I Dare You to Break Curfew

by Eva Muñoz

  “Good. And I expect you to be in class when I return.” Troyan turned around and led the way back to the staircase.

  “You don’t have to keep holding on to me,” I said as we descended back down. “It’s obvious I’m not going anywhere.”

  At the bottom of the stairs, Troyan let my wrist go and turned around to face me. I was a couple of steps above him, so we were at eye level for the first time. I dropped my gaze and busied myself with wiping my slick wrist against my side.

  “I cannot risk anyone else getting to you,” Troyan said. He closed his fingers around my wrist and ran his thumb over the red welts. I shivered despite the heat of his touch. “I can see that I have made you uncomfortable.”

  Among other things. I managed to hold my tongue.

  He let go of my wrist again. “If you promise to stay close—”

  “Where else will I go?” I interrupted. “It’s obvious I’m not supposed to be here.”

  The memory of my expulsion crumpled my heart. I’d just started liking it at Braylin.

  Troyan tilted his head from side to side until vertebrae on his neck popped. Then he shook his head. “Stay close,” he said before he whirled around and exited the passageway. He waited until I joined him before he pushed back the book he had pulled out. The shelves slid into place.

  I whistled. “That’s so cool. I spend hours in this library and never thought there’d be secret stairs to the lab.”

  “This is the only one here,” Troyan said as if he wanted to discourage me from further exploration. “Come on, I have to get you back to the dorms.”

  Not even half an hour later, and after I insisted we pick up my stuff, I found myself inside a black Aston Martin, Troyan at the wheel, and headed home.

  On the steep mountain road, Troyan pushed the car over the speed limit. I said a silent prayer that he wouldn’t send us over the mountainside.

  The purr of the car’s engine reminded me of the time I “borrowed” a car just like it for fun. A secret smile curled the corners of my lips. Having all that horsepower in my hands was freeing. Until, of course, I ran it straight into a fountain.

  My father had been presiding over a board meeting when I’d been nabbed by the Italian polizia. When I made my allotted call to Dad, he refused to leave his meeting and instead sent his secretary to bail me out. Even with everything written about me in the Italian and international papers the next day, he never came to my hotel suite to reprimand me. Never even grounded me. He hadn’t expressed anger—just indifference. It was the incident that landed me in Braylin, the school farthest away from him.

  My smile faded.

  I flicked on the overhead light switch. Even in the dimness, compared to Eli and Gaige, Troyan embodied Adonis. A straight nose. Lush lips. Long lashes that framed intense eyes. A jawline that could cut. Too good. Too perfect. It was like he wasn’t even real.

  “Who are you?” I blurted.

  His lips twisted. “Why were you on campus past curfew?”

  Despite his monotone, softness laced his words. I flicked the switch off, more comfortable sitting in darkness if I had to confess my sins.

  “I fell asleep in the library, okay?” No sense in lying about it. “I sat down at my favorite spot—between mystery and mythology—with my e-reader. Unfortunately, somewhere between WWI and WWII, I dozed off. When I woke up, I was alone.” I paused, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. The next thing I said would make my situation real. “I’m going to get expelled, aren’t I?”

  “Your name, what is it?” Troyan asked.

  “Camron.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Masters.”

  “If you promise never to miss curfew again and that you forget what you have seen tonight, then Alek will never have to know, Camron Masters.”

  “Alek? Alek.” The name sounded vaguely familiar. When the memory clicked, I said, “You’re on a first-name basis with the headmaster?”

  Troyan shifted slightly.

  “What about the group I ran into?” I continued. “I assume you’re one of them. Why is Braylin hiding the fact that other kids go to school there? Night school is nothing to be ashamed of.”

  “You do not want to know the answer to that question.”

  Because of the way he said it, all final and without any argument, the more I wanted to know. But I kept the rest of my questions to myself. If what he said was true, then I wasn’t getting expelled, which meant I could find answers. For now, I needed to figure out a way to sneak into the dorms without getting caught, and Troyan dropping me off at the front gate where the guard would surely see me wouldn’t be the wisest choice.

