“Penelope?” She doesn’t answer. I lean off my bed and swing my pillow at her legs—that’s how close the beds are; Baz wouldn’t even have to get out of his to kill me. Or vice versa, I guess.“Penny.”
“What?” she says into Baz’s pillow.
“You have to go back to your room.”
“Don’t want to.”
“You have to. The Mage’ll suspend you if you get caught in here.”
“Let him. I could use the free time.”
I get out of bed and stand over her. Her dark hair is spread out over the pillowcase, and her glasses are smashed into her cheek. Her skirt has hiked up, and her bare thigh looks plump and smooth.
I pinch her. She jumps up.
“Come on,” I say, “I’ll walk you.”
Penny straightens her glasses and untwists her shirt. “No. I don’t want you to see how I get past the wards.”
“Because that’s not something you’d want to share with your best friend?”
“Because it’s fun watching you try to figure it out.”
I open my door and peek down the staircase. I don’t see or hear anyone. “Fine,” I say, holding the door open. “Good-night.”
Penny walks past me. “Good-night, Simon. See you tomorrow.”
I grin. I can’t help it—it’s so good to be back. “See you tomorrow.”
As soon as I’m alone, I change into my school pyjamas—Baz brings his from home, but I like the school ones. I don’t sleep in pyjamas when I’m at the juvenile centres, I never have. It makes me feel, I don’t know—vulnerable. I change and crawl into bed, sighing.
These nights at Watford, before Baz gets here, are the only nights in my life when I actually sleep.
***
I don’t know what time it is when I wake up. The room is dark, and there’s a shaft of moonlight slicing across my bed.
I think I see a woman standing by the window, and at first I think it’s Penny. Then the figure shifts, and I think it’s Baz.
Then I decide I’m dreaming and fall back into sleep.
6
LUCY
I have so much I want to tell you.
But time is short.
And my voice doesn’t carry.
7
SIMON
The sun is just rising when I hear my door creak open. I pull the blankets up over my head. “Go away,” I say, expecting Penny to start talking at me anyway. She’s good at immediately making me forget how much I missed her over the summer.
Someone clears his throat.
