‘There are only five yearbooks,’ Zoe said.
‘And one of us has to keep making the chain,’ Holly said. ‘It will keep Mr. Curtis thinking that we’re hard at work out here.’
‘Fine,’ Jackie said and grabbed her stapler.
Zoe noticed that Jackie didn’t look at the slips of paper. Even though she’d had her turn, Zoe was sure what had happened wasn’t far from Jackie’s mind. Those red letters she had written across her face would forever burn in her head, long after the rash had healed.
Almost forty minutes later, Holly groaned and closed the yearbook in her hands. She rubbed her face. ‘I don’t think this is going to lead anywhere. I found two Jacobs. One was a Mathlete and the other a Varsity basketball player and I don’t know either of them.’
‘Give me their last names,’ Teddy said, writing them down as Holly spelled them out. ‘We need to search all possible connections.’
‘This would be so much easier if we had our phones,’ Holly said.
Cece glanced at the clock. ‘I wonder when the next task is going to be.’
‘It is strange,’ Teddy said. ‘The first three came quickly. Why are we waiting?’
‘That’s easy to say since your turn is over,’ Q said.
‘Maybe the next one will give us more information,’ said Cece. ‘I just want this day to be over. Don’t you?’
The office door opened, and Zoe stiffened. She scooted closer to the table, holding the yearbook in her lap.
‘How is it going?’ Mr. Curtis asked, leaning against the nearest bookshelf.
Jackie turned her head to the side to hide any remaining trace of the rash on her face.
‘Good,’ Zoe said, unable to meet his eyes. She was sure they would get caught at any moment. She had an unconvincing poker face.
‘You should be further along that chain by now,’ Mr. Curtis said, glancing at the clock. ‘This needs to be completed by the end of detention.’
‘I’m hungry,’ Q said. ‘Can we get some snacks to re-energize us? I sure could use a candy bar.’
Mr. Curtis narrowed his eyes. ‘You didn’t bring food with you?’
‘We didn’t know we could,’ Cece said.
‘It would be helpful,’ Teddy added. ‘If I get low blood sugar, I’m really sluggish.’
Mr. Curtis’ gaze fell to Zoe, and she nodded slightly. He’d seen her with a Pop Tart earlier, but he didn’t say anything. Perhaps he wanted the task finished, no matter how it got done.
Q pulled out his wallet and fanned several dollar bills. He hesitated and cocked his head. ‘Teddy, you have any spare change?’
Teddy’s eyes widened.
Q grinned and clapped a hand on Teddy’s shoulder. ‘Just kidding man, this one’s on me.’ Then he stood up. ‘I’ll go to the machine by the gym. I love those Kit Kats.’
‘I’m not falling for that,’ Mr. Curtis said, holding out his hand for the money. ‘If I get you food, I expect no more delay in getting this finished. You hear me?’
‘No problem,’ Q said, sitting down. ‘Right, guys?’
They all agreed by either mumbling a response or nodding.
Mr. Curtis shrugged. ‘I expect you to behave while I’m gone. I won’t be long.’
They showed their dedication to the chain by getting back to it without another word.
The moment the doors closed behind their teacher, Q sprang up from his chair.
‘Where are you going?’ Holly asked.
‘The vending machine outside the gym is out of order,’ Q said. ‘I needed to get him out of the room for a little while.’
Zoe’s eyebrows drew together. ‘To do what?’
‘To get our phones,’ Teddy said, standing up.
He was on the same page as Q. When had that happened?
A smile played on Teddy’s lips, and Zoe saw a flash of the boy she used to play with every single afternoon when they were younger.
‘That’s the best idea anyone’s had all day,’ Cece said.
When Zoe got up, she noticed a lot of writing on the notebook in front of Teddy. In fact, two sets of handwriting filled the page. Apparently, he and Q had been busy devising a plan while they were supposed to be searching the yearbooks. With their phones, they’d be able to expand their search. They all would.
‘Jackie, Holly, and Cece stay here and work on the chain,’ Teddy said, taking charge. ‘Zoe, come with us.’
