What Happens After Midnight, page 12
“Everything’s okay?” I asked. “How did you slip by Campo?”
Zoe sighed. “While Gabe dented the hood, Mr. Harvey deemed the Prius was still drivable for tonight, so they got back in and zoomed off toward the freshmen dorms.”
Tag and I shared a telepathic look. The freshmen dorms. Would Manik be spotted on the fire escape?
“I see there’s been a couple more casualties,” Zoe commented. “I tried to follow what was happening in the group chat, but it was confusing. Where are Manik and Alex?”
Tag relayed everything that had happened since we’d stolen the Almanacs: Bunker Hill, the rumor about Daniel being on the loose, sending Manik home to spy, and Alex staying in the sculpture sanctuary with the freshmen boys.
“How delightful,” she said sarcastically, then tapped my headlamp. “You look adorable, though. Am I too late to save you from whatever climbing expedition is on the agenda? Your legs are probably mush.”
“Hopscotch killed it,” Tag said. He was pulling on his backpack, ready to leave for the next checkpoint. “She was a superstar up there.”
Zoe didn’t verbally respond. Instead, she nudged me, as if to say, Hopscotch, huh?
I fumbled to take off the headlamp, not wanting either one to see the redness creeping up my neck. Soon it would sting my cheeks. Maybe under different circumstances, Tag calling me Hopscotch would mean something, but here and now, it didn’t. He was just on a high from me managing to crack the trapdoor’s code and hiding the clue. My friends read too much into things.
Didn’t they?
“What was the code, anyway?” Zoe asked. “One of Maya’s guesses?”
“No, Leda actually set it,” Tag answered. “It was…”
He trailed off, realizing I hadn’t told him.
“My birthday,” I quickly lied. “0-1-1-4.”
That code was between my mom and Josh.
“Hmm,” Zoe mused. “I would’ve thought she’d do something a little more secretive. Everyone knows your birthday, Lil.”
She was right. “Lily Hopper’s Birthday” might as well have been a national holiday. Ames’s dining hall always served my favorite foods for lunch.
“We should head out,” Tag said. “I wanted to wait for Alex, but he hasn’t made contact yet, so—”
“So it’s good I’m back, then!” another voice called, and with my headlamp still in my hands, I shined my light on the new face—or the returning face.
“Manik,” Tag said. “What are you doing here?”
“Circling back with the regiment,” Manik replied, chuckling. “And let me tell you, it was not easy to get here. Campo is all over the place tonight.”
Tag closed his eyes. “What happened to watching Daniel?”
“It was a waste of time,” Manik said. “He’s following his normal nighttime routine like clockwork.”
Normal nighttime routine? I thought, stomach stirring. What does that mean?
Zoe asked as much.
“He sleeps,” Manik began, “then wakes up, walks to the bathroom like a zombie, and then pulls up Netflix and watches something before falling back asleep.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Zoe said.
“Neither do I.” Manik nodded, clueless. “Stranger Things kept me up for hours once.”
“What was he doing when you left?” Tag asked, somehow keeping his cool.
Meanwhile, I just lost it. “How did you find us?”
Manik shrugged. “He was halfway through some documentary, but I’m pretty sure he was asleep.” He gestured to Zoe. “And I followed Zoe. All I had to do was check Snapchat.”
Tag and I didn’t bother hiding our groans. Zoe hadn’t been with us when we’d confirmed everyone’s invisibility on the app’s map, and we hadn’t thought to search for her way-too-accurate avatar.
“God, I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t even think about it. I was too worried about Maya…”
I tugged her dark braids to let her know it was okay. I mean, we would make it okay. It had been a mistake, but Tag would fix it.
“Go back to Mack,” he told Manik.
“No,” Manik said. “I want to help.”
“You were helping,” Tag countered. “Having eyes on Rivera was crucial.”
“All we needed to know was that he was in his room,” Manik said as an imaginary snake slithered up my spine. My mom called it my “sixth sense.” It told me when something was off or about to go wrong. I switched off the headlamp before moving closer to Tag.
“Serpents,” I muttered.
“You sure?” he muttered back.
