She crossed her arms and glared out the windshield. “You have no idea how bad I want to read this book, but if Uncle Blathazar’s car is full of puke, he’d know something was up.”
“Uh…youthink?” I said, wrinkling my nose.
I glanced ahead, spotting a shining light against the dark backdrop of the night sky. Behind us, the blazing brilliance of Chicago retreated, and this looked like an oasis in the black night.
Looking over at Wendy, I pointed toward the lights. “How about a snack for the ride home?”
Ahead, the gas station and the halogen bulbs above the pumps drew nearer. Wendy’s scowl faded and became a huge toothy smile.
“For real?”
“Unless you don’t want to,” I said, acting like I was going to change lanes and pass the gas station.
“No!Please, I want to.”
Laughing, I pulled into the gas station. We needed to top off the tank anyway to make sure Balthazar didn’t realize the car had been taken, so this little side quest was necessary regardless. Why not get a little treat while doing that?
Ten minutes later, we were back on the road, Wendy with a king-sized package of peanut butter cups, a bag of nacho cheese flavored tortilla chips, and a cherry slushie. As for me, I chose to be a bit more health-conscious, and nibbled on a dark chocolate candy bar and a bag of spicy beef jerky. Instead of a slushie, I’d gotten a diet soda. The junk food was a welcome treat. The food at the academy was wholesome and good, but there was something about eating crap every now and then that was both nostalgic and fun.
“This is thebestnight of my life,” Wendy said, then stuffed a whole peanut butter cup into her mouth.
I’d never felt more like a big sister in my life, and all I could do was reach over and squeeze her shoulder.
“I had fun too,” I said. “I may get kicked out of school, but it was fun.”
“Not a chance,” Wendy said. “I’ll never let Uncle Balthazar kick you out. Your safety is guaranteed.”
I hope you’re right about that. The closer we got to the academy, the more stressed I became. What if someone had gotten up to check on Wendy? They’d find her missing, and everyone would freak out. Then they would, of course, find me missing as well. Would they think we’d been kidnapped? Would they thinkI’dkidnappedher? Maybe they’d assume we were out in the woods after curfew? Any of those would get us in huge trouble, and whether the dean’s niece vouched for me or not, my ass would be grass. I had to hope and pray that everyone was still dead asleep, and no one would ever know we’d left.
Pulling the car up the drive was nerve-racking. Every foot we drove, I kept waiting for one of the teachers to come sprintingout of the woods and pointing accusingly at us. Thankfully, we managed to park in the garage and close the door without being seen. We shoved all our trash into the bottom of a small trashcan by the door.
“Are you ready to get to bed?” I asked.
Wendy looked at me, her new fake glasses sitting at the end of her nose. “Yeah. I’m actually getting tired.”
“No wonder. It’s almost two in the morning.” I took her hand. “Come on.”
We marched back to the mansion in the cold, her plastic sack of books swinging at her side. Instead of using a flashlight or an illumination spell, we chose to head back in the dark, to better cover our return. A bright light moving across the grounds was a great way to get caught, but it made for a difficult walk.
Wendy’s hand slid from my grasp and she grunted. Turning, I found her on her hands and knees, having tripped on a tree root.
“Are you okay?” I whispered, kneeling down to check on her.
“I’m fine,” she said, wiping her hands and grabbing her bag, “but my glasses fell off.”
We spent almost a full minute running our hands over the grass before my fingers touched the plastic arm of the glasses.
“Got them. I’ll hold on to these until we get inside,” I said, tucking them into my pocket.
“Fine. That was freaking embarrassing,” Wendy muttered as we continued on.
The mansion was completely dark, which sent a wave of relief across my body, like cool water across a burn. If anyone hadawoken and found us missing, the house would be in chaos with every light burning. I breathed easier as we snuck back inside.
Getting Wendy into her room relieved even more pressure. I shut the door behind us, leaned against it, and let out a long low breath.
“We did it,” Wendy said, and pumped her fist. “Awesome. We were like secret spies or something.”
“Spies that are upwaypast their bedtime,” I said. “Get your PJs on.”