  As imposing stone walls neared, I pointed. “Can you drop me off by the corner there?”

  Troyan obliged, easing the car to a stop.

  “Have you been to all these places?” He pointed at my e-reader filled with travel stickers.

  “This one’s my favorite.” I tapped the Eiffel Tower.

  “It must be nice to see what the world has to offer.”

  “Are you telling me you’ve never traveled?”

  “Not in the way you think.” Troyan pressed the Unlock button. “You better get going.”

  Chapter Two: Curiosity

  SUNLIGHT REFLECTING off snow sucked. My eyes burned from the glare. The heat spread to form a world-class headache across my forehead, made worse by the clomping my boots made on white marble. Each step was like a nail being driven into my skull.

  The night before, I had been all alone in the west hall. This morning, I waded through a current of annoyed students in the east hall, adjacent to the courtyard. At the end of the hall was The Roast—an oasis where I could mainline life-giving coffee.

  I had woken up with a Post-it stuck to my forehead. On the slip of neon-pink paper, Riya requested we meet during her first break. I had no morning classes. In fact, I had no classes at all that day. Only loyalty and friendship kept me from turning around and catching the next bus down the mountain. I’d rather sleep than confront whatever she wanted to talk about.

  Troyan had left me by the outer wall at a little after seven, but I only made it into my room at a quarter past ten. I had to climb a wall overgrown with ivy, get past five guards, dodge two maids, and hide from the dorm master in a broom closet. I had no idea our building was so heavily guarded. When I finally reached my room, I removed my boots, climbed into bed, and stared at the ceiling for hours, replaying what had happened with Eli’s group and Troyan over and over again.

  Braylin had secrets after sunset that nobody knew about. I discounted the notion of the headmaster being unaware of the mysterious goings-on after hours since Troyan referred to him by a nickname. But why hide the existence of other students?

  The café’s glass doors parted and the scent of Sumatran blend greeted me with open arms. Formica tables, plush chairs, couches, booths, a menu worthy of an international hotel, and a soda fountain and coffee counter equaled heaven. The blue and white tiles matched the leather couches, the napkins, and the mugs. With our uniforms in the same color scheme, students blended in nicely. Not my immediate fashion choice, but what could I do?

  I spotted Riya at our favorite table. She sipped her triple espresso as she always did while leafing through a textbook thicker than the Gutenberg Bible. I sighed heavily and prepared myself. Riya Samaira had a science pedigree that rivaled most of the kids on campus. Everyone considered her Braylin royalty—fifth generation. I suspected she had been accepted into the school upon birth. The bindi on her forehead caught the light and sparkled. She opted to wear crystals in place of the traditional red dot, declaring them more fashionable. A nerd scientist with fashion sense. Best friends think alike.

  I sat down across from her, and without even a glance away from the text, she slid a steaming mug my way.

  “Double-chocolate chai latte,” she said. “I don’t know how you can drink that stuff. No better than sludge. I figured you’d be late, so I ordered it five minutes ago. It should be drinkable b
y now.”

  I sipped from my mug and let the sweet, warm liquid wake up my nerves. I slouched in my chair and waited.

  She closed the book and swung her long braid over her shoulder. “So,” she said, tapping her fingernails on the table. “Mind telling me why you were sneaking into your room at approximately ten last night?”

  “Ten fifteen, actually.” I raised an eyebrow in an attempt to mask the hitch in my voice. “How did you know?”

  “On my way to the loo. Don’t change the subject, Masters.”

  Riya’s level stare brought on a cringe. I hadn’t received a note from the headmaster, so Troyan must have upheld his end of the bargain. I promised him nothing. But the decision whether to tell Riya about what had happened last night presented another Pandora’s box altogether.

  “You know what? I think I need glasses—” I squinted.

  She slapped the table. “I don’t have the patience for this.” Riya’s British accent snapped into Indian.