“And I confirmed it,” Manik continued. “He’s in our house, in our room, and it’s what? Like 2:45? Why would he leave?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” I said caustically. “Maybe because all your kids are on the loose?”
“Yeah, um, how did you miss that?” Zoe asked. “Them sneaking out?”
Manik sighed. “They probably went through the kitchen window,” he said. “It’s ground-level and as far away from Mr. Bauer’s apartment as you can get, on the opposite side of the house.” He shook his head. “I’d never be able to see them from the fire escape.”
“Whoever designed Mack’s layout is an idiot,” Zoe mumbled as Tag said, “Word on campus is they nicked Daniel’s keys too.”
“Brendan Foley!” Manik exclaimed indignantly as Tag put both hands on my shoulders. Through his flannel, I felt his thumb trace a swift circle on my shoulder blade—our code for relax—before he began backing us into the trees.
“Serpents indeed,” he murmured. “Do you see that light over there?”
I squinted, then shivered when I saw the dim iPhone light across the course. “Alex?” I whispered.
“He would’ve texted,” Tag said. “Not to mention, also come from the woods.”
I swallowed hard. Whoever was out there was walking up from the ropes course’s main entrance, right off a campus road. My heart pounded. Who was it?
“Oh my god,” Zoe breathed when the newcomer called out, and then in one quick kick-ass motion, she shoved Manik into the meadow before diving in the shadows and rolling into a crouch next to Tag and me. I grabbed her hand. The chances of everything going to shit had suddenly soared.
“For fuck’s sake, there you are!” an extremely irritable Daniel Rivera said. “Where have you been and why haven’t you answered your phone?”
“Uh…” was Manik’s strong start.
“Stop putting your ringer on silent,” Daniel went on. “I called you like ten times.” He released an exasperated sigh. “Greg banged on my door and told me that he’d woken up to find his three roommates gone. He’d already checked the bathroom, so we went down to the common room, only to find Ross, who said his were gone as well. He was on his way to tell Mr. Bauer, but luckily I intercepted him.” He exploded. “Six guys! Six unaccounted-for guys, Manik! Do you know how much trouble we’ll be in if Mr. Bauer finds out they’ve escaped?”
They’re not prisoners, Daniel, I wanted to say. They’re kids. We’re all kids.
And stop being such a jerk to Manik! It’s both your faults!
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Manik said. “That’s why I’ve been out looking for them. I fell asleep basically right after closing our door, but I woke up later craving ice cream, so I went down to the kitchen and saw that the window was wide open.” He forced a laugh. “They should really put bars on it, right?”
Daniel ignored that last part. “Why the hell didn’t you wake me up?”
Manik was silent for a few seconds. “I tried,” he lied. “I tried, but you said to go away. You mumbled some mumbo-jumbo about needing to finish your English essay…about how Leda wasn’t going to let you take Lily to prom if you, uh, didn’t finish it on time?”
“Oh,” Daniel said as my cheeks began to simmer. “That sounds sort of familiar. I think she said I had to get an A-plus too.”
“Only in your dreams,” Zoe muttered, and I found myself nodding. Next to me, Tag was as still as a statue. Was he even breathing?
“Together?” Manik said a few seconds later. Daniel had suggested they leave and check the natatorium next. “We’re sticking together?”
“We gotta, Manik,” Daniel said. “Not only because you don’t answer your phone but also because my keys are gone. I think that asshole Brendan robbed me.”
Suddenly I felt Tag’s broad shoulders knock against mine. They were bobbing up and down from silent laughter, so I covered his mouth with my hand just to be safe. And I couldn’t help but grin when some of his chuckles escaped and swirled in my palm.
FOURTEEN
“Alrighty,” Zoe said once we were sure Manik and Daniel were gone. “What’s next on this wild goose chase, Swell?”
“Certainly not chasing that goose,” I replied, gesturing in Daniel’s wake. He and Manik had taken off at a run and so had the blood in my veins. “No way.”
Zoe laughed while Tag spoke softly. “The boathouse,” he said, “but Alex…” He trailed off, almost mournful. “Alex hasn’t checked in; he said he would when he was on his way to catch up with us. He’s probably still in the sculpture sanctuary.”
