GLOW

CHAPTER 13

Much too early the next morning, I lay awake in bed, huddled under the covers with my phone. I'm just starting on another YouTube video, struggling to stay awake, when I hear a twig snap outside. I pull aside the curtain, heart hammering in my throat, and see -

Oakland? And Dee?! What are they doing outside at one in the morning? I sit up, eyes wide. This could be my chance to find out what's going on! Despite my guilt, I find myself more eager now that none of us are on the best of terms.

Luckily, I sleep in an old shirt and underpants, so I just have to pull on a pair of jeans and sandals before I'm ready to go. But how to do it? Mom and Dad would definitely wake up if I went out the front door, and I don't know how to take off the screens that are on all the windows, at least without making a huge racket.

Lyra's ladder! I tiptoe down the hall and crack her door. She and the pig are sound asleep, so I tiptoe in. Somehow, Lyra's been able to take off the screen on her window. I toss the pole out, hoping against hope that it doesn't hit the side of the house, and when I hear a soft thud, I lower myself out of the window and onto the ladder. I feel that it's not the best choice to go into this unarmed, so I pick up my "baton" - a two-foot long stick, polished smooth with bolts in the ends that I use for Color Guard sometimes. Somehow, I feel that a stick isn't the best weapon to use, but since it's all I have, I leave the yard with it in my hand.

I catch up with Dee and Oakland pretty fast. I try to stay in the shadows, but it's hard when there are street lights at every intersection. Once, he glances back. I hide behind a tree, holding the baton and my breath, until I hear his soft footsteps again. I slide out from behind the tree and fall into step, trying to match my footfalls with his.

As I get closer, I can hear them muttering. I only catch a few words -

Dee mumbles, "I swear, why at two am?

Oakland replies, "Emergency meeting, you heard Aniluah..."

"I need my sleep..." Dee moans.

"Ah, here it is." They stop dead by a black sewer cover, and he hefts it off surprisingly easily. Dee slips inside and Oakland follows her. I dart forward and carry it out of his reach, then crouch low in the shadow of a tree when he comes back up to look for the cover. He shrugs and slides back down.

I breathe out, unaware that I've been holding my breath for the past few minutes. I wait a couple minutes, then lower myself and my stick down into the sewer, pulling the cover on after me.

I fall for a few seconds, then feel the ground sort of level out, still sloping slightly downward. I take a fortifying breath and crawl forward.

Ew ew ew ew ew. This sewer muck is ruining my jeans, but I crawl onward, baton in hand, almost unable to make Oakland out in the dim light. After what feels like an eternity of shuffling along in the dark, the tunnel widens into a cavern. On the other end, there's what looks like a wooden elevator. Dee's already in the contraption, and Oakland dashes from the tunnel along a barely visible line into the elevator, making almost no sound. He pushes a button and the doors start to close - slowly, but surely.

I make a break for it and dart along the same three-inch line he did, slipping into the elevator next to them.

They look at me, wide-eyed with shock. "Esmerelda! What are you doing?" Oakland asks.

"You aren't supposed to be here!" Dee hisses.

I grip my baton tightly behind me, out of sight. I give him a tight smile, ignoring Dee - it's all I can muster at the moment. "Yeah, screw that. I'm going to figure out what's going on." The doors thud shut and we suddenly shoot down, then sideways. Unprepared, I lurch against the wall. Dee smirks.

"Look, Esmerelda, I know you're mad about Fin and I, but look...I'm sorry about this." Before I can process that, I see a blur moving towards my jaw. Instincts taking over, I whip the stick out from behind my back and smash it across his knuckles, and he yelps, "Ow!"

I'm breathing hard by now, my mind a mess of fright and queasiness. "Sorry," I gasp.

Dee steps towards me. "Esma...you don't want to see this." Her voice is oddly soft, a tone I've never before heard from her.

Inwardly, I'm saying, What? Outwardly, I barely spare her a glance. "Yes, I do."

I stare at Oakland, who looks at me with a terrifying hardness in his eyes. I straighten up. My grip on the baton is so tight, my knuckles are turning paper-white. "Don't mess with me. Okay? Just let me come with you."

He slowly shakes his head. "I...I can't, I'm sorry. Just let me..." He trails off, glancing to the side.

I turn just in time and block the book Dee sent flying at my head. My forearm throbs where it caught the corner of the book, but I ignore it and scoop it - Turtles All the Way Down - up off the elevator floor. The scene at Oakland's party flashes across my eyes, of Virginia reading this same book. I shake my head, and it disappears. I back away as far as I can, stick in one hand, book in the other. "Are you trying to kill me or something?"

He sighs and rolls his eyes - rolls his eyes! "No, just knock you out."

"Absolutely not. What could possibly be so important that you have to knock me out?"

"Look, if you wouldn't have gotten on this elevator, we wouldn't be here right now!" Dee exclaims.

"Look, don't think I haven't noticed. All the things you've been able to figure out, all the things you've been able to tell me, your..." I gesture at them both wordlessly. "Your glow, the conversation you had at Oakland's party..."

All traces of softness gone, Dee says, "I wouldn't suspect you were the kind of person to be stupid enough to listen where you're not wanted."

Something snaps - again, except this time I'm tired, my gut is twisting in period cramps, and I don't care anymore. I turn on her. "Screw you, Adsila." I snap. "I'm so sick and tired of your crap, your superiority complex, just everything, you jerk!" I Frisbee the book back at her and she holds up a hand, but it catches her in the mouth. She falls to the floor with a cry, close to tears, but I don't feel a shred of remorse. Not yet, anyway.

I turn back to Oakland. "I heard just enough to make me suspicious. Something's going on, and I'm going to find out what it is."

The elevator abruptly reverses direction, shooting straight up. I stumble, stomach turning and sending more shoots of pain through my body like white-hot lightning.

"Fine, Relda. I'm going to let you come, but only because that hurt." After a pause, he adds, "Look, we warned you, all right? I don't think you want to come."

I stand and put on a brave face. "I do."