  I quickly sifted through possible scenarios in my head that she would buy as I made small circular patterns with my fingertip on the table. “I was busy making out with Tommy Charleston.”

  I watched her watch me. I could almost hear the gears in her head turning as I waited to see if she’d take the bait. Because if I told her the truth about Eli and his posse or Gaige and his lab or Troyan and his… well, anyway, Riya’s natural curiosity wouldn’t allow her to rest until she discovered all their secrets.

  My lie hung between us—a noose ready to hang me. I sipped my latte and tapped the heel of my boot in a rapid staccato drowned out by the ambient noise surrounding us.

  Riya closed her green eyes and leaned back. “You were researching about your mother’s disease again, weren’t you?”

  My shoulders tensed. “Now why do you have to bring that up? Is it so farfetched that I was actually making out with someone?”

  “No,” she said matter-of-factly. “But I happen to know that Tommy was in study group all night. Had you picked… Albert Firebrand—”

  I gasped. “I would never allow my lips anywhere near that toad!”

  “So, just admit it.” She leveled her gaze on me.

  “I miss her every day. Every damn day.” I clutched my mug, its heat providing me a shred of comfort.

  She reached across the table and took my hand. “I read the article from The Medical Journal about her, Cam. There was nothing the doctors could do.”

  My jaw stiffened. “Of course there was nothing they could do. They were all idiots.”

  “Don’t be like that.” Riya pulled back, shaking her head. “I understand that you’re still hurting, but your father had the best doctors in the world looking after her.”

  “Don’t use your bedside manner on me, Riya.” My voice had more bite in it than I’d intended. I was too caught up in the conversation now to reel myself in. “How could you understand what it means to lose someone without having a chance to save her? Huh? Those ‘best doctors’”—I sandwiched the words in air quotes—“couldn’t even come up with a diagnosis. She had so many tubes stuck to machines coming out of her, keeping her alive, that it was like I was staring at some sick government experiment. If that’s what the best in this world could come up with, then we’re all dead.”

  The tears I tried valiantly to blink away overflowed and began streaming down my face. I swiped at them with frustration. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from saying anything more, until I tasted copper and salt.

  Riya’s expression softened. “I’m sorry, Cam.” She fished out a tissue from a packet in her bag and handed it to me.

  I stared at her offering, wondering if I should take it. I was too angry. But Riya didn’t move, obviously willing to wait me out. I breathed in and exhaled all the emotions I didn’t know I’d been keeping bottled up. I took the tissue and blew my nose. Riya nodded her satisfaction.

  “Aren’t you glad you got that off your chest? I keep telling you to talk about coming to grips with your mother’s death. I think we’re making progress.”

  I sank deeper into my chair. If rehashing the past was what Riya thought of as progress, then we were moving backward.

  The bell’s successive clangs signaled ten minutes to the start of the next class.

  Riya picked up her textbook and slung her bag over her shoulder. “No more researching about your mother’s disease. It’s not doing you any good.”

  I slumped back into my chair and covered my face with both hands, shaking my head, wishing for expulsion. I may have just made matters worse by keeping secrets.

  AFTER A couple of hours of feeling sorry for myself while I studied for an English test, I left The Roast and wandered off to the library. Thoughts of Troyan swirled in my head again. I really wanted to know what Braylin was hiding. If I was right, Gaige would have the same setup again later that night. And from the way Gaige paled when he saw me, he would most likely be easier to get answers from than Troyan. Once my curiosity was satisfied, I could go on with my life.

  Or so I told myself. I pushed my way into the library, planning to return to the scene of the crime. If they didn’t expel me the first time, what would a second hurt?

  “Camron.” The librarian, Ms. Lipinski, waved at me from within her doughnut-like desk. She had a computer to her left and several book carts behind her. “How’s my favorite bookworm?”

  I looked around, partially freaked out by the memory of last night that superimposed itself over the sunny interior of the room. I could plot the path Troyan had taken when he dragged me to the secret staircase hidden behind the false shelf. I blinked several times.

