by Melissa Grey
A part of him did wonder if Tamsin had seen this fascinating grouping in the cards. It seemed too outlandish for even the spirits to predict.
“It’s not just a book,” Bex said. She opened the cover with reverent slowness, stretching the moment as if she were luxuriating in the reveal. “It’s the next step.”
“The what?” Hana asked.
Bex opened the book to the page she’d marked with a small Post-it flag. “The numbers in the margins. They’re coordinates.”
“This is so freaking awesome,” Javi said, his voice soft with childlike awe.
“Where do they lead?” Noah asked.
“Maplethorpe,” Bex replied. She pulled up a map and entered the coordinates. They passed her phone around so everyone could see. “Not sure where, though.”
Tamsin touched her fingers to the screen to zoom in. “I know where this is.”
“Do tell,” Javi said.
“The music building. The old one no one ever bothered knocking down.”
“Isn’t that where you read fortunes?” Chase asked. He remembered Steve going there once and coming back a little paler than when he’d entered.
“Read, invent,” Tamsin said with a flippant gesture. “Same difference.”
“That’s cool and all,” Noah said, “but what good is a location without any context?”
“That’s what I said, until Chase noticed something else.” Bex flipped through the book’s yellowed pages until she got to the back cover. With gentle fingers, as if she were handling some priceless artifact, she slipped the library checkout card from its sleeve. “Look at the due date.”
They all leaned over the table, bringing their heads together over the card. A little tingle of satisfaction danced through Chase at Bex’s acknowledgment of his part in that discovery.
“That’s next week,” Javi said.
“Yup,” Chase said. “And I don’t know about you guys, but I want to find out what this is all about.”
One by one, they nodded, voicing their agreement. There was no hesitation. No doubt. They were in this together, all of them, for better or worse. Some outside force may have driven them to that table, at that diner, on that day, but the decision to accept the challenge, now that it had been laid out in front of them, was their own.
They wanted to know what came next. Chase needed to know. He hadn’t realized how much he’d needed something else, something outside baseball and his dad and his team and his own desperation.
Bex fingered the corner of the book’s pages, flicking a few up and down. “But … I don’t know …”
Chase gently nudged her with his elbow. “Don’t know what?”
“You guys all got letters. Messages specifically meant for you.” Bex absently chewed at her lower lip. “What if I’m not meant to go? What if they just want you guys and not me?”
“You know,” Chase said, “for someone so smart, you’re being kind of dense.”
Bex frowned at him. He was willing to bet it was the first time someone had ever called her that. “What do you mean?”
“The graffiti,” Chase said. “On John Maplethorpe’s statue. That was your message. You’re the one who recognized the book it came from. You stole it from the library. You knew where to look. None of us did, right?”
“Nope.”
“Definitely not.”
“I have literally never heard of Rousseau until just now.”
“You think so?” Bex asked.
“I know so,” Chase said. “This was meant for you to find. And you are gonna lead us to the next step in this super-weird scavenger hunt.”
A shadow fell across their table and silence fell along with it. The waitress stood next to him, her arms laden with heavy plates and a tray full of milkshakes. She paused at their table long enough to peer at the open book in Bex’s hands.
“What are you kids reading that’s got you so excited?”
“Oh, nothing,” Bex said, the lie spilling forth with ease. She closed the book in such a way that her hand obscured the title. “Just something for a group project.”
The waitress wrinkled her nose. “Ugh. I used to hate those. Nobody else ever did the work.”
Bex shared a conspiratorial look with the others at the table. Chase wondered if she was beginning to think of them as her minions. She looked like she was having fun. Probably the most fun she’d ever had in her strictly regimented life. “Oh, I think we’ll do all right.”
The waitress seemed satisfied with that answer and left, carrying her tray to the kitchen.
“So I take it this means we’re all gonna show up at the old music building at midnight a week from tonight?”
“I am,” Noah said firmly.
“We’ve come this far,” Hana said. “There’s no sense stopping now.”
