7 Clues to Winning You

by Kristin Walker

  CHAPTER 25

  THE MORNING SUNLIGHT TORE INTO MY ROOM LIKE an obnoxious cartoon sun trumpeting a jubilant day full of bright promise and excitement. The day I was facing was anything but jubilant. Foreboding was more accurate. I felt an ominous sense of impending change. There’d be no more fantasizing about Bryn Mawr and a handsome Haverford husband and a stunning home and a life of perfection. That whole dream seemed incredibly boring now, so it wasn’t too hard to let go.

  I got dressed in the same pencil skirt outfit I’d worn the first day of school. I like circular things, and it seemed fitting to wear these clothes on what would inevitably be my last day at Ash Grove.

  I was ready to pull the rip cord on the agreement Luke and I had made that first week of school. If we got found out, I’d take the fall for the Senior Scramble. It’d been non-negotiable, and I was ready. On the way to school, I rehearsed my speech in my head. The picture of Luke was mine, and I took it with the intention of bullying him. Luke had nothing to do with the Senior Scramble, no matter what the caption said. I organized the underground Senior Scramble. I was solely responsible, and I would not divulge anyone’s name, no matter what.

  When I walked through the school doors, people all around turned and stared at me just like on my first day. Today was different, though. Today, everyone was silent. The looks on their faces weren’t ones of disgust or ridicule. They were looks of trepidation, worry, and fear. They probably were scared I was going to turn them in for being in the scavenger hunt. I wanted to reassure them that I wouldn’t, but I couldn’t stop. I needed to get to the office. They’d find out soon enough anyway.

  The crowd parted down the middle as I walked through. I’d never felt so alone in a sea of people. When I saw Jenna with her black-ringed eyes and Neapolitan hair coming toward me, I couldn’t help but break out into a small smile. “Hi, Jenna,” I said. “I’m so glad to see you, you have no idea. Where’s Cy?”

  “He’s outside having a smoke,” she said quietly, drawing me over to a bank of lockers inside a little alcove. “That’s why I wanted to sneak in here to find you. Listen, he would never say anything, but you know the vice principal?”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “Cy got in trouble last month, and when he saw her, she said that it was his official ‘strike two.’ God, I hate her.”

  I nodded. “I hear ya.”

  “So here’s the thing, if he gets one more strike, they’re gonna kick him out of school. That’s what she said, anyway. I just was wondering … I mean, everyone knows what happened yesterday, thanks to Mrs. Bolger. We know that they’re making you name people in the Senior Scramble or they’ll expel you for bullying or some such crap. So, I was just wondering if you could … not mention Cy. Otherwise he’ll be expelled. He’d kill me if he knew I was asking you this, but you know … I had to. It’s Cy.”

  I rubbed the sides of Jenna’s arms and firmly squeezed them. “Jenna. Don’t worry. I’m not naming any names. I’d stick needles in my eyes first. Hinkler’s going to expel me or suspend me or whatever anyway. And you’re totally nuts if you think I’d ever turn Cy or you in. Or anybody else. It’s not happening, so don’t worry.”

  I swear I saw Jenna tear up a bit. She smiled and thanked me more than once. Keeping Cy safe was all she needed in order to be happy. Cy’s happiness was Jenna’s happiness. I couldn’t help but feel jealous of what she and Cy had. They loved each other so much, and I loved them both. They were an absolutely perfect couple of oddballs.

  Less than two minutes later, I was standing outside the main office, taking a second to brace myself for what was coming. Finally, I opened the door and all the secretaries looked up at me simultaneously. I glanced at Dad’s office door. It was closed. “Are they in there?” I asked Gladys. She nodded. I took a deep breath and put on the last lady look I ever intended to use. I was done with pretending things were okay when they weren’t, but I couldn’t let that witch of a vice principal think she’d rattled me.

  I strode over to Dad’s door, rapped twice, and turned the knob. I pushed open the door and nearly fell over when I saw who was inside.

  Luke.

  He held out his hand to motion for me to stop. “Blythe,” he said, “you don’t need to come in here.”

  I pushed his hand aside and stepped past him. “What’s going on? Dad?”

