Chapter 42
"Do you think our plan is risky?" Wallace pondered as he tapped his fingertips on Jeno's desk.
"The real question is when your girlfriend is going to get here so we can even consider implementing it," Jeno replied, folding his arms. "The dance is supposed to start in three hours. She said she cracked the code, right?"
"Yeah," Wallace said, flipping through his phone messages. "But she's probably getting dressed or something before she heads over. Girls."
"I don't know, maybe it's a sign," Jeno considered, rubbing his chin. Miren still wasn't back from Rosemunde either. "Everyone thinks Soren is responsible for everything. If we try something, we'll risk casting suspicion away from him."
"No risk, no reward," Wallace offered. "Plus, if the box contains something as incriminating as we think it does, then that'll hardly be a problem."
"Fair enough."
"The real problem is that you're still humoring Theodora when you and Miren have the feels for each other." Jeno rolled his eyes.
"I don't know what she told you, but our relationship is just that, ours." Jeno moved to his computer, turned his attention to the encrypted voice files. "So please worry about your own. And tell your girlfriend to stop wasting time."
"You're the only one wasting time," Wallace practically taunted. "Why else do you think Miren hasn't gotten closer to you? Sure, she has idiotic feelings for Parker, but if you pushed Theodora to the side, she'd be able to take you seriously, you know," he reasoned, stretching his arms. "Seriously, the way you continue to look at her without doing anything is sickening."
"Everything is sickening," Jeno said, closing his eyes. "I keep having this dream of the two of us making out in my bedroom." He shook his head. "And every time I see her, I just want to kiss her. But I know I can't do that because she's even more emotionally unavailable than I am. And I know what we're doing is supposed to help her, but I can't help but wonder if we're making things worse. I told her not to go back. I told her she'd be able to get revenge on Penelope. Now I'm not so sure."
"We can take her down," Wallace said firmly. "We just need to agree to how far we're willing to go. Somehow everyone seems reluctant to just get her expelled. We have to stop playing nice."
"How is trying to put her in rehab nice?"
"The problem is that we keep making her look like a victim. That's why you wanted to do the voice-recording thing, right? So that she'd implicate herself. But maybe I should just go in her file and make something up. Make her look guilty as fuck." Jeno shook his head.
"Let's not forget that Penelope is rich as fuck, and has a shark for a mother. Either way we work it, we lose."
"So you think that if you confess your love to Miren that we'll win?" The two boys glared at each other until Jeno sighed. He was right. But instead of relishing in his victory, Wallace just appeared more impatient. "We need the box. I'm going to go find Chara so we can get this over with. Be back in twenty." Then he was gone.
***
The dance began with a BANG. Okay, so not a literal bang, but it was the name of Axel and Cliff's indie-rock band. And contrary to anyone's suspicions, they were actually pretty good, with lyrics that were so mild in profanity that most of it went over the faculties' heads.
But like pretty much all of the recent events the schools put on, the revenge committee wasn't there to dance the night away. Or have fun.
Which was why Miren was standing next to the punch bowl like a loser. The thought of dancing and looking like a well-adjusted individual occurred to her, but she decided against it. First of all, she didn't want to come here. Secondly, she saw no reason to. Other than the plan to meet with Penelope later, she had no incentive to be here. And if she didn't get any valuable information tonight, then that would just confirm that her desire to not be here was valid. Which would piss her off further.
But perhaps her best reason for not wanting to be here was because none of her partners in crime were. She hadn't seen Chara and Wallace in a little while, but she saw a red-haired girl and a taller black-haired boy leave for the hallway. So if they were who she thought they were, then that mean she was stuck with the populars.
Great, she thought, folding her arms. Why am I the only one being punished?
"I also hated high school social functions," Miren heard someone say. She turned to the voice, before realizing who had said this. Ms. Cowdry. "But that doesn't mean you should stand around looking bored. That's my job."
"I'm just waiting for my friends to get here," Miren offered. She technically wasn't lying. "I think Wallace and Jeno got distracted with their girlfriends."
"Dating in high school is so overrated." She shook her head. "You know what, just do what you want to do. Dance. Stand here. Leave while you still can. I just wouldn't drink the punch." Miren smiled.
"Not to cross the student-teacher professionalism boundary, but if you showed this much charisma in class, you'd probably be everyone's favorite teacher."
"It's not my job to be the favorite," the woman informed her, brushing a hand through her honey-brown curls. "You and I both know that the boys here play rough. I can't be a pushover. Especially since I'm a woman."
"I thought you're the one who's all about 'dispelling gender-normative perceptions and biases'" Miren said, probably inadvertently quoting the woman.
"I am," she said. "But there are differences between us, from biological to psycho-sociological. Men and women are not the same, however, we need to respect our differences. Most of the girls at Rosemunde cater the boys at Rinzen. As one of the few women they see on a daily basis, they need to know that we're strong. And if they interpret strength as bitchiness, then that's their problem."
"But what about those that fall somewhere in between?" It was weird; Miren didn't completely know what she considered herself. She wasn't transgender, but this little experience had given her a unique insight on both groups. And so far, her impressions of either weren't that great. People were people. And people sucked.
