Chapter 30

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Pounding on my door snaps me out of sleep. I leap up at the same time Sparkle does.

"Another raid? So soon?" I ask, rubbing my eyes as Sparkle reaches for the door.

But it isn't Officer Boer bursting into our room. It's a smaller but no less formidable force of nature.

"Alison, what the hell?" Sparkle asks.

Alison ignores her. Instead, she walks up to me and smacks me across the face, hard. My head snaps to the side, and I emit a decidedly girly squeak that only escapes out of sheer surprise in the moment.

"Why did the police just drag Harriet out of our room in the middle of the night, saying they had a warrant for her arrest?" Alison shouts. "You did something. I know it! Harriet always keeps a low profile. Is she covering for another one of your stupid mistakes?"

It has to be Lexi White, punishing Harriet for taking pictures of her inside the club. My phone is in hand, and I'm halfway out the door when Alison yanks me backward so hard that I stumble into my bed.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To get her out of jail, you idiot! I'll post her bail."

Sparkle and Alison stare at me.

"She's that dumb? Really?" Alison asks Sparkle.

Sparkle releases a sigh. "Yes, she is."

"They'll imprison you, too," Alison says, speaking slowly as if she's talking to a child.

Her words barely register as I frantically search on my phone for the nearest police station where Harriet might have been taken.

"That won't stop her," Sparkle says to Alison. She takes the phone from my hands so I'm forced to look up at her. "If you go to the station, you'll only make things worse for Harriet."

Now she has my attention.

"I don't know what the two of you did, but if the police think that Harriet has coconspirators in her crime, they'll try you both for treason."

Even I know the punishment for Throwbacks found guilty of treason. Retirement.

"Something must be done. I'll tell a teacher or the headmaster—"

"Our teachers are all Throwbacks," Alison interrupts. "And the headmaster will dismiss her from this program, guilty or not. What's it going to take for you to see that your bad behavior only leads to pain?"

Alison's face twists. She's terrified of what might happen to Harriet. My tone softens at the sight of tears filling her eyes.

"I'll find someone Evolved to set things right," I promise her.

"How?" she chokes out.

"Your parents are Evolved," Sparkle suggests, pulling Alison closer so she can rest her head on Sparkle's shoulder.

"Then help her," Alison says, her body slumping now that she isn't charged with anger. "Harriet never makes a mess, lets me play my music as loud as I want, and she doesn't borrow my clothes. Plus . . . she makes me laugh. No one's done that for me in a long time."

"I'll fix this."

~ ~ ~

Part of my brain is freaking out that my best friend is in a Throwback prison cell, but I shove those useless thoughts down. I have to act, not panic. I leave Alison crying in Sparkle's arms as I go outside and send a message to my mom to meet me at a coffee shop outside of the Throwback jail.

I take the bus so that my bike doesn't attract too much attention, but even with all the stops, I beat Mom there. The coffee shop is open, and I send messages to Mason and Justus as I wait for my coffee.

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