‘Why do I have to sit here?’ Cece asked.
‘If Curtis comes back and we haven’t done more he’s going to get suspicious,’ Jackie said.
Q winked at Jackie, and then the two of them took off toward the office, leaving Zoe.
Zoe looked at Jackie, then at Q. When had they started getting along? She was so wrapped up in the tasks and her impending doom that she’d barely noticed a shift in their relationship. In all of their relationships. They’d forged a strange bond over their short time together, and it was hard to wrap her head around it.
‘Zoe, is there a key anywhere?’ Teddy asked when she caught up with the guys.
‘To the cabinet?’ she asked. ‘I don’t know, but Mrs. Jenkins has a key ring in her bottom desk drawer.’
Zoe headed for the desk and opened the bottom drawer. She handed over the ring to Q and crossed her arms. The hairs on her arms prickled and she shivered. Breaking the rules again excited her, a little more so than when she’d defied Mr. Curtis and retrieved the yearbooks.
Mr. Curtis would be so disappointed if he caught them. She might have to serve detention for a reason next week. Though if Mr. Curtis caught her in the office with Teddy and Q, she wouldn’t be alone. For the first time that day, that thought didn’t bother her.
The guys didn’t seem as affected by it. It made sense that Teddy wanted to know what happened to his bank account and Cece probably had had at least one phone call from her parents about the email, if it had been sent at all. Without their phones, they could only speculate. Now they needed proof to make sure this person was doing as they promised to all of them.
Q tried all of the keys. ‘None of these fit. We need a smaller one.’
Zoe couldn’t recall seeing any other keys. Mrs. Jenkins was a trusting older woman, and she never needed to lock anything, not even her office. If there was a key, Mrs. Jenkins probably had it somewhere in the open. Unless Mr. Curtis took the key with him? ‘I’ll check the desk.’
‘We don’t have time for this,’ Q said, glancing at the door.
‘I’m working on it,’ Zoe said. She wanted to prove herself worthy of being there with them. They trusted her. She checked the middle drawer, moving all the pens, pencils, paper clips, and random papers aside to see if there was another key. She even checked the bottom of the drawer to see if it was attached there. Then she shivered at the memory of Jackie’s punishment.
She thought of Victor. He would be able to open it. But they couldn’t involve anyone else. This wasn’t his problem and Zoe would feel terrible if he got caught up in this. If there were consequences for involving anyone else, she wouldn’t want to push Jacob to reveal all of their secrets.
‘Screw this,’ Q said and reached into his front pocket. He pulled out two thin pieces of metal.
‘What are those?’ Teddy asked.
‘My lockpicks,’ Q said.
‘You know how to pick locks?’ Zoe asked.
‘My parents lock their liquor cabinet,’ he said with a smirk.
Zoe hoped that he’d be able to do it. If they didn’t get the phones, sneaking into the office would have been for nothing.
After several excruciating seconds, Q opened the cabinet.
‘Bingo!’ he said and rubbed his hands together.
They reached inside to get the phones.
‘We need to get back to the table,’ Zoe said, eyeing the door to the library. She imagined Mr. Curtis coming back into the room before they were back in their seats. It wouldn’t be pretty.
As Q lifted his phone from the drawer, a red piec
e of paper fluttered out of his hand. Zoe’s heart plummeted. Q grabbed the paper and shoved the drawer closed. ‘We need to get back.’
Zoe practically sprinted to the table. She held Cece’s purple phone in her hand. She dropped it in front of Cece and plopped down in her chair, staring over at Q and the red slip in his hands.
Mr. Curtis still hadn’t returned.
‘Whose is it?’ she asked Q after he’d sat down.
Her chest tightened. Was this it? Was this her task? What would it entail? Would she be able to complete it successfully? She picked at her fingernails, desperate for at least one answer to her burning questions.
‘Whose is it?’ she asked again.
He handed Jackie her phone and Teddy reached across to give Holly hers. Holly hid the phone under the table and started typing on it.