Tamsin stabbed a fry into a little tub of ketchup. “And it’ll be extra illicit, because I doubt I’ll even be a Maplethorpe student by then.”
“What do you mean?” Chase asked.
Tamsin held up her forearm and pulled down her sleeve. On her wrist, she wore the same utilitarian display Chase had. Her number glowed a stark, unforgiving white against the black background of her screen.
17.
Chase winced. “Yikes.”
“Holy cannoli,” Javi said. “They’re gonna kick you out.”
“Yup.” Tamsin rolled her sleeve down and crossed her arms. The gesture was likely intended to look defiant, but it just made her appear defensive. “Summer and her goons have sent me way below Maplethorpe’s bare minimum.”
“It’s not fair,” Hana said. She was the only one at the table who didn’t seem surprised by Tamsin’s abysmal number. “Maybe if you told someone …”
“No one will care, Hana.” Tamsin tugged her sleeves even farther down, stretching the black fabric over her balled-up hands. “I was already living on the edge of the ratings. All it took was one good push to send me over. It was my own fault I made it so easy for them.”
“But that doesn’t make it right,” Hana insisted. “The system isn’t supposed to work like that.”
“Don’t you get it?” Tamsin asked, loud enough to draw the disapproving stare of the waitress behind the counter. She pitched her voice lower as she continued. “The system doesn’t work, period. Full stop. We’ve been served a big old plate of nonsense, and we’ve been eating it all up our entire lives.”
“Hana’s right,” said Javi. “It’s not fair … but there might be something we could do about it.”
Noah put a hand on Javi’s arm, his mouth pulling into a concerned frown. “Are you talking about what I think you’re talking about?”
Javi nodded. “Yeah. If I can do it for you, I can do it for Tamsin.”
“Do what?” Bex asked.
“Yeah,” Tamsin chimed in, “who’s doing what to me?”
A bell rang, making them all jump a little. It was the kitchen, signaling that an order was up. The waitress walked by their table on her way to the open window that divided the diner from the kitchen. Javi waited until she was out of earshot before he went on.
“Manipulating the ratings,” he said. “I think I figured out how to do it.”
That made Chase perk up. So much of the stress in his life was rooted in the ratings and his ongoing battle with his own. If there was a way to game the system, he needed to know.
“How?” Chase asked. “And why?”
“It was for me,” Noah said. “Well, for my sister. She’s sick. My dad got laid off and our rating isn’t high enough to keep her at her hospital.”
“The only problem,” Javi said, “is that it would be a lot easier for Noah’s sister if I had access to Magnolia’s database.”
“Magnolia?” Bex said. “My mom works there. She’s the chief neurosurgeon. If you need access, I can get you in.”
A languid smile curled the corners of Javi’s mouth. “That would work.” He turned to Tamsin, who arched a dark eyebrow at him. “And as for you, all we
need is to get our hands on Summer’s smartwatch.”
“And what are you gonna do with it?” Chase asked, though he knew. He just wanted to hear it out loud.
Javi looked at them in turn, perhaps gauging how serious they were. Chase had no complaints. Summer had always been kind of a monster. “We’re going to depose a queen.”
They didn’t dare linger around Lucky’s longer than necessary. The place was fairly empty save for the staff and a few college-age guys picking up takeout, but Noah still thought that maybe someone was watching them. It could have been the person who’d sent them the messages, or it could have been someone else. Whatever the case, the clandestine nature of it all was getting to him.
The six of them exchanged numbers and went their separate ways, promising to work out the finer details of their dastardly plan via text. Noah’s bus arrived first. Before he got on, Javi darted close and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. A furious blush accompanied him onto the bus. As it drove away, he caught sight of Tamsin giving him a thumbs-up.
What they were proposing was illegal. It had always been illegal. Meddling with Summer’s rating was probably slightly less illegal than hacking a hospital database to reflect a higher rating for the Rainier family, but it was still definitely, without question, super illegal.
And they were going to do it anyway.