  Dad sat at his desk rubbing the palms of his hands together like he was trying to make fire. The VP stood next to him again. I think she enjoyed being higher than him in the room. It was she who answered my question. “Mr. Pavel has just confessed to running the prohibited Senior Scramble. He says he acted alone and won’t name any of the participants. Of course, he will be suspended. For two months. Such a shame that he’ll miss graduation. I suppose he can finish over the summer. Or next fall.”

  My eyes locked with Luke’s. I held them, but I spoke to Dad. “He’s lying,” I said. “He had nothing to do with the Senior Scramble. It was all me.”

  Luke stood up, his expression imploring me to stop talking. “NO. It was my idea. Blythe is completely innocent.”

  “I am not!” I argued. “It was my fault!” I was growing desperate. I needed to stop him. I turned my back to Dad and the VP and whispered to Luke, “Why are you doing this?” Then even quieter, “We had a deal!”

  Luke reached up and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear like he had in the parking lot after our date. “I’m breaking the deal,” he said. His voice was like spicy warm caramel. I could swim in the sound of it. Dive into it. Drown in it.

  He had forgiven me.

  I leaned in to Luke’s ear.

  “What are you whispering?” the VP cawed. My long hair had blocked their view.

  I kissed Luke lightly on the cheek and whispered, “I won’t let you do this,” and then I spun around to face my father. “Dad, if you’ve ever trusted me, please trust me now. I know it seems impossible, but it was all my idea to bring back the Senior Scramble because I was the one who got it banned in the first place. Can’t you see that?”

  “Luke has already shown us the website,” Dad said. “He couldn’t know about it if he wasn’t involved.”

  I slammed my palms down on the desk and shouted at my father, “It wasn’t him! Don’t you see that Luke is just trying to protect me?”

  Dad’s eyebrows lifted with surprise. He opened his mouth slightly and glanced at Luke. Then back to me. Then back to Luke. His eyes flashed and I knew he understood. Even more, he seemed to approve.

  “Well, there’s a simple solution to all this,” Vice Principal Hinkler whinnied. “We can suspend you both. Unless that picture of Mr. Pavel from yesterday truly had nothing to do with the scavenger hunt, in which case Ms. McKenna faces expulsion for bullying.”

  “That’s absurd,” Luke interjected. “I have no problem with that picture. It can’t be called bullying if I wasn’t bullied. As a matter of fact,” he said to the scowling VP, his voice and face brightening like someone had thrown a switch, “I happen to love that picture.” He inched closer to me and hooked his pinky in mine. “It reminds me of my most favorite day ever.”

  My heart dissolved into soft, glittering dust. I struggled to take a full breath of the suddenly thick air. The walls drew close around us, and it felt like Luke and I were alone in that office and nothing could ever be wrong. Or if something was, it didn’t matter.

  All that mattered was that Luke’s most favorite day ever had been with me.

  “So I guess it’ll have to be suspension for both of us,” Luke chirped. We stood side by side facing my dad and the vice principal. I unhooked my pinky and entwined all of my fingers in his. When Luke closed his hand around mine, all my worry and fear of what was about to happen to us suddenly evaporated. I didn’t care anymore what my future might be. No more planning everything ahead of time step by step to make sure it turned out right down the line. From now on, I was going to live my life, not wait for it.

  Vice Principal Hinkler was nearly twitching wi
th rage. Obviously, she had hoped to expel someone today. Maybe even break some legs or chop off a finger or two. “Fine,” she snarled through her needle-thin lips. Dad raised a finger as though he might object, but she ignored him. “If that’s what you want, then that’s what you’ll—”

  The intercom on Dad’s desk blared. Gladys’s voice came through saying, “Principal Mac, could you come to the front, please?”

  “Not now, Gladys,” Dad responded. “I’m in the middle of something here.” He opened his mouth to speak to us, but Gladys interrupted again.

  “I think you should come to the front, Principal McKenna,” she said. “There’s a situation out here that requires your attention. Immediately.”

  The four of us in the office exchanged puzzled looks. Dad pushed himself back from his desk, stood up, and led us out of the room. Two steps through the door, he stopped short and we nearly collided into him. When he inched forward, we could see why he’d halted.

