Armani’s POV

  The night Jaiden got poisoned, I nearly got myself arrested trying to claim the bed next to his in the school’s clinic. I wasn’t leaving. No one could drag me out, not even the old security guards. Jaiden laid there on his bed, switching between cheering on me asserting dominance and begging the young nurses to let me stay.

  But he didn't say a word once that nun walked in.

  She had cruel eyes and a body like a statue—big, rigid, unshakeable. The second she appeared in the doorway, every nurse and guard in the room zipped their lips. Sister Agnes, they called her. Even the skin on the back of my neck started tingling when she looked at me. Jaiden leaned in and whispered something about her infinite aura before I swore at him to shut up.

  Sister Agnes scanned the room before locking her eyes onto mine. The way she walked toward me made me think it was over. Honestly, I thought she was going to pull out a gun and end me right there. She stopped in front of me, staring at my face for a long, quiet second.

  "You’re the one making this fuss?" she asked.

  I stuttered for a second, still not sure when she was going to pull out her gun. "I’m staying the night with my friend. He was poisoned, and I’m not leaving him."

  "Poisoned?" Her face didn't change. She didn't even look surprised. "How?"

  "Someone left a pack of gummy bears by his door," I answered. "He ate it and started throwing up immediately."

  "Did you see this person?"

  "No."

  "Then how can you be so sure someone did it? Maybe your friend just eats crap." She sounded tired, like kids getting poisoned was just a Tuesday routine for her. I could tell she thought I was onto some bullshit. Of course she did. The old nurse had been so chill about the whole thing.

  "It was placed right by his door," I insisted. "The second he ate them, he got sick. It wasn’t an accident. And they keep telling me to get out, but I’m not leaving my friend."

  Behind her, the nurses started complaining, telling her how rude I’d been and how I’d sworn at them once, or maybe more. Jaiden was watching the whole thing as if it was a movie, not even bothering to defend me while they tried to kick me out. Zero survival instinct. That asshole.

  The old nurse finally stepped back in. She looked confused by the crowd of guards and the nun standing in the clinic at first, but when she spotted me, she gave that usual dry laugh of hers.

  "Let him stay," she said, turning to her desk in the office at the very start of the clinic. "Poor thing got shot a couple of days ago. We can’t let him go back and get shot again."

  Sister Agnes gave me a judging look. My skin was crawling with cringe. The way the nurse said it made me sound like a toddler.

  "Whatever, no one believes me anyway," I muttered, puffing my cheeks.

  "Which dorm are you staying in, young man?" Sister Agnes asked. She looked like she was about to say more, but Jaiden finally decided to contribute the most useless answer possible.

  "Boys’ dorm." He gave a confident nod. I was not sure at that point if he was helping or making things worse.

  Sister Agnes ignored him and continued. "Does it happen to be Christopher Hall?"

  I did some quick math in my head to remember that the 'C' in Building C stood for Christopher. I’m still not sure why they call it a 'hall' when it’s clearly a building, but I nodded anyway. I was about to ask why she cared, but she beat me to it.

  "Third floor. Room 331. Am I correct?"

  My knees went weak. Up until that point, I had thought I was free to do whatever I wanted, never realizing I was being watched. I nodded again.

  "Why didn’t you report someone breaking into your room three times already?"

  My heart sank into my stomach. "Three times?"

  I thought Chloe had tossed my room once. Maybe twice, if she was feeling obsessive. But three times? And the weirdest part was that nothing was ever stolen. I started to doubt it was Chloe. She’s persistent, sure, but there's no way she snuck into the boys’ dorm three separate times without getting caught.

  Jaiden leaned forward. "Did you give your room key to anyone?"

  Of course I didn’t. That was out of the question. But as long as nothing was broken or stolen, I didn’t have to worry—or so I thought.

  I took a deep breath, trying to steady my voice. "If I knew someone was breaking into my room, I would’ve reported it."

  Sister Agnes closed her eyes for a second and exhaled loudly, like she was already exhausted by my existence. I didn’t know why she looked so done with me the moment she opened them again. Whatever. Old women and their tempers.

  "Let’s get to the point," she said. "Have you seen someone wearing all black, wandering the campus around dawn?"

  It didn't really sound like a question. It sounded like she already knew the answer, or she was testing me.

  "I haven’t seen them. But I’ve heard of them. Why're you askin'?"

  The woman hummed, a one-sided smile stretching across her thin lips. Her blank face twisted into something that might have been reassurance, or anger. You can never tell with those nuns.

  "They’re too stupid to walk around stealing keys from Mrs. Gomez without noticing all the cameras," she added.

  I didn’t know what to say to that, so I shrugged. "Yeah, no shi—I mean, yeah. I guess."

  "They should have known me before thinking they could roam around freely in the campus."

  I had no clue why she was telling me all this at that time. The poisoning thing had nothing to do with me. I started wondering if she’d heard rumors from the girls saying that maybe it was me who left the gummy bears by Jaiden’s door. Was she suspecting me? The room suddenly felt ten degrees colder. I had to cross my arms just to keep my hands from freezing.