The bus rolled to a stuttering stop a few blocks down from Lucky’s. Noah rested his forehead against the window. His breath fogged up the glass. He dragged his finger through the condensation, drawing a question mark.
They knew what they had to do. But not how they were going to do it.
Unless …
He fumbled in his pocket for his phone as an idea occurred to him, his fingers flying over the screen frustratingly slow compared to the thoughts racing in his head.
He started a group chat and added everyone to the contacts.
Noah: I just had an idea.
He added a few lightbulb emojis because why not?
Chase: Hit me.
Hana: hit ~*us*~
Javi: Oh look at all these delightful weirdos texting me
Noah: I have a Plan.
Javi: A Plan? Not a plan?
Noah: A Plan. Capital P and everything.
Javi: My breath is bated.
Chase: A plan to do what?
Bex: Oh, god, why are we in a group chat?
Tamsin: Yeah who let this happen
Chase: I like group chats
Tamsin: You would.
Chase: whats that supposed to mean?
Bex: Play nice, everybody.
Tamsin: Don’t know how. Skipped that day in kindergarten.
Tamsin: Wait, I don’t think I even went to kindergarten. My mom wanted to homeschool me until she realized she’d have to teach me math.
Noah: I always thought homeschooling would be kind of nice.
Javi: Noah. The Plan?
Noah: RIGHT. The Plan.
Noah: so summer is having that party tonight after the founder’s day dance … why don’t we just steal her device then?
Bex: I don’t think I know where her house is.
Chase: me neither. I’ve never actually been there
Javi: hey noah remember when I said I asked mrs sullivan for your address? I lied. I just hacked the school database to find it myself
Noah: dude that’s weird
Hana: That’s actually kind of sweet
Tamsin: Yeah, in a stalkery sort of way
Javi: nvm I shouldn’t have said anything
Chase: yeah u really shouldn’t have
Bex: You*
Chase: omfg dont
Bex: Don’t*
Noah: GUYS
Javi: so anywaaaaaay anything you fine folks need off the school servers … I got u
Bex: Don’t you start, too.
Javi: u u u u u u u u
Chase: my dude
Chase: so how r we gonna do this
Bex: Are*
Chase: bex i s2g
Bex: swear to god*
Chase: friendship canceled
Bex: I’m sorry.
Chase: lol no ur not
Bex: You’re not wrong.
Chase: So anyway when ARE we going to do this? Happy, Rebecca?
Bex: Type however you want so long as you never call me Rebecca again.
Tamsin: I think my crashing this lil shindig might be detrimental to ~*The Plan*~
Hana: oooh I like that ~*the plan*~
Bex: I don’t think I’ve ever gone to a party before. I’d stick out like a sore thumb.
Hana: Summer gave me a flyer the other day …
Chase: the whole team was invited. i can go with u. meet u there at 10ish?
Tamsin: Oh good, our two best jocks are on the case
Hana: I’m not a jock
Tamsin: You’re a jock in sequins
Chase: i think id look good in sequins. maybe we should make it a thing
Chase: bex u should come too
Hana: Wear something with sequins, it’s our look now
Bex: idk …
Chase: I don’t know*
Bex: I’ve taught you well. Okay, just for that, I’ll go.
Noah: omg this is like working with children
Tamsin: For realsies, the clock is ticking
Javi: no one says for realsies
Tamsin: I’m bringing it back. I’m making it cool again.
Javi: OK SO hana, chase, and bex will infiltrate the rawlins manor
Chase: but what if someone tries to stop us while we’re infiltrating
Hana: I will fight them (ง’-‘)ง
Tamsin: Can I bring popcorn? I wanna see Hana throw down
Noah: GUYS focus
Noah: you two go in, get summer’s necklace thingie, get out, bring it to me and javi
Javi: You and me?
Noah: yeah I was gonna go over to your place if that was ok
Javi: def ok
Tamsin: ooooooooohhhh
Hana: ooooohhhhhhh~
Chase: oooooooooo
Bex: Ooooooooh.