  The entire junior class had crowded into the front office, spilling through the double doors and out into the hallway. Behind them, several teachers flitted around, fruitlessly trying to corral the mass. The throng hummed with chatter and energy. Up at the very front of the group, just behind the counter, stood Cy and Jenna.

  Cy held up his hands and motioned for everyone to be quiet. “Principal Mac,” he said, “my fellow juniors and I”—he turned and scanned the crowd, and then turned back to Dad—“and some seniors too”—chuckles ping-ponged around—“are here to surrender ourselves. We’ve all been involved in an illegal, immoral, and degenerate underground competition known as the Senior Scramble. We know that our confessions will get us suspended, as your policy clearly dictates”—some “oohs” shot up here and there—“but there’s no way in hell we’re going to let the booger girl—or the Dumpster dork—take the fall for the rest of us.” Swells of clapping built up and rose as he spoke. “If you’re suspending them, you might as well suspend us all. So let’s get going on the paperwork, because this is gonna be a long day!”

  Cheers and applause erupted behind Cy. Fists pumped in the air and whistles flew through the room. People everywhere shouted and jumped.

  Luke whispered in my ear, “Half of those people aren’t even doing the hunt.”

  A totally goofy smile bloomed on my face. Even people not doing the hunt were there? Unbelievable. “They’re all here for us?” I asked.

  “No.” Luke shook his head. “They’re all here for you.”

  “What?”

  Luke’s sideways smile was as goofy as mine. “Nobody knew I was coming in to confess this morning. I didn’t tell anyone. Cy saw me standing here and must have figured it out. All these people are here for you, Blythe.”

  I went numb.

  Then I started to float.

  I floated up to the ceiling and through the clouds and out into the universe, which was the only place huge enough to contain how full I felt with gratitude and affection.

  They were here for me.

  The booger girl.

  The principal’s kid.

  Social outcast and teenage delinquent.

  kate4eva.

  Blythe.

  Me.

  I reeled myself back down into the office and immediately started to cry. Luke wrapped his arm around my shoulders and snuggled me. I nuzzled his neck and let my tears soak into his cotton shirt.

  “FINE!” screeched Vice Principal Hinkler. It cut through the noise of the crowd like a razor blade. “YOU ARE ALL SUSPENDED! FORM A LINE AND WE WILL PROCESS YOU WITH DUE—”

  “MEREDITH!” Dad roared at her. “That is quite ENOUGH!” She froze with her hateful words still hanging in her angry mouth. Dad craned his neck toward her. “I know I charged you with overseeing student discipline, but I think you would agree that suspending the entire junior class and much of the senior class is …”

  What was he going to say? That it was unrealistic? Inconvenient? Or some other wimpy thing?

  “… absolutely out of the question.”

  The place exploded again. Everyone started chanting, “PRINCIPAL MAC! PRINCIPAL MAC! PRINCIPAL MAC!”

  While Vice Principal Hinkler stormed off and Dad motioned halfheartedly for people to settle down, Luke took my hand and pulled me over to the far corner of the room. “Blythe,” he said, taking both of my hands, “I’m sorry about yesterday in the cafeteria. With the picture.”

  “I never should’ve taken it.”

  He waved me off. “I never cared about the picture. I just cared about what I thought you might have done with it. Obviously, I was wrong.”

  “I was telling you the truth,” I whispered desperately.

  “I know you were,” he said. “I knew it then too, but I forced myself to question it. I’m a stupid journalist. You know. After last night when I got your e-mail, I couldn’t question it anymore. I never will again, Blythe. I promise. And I’m sorry.” Luke kissed me quickly without letting go of my hands.

  Dad had sent everyone back to class, and the office was emptying out. When he spotted Luke and me with our hands clasped, he snapped his fingers and pointed at us like a bad lounge singer. “You two should … um … you can get to class, then. Yup. You’re dismissed.”

  It was a toss-up over who was blushing more, Dad or me.

  Luke and I filed out of the office and into the crowd of students dispersing through the hallways. When we finally had to part, Luke whispered in his low, smoky voice, “Meet me right after school. By your car. Okay?”