"Unfortunately, the older you get, the more you realize things don't make sense." The woman shrugged. "I used to hold a grudge against the world in a way. It's like you get certain advantages and disadvantages in life, but you don't get to act just because you notice something wrong, even if you're the one benefiting from the system. I like to write about socially relevant topics, yet I'm stuck in a high school all day," Ms. Cowdry continued. "But the funny thing is that this space is that it's like the real world to an extent. Only difference is that most of the problems the students encounter here usually evaporate. I think the death of Miss Eze is the only thing that struck a real chord. Even though the impact is fading quickly."
Tell me about it. Miren watched the students' dance like there was no fucking tomorrow. Some girls at the front of the stage were cheering Axel's name as he started playing a really flashy guitar solo. In the flashing lights, she could make out the populars—Jemma and Klondike practically dry humping in the front, Parker and Penelope who appeared to have reconciled, or were just putting on a good show. Most of the sisters weaved in and out of the perimeter of the dance hall like dementors waiting to steal the souls of dance-happy students.
"Sometimes I wonder what would happen if her death was a hoax and she came back," Miren offered, before realizing her words were tipping into the "Do you want to get caught, you fucking idiot?!" danger-zone. "I don't know, somehow it seems more realistic than dying as horribly as she did," she added, hoping to deter any potential suspicion. When Cowdry nodded, she breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"It pains me to say it, but the police and administration were incredibly thorough with her investigation," Ms. Cowdry said. "But if she were alive, I'd hope she'd know better than to run off again. When you fail to plan, you plan to fail," she said, her inner educator coming out at full strength. "And we only get so many second chances. Life is short, and nothing is more terrible than death. Not even a stupid queen bee."
"She probably could have used someone like you," Miren said. "But I suppose there's no point dwelling in the past."
The fact was that Miren was no longer the girl who ran away. She didn't know who she was anymore. And although this new reality was daunting in many ways, she was better for it.
"If I may ask, is everything with Dr. Edsel's family going well?" Miren then said, hoping to change the subject. Cowdry's eyes lit up like the flashing display above them.
"Actually, yes. I was a standardized patient for Dr. Rutherford's recent medical conference. I did such a good job that she's actually letting me call her by her first name now."
***
"This better not get me caught," Soren said, readjusting his collar. Levi shrugged as he led him past the nuns.
"I told you to dye your hair or something," Levi told him, tucking his ticket stub in his pocket. "Besides, we don't even go here and knowing Dr. Edsel, he's probably on the dance floor. If any funny business goes down, even Dr. Castro will realize she practically invited the behavior."
"Spoken like a true rapist," Soren replied sarcastically as they reached the doors of the dance hall, the loud noise almost washing out his words. "Anyway, just go over the plan."
"I'd be delighted to," Levi said, looking around as unsuspciously as he could before motioning toward the male bathroom. "Let's do this quickly, shall we?" Locking the door behind them, Levi brought out his phone, clicked some buttons. "My brother and some of his stoner friends from MIT are working on an app for undercover surveillance, iSpy. It allows you to control the microphone of other phones in your contacts, recording only when it picks up on clear voices. I was able to connect Parker, Artemis, Penelope, and Jeno's phones to the server.
"The only draw back is that it won't work in the dance hall because it's too loud. However, if anyone is planning anything, they'll probably go to a more secure location. The app also features a zoom feature that's been calibrated to show exactly where they are in the building. We'll get a notification whenever either audio turns on. But it's only available in real time. This isn't a foolproof plan, but I'm sure we'll get at least something we can work with." Levi turned to the door, half-surprised no one had knocked yet. "Any questions?"
"Other than the fact that none of this is legal?" Soren sighed before nodding. "Whatever. I'm in."
"Okay." Levi handed him a small Bluetooth the size of a hearing aid. "Sorry if you hear something you'll regret."
There were a few thuds on the door, and Soren swiftly moved past it as a few boys rushed in. He shook his head.
"I regret nothing. "
***
Artemis was basically attached to the hip with Olive, and not in a good way. As they danced to an energetic rock tune, Artemis couldn't help but sneak glances at Parker, who was still grooving with Penelope. She knew it was wrong, but it wasn't like anything was right. If it were, she wouldn't be answering indirectly direct questions about Miren from yours truly annoying.
"So you said that she liked Parker?" Olive said over the crowd, turning toward the boy briefly. "I mean, he's really fit. However, I don't see why he'd choose Penelope when Miren doesn't sound nearly as much of a pain in the arse."
"Remember when I said I didn't want to talk about Miren?" Artemis retorted, a slightly annoyed smile spreading across her lips. The girl winced, shaking her head.
"Bloody hell, I'm sorry," she said, offering the girl a genuinely apologetic look. "You've been so nice to me and I can't even honor your one request. If you want to socialize with your other friends, I completely understand."
"What friends?" Artemis said jokingly. But as she thought about it briefly, she realized she was severely lacking in that department. She was cheating with one of them, and the others were mostly just accomplices for revenge. "And of course I don't mind. Your positive attitude is exactly what I need."
Olive beamed. "Glad to hear. Then I hope you don't mind if I chat with Parker for a bit?"
Artemis' eyes widened. "Wait, what?" Before she knew it, Olive had butted in between Parker and Penelope. Surprisingly, the queen bee didn't bite her head off. In fact, she didn't even look particularly mad. When Penelope walked off, Artemis was even more confused.
And jealous?