Javi: oOoOoOoOoOoO
Noah: once this is done, you’re all dead to me
Hana did actually wear sequins to Summer’s Founder’s Day after-party. Silver ones, on a tank top. It was too cold to wear it alone, so she added a simple black jacket on top (pilfered from her mother’s closet). She thought she looked like a teenager ready to party.
She wasn’t surprised that Bex had not worn sequins. But traveling for competitions her entire life had taught Hana never to go anywhere unprepared.
As they stood a few feet from the front door of the ostentatiously named Rawlins Manor, Bex stared at the sparkly rose-gold cardigan Hana held out to her like it was a smallpox-ridden blanket.
“Just put it on,” Hana said. “It’ll look nice on you.”
Bex looked down at her outfit. Dark blue jeans (boot-cut), purple-and-gray sneakers (utilitarian), and a simple white shirt (unadorned). “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
“Nothing,” Hana said. “It just doesn’t scream, ‘I’m here to party.’ ”
“But I’m not here to party.”
Chase took the sweater from Hana and draped it across Bex’s shoulders. She frowned at him, but only slightly. “True, but we don’t want anyone else to know that.”
“Yeah,” Hana said, “we need to blend in. So blend.”
With a mumbled token protest, Bex slid her arms through the sleeves of the cardigan. It did look nice on her, nicer than it looked on Hana. The rose gold complemented her darker skin much better.
“You know,” Hana said, “you should just keep that.”
“Yeah, you look nice,” said Chase. “Not that you didn’t look nice before or anything but, um …” He looked at Hana like she was the last lifeboat on his sinking ship. He cleared his throat and flailed for a subject change. “Did you bring any sequins for me?”
“Sorry,” Hana said, “I didn’t have anythi
ng in your size.”
The door swung open before Hana could touch the knob. A tallish guy in a maroon Maplethorpe jacket stood on the threshold, both hands bearing red plastic cups.
“Chase! My man, what is up?”
“Hey, Steve.” Chase offered the other boy a little wave. He didn’t look overly pleased to see him. Hana couldn’t blame him. Ten seconds spent in Steve’s company and she already didn’t like him, or the way he looked at her and Bex.
“And you brought two girls. Nice.” Steve held out a red Solo cup to Hana, who took it with absolutely no intention of ingesting whatever vile liquid it held. “Bottoms up, babe.”
He drained the contents of his own cup and backed into the house, beckoning for them to follow.
Hana daintily dumped out her cup into one of the very expensive-looking planters bracketing the door and followed Steve inside. Dmitriev would have her hide if he found out she’d taken so much as a sip, but she didn’t want to draw attention to herself by turning the drink down. They were there to blend. Hopefully, the plant would survive.
Summer’s house looked exactly the way Hana thought it would.
Everything was white and gold, from the gold-flecked marble floor of the foyer to the gilded banisters running along the staircase. Small porcelain figurines sat on side tables of dubious necessity. Some were fairies, suspended with their tiny wings flared, but most were unicorns. There were unicorns in repose, resting their slender heads on bent legs. Unicorns midcanter, their hooves frozen at the height of their stride. And even unicorns in flight, which Hana supposed were actually Pegasuses. Pegasi?
“Hey, Bex?” Hana looped her arm around the other girl’s elbow, speaking close to her ear to be heard over the music. “What’s the plural of ‘Pegasus’?”
“There isn’t a plural form,” Bex replied. “There was only one Pegasus, the equine child of Poseidon and Medusa. He was born after Perseus chopped off her head.”
“Oh.” Hana thought she liked the way Pegasi sounded better, even if it was grammatically incorrect, so she was going to go with that.
Chase split from their group and went off with Steve, while Bex and Hana surveyed the party. They all had their roles to play and they knew them, but it still took Hana a moment to adjust to the atmosphere.
“Why did we think this was a good idea?” Hana asked Bex.
“I was just wondering the same thing myself,” Bex said.