Subject: URGENT ALMANAC UPDATE
Everyone,
It is my pleasure to announce that the Almanacs havebeen safely recovered! I found them before breakfast this morning, and I promise someone will have eyes on them until their long-awaited distribution this afternoon.
I wouldn’t put it past the Jester to cheat us again.
All best,
Daniel
TWENTY-SEVEN
All of Ames rushed off to the auditorium after classes, but I called a summit first. Alex, Zoe, Maya, Manik, and I met at King’s Court, where our fateful dance with the Jester had begun. The ivy-covered chapel gleamed in the sunlight, and birds chirped as my fellow schemers and I gathered around Kingsley Ames’s bronze statue.Still unimpressed?I thought, amused upon seeing the statue’s scowl.Even though we did it?
I wasn’t one for speeches, so I simply pulled out the flask I’d borrowed from my mom. Alex hooted as I unfastened and raised it. “To the Jester,” I said, smiling.
“To the Jester!” my friends echoed.
“And to us,” I added. “For he assembled one fantastic band of fools.”
“And to us!”
“Cheers.” I grinned and took a sip before presenting the flask to Alex. He smirked, assuming it was Tag’s Diet Coke. But everyone sprung backward when a light liquid came squirting out of his mouth.
“Lily Hopper!” he whisper-exclaimed. “Is this what I think it is? Is thischampagne?”
“Nonalcoholic champagne,” I corrected. “We must keep our wits about us, must we not?”
Alex chuckled, and once our circle had taken celebratory swigs, we set off for the auditorium. Zoe and Maya left us in the dust, racing away together, and Manik also broke into a run to see how distribution was going. “The editor really should be the one to hand them out,” Alex said. “Or at leasthelp.”
“You never know; the opportunity could present itself,” I replied. “Bequeathing three hundred yearbooks in the blazing sun on maybe two hours of sleep?” I shrugged. “Daniel might be desperate for some assistance.”
Alex was quiet for a moment. “I wish Taggart were here.”
“Me too,” I whispered, a bittersweet pang in my chest. Tag had decided to skip his swim today, but that meant he had to report directly to his room after class.
The Almanac line twisted and turned across the auditorium’s flagstone terrace. It was so long that it dropped off the curb and continued along the street. “We need to play a game to pass the time,” Alex said once we reached the end of the road. “I can’t just stand—oh, thank god!”
I followed his gaze to find Anthony approximately a thousand people ahead of us. He was waving. “You go,” I told Alex. “I’ll wait.”
Alex gave me a look. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “People will give you a pass since you’re his prom date, but they won’t take kindly to me cutting.”
“Ah, the proper etiquette for butting in line…” He winked. “Please pardon me for never giving it a thought.”
I smiled and shook my head when he joined Anthony; from what I could see, no one gave him any trouble. If anything, they flocked around him.
Never has there been a more apt school mascot, I thought,than the seagull.
Somehow, I passed over an hour in line. Pravika found me and we chatted for a while, although I couldn’t stop staring at her hefty yearbook. The cover was beautiful, light blue with an inlaid gold foiled campus map andTHE ALMANACprinted overtop in red. “You can look through it if you want,” she offered, but I didn’t want any spoilers.
It felt like a triumph when I finally made it to the terrace. I looked up from my newly downloadedWordscapesapp to see an elaborate balloon archway. When I rose to my tiptoes, my heart warmed. Manik was at the table, grinning while he gifted the result of months and months of hard work to students.Yes!I silently cheered.Yes, Manik!
But unfortunately, it was Daniel who handed me my copy. I wondered if anyone had commented on the heavy blue-gray bags under his eyes. “Thank you,” I said before politely asking if I could also have Tag’s Almanac.
Daniel paused, checking my name off his master list. “You want Swell’s book?”
