“Don’t look so freaked,” Noelle said. “Dramble’s office is on the first floor of Hell Hall. It’s a piece of cake.”
“If it’s such a piece of cake, why aren’t you doing it?” I asked. Then immediately regretted it.
“Excuse me?” Kiran said, her brow creased in disbelief.
“I thought you’d want to help me, but if you’d rather I fail . . . ” Ariana said, playing the martyr.
“No. It’s fine,” I said, my throat dry. “How do I do it?”
“You’re a smart kid,” Noelle said, patting me on the shoulder. “You can figure it out.”
They weren’t even going to give me a hint? What the hell kind of people were they?
“Now go,” Noelle said. “If you’re not back here in fifteen minutes, we’ll be forced to report you to security.”
One look in her eye told me she was not kidding.
“Go,” she said again.
I thought about what they were asking me to do. I thought about what would happen if I got caught. I thought about my life back home and my life here and how everything I had ever wanted would be within my grasp, but only so long as I was connected to the Billings Girls.
Of course, I did all this thinking in two seconds flat. Then I turned around and ran.
One single light flickered above the arched entryway to Hell Hall. It was a thick wooden door with one long, pebbled-glass window in the center. I looked around and took the steps to the door two at a time, hoping for a miracle. One tug on the wrought-iron handle told me I had no such luck. The place was locked up tight.
“Shit,” I said under my breath.
Back down the stairs, I raced into the darkness along the side of the building and felt slightly safer. At least I was no longer right out in the open for all the world to see and expel. But as I inspected the cold stone walls I realized how very screwed I was. The first floor windows were set high above my head. I slid between two azalea bushes and stood on my toes, reaching for one of the windows. My fingertips just grazed the lower sill. There was absolutely no way I could get up there, even if one of them happened to be unlocked.
How in God’s name could anyone classify this mission as cake? This was impossible.
I glanced at my watch. Already four minutes had gone by since I
left the Billings Girls. Were they really going to call security on me? If they did, I was out on my ass.
These could very well be my last moments at Easton.
No. There had to be another way in. There had to be. All I had to do was find it. And use it to get in. And find my way to Dramble’s office in the pitch black dark and . . .
I better get going.
I stepped backward and tripped over a spigot in the ground. My palm caught on a rough patch of wall as I went down and I flinched in pain. I was about to shove myself up again when I saw it. A small window set low in the ground. It was about a foot and a half tall and four feet wide and looked as if it were made of two sliding panes of glass. My heart took a hopeful leap. Basement windows. Of course. I had seen Kiran and her Dreck boy use one before. Apparently this was Easton’s weak link, probably one of those things everyone knew about at this school. At least if they had been here more than a few weeks.
I crawled over the cold dirt toward the window, the branches of the bushes that disguised them scratching at my face. I placed my hand flat against the glass, said a quick prayer, and tried to slide the pane aside. Nothing happened. I whimpered and tried again. Nothing. I dug my fingernails between the edge of the glass and the window frame and pulled with all my might, holding my breath.
Two seconds later I fell backward, nearly ripping three of my fingernails free. The pain was excruciating.
Screw them. Screw them and their test. Let Ariana fail. Let her see what it’s like.
But even as I thought it I knew I would never let them down. I held on to my fingers and bit back the tears. I had to keep trying.
Three feet away was another window. Once again I pressed my hand against it, held my breath, and closed my eyes. I pushed. And the window slid open.
Yes!
I was saved.
I shoved my head inside the cool dankness of a basement storage room. Desks and chairs were stacked all around the perimeter and beneath the window was a long, metal desk. I turned around and went through backward. The metal slider rail of the window cut into my legs, then my stomach as I shimmied through, but I ignored the pain. I dangled for a second, then dropped onto the desk with a bang that reverberated throughout the world. I closed my eyes and nearly burst into tears. There was no way that had gone unnoticed.
Apparently I was unfit for a life of crime.
But it didn’t matter. I had to go. Somewhere on the first floor was Mr. Dramble’s office. I still had to find it, then find the test, then get the hell out of there and back to Billings.
