I needed to know. I had never been a go-with-the-flow type of girl. I needed more information. What was this prank? Who else was involved? I wanted time to study the material.
Alex and I have physics together, I reminded myself, but in typical Alex Nguyen fashion, he strolled into our classroom right when the bell rang. It was as if it were announcing his arrival instead of signaling the start of class.
Mrs. Epstein-Fox spent the hour writing various equations on the whiteboard. Equations that I copied into my notebook but didn’t fully comprehend. If I needed help later, I would ask Daniel; we sat next to each other and were study partners for a couple classes. Physics was his best subject, and he took every opportunity to remind everyone of that. His mansplaining always tempted me to dump my water bottle over his head, but at least he answered my questions.
Once class was dismissed for lunch, my muscles tensed—I was about to make a casual mad dash over to Alex—but by the time I made it halfway across the room, he’d already slung his backpack over his shoulder and had his phone pressed against his ear. “Afternoon, Paul!” I heard him say, and then right before he disappeared into the hallway, “Yes, I’ll have the usual, pleaseand thanks. Taggart’s gonna change things up, though. He’s feeling a diablo…”
Provisions, I realized. Alex was ordering lunch from Provisions, a sandwich shop in town. Josh said their food was overrated, but the rest of Ames begged to differ.
I quickly texted Zoe and Pravika that I wouldn’t be at the dining hall for lunch. “Where’re you headed?” someone asked, and I turned to see Daniel at my side. He tilted his head so he could see my phone screen. “Ah, Provisions?”
“Oh, um…” My spine straightened. This wasn’t the first time Daniel had peeked at my messages. “Yeah.” I said, pocketing my phone before grabbing my umbrella. “I’m going to brave the rain.”
Daniel held up his own umbrella. “I’ll brave it with you,” he offered.
No, thanks, I thought.I’m on a mission!
I also didn’t want to have lunch with Daniel. It would make things worse. “Saying yes to prom sends the wrong signal,” Pravika had pointed out. “Everyone knows he’s liked you forever, and now that you’re hisdate…” She shook her head. “You need to be honest about only wanting to be friends.”
“Okay, sure,” I heard myself say now. “Let’s go.”
Daniel smiled, and we set off together. But while I kicked my pace into a high-gear speed walk—I couldn’t miss this chance with Alex—Daniel moved at a casual clip. “Jesus, what’s the rush?” he asked right before we reached Ames’s front gates, just as I heard someone call my name. “Lily!”
It was Gabe, who worked in the brick guardhouse.
“Hey, Gabe,” I said, reluctantly veering away from the gates. “What’s up?”
“Major stuff.” He grinned. “The school’s finally giving me a shot in the big time.”
“The big time?” Daniel looked skeptical.
“Campo is letting me out of the isolation station,” Gabe explained, gesturing around the guardhouse. “You know Harvey is retiring, so they’re giving me his car and hiring some new guy to work this gig.” He held out his hand for a fist bump. “I’m finally joining the patrol squad.”
“Congratulations!” I exclaimed. Gabe had always wanted to be out on the “streets” with Campo. “I bet you can’t wait for next year.”
“Oh, yeah, for sure.” He nodded. “My first shift is actually the day after tomorrow. I’m gonna shadow Harvey for the rest of the term.”
I shifted from one foot to the other. Mr. Harvey wasn’t the head of Campo but definitely had seen the most action in the Ames “underworld.” He’d caught students sneaking out of their dorms, having sex on the sports fields, drunkenly serenading the moon after dances, and negotiating tennis court drug deals.
He was perhaps my biggest worry about getting involved with the Jester. Everyone was convinced that the only reason last year’s prank had gone off without a hitch was because Mr. Harvey hadn’t been on campus that night. He was at home recovering from a knee replacement.
After congratulating Gabe one more time, Daniel and I crossed into town. Provisions, with its yellow siding and dark blue-and-white awning, wasn’t too crowded.
But Alex was nowhere to be seen.
“Hello there!” the owner greeted us as I scanned the shop again, even though it was obvious Alex had picked up his food and run. My shoulders sagged. “What’ll it be?”
Daniel nudged me. “You ready?” He held up his debit card. “I’ve got this.”
I tried not to wince. I didn’t want Daniel to pay for me but worried it would be rude if I straight up said no.
Instead, I voiced a version of it. Something my mom would say: “Yeah, I’ll Venmo you.” Then I quickly rattled off my sandwich order before he could protest. Five minutes later, we were at a high-top table with turkey and roast beef sandwiches, potato chips, and tall fountain sodas. Salted caramel brownies for dessert too.
Provisions’s sandwiches were so massive that you could only eat them in silence, so there was no talking until we took a break. “I have some news,” Daniel said as I took a long sip of Pepsi.
My pulse quickened.News? What news?
“Good or bad?” I inquired.
