Gabe was at Tag’s side in seconds, and I suddenly remembered that his sister was diabetic. He’d mentioned it once. “How are you, pal?” he asked.
“That’s a complicated question,” Tag answered slowly.
“Let’s get him up,” Gabe said, looking at Harvey. “He needs to go to the infirmary.” He paused. “And we should call his housemaster now to update him.”
“Very good,” Harvey agreed. It seemed like he was letting Gabe take the lead tonight—or at leastpretendingto for training purposes. He gestured at me. “And Lily?”
“I want to go to the infirmary,” I blurted, way out of turn. “I’m not leaving him until I know he’s going to be okay.”
Gabe and Harvey considered, with Harvey ultimately making the decision. They would take me with them, but I had to leave the moment my mother arrived.
She ended up beating us there. “Leda, hello,” Harvey said politely, as if not sure how my mom was going to react. She stillwore pajama pants but had zipped her North Face fleece up to her throat with her arms folded across her chest.
“Thank you, Roger,” she said with a nod before telling me to get my ass in the car and then to get my ass into bed once we got home. I’d curled up under my covers but couldn’t go to sleep yet.
Please tell me you’re okay, I texted Alex.
Yeah, I’m good, he quickly responded.I eavesdropped on your chat with Campo, then snuck back after you guys left. Now I’m waiting for Taggart.
I let out a deep breath of relief. Alex was safe.
He buzzed in again:Thank you, Lily. It really means a lot to me. What you did.
You’re welcome, Alex, I wrote back before surrendering to sleep. I also wanted to wait and hear from Tag, but I was too tired. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out cold.
My mom banged on my door two hours later. “Penny is expecting us at 9:00,” she said. Bleary-eyed, I reached for my phone to see that it was almost 8:00…and that I had a text from Tag in my notifications. My fumbling fingers couldn’t enter my passcode fast enough. I was desperate to know if he was alright.
Stop worrying, I’m fine, he said.The Capri Sun wasn’t quite enough to bounce back, so the night nurse gave me some apple juice and monitored me for a little while. Then Mr. Rudnick picked me up and drove me back to the dorm. Fuck, Lily, I’m so sorry. I messed everything up for you.
The corners of my eyes began to sting. Tag was going to be slapped with a second strike. He’d gotten caught in the car with me sophomore year, and now…this. Would Headmaster Bickford kick him out? Only a week before graduation?
Don’t be sorry, I typed.It was my choice to stay, and I would do it again. My hearing is in an hour. This is what I’m going to say…
“It’ll be fine,” I told both myself and my mom once we climbed in the car. There wasn’t a cloud in the brilliant blue sky, but neither of us wanted to walk to main campus. I buckled my seat belt and noticed Puck on the back stoop, watching as if to wish me luck. “Totally fine.”
My mom cut the ignition, closed her eyes, and then looked at me. “Lily, I love you, but youdorealize you won’t be getting out of this without a scratch, right? It doesn’t matter that you’re a fac brat. If Ames gave certain students special treatment, the school would have no integrity.”
“But it’s only my first strike,” I said.
“It doesn’t matter,” she replied. “A strike is a strike. Yours may not condemn your privilege to graduate, but all strikes go in student files, and if Georgetown sees that you have one…” She rubbed her temples. “Lily, what were you doing out there?”
A lump formed in my throat, blocking the total truth from spilling out so easily. I wanted to tell her about the Jester’s prank, but I couldn’t. It suddenly seemed irrelevant. When I thought about last night now, I didn’t think about the stolen yearbooks and scavenger hunt clues. Instead, only two people came to mind. “Tag and I have been talking,” I said slowly, “and we decided to go on one last adventure together.” I swallowed. “I know it was spur-of-the-moment—”
“And stupid,” my mom interjected.
“And stupid.” I nodded. “But there’s only a week left of school, so we said ’tis the damn season and celebrated it.”
My mom responded by restarting the car and backing out of our driveway. “Does this mean you’re back together?” she asked once the covered bridge was in sight. “Because a little birdie named Bunker seems to believe you are.”
Goose bumps riddled the back of my neck. Bunker remembered our impromptu visit? How was that possible? He’d been so hammered.
“He called this morning,” my mom continued. “After having breakfast with Mr. Harvey, he called and apologized for not alerting me of your outing last night. He trusted that you would heed his suggestion to return home.”
A few heartbeats passed. My mom turned onto the covered bridge, and when the sunlight disappeared from view, I whispered, “I don’t think I ever really broke up with him, Mom.”
“No,” she said softly, reaching across the console for myhand. “I don’t think you really did either.” She squeezed my fingers. “But last night, sweetheart…” She trailed off and shook her head. I waited for her to say more, but she didn’t. Her focus was now on the road. Students, all sporting their school blazers and colorful backpacks, were on their way to first period. I’d been excused from history for this meeting.
We parked in Admissions’ recently repaved lot, and my phone vibrated in my blazer’s breast pocket. I fished it out to find a text from Zoe.EVERYONE KNOWS, it said.