  “Slow day?” I asked as the darkness dissolved.

  The librarian nodded. “Something I can find for you?”

  “Just going to the back for some research.” Ms. Lipinski was always happy to help and interested in student projects, which wasn’t very helpful today.

  “I’ll be here….”

  I moved off, and tall stacks swallowed the rest of what she said.

  I weaved my way to the back. Once I reached the area where Troyan had taken me, I scanned for the book he had used to reveal the staircase. I gripped the spine, and pulled. It refused to budge. I tried again, but the book remained wedged between two other books in the same family of thickness and faded quality. I studied its spine, the lettering long gone, then folded my arms over my chest. A mulish tome wouldn’t discourage me. I just needed to wait it out.

  Ms. Lipinski closed up shop at four. The bang of the heavy door marked her departure. She didn’t even bother checking if anyone still lingered in the library. She accepted that all the students knew the consequence of staying behind. Obviously, I wasn’t as smart as the others. Ensconced in my corner, I waited. Too easy.

  Two hours later, the tolling bell brought with it a sense of déjà vu. Then a series of clicks, like the opening of locks, startled me. They came right after the sixth chime. I set aside the copy of The Odyssey I’d been reading and stood up. The setting sun transformed the library into a labyrinth of shadows again.

  I tugged on the faded book. No resistance. The shelf moved aside and revealed the spiral staircase once more. Without hesitation, I ascended the steps, my boots stomping on the metal. Darkness warred with the glowing sconce beside the concealed panel. I yanked it down like Troyan had.

  The hairs on my arms stood the second the panel opened. Self-preservation held me in place for a second. Gaige didn’t seem as malicious as Eli. Twitchy maybe, but not malicious. Even so, that he was “one of them” earned my need for caution.

  But, eventually, curiosity overwhelmed me and I pushed forward. The lab had once again been transformed into the lair of a mad scientist, with beakers bubbling and flames under Bunsen burners dancing. I walked from table to table. The beakers with multicolored liquids intrigued me. The seriousness of the room’s setup told me to keep my hands to myself. The words You break it, you buy it ran through my head. The difference being that here, if I br
oke it, I might turn into a frog.

  I made my way to the other side of the lab where Gaige had sat the night before but saw no one.

  The whoosh of a sliding door prompted me to turn to my left.

  Gaige, dressed in a lab coat over their uniform, entered the room with a distracted expression. He sipped from a teacup, his brow knotted in concentration. He approached the table with the microscope.

  After another sip he lowered the cup on top of its saucer with a small clink as china met china—an almost absentminded move that coaxed a tiny smile from me. My mother, when painting, had stayed in the same state of focus. Nothing short of an alien invasion or a natural disaster could break her concentration.

  I pushed away the loneliness that accompanied thoughts of her and wondered if I should draw attention to myself. Gaige started sniffing the air like a hound catching a scent. I held my breath.

  He twisted around and gasped. “You!”

  “Hi, Gaige.” I waved.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” he said.

  “Why is that, exactly?”

  “Er, because, uhm….” He cleared his throat. “Because….”

  He paused. His right hand supported his left elbow while he stroked his chin. Patient, I waited for him to continue. He seemed like he was on the verge. It was a look I knew well from hours studying with Riya.

  After a long minute, Gaige smiled. “Would you consider trying something for me? I would love to have a human test subject.”

  I glanced at the beakers filled with chemicals. “Is it safe?”

  “Of course. I never do anything dangerous. Well”—he shrugged—“not in a very long time. At any rate, I don’t think you’ll die. At least, the possibility of it is really low.”

  My stomach somersaulted, but his smile was so reassuringly sweet that I weighed my options. Riya did the same thing all the time. “Cam, test this,” she’d say. I might as well find out about Braylin’s secret while Gaige was conducting his experiment. It only seemed fair.

  “If I agree, I want you to tell me what’s going on here.”