  I’d go anywhere for him. “Absolutely.”

  Over the course of the day, word spread that Dad had decided to officially reinstate the Senior Scramble. Cy had successfully argued that it was technically out of the school’s jurisdiction. It was going forward, whether the administration liked it or not, so they might as well sanction it. Cy would make a fantastic attorney one day.

  When the final bell rang at last, I raced out to my car. Luke wasn’t there, but a note was pinned under my windshield wiper. I snatched it up. It was a single printed page that said in large black lettering, CHECK YOUR E-MAIL.

  Huh?

  Okay, fine. I fished out my phone, turned it on, and pulled up my e-mail account. At the top of the in-box was an e-mail sent directly from The Revolting Phoenix administrators’ account. I opened it.

  This is a courtesy message from the Revolting Phoenix online forum. Your profile has been updated. Please check back with the forum as soon as possible. Thank you.

  What? The Senior Scramble had been official for less than a few hours and already the admins felt liberated enough to be sending e-mails around? Wow, that was fast. Did Luke know about this? Where was he, anyway? The parking lot was emptying out quickly.

  I logged on to the Revolting Phoenix and a message popped up right away.

  Congratulations! Your picture of item #6 has now been approved.

  Here is your clue to item #7:

  First, return to school and find the ragged Eagle’s beak.

  It will point you to the destination that you seek.

  But the object of this clue is only there TODAY.

  Don’t delay a moment more, start hunting right away.

  I was glad my sign picture was finally approved, but what was with this clue? What did it mean? My only guess was that it referred to the Ash Grove Fighting Eagles, since Eagle was capitalized. There were Fighting Eagle pictures and statues all over school. Which was the ragged one?

  I waited another fifteen minutes. It was clear Luke wasn’t coming out. The exit door hadn’t opened in over ten minutes, and the last cars had pulled out of the parking lot. I called him but got his voice mail. I texted him, but there was no reply. Where was he? What should I do?

  Hold on. Instead of Luke, the note was here at my car and it had led me directly to this clue. Was the clue connected with Luke’s disappearance? It said that I should start hunting right away. Was I really supposed to follow it? Now? Should I give it a shot?

  I waited
two more minutes and then I decided to go for it. I locked my bag in the car but kept my phone with me in case Luke called. I went back inside and swung by the gym first since it was close. I knew there was an eagle statue in the vestibule outside the gym doors. When I got there, it was pretty obvious that this wasn’t the ragged eagle. It was in pristine condition, gleaming with layers and layers of varnish.

  I needed to find a shabby eagle. A worn-out eagle. One with paint chipped off, maybe. One where a lot of people would touch it as they went by. There was one in the main lobby of the school. That was a high-traffic area for sure. I raced through the halls, surprised that I knew them so well. I got to the lobby and examined the statue. The paint had worn off on several edges, so I checked to see where the beak pointed. It was a solid concrete wall. There was nothing there. This couldn’t be the right eagle. I needed a ragged one.

  Ragged. What was ragged?

  Fabric was ragged. Were there any Fighting Eagles made of fabric? I had never seen a stuffed-animal Fighting Eagle in the time I’d been there. What about an eagle picture on fabric? Like a pennant.

  Or a flag!

  I knew exactly where to go. I sped around through the maze of halls and turned into the cafeteria one. Down at the hallway’s dead end hung the huge Ash Grove Fighting Eagles flag I had seen just after starting school here. I looked closely at the flag, and sure enough, the green and yellow fabric was frayed and threadbare in many spots. Where was the eagle’s beak pointing?

  CHAPTER 26

  THE BEAK WAS POINTING TO MY RIGHT, BUT THERE was nowhere to go. The dead end surrounded me on three sides with solid walls. I checked under the flag, but there was nothing. What could it be pointing at? Other than me, the only thing here was a rusty metal folding chair leaning up against the wall to my right. The direction the beak pointed. I couldn’t imagine how a folding chair could be the answer to the clue, but I checked it out. I unfolded the chair and gasped when I found another note, this one taped to the seat. I opened it and read the verse at the top.