Q held up the paper and Jackie flinched.
‘It’s mine,’ Q said.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Q
Four Days Earlier
Q wanted to jump out of the window. Granted, they were on the first floor so it wouldn’t have done any damage, but he needed to get away from Jackie’s incessant chatter. She was a row in front of him, sitting on some jock’s lap. The jock’s hand rested on the side of her thigh.
Q rolled his eyes so hard that he thought they were going to roll out of his head.
The bell rang, and he let out a breath.
Finally.
Jackie jumped up and kissed the jock on the cheek, leaving behind a smudge of whatever was on her lips.
She didn’t even look at Q as she passed.
He didn’t care.
He didn’t care about much anymore. It was a symptom of greater concerns.
Q stood up. It was only the beginning of the class period, but he couldn’t take it any longer. He needed a break.
He went to Mr. Powell. The teacher had a stack of papers on his desk. Q knew a pop quiz was coming today. He was always sure to keep his grades high enough to squeak by. But his marks were bad enough for his parents to have to come to school every once in a while for a discussion with his teachers.
‘I need to use the pass,’ he said to Mr. Powell.
‘Now?’ Mr. Powell asked, meeting Q’s eyes.
‘I’ll be quick,’ Q said, sliding the bathroom pass off Mr. Powell’s desk.
He dared the guy to question him. ‘Hurry back.’
He left the room just as Mr. Powell announced the pop quiz to the class. A chorus of groans and shuffling paperwork followed him out of the room. It wasn’t until the door closed behind him that he was able to breathe.
Q was in the bathroom for about five seconds before the sound started. The familiar eh eh eh of the alarm and flickering lights of the room made Q smirk.
It was a perfect time for a fire drill.
He finished up in the bathroom and leisurely walked out.
Students and teachers hustled down the hallway toward the front entrance. A mix of terror and excitement flashed across everyone’s face.
He wished he’d been the one to make the fire drill go off. He pressed his hand against the lighter in his pocket.
At least now Q didn’t have to take the pop quiz. Someone was smiling down at him today.
Q followed the cattle outside and found his classmates out by the curb in front of the building. The cool, early spring air was refreshing, and he wished he could stay out there all day. Or leave the property altogether.
Mr. Powell seemed relieved to see Q and checked his name off on the attendance sheet.
Q stood to the back of the group and surveyed the area. Everyone he made eye contact with immediately looked away. Q couldn’t hide the grin from his face. School gave him all the entertainment he needed. Because of the way he chose to dress everyone thought he was bad news. And since he spoke out of turn in class, they thought he was a slacker. His constant remarks against his teachers sealed the deal, creating the character he wanted them to see.
Just like his parents, no one bothered to get to know the real person underneath. That was fine with him. This place was a temporary blip in his life.
Jackie’s voice continued to grate on his nerves. Why was she so loud all the time? And why did everyone care to be around her while she blathered on about things that didn’t matter?
Q moved further from his class. Mr. Powell already spotted him, so he didn’t need to stick around.
‘Watch it,’ a girl said from next to him.
He cut a glance her way. Holly Pickard.
She flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder and walked away. She linked arms with some senior and started chatting with him.
Q dug his hands into his pockets. What the hell was her problem? He accidentally bumped into her. Big deal. Get over it.
Principal Killian came out of the school and waved everyone back inside. ‘False alarm! You can all return to class.’
Q glanced behind him. Where were the fire trucks? They came for every alarm at the school, delaying the inevitable.
Everyone shuffled inside, and Q’s mood darkened. He should have known that this wasn’t luck. It was a tease. He couldn’t take the bathroom pass to escape a second time.
He was the last of his class to enter the school. He took extra slow steps, so he was far behind his classmates. They were all inside when he heard his name.
He turned and came face to face with Curtis. What did he want? Q didn’t fall for Curtis’s persona like the rest of the school.
‘Can I help you?’ Q asked.
‘Quentin,’ Curtis said. ‘I saw you leaving class right before that fire alarm went off.’