  "I’m sure you’re… something in here, Sister," I said, giving her a quick once-over. She looked relaxed, hands clasped in front of her, which almost made me think she was just an old woman yapping. "But I don't really get it, why are you telling me all of this?"

  She chuckled. "You’re funny."

  Of course I am. I managed to make the fierce woman smile.

  The old nurse looked over from her office. "Is everything okay, Sister?"

  "We’re just chatting," the nun replied. She gave me one last look before turning to leave.

  "Close the gates after you return in the morning, Armani." Her face snapped back into that rigid expression. "It won’t be long before you’re expelled for what you’re doing in this place."

  My heart hit my ribs so hard that for a second I forgot how to breathe. What did she mean by whatever I was doing here? How long had this woman been watching me? My thoughts were racing and my pulse was drumming in my ears.

  I watched the nun walk out of the office, followed by the rest of the staff, leaving just me, Jaiden, and the old nurse. Getting on that woman’s bad side wasn’t part of the plan. I realized right then that talking wouldn’t help. As long as she was alive, I was trapped. I was itching to do something so reckless that night to shut her up for good. Luckily, Jaiden’s voice pulled me back before crossing that line.

  "What did she say?"

  I forced a breath into my tight chest and moved to sit on the bed next to his. "Nothing."

  "Then why are you shaking?"

  I looked down at my hand. He was right; it was trembling. I had to get rid of her. I’d been putting off this decision ever since Chris warned me about her. The hard way was tempting—but on second thought, violence wasn’t smart. I needed something cleaner.

  I shrugged it off. "Infinite aura, I guess."

  The nurse appeared between the beds; hands shoved deep into the square pockets of her white coat. "Sister Agnes chewed you out, huh?"

  She had this annoyingly lazy smile on her face, like she was enjoying the fact that I’d just been toasted by that nun.

  "At least she didn't kill me." I shrugged.

  The nurse laughed, moving to the bag by Jaiden’s head and checking the line while talking to him about how he felt. Up close, she didn’t look that old. When she took a step back, I noticed the plastic ID tag hanging from her neck:

  Saint Philips Catholic High School Health Services

  Ms. Elizabeth Parker, MSN, RN, Director of Nursing & Health Services

  (Whatever all those letters meant.)

  "Ms. Parker?" I looked up at her relaxed face. "Is that woman always like that?"

  "In a bad mood?"

  I nodded.

  I watched her pull out a small glass thing from a cabinet between the beds, draw the liquid into a syringe, and inject it into Jaiden’s hanging bag. "She threatened to expel you, didn't she?"

  "Yeah, something like that."

  "Just stay out of her sight for a while and you’ll be fine." She glanced at the leftover food on Jaiden’s tray. "How about I leave this by the bed in case you get hungry later?"

  Jaiden’s face twisted in disgust. "Don’t you guys have, like, seasonings? Salt? Pepper? Anything?"

  Ms. Parker flicked the empty syringe toward a nearby bin. It was a perfect shot. "This is the school clinic, Mr. Lester, not a hotel."

  I looked back at her. "Can’t you tell me what she's thinking? You know, since you guys are old and kinda the same age?"

  She reached out and poked my thigh with a cold finger. A wave of weird fuzziness shot through my stomach and I flinched hard. "Ms. Parker, please—I’m ticklish!"

  She paused, staring at me, or judging me. "Your wound seems to be healing well," she noted. "Your eyes, however, are still broken."

  Jaiden peeked out from behind her with a dumb grin. "Don’t listen to him, Ms. Parker. You’re in the prime of your youth."

  She glanced at him over her shoulder. "Young men who wear Pikachu underwear shouldn't be talking, Mr. Lester."

  I tried not to lose my shit, but the image of Jaiden in bright yellow Pokemon underwear couldn’t leave my head.

  "I didn’t mean to say you were old, Ms. Parker…" A laugh escaped me, and I knew I fucked up when I saw the annoyed look on the nurse's face.

  "You should’ve considered that you have to come back to me in a week to get those stitches out before running your mouth, young man." She turned to walk away.

  "I have to take them out? Not like they disappear or something?"

  "Exactly," she said as she walked down the clinic. "And it’s not easy, by the way."

  That shook me way more than Sister Agnes’s infinite aura. Honestly, I’d rather be expelled than deal with the nurse's clapback. My thigh had been sore for days and I wasn't ready for a round 2.

  I sat up and shouted after her as she headed back to the desk in her office. "Ms. Parker! I’m sorry! You’re not old at all!"

  "Yeah, yeah. We’ll see about that when the stitches come out," her voice echoed back.

  I fucked up, and there was nothing to do about it now.

  "This is why we never ask a woman her age, bro," Jaiden whispered.

  I flopped back onto the bed and sighed, staring at the ceiling. I turned my head toward Jaiden, and he turned toward me. We held eye contact for a long, silent beat.

  "So," I said. "Are you gonna show me the Pikachu underwear or what?"

  He smirked. "Nurses only."

  "Damn, man. These women must be lucky."

