by Ruby Vincent
The four of us gaped at him open-mouthed. I didn’t know what the other boys were thinking, but I couldn’t believe that Ryder had gone so far as to ask his mom to let us live with them.
He truly wants this—us.
“I think that’s a great idea,” I said. “Somerset is only thirty minutes from the manor, I can see Mom as often as I want, and there are some of the best preschools in this area.” I looked between Ezra, Jaxson, and Maverick. “What do you guys think?”
“That’s cool with me,” Jaxson said. “I practically live at Eugene’s house as it is.”
Ezra and Maverick were slower to answer. “There’s plenty of room and I’d be close to my mom too. I’m down.”
I slipped out from under Ezra’s arm and scooted up to Maverick. Taking his face in my hands, I placed a soft kiss on his lips. “What do you think?”
He smiled down at me. “Let’s do it.” Maverick kissed me once more. “But there’s one condition: you and I share a bedroom.”
The protests were immediate. I laughed as Maverick smirked triumphantly at the others. I would be settling this battle later, but right then, I had something I needed to do.
“I have to go, guys. I’m going to ask Evergreen about the yearbooks. You don’t have to”—the four of them got to their feet, breakfast forgotten—“come.”
The boys trailed me as I headed through the courtyard and pushed through the main doors. It was Saturday, but Mrs. Khan and the headmaster kept normal office hours while the rest of the admin staff were off for the weekend.
“Wait here, please,” I told them. “It’ll look strange if we all roll up on him for some yearbooks.”
“Fine,” Ezra agreed.
The boys hung back, but they didn’t go far. I went inside and Mrs. Khan looked up from her desk. The door to Evergreen’s office was open. As I crossed to the counter, I saw him hunched over paperwork, scribbling away.
“What can I do for you, Val?”
“Morning, Mrs. Khan,” I greeted. I was careful not to let my voice carry. “Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering about the school yearbooks.”
“Yearbooks?”
I nodded. “A friend of mine lost their copies. They had almost all of them going back years. Is there any way they could get new ones? Could they buy replacements from the school?”
She tsked. “How sad. I wish we could help, but it’s not that simple. We order them from the printer and only get as much as we are paid for. If a student loses their copy, there are no extras left.”
“That sucks. They were hoping to use it while they documented their family tree.”
“Oh, what a fun project. Maybe there is something I can do...” Mrs. Khan scrunched up her nose as she thought. “You know, they could speak to the headmaster. He has copies of all the yearbooks in his office. I’m sure he’d be happy to let your friend have a look.” She rose from her desk. “Do you want me to ask him now?”
I shifted to gaze at Evergreen. He hadn’t moved from his earlier position, bent over his work. I opened my mouth and said, “No. That’s okay. I’m sure my friend wouldn’t want to bother him.”
“Alright. If you’re sure.”
“Bye, Mrs. Khan.”
The boys were right where I left them when I stepped outside. “So what did he say?” Ryder asked.
“Sofia was right. Bless her for the genius she is.”
“He has them?”
“He’s got copies in his office.”
Maverick stepped forward. “Is he going to let you see them?”
“I didn’t ask.”
“Uhh,” Jaxson sounded. “Why not?”
“Because I realized it’s no good to have him staring over my shoulder while I flipped through every book writing down names. That’s if he even lets me see them in the first place. I have to come back on my own and check them out.”
“What does that mean?” Ryder asked.
“It means... I’m breaking into the headmaster’s office.” With that, I turned and marched toward the doors. I was out in the courtyard before I heard them running up behind me.
“What did you just say?” asked Maverick.
“I said I’m breaking into his office. I’m getting the stuff now.”
“The stuff? What stuff?! Your handy breaking-and-entering kit?!”
“It’s not a kit. It’s just a hammer.”
“Val.” Ryder ran out in front of me and pulled me up short. “Stop and talk to us.”
“What do we need to talk about? This is the only thing that makes sense.”
“None of this makes sense,” Ezra retorted. “This is insane. You could get expelled.”
“What’s insane about it? I won’t get caught.” I flapped a hand. There are cameras in the courtyard and around our dorm, but there are none in the main building and I’ve been in Evergreen’s office enough times to know there are none in there. I’ll put what I need in my bag and walk around with it for the rest of the day.
“When it hits five o’clock, weekend office hours are over and Mrs. Khan will go home while Evergreen retreats to wherever he comes from. The office will be empty, but it will still be early enough that when I get back, I won’t look like a prowler creeping in after dark.” I shrugged. “You see? It’s perfect.”
The guys shared incredulous looks like they couldn’t believe all four of them had fallen in love with a lunatic.
Jaxson was the one to break first. “At least let me do it,” he offered. “It doesn’t matter if I get expelled. I don’t have Somerset to look forward to.”
“Jaxson, no. I appreciate that”—my hands balled into fists—“but I need to do this myself. After what they did to me, I won’t sit on the sidelines.”
“But—”
“No one is sitting on the sidelines,” Ryder broke in calmly. “We all go.”
The denial was hot on my lips. “Guys, no way. I’m not risking you getting in trouble too.”