Q shrugged. ‘So?’
Curtis glanced over his shoulder before turning back to Q. ‘Setting off the fire alarm is a serious offense.’
‘You think I did it?’ Q wasn’t stupid. He’d never pull the alarm. But he couldn’t help but smile. His reputation reached his teachers as well. Sweet.
‘Did you?’
Q lifted his chin and flashed the bathroom pass. ‘I had to pee.’
Curtis sighed. ‘I think you need to serve detention this weekend.’
‘For what?’ Q asked.
‘I think you could use some constructive time to think over your actions,’ he said.
He really didn’t want to get up early on the weekend, but it wasn’t as if he had anything better to do. Going to detention would tick his dad off, though.
‘Whatever,’ Q said. ‘Can I get back to class now?’
Q turned away and walked into class. He dropped the pass on Mr. Powell’s desk and headed to his seat. He caught Jackie’s hazel eyes, and they held steady for a second too long before her lip curled and she looked down at the quiz on her desk.
Detention. That wasn’t something he’d served in a while. Most of the time his teachers didn’t bother with the punishment. He couldn’t wait to see the look on his dad’s face. Maybe then he might pay some attention to his son.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Q
Saturday
Q clenched his jaw, keeping his cool. Everyone’s eyes were on him. When the slip had fallen out of his hands into the drawer, he had a feeling it was his turn. Call it intuition or the fact that it was inevitable. Either way, he wanted to succeed as Jackie did. She proved it was possible, even though she suffered for it. On any other day, watching her get knocked down a notch would have made him happy, but not this time. Jacob had put her in her place, and it wasn’t satisfying to watch.
What if she had a worse physical reaction? He remembered the first time Mom had an anaphylactic reaction in front of him. It had been terrifying. He was relieved that Jackie only suffered from a skin reaction and not something more serious.
‘Read it,’ Jackie said.
He looked at her. Really looked at her this time. He always thought she was pretty, but her attitude left a lot to be desired. Today was the most she’d ever spoken to him. He saw a strength and determination in her that made him want to succeed.
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He flipped the slip around and read it aloud. ‘Fire burns everything around you. I want you to experience the heat first hand. Take a smoke break in the theater. This one’s on me.’
‘You smoke?’ Cece asked, wrinkling her nose.
Q rolled his eyes. ‘Sometimes.’
‘There’s no time limit on yours,’ Jackie said.
Q stood up from his seat. ‘There’s no reason to drag it out, though. Curtis is gone. This is the best chance I’ll get. I’ll be right back.’
‘What if Mr. Curtis comes back?’ Zoe asked.
‘Tell him I took my five-minute bathroom break,’ Q said. ‘I won’t be gone long.’
‘How do you know that?’ Jackie asked.
‘Because I won’t hesitate like the rest of you,’ Q said.
‘You should have someone come with you,’ Holly said. ‘To keep a lookout. I’ll go. I’m tired of looking at these yearbooks anyway.’
Holly stood, and Q nodded at her. He would have preferred Jackie to come with him, but she’d already taken part in her own task, it wouldn’t be fair to include her in another so soon.
‘Cover for me?’ Q said to the rest.
They nodded, agreeing to help. He turned away and thought how strange it had been for all of them to become a team as quickly as they did. He knew it wouldn’t last if they ever made it passed detention. It was a bond forged by convenience and survival.
A door at the back of the library gave access to a short hallway that led to the backstage of the theater.
Q set the pace for the both of them, moving down the hall quickly and silently. He was happy that Holly wasn’t wearing heels today as that annoying clacking would have given them away.
‘This is all crazy, right?’ Holly said. Her heavy breathing made it seem as if they were running instead of walking.
‘It needs to be over,’ Q said.
‘There’s only two left,’ Holly said.
‘After me,’ he said.
Q never stuck around school long enough to see it devoid of life. Even though they were quiet, their movements seemed much louder in the empty space.
Soon enough they reached the door to the backstage of the theater. Whoever brought them together into detention had wanted Q to be separate from the rest.
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