“Challenging. In a good way. She had to question everything. And I meaneverything. She was the editor for the school newspaper, and I never knew what to expect. The teacher responsible for supervision wasn’t great at, uh, supervising. I survived that year—barely. Autumn was such a treat by comparison.”
Spring’s younger sister. “And her twin, Summer?”
Another chuckle. “Not as…defiant…as Spring. But still a handful. And I can’t say more.”
“At least I’m now able to identify all of them. I’ve never met seven sisters who so resemble each other.” Most of them had long black hair and pale-blue eyes, like carbon copies of Spring at various ages. Only Kennedy had chestnut-brown hair.
“Yes. I can say the same—except I don’t even think I’ve met seven other sisters at all.”
I laughed. “True that. Okay, I should be going.”
The doors to the gym opened, and people started pouring out.
Finn was near the front of the pack and, when he spotted me, he made a beeline my way. “Hey, Mr. Clayton. Ulysses.” He gave methatlook. Clearly, he was still annoyed.
“I need to go speak to the players. Nice to see you, Finnegan.” With that, Gage headed toward the gym.
“Can I talk to you?” Finn gazed around at the milling students.
“Sure.”
He gestured toward the door to the outside.
I followed him.
When we arrivedin the parking lot, he stopped. “Why are you here?”
“The basketball game?”
He arched an eyebrow. The streetlamps cast shadows across his face.
“Seriously, Finn.”
“Did you go to the bathroom?”
“What?” I stared at him. Then I laughed. “Uh, no. I didn’t go to the bathroom.”
“This time.” He didn’t appear the least bit appeased.
“Finn—”
“Did you talk to Mr. Clayton? About what’s going on?”
I nodded. “And I’ll tell you what I told him—I don’t have a complete grasp of what’s going on. When I do, I’ll let him know.”I’ll probably go to print first…but I will tell him.
“What about Thelma? She’s beingrescuedin a couple of days. Look, I’m going to go down to the shelter myself.” He ran his hands through his hair. “Unless you promise me you’re working on it. That you’re going to save her.”
Be careful. “It’s coming together, Finn, I promise.”
He didn’t look convinced. “I have to go.”
A pang of disappointment resonated in my chest. We hadn’t talked about what happened the other night. I still didn’t have a read on his feelings. Well, upset with me for keeping a secret—he’d made that abundantly clear. The rest? I didn’t have a clue. “I’ll see you around though, right?”
“Yeah. Sure.” And then he was gone.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Finn