I nodded, wishing Alex wasn’t a ghost on Snapchat’s map so we could locate him. “Guys, of course he is,” Zoe said. “Imagine you’re a freshman, and the coolest, most enchanting—”
“Enchanting?” Tag interrupted, bemused.
Zoe responded with her middle finger. “And the most enchanting senior showed up and started to talking to you. Would you let him get away so easily?”
Tag and I were silent for a few seconds, both knowing the answer was no. Because Alex Nguyen was enchanting. He was fascinating and funny and could captivate an audience with only one sentence.
He should be salutatorian, I thought. Alex would write—or, let’s be honest, wing—a better speech than I ever would.
And I knew for a fact that he’d been next in line. While grilling hot dogs and burgers at last weekend’s neighborhood pool party, Dean DeLuca had let the top academic rankings slip. If I didn’t exist, Ames would’ve awarded Alex the title.
Tag sighed. “You’re right. He’s trapped.”
Zoe shook her head. “Not if the biggest buzzkill crashes the party.”
“Um, did you just call yourself a buzzkill?” I asked. Zoe was anything but.
“In this instance, yes,” Zoe said. “It’s no secret they’re afraid of me.”
“Intimidated by you,” I corrected, although it was true. All the freshmen boys feared Ames’s basketball captain. She was incredibly poised, marched through the halls with a purpose, and had what vaguely resembled a resting bitch face. (Her words, not mine.)
“You two go ahead to the boathouse,” Zoe said. “I’ll extract Alex from the sculpture sanctuary, and then we’ll rendezvous.”
After Zoe beelined for the woods, Tag nodded his head toward the ropes course’s main entrance. I didn’t like the idea of directly following Daniel and Manik, and I also didn’t like the idea of navigating one of Campo’s favorite patrol routes, but it was the fastest way to the boathouse.
Gilmore Lane was the border between campus’s wood side and beach side, and it was also the reason for Tag’s disciplinary strike. The day after I’d gotten my driver’s license, I’d asked Tag if he wanted to come to Whole Foods with me. All he had to do was get permission to leave campus from his housemaster. It wasn’t until Campo spotted him riding shotgun on our way back that I found out he’d never gotten the green light; he couldn’t get ahold of his housemaster, so he’d chanced it and ended up in both Headmaster Bickford’s office and in one of our biggest fights. Tag lying to me was unacceptable, even if he did want to carry my groceries.
“Wait, where are you going?” I asked when he turned left on Gilmore. We were supposed to go right, walk a quarter mile up the road, and then peel off onto the boathouse’s long drive. “Tag, stop.” I caught up to him. “Tell me where—”
“Shh,” he cut me off and took one of my hands. I barely felt him tug me along, instead noticing how clammy his palm was. Why was he so nervous?
Then I heard it—the unmistakable, motorized hum of a Campo car. “Christ, why does everything happen on this street?” I muttered as Tag and I dove behind a tree together. Was it a good enough hiding spot?
We were about to find out. The Prius was getting closer, its engine growing louder, and its headlights now shining bright. The moment it caught a nearby patch of grass in its beams, I spun. This tree trunk wasn’t big enough to conceal us side by side, so I twirled to press myself up against Tag. He inhaled a sharp breath, but I tried to soften it. “Hey there, cowboy,” I whispered casually. “You on the run from the law or something?”
“Depends on who’s asking,” Tag whispered back, and when the Prius rolled up, I hid my face in his chest as he slid his arms around my waist to pull me closer. His touch was achingly familiar, so intoxicating that it made my heart throb.
Smoosh, I wanted to whisper before I forced myself to focus on something else. But the only something else was the approaching Campo car. We were going to get caught.
“How close is it?” I asked.
“By my best estimate,” Tag said, “pretty damn close.”
I peeked over his shoulder to see a white Prius and then lost all sense of space and time when the car not only reached us but also stopped in the middle of the road.
Tag’s arms tightened around me, his lips brushing my ear. “Don’t move,” he breathed as the driver door popped open and a patrolman climbed out with his flashlight. I couldn’t make out who it was, but the car wasn’t dented, so it wasn’t Harvey and Gabe.
