Paper Crowns [On Hold]

[7] Honey, Please

How in the world am I going to explain this mess to Grams? She's going to shred me into quarks once she hears of this fiasco. And she will hear of it. Because we're 30 seconds away from the beginning of the worst possible scenario.

"Shit," Ethan curses again. He didn't see this coming, Oliver really threw him a curveball. Unfortunately, we've been dealt a bad hand.

Then he grumbles something incoherent and punches four digits into the padlock. Is he just guessing now?

If he's wrong, then an alarm might go off, I hope he realizes this. Before my very eyes, the heavy oak door grunts open. Wordlessly, he shoves us in and closes it behind him, right as the limber ginger guard turns the corner.

The first thing I register is how cold it is in here. Practically freezing. The second thing I register is what just happened.

And I'm stunned. A couple hundred buckets of cold water can't shake me as much as Ethan has just now. For a while, the three of us stand there, backs to each other, breathing heavily. Silent. Mute. Unable to formulate a sentence.

Finally, I gather enough composure to clear my throat and begin rambling.  

"How did you do that? I know you didn't know the code, it was written all over your face. We were going to get caught and you knew that, you damn well knew it. And then suddenly- suddenly the numbers... what, they just came to you? You conjured them in your head?! How did you-"

"Tori relax, please," he pleads, gently placing his hands on each of my  shoulders. He gives them a reassuring squeeze and it's as if somebody has slammed the brakes. My mind stops racing.

Think Victoria, for god's sake, think. Something's up, you can feel it. You need to find the truth. You have to search for it. You have to-

"Tori..." he hums, playfully flicking a strand of hair off my forehead.

He's right. Relax. Give it time, you'll figure it out. Of course he's Ethan so he won't tell you, but you'll figure it out.

I nod and take a deep breath, collecting myself. I really need to work on keeping it together sometimes, can't just go around malfunctioning every time things don't add up.

"Ethan. You're not telling us what you did just now. You probably have your reasons and that's fine- I understand. But I can't just not know, it's important to me. What I'm saying is, I'll search for the answers myself, and I hope you understand that."

He looks at me with an intensity I haven't seen in him yet. His usually grey eyes give off an overpowering amber shade, almost glowing. Then he snaps out of his trance, reverting to his usual self and nods.

"Besides, you're not the only one that's hiding something..." I trail off, shamelessly letting my eyes wander around the office. They try to take in the whole scene at once, then settle on the little details.

"Exactly. Principal Oliver's hiding something too. My necklace," Justin adds, already sauntering towards what I can only presume is the cabinet holding his heirloom.

"That's not what she meant, moron," Ethan teases, sneering. And so, it begins- again. The longest they've gone without trying to get the better of each other is just under 10 minutes.

"Oh yeah? Then what did she mean, Einstein."

"Lil old Olly has something to hide because she changed her standard key lock to a high-security passcode lock-pad. It's a costly change, she didn't do it without reason. So, she has something to hide. Obviously."

"Well, maybe she just doesn't want kids breaking in here. Like we are. Right now. Breaking. In."

"It was your idea. Your jewelry that you couldn't live without."