“If the plan is as foolproof as you say, then there is no risk.”
“I want to get in and out quickly,” I tried again.
Ezra nudged my shoulder. “You can’t be quick going over all those names and faces by yourself. You’ll need our help anyway.”
Damn, that’s a good point. It would be much easier with the five of us.
I looked around at their handsome, and determined, faces. They would come with me if they had to stalk me.
“Okay. Let’s do it.”
I SAID IT WOULD BE easy, but it surprised me how much. I returned to the dorm to get the hammer and then the five of us went into the quad and found a quiet spot to sit and watch the hours tick by. Five o’clock came and went, but we stayed. We did not move until the clock struck thirty minutes past.
“Ready?” I asked.
They answered by getting to their feet. Together, we entered the main building. I tried the handle for the admin door and it didn’t budge.
“Stand back.”
“Do we have to do it like this?” Ezra asked. “Everyone will know someone broke in.”
“I told you I don’t have a breaking-and-entering kit. I can’t pick the lock so I have to break it.” I waved them back. “Go on, guys.”
Reluctantly, they stepped aside. I didn’t waste the precious time we had. I raised the hammer in the air.
Smash! Smash! Smash! Clang!
The handle clattered to my feet. I kicked it aside as I shoved the door open and padded across the room to the headmaster’s office. I gave it the same treatment as the boys followed behind.
The headmaster’s lock was made of sturdier stuff. It took eight hits to finally get the thing off.
“We’re in,” I whispered. “Search everywhere.”
“Why are you whispering?” Ryder said in a normal tone. “We’re the only ones here.”
“Just hush,” I snapped as the others snickered. “Find the yearbooks.”
“I did say I liked them bossy,” Ezra mumbled as he passed by me.
My cheeks warmed as memories of our night in the hotel flooded my mind.
Now isn’t the time.
The guys fanned out. Ryder took his desk. Ezra scanned the bookshelves. Maverick and Jaxson began opening filing cabinets. “Maverick, let’s switch. Listen to make sure no one comes. If they do, they’ll notice the broken door.”
“Okay.”
Maverick moved outside and I took his position. The four of us were quiet while we searched. My cabinet was full of student files, but I checked each one thoroughly to be sure. I was reaching for the final cabinet when I heard—
“Here they are.” Jaxson stuck both hands into the cabinet and pulled out as many as he could lift. Different colors, styles, and sizes, but all of them said Evergreen Academy Class Of. We found them.
Ryder and Ezra crouched on the floor as Jaxson took out the rest.
“As quick as you can.” I reached into my bag and pulled out notepads and pens. I passed them out to the guys. “Write the names that keep coming up. We’ll compare them after.”
I pulled the recent years to me and we got to work. We didn’t speak as we searched, but one by one, I saw the boys write down names. My own pad was still blank by the time I reached Shaun Roundtree. My former professor was no less handsome as a young senior. His toothy smile glittered on the page.
I kept flipping. Carefully, I scanned over the names until I found one. Then another. My eyes were beginning to cross by the ’90s, but I forced myself to focus.
Almost done. This is it. We’re so close.
I reached for the second-to-last book on the stack and started with the seniors. The pages whispered in my hands as I revealed row after row of grungy clothes and old-fashioned haircuts. My eyes had reached the bottom of the fifty-third page when I stopped.
Wait.
“That’s the last one, Val. Let’s put these away and get out of here.”
I jerked my head up. “What? Oh, right. Here. I’m done too.”
I passed over the books as Jaxson hurriedly put them back in order. He reached for another stack in my hand when the door flew open.
We jumped as Maverick appeared in the doorway. “We have to get out of here. Now!”
“Hey! What happened to this door?!” The shout was muffled, but there was no mistaking Gus. “Who’s in there?!”
Jaxson snatched the books out of my hand and threw them in. Maverick slammed the door shut as we scrambled to our feet, looking for a way out.
“Quick,” Ezra cried. “Out the window.”
We didn’t spend another second thinking about it. Ezra practically ripped off the latch and threw the window open as the admin door banged against the wall.
“Who’s in here!?” Gus bellowed.
Ryder and Maverick grabbed me and tossed me unceremoniously out the window. I landed in a heap on the grass, coming down hard on my elbow, but I ignored the pain as I scrambled out of the way. The boys leaped out and we bolted as Gus burst into the headmaster’s office.
We ran and didn’t stop until we reached our fountain. I practically collapsed on the rim of the basin, willing my heart to slow. “I’m not cut out for the life of a burglar,” I wheezed.
“Let’s see if it was worth it,” said Ryder.
Ezra, Ryder, and Jaxson pulled out their note papers and handed it to me. I calmed as I took them. Finally, we would end this.
The boys sat down at my feet as I read, cross-checked, and marked out names. They had come up with over sixty, but the further I went through time, the more I was able to eliminate. I set the pen down after writing the last name.
“One, two, three...” I counted until I hit upon the number. “Thirteen.”
My hands shook as I handed over the paper. “This is it. These are the Spades.”
“Not all of them,” Ryder said. “Not Shea.”
