hear crying through the door.

Kareem put his head in his hands.

“This is a nightmare. My parents are going to kill me when they find out I’m being questioned about a gun.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong. They’ll figure that out.”

“Will they? Because right now it looks like I’m the only person with access to your phone and your locker.”

He had a point. I hadn’t thought about how bad this looked for him.

Whoever set this up had been smart. They’d used my phone and my locker combination and created a trail that led to Kareem.

The counseling office door opened and one of the freshman girls walked out. Her eyes were swollen from crying.

She saw us and froze.

“They cleared me,” She said quietly. “I don’t know who did it, but it wasn’t me.”