Brian, I realized when I heard him speak. He wore a pair of AirPods. “Yeah, Gabe, I’m not sure what Sal saw,” he said, “but tell Harvey it seems to be clear on Gilmore.” There was a soft click, and then a ray of light slowly scanned our area. I burrowed into Tag’s T-shirt again, trying to find comfort in his frantic heartbeat. “No sign of any—” He dropped off, then snorted. “No, no, you definitely said Gilmore.” He switched off his flashlight. “Gabe, put Harvey on the line…”
“He’s getting back into his car,” Tag murmured. Sure enough, the car door soon slammed shut. We both exhaled deep sighs of relief but clung to each other until the Prius had roved out of sight.
“I’ve never seen a more chill-inducing horror movie,” I said, cold sweat sliding down my spine. “Who do you think we have to thank for that tip-off?”
Tag pretended to shiver. “Toss-up between Zoe, Manik, or Rivera. They did say Campo was on the prowl.”
I bit my pinkie nail. “Try up their asses.”
“Yeah…” Tag said a little distantly, then looked at me. “Should we, uh, keep going?”
I nodded before quickly dashing off a warning text to Zoe and Alex, wherever they were. “Let’s not get our directions mixed up this time, though,” I joked. “Alright?”
Tag’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Before,” I said. “The boathouse is to the right, but you went left. Buildings and Grounds is to the left.”
“So I’ve been told,” Tag said lightly. “I’ve also been told that Leda has a key to their garage.”
A key to their garage.
I immediately caught his drift. “We couldn’t.”
Tag shrugged. “You called me a cowboy.”
“Bandit would’ve been better.”
Because you’ve broken almost all Ames’s laws.
Yet so had I.
Tag tipped an invisible Stetson. “I like cowboy. Cowboys are loyal, bandits are not.”
My throat thickened. Loyal. “Tag…”
“There’s only three clues left, but a lot of ground to cover,” he said. “What’s the harm, Hops?”
We stood in a standoff for several seconds before I dug my mom’s keys from my pocket. “Okay, partner,” I said, swinging around the heavy lanyard like a lasso. “Let’s ride.”
Predictably, Ames’s squadron of golf carts awaited us once Tag and I weaved our way through the Buildings and Grounds offices and reached the small hangar. Each golf cart was white with Ames’s insignia on its hood. Tag tut-tutted like a disapproving grandmother because the fleet was used only three times a year and never for golf. During Alumni Weekend’s festivities three weeks ago, student council had circulated in the golf carts to answer any questions and get older alums off their feet.
“There’s only one problem,” I said while Tag inspected the carts. He stopped and looked at me with a questioning brow. “We don’t have any keys.”
“Oh…” Tag said, dragging out the word before swiping something from the golf cart’s cupholder. “You mean keys like these?”
I rolled my eyes, then stalked away to hit the button that raised the garage door. Now with a golf cart, we couldn’t exactly exit the way we’d entered. My phone pinged in my pocket as the door rose, and I unlocked it to see an update from Zoe: I’ve collected the package. He was in the middle of a Q&A session about acing English exams when I got there.
So? Alex replied. We were in a new group chat that didn’t include Manik. At least I stopped their prank! (Long-winded summaries of each book/play/poem they read, btw.)
I couldn’t help it; I shook my head and smiled, knowing my mom was worried some freshmen wouldn’t be ready for their exam. Just maybe, Alex’s improvised lecture would give them a boost.
Even if he was a bit high.
We’re now camouflaged in some bushes, Zoe wrote. The boys are gone, but Daniel and Manik are stomping around nearby.
I’m so getting poison ivy, Alex said.
You have my greatest sympathies, Alexander, Tag typed. Circle back to the ropes course when you can.
Both Zoe and Alex: ???
They won’t check there twice, I responded. The boathouse was too far for them to meet us. Hang tight.
Tag had made himself comfortable in the passenger seat by the time I made it over to his cart of choice, the engine already rumbling. “You don’t want to drive?” I asked, surprised. One of the things Tag actually missed about home was cruising around town in his beloved Grand Cherokee. When you lived at boarding school, you never drove. Some kids joked that when they went home for breaks, they had to relearn how to drive.
