We knew they’d made it back to Mack House without any incidents.Daniel and Manik are supervising everyone climbing through the kitchen window, Alex had texted a while ago, after he’d left Zoe and started on his own way to Admissions. The boys had snuck up on him, uncharacteristically quiet, but he’d managed to scramble up a tree to avoid detection.
“Right, they’re all tuckered out,” Tag said quickly. He wanted to make a move; Iknewhe wanted to make a move. “No one is going to notice us outside. We’ll do it just like we did the bridge—shuffle sideways against the building, backs to the wall. Headlights only cover the front lawns.” He shifted next to me. “What do you think?”
“I think Manik and Daniel are discussing what went bump in the night,” I said and pointed to the prefects’ suite on the right side of the house. Light streamed through the slats in their barely lowered shades.
Tag sighed and dug out his phone. “Once you join the Jester,” he muttered as he tapped out a text, “you’re loyal to the Jester.”
Manik responded within a minute:Distraction already in place, boss. We’re busy planning a mandatory house meeting to talk about tonight’s events. It concerns me that you guys are still out there, but good luck. If you need to hide, the kitchen window is unlocked.
Tag hearted his message. “What?” he said. “I love him right now.”
“Good.” I sighed. “That’s good.”
“Yeah…” He stared at me over his iPhone screen. “Hops, what’s wrong?”
“I have an idea for a shortcut,” I said, “but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”
“Why not?” Tag asked.
“Because it involves the Hub.”
Tag glanced over at Mack again, this time at the housemaster’s apartment. It was dark, but not because Josh was asleep…or eventhere.
After all, he had a job to do.
Just like the dining hall staff.
Tag’s plan to skim Mack House was ingenious. Campo drove by us, and while the Prius’s headlights swept across the yard, they did not stretch far enough to find even the toes of my sneakers. “We’re invisible,” Tag murmured, hugging his backpack to his chest so he could press himself as close to the cedar-shingled house as possible. “Nothing and no one can see us…”
It was smooth sneaking until we reached the end of the line at the side of the house. Puck was waiting patiently on a bench under yet another streetlamp. “Is the coast clear?” Tag pretended to ask him.
In response, the cat raised a paw and began daintily licking it.
That was good enough for me. I grabbed Tag’s hand and we took a leap of faith, hauling ass over to the math building. Puck bounded off his bench and followed us. “I still don’t know if I like this shortcut idea,” Tag whispered when we’d hidden ourselves in one of the building’s corner alcoves. “He’ll be in there prepping breakfast.”
“I know,” I whispered back, because like the dining hall, the Hub opened at 6:30 sharp. Sometimes 6:45 if Josh felt like joking around with the seniors lined up outside the diner door. Whoever got there first was awarded a free breakfast. “But he’ll be in thekitchen,” I reminded Tag. “We’ll sneak through the diner and out the student center’s far door.” I paused. “It would shave off some risk if we cut through Hubbard. We wouldn’t need to spend as much time in no-man’s-land.”
No-man’s-land, meaning the Circle. Forget about finding any safety there; it might as well be a wide-open prairie in Kansas. The sprinkling of trees was all too tall to climb in a pinch, and what good was an Adirondack chair or a hammock for a hiding spot?
“Alright, alright,” Tag relented. “But let’s touch base with Alex first.”
I nodded, unlocked my phone, and wrote:Status update?
Admissions, he answered.Eagerly anticipating your arrival!
Good, Tag typed.I miss you, Alexander.
I miss you too, Taggart, Alex replied.But always remember that you’re simply the best, okay?
“Tag, focus.” I locked my phone and forced him to do the same. We had no time for needlessSchitt’s Creekreferences, even if Patrick’s open-mic night performance never failed to warm my heart. Just like Tag and Alex’s bromance did. I hoped things wouldn’t be too rough for them next fall, with Tag in Virginia and Alex at Columbia. “There’s no ID sensor on theHub’s outside door,” I said, “and I don’t have a key.” I thought about my mom’s key ring. “Or I probably do, who knows.” I took a breath. “But since Josh is there, it’ll be unlocked…”
“Or just casually open to all,” Tag noted once we’d crept over to Hubbard Hall. The building where the prank had begun was silent and secure, save for a propped-open black door and a dining hall delivery van idling on the street. “Did he mention if he was low on supplies?”
“Oh, he actually did,” I said. “Flour, eggs, butter, bacon, just some basics. Although this kid has also completely cleaned him out of ketchup. Breakfast, lunch, dinner—I’ve heard he pretty much drinks it with a straw.”
Tag threw me a glare but then knocked his knuckles against mine.You’re funny.
I flicked his arm.Thanks.