I raced to the door and whipped it open, not even checking to see if there was anyone around. If they were, they were already on their way thanks to my spectacularly unstealthy entrance. May as well get as far as I could.
I found the stairwell at the back of the building and ran up to the first floor. The only light came from a red exit sign that cast the walls in a bloodlike hue. I ran along, checking the names on the brass plates next to each wood-and-glass door.
Ms. Johnson. Mr. Carter. Mr. Cross.
And then, finally, at the end of the hall, I found it. Mr. Dramble.
I grasped the handle and turned. It was, mercifully, unlocked. Perhaps, like the dorms, none of the teacher’s rooms were ever locked. There was, after all, an honor code around here. Perhaps the brass at Easton felt that was enough to keep people like me out.
Oh, well.
I fumbled through the office, slammed my foot into a chair, and eventually groped my way to the desk. As my eyes adjusted, I found a desk light and flicked it on. Dangerous, I know, but I was completely unfamiliar with my surroundings. Unless I wanted to break something or injure myself, I needed light. Dramble’s computer was on a low cart next to his desk. I pressed the on button and held my breath as the computer whirred to life. It took forever to boot up and I wished I had grabbed a watch on my way out. I had no idea how much time I was wasting here. Five minutes? Ten? It felt like five hours.
Finally the desktop appeared. A picture of a miniature schnauzer in the center. Various folder icons were lined up on the right side. My breath caught when I saw that one was marked “Senior Physics.”
Hands trembling, I grabbed the mouse and double-clicked the folder. There were at least two dozen files named “quiz_9_21,” “quiz 9_28” and “exam_1,” “exam_2.” And on and on. Which exam was it? Had they already taken one or was this their first?
Crap.
I would just have to print out a few.
I opened the first four exam files and sent them to the printer. When it creaked to life, I died a slow death. The printer was ancient and louder than an A-bomb. When it started printing, I actually squeezed out a tear of desperation. One page an hour, approximately.
As each page printed, I snatched it from the printer. My feet tapped. My hands quaked. My heart was executing an erratic beat that had to be unhealthy. Finally, finally, the last page came through. I lunged at the computer and shut it down; then, having no clue if the security detail was already in the building looking for me, I bolted.
In the hallway I paused for a millisecond. I listened for footsteps and heard nothing.
Maybe luck
was
on my side.
Knowing there was absolutely no way I could climb up the basement wall and back out through that tiny window, I headed for the front door. I ran as fast as I could down the hallway, rounded a corner, and skidded into the entryway hall. I was about to run for the door when everything dropped out from under me and I fell to the floor in horror.
There was a face in the window.
I heard the cackle of a laugh and slowly looked up. It was Noelle. Noelle was standing just outside the door.
“Reed Brennan! Come on out!” she sang quietly.
Shaking and cursing under my breath, I pushed myself to my feet and staggered for the door. As I shoved it open, Noelle, Ariana, Kiran, and Taylor all moved aside. Noelle’s face had been distorted by the pebbling in the window, but if I hadn’t been in such a panic and if I’d had a second longer to take her in, I would have realized it was her. I felt like a total idiot. I had fallen to the floor right in front of her.
She grabbed my hand and pulled me, still laughing, into the shadows, the rest of the girls at our heels. I started to seethe.
“You should have seen your face,” Noelle whispered mirthfully once we were a safe distance from all buildings housing any adults.
“Sorry I missed it,” I said, whipping the test out and handing it to Ariana. “Here. Enjoy.”
“Oh! She’s upset!” Kiran teased.
“Calm down, Reed. It was just a joke,” Taylor said.
“Great. Funny. Can I go to bed now?” I asked.
Noelle paused. Her eyes darkened. “You keep up that attitude and you won’t get what you have coming to you.”
My heart skipped a distressed, curious beat. “What do you mean?”
“Well, we were going to have you over tomorrow if you got Ariana the test,” Kiran said. “But if you’re not interested . . .”
Have me over? As in over to Billings? As in me
inside
Billings House? In their inner sanctum?
“No. I’m interested,” I said.
