Daniel shrugged. “Then I’ll get both.”
I tried to hide how irked I was. Not only because he didn’t need both positions, but also because it didn’t even sound like hewantedthe second one! Someone who genuinely wanted to be a prefect deserved the role. It was about more than just bolstering your college application.
Please just apply, Tag, I’d thought, because he would be so good at it. But we weren’t together anymore, and since we couldn’t be friends, I’d said nothing.
ELEVEN
“Okay, time to regroup,” Alex said after Tag and I had carefully backed away from the sanctuary’s entrance and huddled under Alex’s tree, hiding his flashlight beam. “It sounds like those guys are all over the deck, which we needed for theHour Glass.” He gave Tag a look. “Unless you want to change the location?”
Tag shook his head. The aforementionedHour Glasswas the best place to hide the next clue, because it was a Maya Rivera original. Ten feet tall, the sculpture was a mixture of light sea-green glass and melded metals. There was even sand inside, on the top, bottom, and somehow suspended in between. Daniel’s twin had outdone herself.
And Tag, once again, understood the assignment. If we didn’t choose Maya’s installation, Daniel would be checking every single sculpture here. Which could take hours.
There was only one catch.
“He’ll suspect it’s Maya,” I pointed out. “Daniel will think Maya’s the Jester.”
“Well, at the end of the day, he’s going to pegsomebodyas the Jester,” Alex said.
“And itwon’tbe Maya,” Tag said, showing us his phone screen. Zoe had buzzed in:Maya’s going to the infirmary. Take cover. Housemaster is driving her over now.
“Excellent,” Alex whispered excitedly. “Awful but excellent.”
Can we ensure word is spread?Tag wrote back.
“Uh, who are you?” I joked. “Peoplemagazine?”
“It’s her alibi,” he responded after Zoe liked his message. “It’ll eliminate her as a Jester possibility.” He locked his phone and nodded at the sanctuary. “Okay, now let’s solve this.”
Weneededthe deck. Unfortunately, none of us were tall enough to reach the top of Maya’s sculpture without standing on one of the deck’s benches.
“I say we split up,” Alex said. “You two can hide the clue from the sculpture’s other side while I create a diversion. I’m a senior, they’re freshmen—or, if Manik’s right, sophomores. Either way, I outrank them.”
“But you’re not anauthority figure,” I said. “It’s not like you can send them racing for their rooms. They might leave, but theyalsomight sit and stay a while.”
Alex was unfazed. “Then I’ll shoot the shit with them.”
I sighed. “Alex, even if you play it cool now, those guys will immediately remember you when Ames finds out the Almanacsare missing. What are you supposed to be doing out here alone? Unless you have recreational drugs in your backpack…”
Alex tilted his head. “Lily.”
“No!” I whisper-yelled. “You have recreational drugs in your backpack?!” Alex had gotten his strike for drinking, but I’d also caught a whiff of a Dave Matthews concert once or twice. He occasionally partook in a joint.
I looked at Tag. He never smoked and rarely drank, but a bathtub and champagne flashed through my mind. After crossing the Chicago Marathon’s finish line, we’d celebrated with the bottle of nonalcoholic champagne that my mom had hidden in my suitcase—she knew how hard I’d been training for that race.26.2!its tag had read. In Tag’s empty house, I’d been lounging in a decadent bubble bath while he’d sat freshly showered on the edge of the clawfoot tub. Back and forth, back and forth, the bottle had passed between us until our stomachs fizzed and we couldn’t stop laughing. He became so naturally tipsy that he’d leaned far over the edge of the tub. Any second, he would slip. “What a stupid place to sit,” I’d giggled, to which he grinned and said, “But what a pretty place to fall!”
Then he’d slid into the water, T-shirt and boxers and all. And my heart—well, my heart had swelled so much I thought it would burst from my chest. I could still see us splashing each other in between soapy kisses.
“Blame me, Lily,” Tag now said. “I told him to bring some in case we ran into students. We need as many explanationsas possible. If they see Alex light up, they won’t think he’s the Jester.” He gave his friend a shove. “They’ll just think he’s anidiot.”
I considered for a beat.Itwouldknock off another Jester prospect, I realized.Tag put himself in a clue, Maya’s now safe in the infirmary, and Alex would be sneaking out for a smoke…
We needed a distraction. The freshmen were talking, but unless someone purposely kept the conversation flowing, they would break off if they heard too many sticks snap or the faintest of whispers.
“Okay,” I mumbled. “Fine, but promise you won’t share with anyone?” Watching Alex smoke would already be giving them the wrong idea.
Alex held out his pinkie. “Promise.”
Our makeshift scheme came together quickly. Alex would casually run into the underclassmen while Tag and I handled the clue. We didn’t have the time or privacy for a clue reading, so after Tag showed it to me, he tucked it inside its envelope before licking the seal. “What’s that for?” I asked when he dropped the envelope into a plastic sandwich bag.