“No, not you,” I agreed.
“But look at these other names,” said Ezra. The sun was beginning to set. It cast a dusky light on his harshly pale skin. “This can’t be true, can it? They can’t all be Spades.”
“I’ll find out if it’s true. I know everything now. The Spades don’t know it yet, but they’re done.”
“ARE YOU SURE, VAL?”
“As sure as I can be.” I picked up two apples and put one on her plate. The sun had dawned on Monday morning like it was another normal day, but nothing could ever be normal again. “There are no yearbooks of the actual first class, but these same thirteen names appear in most of the yearbooks. Thirteen, Sof. That’s not a coincidence.”
We accepted our breakfast plates and moved off the line. We had gotten up early and beaten most of the dorm to the cafeteria. It gave us a chance to talk without being overheard.
“What are you going to do now?” she asked. Her hand tremored as she picked up her milk. I took it from her and gripped her fingers. She squeezed tight.
“You know what I’m going to do,” I said. “You know the plan. Everyone knows the plan. I’m not going to deviate.”
“What if they deviate? You can’t predict what they’re going to do? No one in their wildest dreams would have imagined they would attack you and left you in the bayou.”
“Maybe I can’t predict their every move, but I know Ace is no idiot. I’m thinking like them and this is what I would do if I were Ace.”
“Okay, okay, I just—” She took a shuddering breath. “I wish there was more I could do.”
“We’re always a team, Sof. No matter what happens.”
She gave me a smile that wobbled, but a smile it was. After a minute, we picked up our forks and dug into our roasted pear and quinoa porridge. The cafeteria filled up as we ate. Soon, Kai, Zane, and the boys were setting down their trays.
Zane pulled Sofia’s chair closer to him and gave her a kiss that heated up the lunchroom. The two had been hotter and heavier since the video almost broke them up. I think Zane realized what he could have lost.
Paisley was the last to arrive. She had just dipped into her porridge when the cafeteria doors flew open.
“Attention, class,” Evergreen announced. Markham trailed him as he crossed to the center of the room. “There will be an emergency assembly in ten minutes. Finish your breakfast and go straight there. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What’s that about?” Paisley asked after he left. “What did we do now?”
Ryder and I shared a look. We picked up the pace and finished breakfast. As a group, the second senior class walked the short distance to the hall and filled in the back rows. The other class came in behind minutes later.
Whispers echoed through the hall. “What did we do now?” was on every tongue. Evergreen stepped up to the podium with an expression that said it wasn’t good.
“Good morning, seniors. I will be speaking to all grades to make clear that the student or students who broke into my office...”
I tuned the headmaster and his promises of severe punishments out. Our immediate summons to the hall meant that I still had my phone. I took it out of my pocket and pulled up my contacts. No more waiting. It was time to face Ace.
My phone buzzed like crazy when I unblocked their number and the flood of texts poured in. I ignored their hateful words as I typed in my own.
Thirteen last names.
Burned as they were in my memory, I did not need to look at the list as I spelled out the final name and hit send.
I put the phone back in my pocket. I didn’t need to say more. Ace knew that I knew. It was their move now.
Chapter Ten
“The guy finally decides to punish us all and it’s the one time we’re innocent.” Kai roughly stabbed at a piece of trash. “Why do we have to pick up garbage because some jokers broke into his office?”
“We’re taking over as janitors every week until the people involved confess,” said Zane. “Anyone have something to say?”
He was joking, but I kept my head down as we moved across the lawn. I felt bad that everyone was being punished f
or what we did, but it had to be done. I sent that message and then went to class after leaving the assembly. All day my thoughts returned to the phone box until finally the bell rang, but when I took it out, the phone didn’t buzz.
It did not buzz while I did my homework. It didn’t buzz while I changed for trash duty, and it didn’t buzz while I tromped through the grass. There was no reply from Ace and the guys threw me worried looks that night as we readied for bed.
“Why haven’t they replied?” Maverick asked.
“They will,” I said.
Jaxson took my arm and drew me in. His hand was warm on my back as he trailed his fingers up my pajama buttons. “When they do, tell us immediately. No repeats of last year and the almost strip show.”
“We’re long past the point of hiding things.” I rose up on tiptoes and kissed him. “Night. I love you.”
I said good night to each of them and then headed up to bed. The covers enfolded me in their cool embrace and I welcomed sleep.
Ezra awaited me in my dreams. He was naked as Dream Ezra tended to be and doing things to my body that he’d done to me in reality as well.
“I love you more than strawberry root beer and peanut butter brownies.”
“I love you too. More than—”
“Wake up!”
Rough hands seized me and dragged me out of the dream and my bed. I tumbled from the sheets and fell to the floor. Figures that were only blurs in my vision gripped my shoulders and held me down.
Benjamin!
I screamed as fear flooded my mind and overwhelmed all reason. A hand clapped over my mouth.
“Quiet,” a voice hissed. It was impossible to make them out in the dark room, but I knew that voice. “You know who we are, yes?”
Breathing hard through my nose, I nodded as my sense returned. It’s not Benjamin. He’s dead. He can’t hurt you.