“Are you going back to the houseboat later?” Opal blurted.
Nico shrugged, uncertain how to answer. “I haven’t talked to the others yet, but I know Emma wants to. So, I guess …” He trailed off, and Opal made no effort to fill the dead air again. Nico realized they hadn’t spoken in the hallway all that year, and maybe not the year before that, either. He wasn’t sure he wanted to. The image of her on Logan’s four-wheeler played in his head. Was she a friend at all?
“Nico, I want to—”
She didn’t get a chance to finish. As if summoned by Nico’s thoughts, Logan appeared behind her, with Carson and Parker looming at his back.
Nico ground his teeth. He’d been close to a clean getaway that morning, but Opal had ruined it.
“Captain Holland!” Logan saluted, prompting snickersfrom his flunkies. “Sorry about the drone yesterday. I’m so bad at flying things. I’m like a … abirdbrain, you know?”
A weak-sauce taunt, and Nico was tempted to mock Logan for it, but he held his tongue. Logan would just start in some other way. The safest bet was to keep his mouth shut and wait for the bell.
Nico glanced at Opal, but she was staring at the linoleum.Some friend.
“I hope it wasn’t expensive.” Logan’s eyes cut to Opal to make sure she was listening. “But I have a replacement for you.” He pulled a paper airplane from his textbook and unfolded its flimsy wings. “You can pilot this now, see? Zoom, zoom!”
Logan flicked his fingers and the plane arrowed at Nico’s face, forcing him to bat it aside. Carson and Parker exploded in laughter. Nico’s hands balled into fists. He imagined how good it would feel to slam one into Logan’s smirking mouth.
Nico caught Opal watching him. He saw pity there, which made him feel even worse. For a terrifying moment Nico worried he might start crying in front of her. He lowered his head and took a step down the hall, but Logan stopped him with a hand.
This is never going to end. Not ever.
Logan cocked his head. “Something wrong, Birdman? Are your feathers ruffled?”
“Logan,enough,” Opal hissed.
Logan’s head whipped to her, eyes narrowing. Nico used the distraction to push past him and escape down the hall.
“Catch you later, Eagle Scout!” Parker called after him.
As Nico turned a corner, he saw Logan and Opal speaking in low voices. Carson and Parker hung a few paces back, playing who-can-shove-the-other-harder. Nico stormed out of sight.
Twenty seconds later, he was safely in Mr. Huang’s class. Emma and Tyler were waiting at the workstation the three of them shared. Their conversation broke off as Nico sat heavily and slammed his book onto the table.
Tyler scowled. “Logan, huh?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“We could pour water in his fuel tank?” Emma suggested, mimicking handlebars with her hands. “ATV no more go.”
“I said I don’t want to talk about it.” Nico was a weird mix of angry and embarrassed. “Just leave it alone, okay?” His pulse was slowing, but his stomach still hurt. He thought of Opal buddying around with those jerks, and his lips curled in disgust.
“Is there anything we can do?” Emma asked softly.
Nico sighed, putting a hand over his eyes. “No. But thanks.”
“We’re still going to the island after school, right?” Emma batted puppy dog eyes. “Please?You can count it as my birthday present. For the next seven years.”
Nico couldn’t help but laugh. “Fine. But we have to be back by dark. My dad won’t flake out two nights in a row.”
“What do you think that houseboat really is?” Tyler glanced around to make sure that no one was listening in. “How the heck did it get there? Because I’ve got a bad feeling about a floating collection of misfit toys nobody seems to be watching.”
“It’s a mystery,” Emma agreed, but in an entirely different tone. “We have to solve it!”
“I’m curious, too.” Nico lifted a hand to cut Tyler off. “We’ll just take another look. And you know you want to, so stop playing around. We’re the only people on Earth who know about that place.”
“Going into Still Cove on purpose.” Tyler shook his head as Emma raised her arms in triumph. “How stupid can we be?”
