CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

the flash kit catastrophe, pt. 3



"no one is screwed," said maeve. "for all we know, we'll never make it out of here and you won't have to face your parents' wrath!"

"how comforting!" i said, my voice cracking. "i don't even want to think about it. let's play an actual game. please."

i sluggishly got out of fennel's chair and joined the two on the other side of the desk. once we were all together, slouched on the nearest lab table, no words, but silent stares, were exchanged. "staring contest it is," i remarked.

i won the first round, of course, against walker while maeve refereed. it was fun at first, but after the third round of me beating both of them, it got repetitive and plain boring. the same thing happened since those darn muscular hands of walker's just had to win every thumb war. and of course, maeve's brain worked in mysterious, telepathic ways. she won every round of twenty questions, even when the subject was something she knew little about.

by this point, we were all sprawled out on the head-ache-inducingly hard surface. maeve sighed. "games just aren't fun when you have no chance of losing."

"you can't necessarily lose 'i spy,' that is unless you give up," i said. then i turned toward the window. walker got us by spying the moon in january. through the blinds, i could see that the sky was just beginning to darken into a deep orange. and through the clock on the wall, i could see that we'd been in here for over two long hours.

"i spy with my tremendous eye," started walker, scanning the room from his worm's-eye view. maeve and i chuckled. "hmm... something..."

the lights shut off outside the classroom after a distant click. "wait, if a custodian just turned off the lights up here," said maeve, "then he could let us out!" she sprung up, ran over to the door, and started flicking on and off the internal lights.

"hey! i spy abandonment!" called walker as i followed her.

"you can't seriously want to stay stuck in here playing games instead of letting me convince the custodian this place is haunted," she retorted.

they kept bickering, but i listened in on the echoing footsteps outside. they were in rhythm with the jangling of keys, and they were growing nearer along with my hope of getting out. i bit my lip in anticipation as a man's silhouette appeared around the corner. come on!

he turned away from us, facing the classroom to his right. sure, it was open when it wasn't supposed to be, but it was devoid of people, not filled with spirits!

maeve screamed directly into my ear, but her cries were directed at the janitor. "hey, are you blind? over here, idiot!"

the man lurked into the classroom and started investigating the doorknob. doorknobs are sooo interesting!

"shut up! he's gonna see us when he comes out," i said. "stop causing a fire hazard in the meantime."

"could you leave the lights off," requested walker. he was still laying on the table, somehow seeming to be getting comfortable since he used his winter coat as a pillow.

"goodnight. but we're not gonna wake you up when he lets us out," i said to his outline in the now dark room.

"that's mean," he mumbled.

"argue with the wall... or the ceiling in your case." we laughed softly before there was that impatient silence again.

my eyes drifted aimlessly throughout the darkness. they had nothing to latch onto, the only light source being the sunset. until i noticed an orange-tinted glare on something glass sitting in my peripheral.

not wanting more false hope, i used cautious steps to near the reflective surface. but it was undeniably what i sought. the flash. it tried to hide from me in the depths of fennel's desk behind the piles of reactants projects. perhaps she thought those packets were student-repellent. we just hadn't looked hard enough.

"guys. i spy the flash," i said, smirking.

"i'm up!" exclaimed walker.

they rushed to see it over my shoulders. the stunned inactivity didn't last long before maeve lunged forward and dug for the treasure. "quick! let's shine it into the dumbass' eye!"

she went up to the door's sliver of a window and clicked the on button. its trail of illumination reached just far enough down the hallway that it was like a spotlight for our target, catching the custodian's attention immediately.

maeve shut off the flash and flipped on the lights once he lifted his head, revealing the three of us who probably looked like stranded orphans. at first, he was baffled. but luckily, he determined that we were more interesting than doorknobs. "what are you kids doing in there?" he asked with genuine concern as he selected a specific key out of the ring attached to his belt.

the door opened and the beautifully fresh school hallway air refreshed us. that was sarcastic -- the hallway reeked of cleaning products and somehow the janitorial musk managed to come through as well. it was better than nothing. we fought for who got to escape fennel's evil lair first, before realizing he was still waiting for an answer.

"oh, us? we were never here. you're dreaming," said maeve. "i know they're really tasty, but you might wanna hold back on the melatonin gummies."

before he could finish questioning his existence and further question us, she motioned for us to follow her and ran toward the staircase.

"i'd say jordyn's gaslighting skills are rubbing off on you," i said to maeve once we reached a safe distance. the second floor did not smell of cleaning products or musk, so we took a breather.

the trip to the first floor was slower and consisted of a debate on whether this mission was a success. we had completed our initial goal. the flash was in the right hands, but now we had a lot more to carry.

that night was exhausting. it was like walker had transferred all his lethargy to me. as we opened the door to the first story, the exit of the school so close by, i dreaded going home. i could easily go to sleep but not there. either my own thoughts or my parents' livid lectures would keep me up.

"you win some you lose some," i yawned, too tired to listen to the debate any longer. another yawn. the lack of dinner contributed to the embarrassingly ample amount of yawns as well.

"wait. stop yawning so damn loud. i think i hear someone," whispered maeve.

in the distance, voices reverberated, and many of them. was this place actually haunted? we followed the sound to the auditorium, which had been practically unused in my experience. only academic award ceremonies were held there at the end of each school year, or assemblies about cyberbullying. the grand entrance was closed as it usually was. "should we open it?" i said, intrigued.

"hell yeah," said walker.

no lock kept us from who was revealed to be on the other side. with every inch the door was carefully opened, one voice in particular crystallized -- walker holmes. he was on the auditorium's stage along with the rest of the theater students. they appeared to be performing.

"so this is where and when they rehearse," said maeve in amazement. "can we watch?"

we all looked at each other with growing grins, then out into the sea of empty seats before us. dad would have been home by now anyway, and i was in no rush to be reprimanded. plus, we would be supporting a neglected creative community! "i'm down. you guys?"

"yes! and look, we even got front row seating!" i trailed behind walker as he made his way closer to the stage.

maeve halted. "actually, i think this calls for some vending machine snacks. y/n, ready for some dinner?"

"thank you!" i said to her. and then she was off to go pay with her digital cash, i assumed.

walker led me down the many rows and columns of red-cushioned seats to the front and center. it was surprisingly cozy, or maybe that was because i was at the point where i could fall asleep on a board of nails. and maybe because walker's shoulder was right next to me, basically begging for me to lean on it.

i finally had the opportunity to put my head on his shoulder without it being audacious or inappropriate. i did just that, and he had no reaction as if it was a common occurrence. so, apart from snacking on gourmet dinner chips, i kept my head resting on his coat's sleeve for the remainder of the play rehearsal.



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thank you for reading chapter 51!