“Figured as much,” Noelle replied.
“Good,” Ariana said with a small smile. “Kiran will come get you.”
All the tension and fear and anger melted away as I was overcome with hope. They were letting me in. They were finally letting me in.
“Oh. And you can have this back,” Ariana said, handing me the test. “I don’t even take physics.”
Then they sauntered off together, tossing their laughter back at me, as I stood in the middle of the dark campus, unable to so much as breathe.
Anticipation gripped my heart as I followed Kiran up the front walk toward Billings House. I stared up at the windows overhead, giddy as could be. Any moment now, I was going to see what was behind them. Any minute now, I would be privy to the secrets that this place held. I felt like I was being ushered into some secret society. Would I be greeted by girls in white robes and forced to sign some document in blood, swearing I would never repeat what I saw within these walls? Somehow that wouldn’t surprise me, especially after last night.
Kiran paused in front of the door and raised one eyebrow. “You ready for this?”
All I could do was nod. She smirked and pushed the door open. This was it.
I followed Kiran into the lobby and tried not to look too awed or intimidated.
“Here we are,” she said. “Home sweet home.”
“It’s nice,” I said. Understatement of the year. The Billings
foyer was large yet cozy, with high ceilings crisscrossed by wooden beams. A stone fireplace took up one wall and the floor was hardwood, covered by a gorgeous handwoven rug. Framed photographs of Billings girls through the ages adorned the walls. In these photos I recognized a couple of politicians, one famous news anchor, and at least two groundbreaking authors. I would have studied them all more closely if I hadn’t thought it would make me look too eager.
Upstairs was all plush carpeting, bronze wall sconces, and artistic photos of the Easton grounds. I could hear music playing through someone’s wall. When we walked into the room Taylor and Kiran shared, Taylor was hanging backward off the end of her bed reading one of her romance novels upside down.
“Hi, Reed!” she said, flipping over. She closed her eyes against a head rush, then smiled.
“Do you
ever
study?” I asked her.
“She doesn’t have to. She just picks up her A’s like she’s picking up mail,” Kiran said, slinging her bag onto her own bed. “It’s so annoying.”
Their room was huge. Kiran’s bed, covered in a hundred shades of purple in satins and silk, stood near the bay window. Taylor’s, covered in red and pink, sat clear on the other side of the room with a dance floor’s worth of space in between. They also had their own fireplace, in which stood a dozen white candles of all shapes and sizes. Their desks were twice the size of those in Bradwell, and they had double dressers.
“It’s not my fault God gave me a photographic memory,” Taylor said. “Do you know what percentage of the population has a photographic memory?” she asked me.
“I kinda doubt she cares.” Kiran scoffed as she shrugged out of her velvet jacket. “I was hoping that living with her would make some of it transfer by osmosis, but so far, no luck.” She took the pins out of her bun and let her long hair tumble over her shoulders. “Make yourself comfortable. I need to use the facilities.”
She walked past Taylor’s bed and opened the door to what I had thought was a closet.
“Less than point-zero-five percent,” Taylor whispered proudly as soon as Kiran was gone. “Though some scientists maintain that it doesn’t actually exist.”
“Ah,” I said distractedly. I was too busy staring after Kiran. “Is that a
bathroom
?” I whispered.
“I know,” Taylor said, folding over the page on her book and tossing it on her desk. “This place is sick. Everyone wants to get in here. It’s the best dorm on campus.”
Yeah. No kidding. I was about to ask Taylor how exactly one wrangled an invite to Billings, but there was a flush and Kiran reemerged.
“So, you ready to get to work?”
My heart fell. Work? Did they have another task for me? Was that why I was really there?
At that moment the door opened and in walked Noelle and Ariana. I was half pleased, half miserable to see them.
“What? You haven’t even started yet?” Noelle asked, raising an eyebrow.
“We were waiting for you,” Taylor said.
Okay. This was sounding more and more frightening.
“How thoughtful,” Ariana said.
She walked over to a pair of double doors and slid them open.
“Reed Brennan, welcome to your reward,” Kiran said.