  I took a deep breath and tried to close my eyes for a second, but a familiar scent made both me and Jaiden sit up instantly. Zoey stood silently in front of our bed, wearing one of Bryan’s hoodies that reeked of his cologne, her hands shoved into the front pocket. Her real hair was a mess under the hood, and the bandages around her neck were barely tied. She stood there, narrowing her puffy eyes as she looked at us. I’m not sure when she’d respawned in the room, but it felt like she’d been watching us for a while.

  "Ever heard of knocking?" I asked. She didn't bother answering.

  She stepped closer, her eyes struggling to focus on me. "I couldn’t sleep... I’ve been thinking about the whole thing."

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jaiden flash her a goofy grin. "What do you mean, the whole thing?"

  "I don’t know where to start," she said, her voice dropping. "But I don’t think Jaiden just got poisoned today. I think he’s been getting fed a parasite. In fact, all of us might have been getting fed parasites from the second we stepped foot in this place."

  I held my breath and leaned forward, locking eyes with her.

  "I’ve been looking it up since we brought Jaiden here," she continued. "I don’t think it was the gummy bears that poisoned him. Actually, I don’t think it was poison at all. It’s a parasite. Something like Giardia or Cryptosporidium. The gummies were just a medium—a catalyst to speed up the progress inside his gut."

  Science shit, again.

  "If it was real poison, Jaiden would be dealing with something way worse than puking. He’d have breathing issues or a racing heart; something that would make us call an ambulance, not just a school nurse. I mean, the medical team here is indeed skilled and everything, but this clinic isn't exactly set up for a tox-unit emergency." She let out an exhale once she was finished.

  Jaiden looked confused. His tiny brain was trying to make sense of all the shit she said. "Aren’t parasites like... worms? I’m pretty sure I didn't eat a worm."

  "Not all parasites are macroscopic, Jaiden. That means you can't always see them with the naked eye," she explained. "Some of them, you need a microscope to spot."

  Before she could flex any more of her science vocabulary, I interrupted her. "You said we might have been getting fed this stuff the whole time." She nodded. "How does that even happen without us noticing?"

  She used her hands to tell her point. "Microorganisms are everywhere: the bathroom, the kitchen, the trash, the food. Even inside our own bodies. You can get infected just by not washing your hands properly before eating a sandwich."

  "That’s not true," Jaiden piped up. "Sometimes I forget to wash my hands and I’m always fine... mostly."

  "Shut up," I snapped at him. "She’s cooking something."

  "For example," Zoey went on, "we have a farm with cows right here. Raw, unpasteurized milk has enough microbes and parasites to wreck someone. There’s a sewer nearby—there has to be one at least—and a few samples from there would be enough to kill a person. But I’ve settled on Giardia and Cryptosporidium. They’re sneaky, and are not immediately fatal like Salmonella or E. coli. They take their time to show up in the host. But in any case—"

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  "Nice try," Ms. Parker’s voice cut through the room. "But stomach acid and a decent immune system can handle a little raw milk or contaminated water."

  Zoey took some steps back to face the nurse with some spirit, her exhausted voice ringing in the place. "Yeah, but imagine being fed tiny doses of it over the course of days. Something as simple as a few drops in a glass of water or juice, over and over. Isn’t that enough for the parasite to reproduce and take hold of the host?"

  Jaiden yanked his bed curtain aside so both of us could peek at the nurse. She was leaning against her desk, in the office area, with that same calm, slightly amused smile.

  "I like your theory," Ms. Parker said. "But even if that happened, one round of antibiotics and it’s over for the parasite."

  "Antibiotics..." Zoey froze, her gears visibly turning. I love it when she gets all excited and talks science shit and forgets that she’s talking to two ex-peasants, a crackhead and her foreigner sister.

  Zoey scrambled back toward us and whispered, "Guys, those virus vessels Bryan gave us, they have a pill tucked underneath each cap. Bryan never said anything about them. What if they aren't virus vessels at all? What if they’re parasite vessels, and those pills are the antibiotics we’re supposed to take so we don’t get sick? Think about it, whoever stole the vessel from my room used a few drops on Jaiden’s food but didn't give him the pill because they wanted him to suffer or even die.”

  Jaiden’s face was a total blank just like his small brain. "I don't get it."

  "Hold on," I said. "Doesn’t that mean you fucked with the virus? Didn’t you say they were in your closet, untouched?"

  She paused, blinking fast. "No... I mean, yeah, I tried to examine them, but that's not the point now."

  "So why did you lie about it? You could’ve just said that," I challenged.

  She started rambling about some pathetic stories. Even Jaiden tried to jump in and defend her, but I wasn't in the mood to deal with her lying ass. I had plans to make. She’s not a threat though; not because she’s smart, but because for someone who speaks with big words, she was a bad liar.

  I cut off her lame excuses and cringey cover-ups since I spotted Ms. Parker checked her watch before looking back at us. "Can we go back to what you said before? The stomach parasite thingy?"

  "Yeah, I didn’t catch that either," Jaiden said, yawned and flopped back onto the bed without warning. "I’m listening."

  She gulped and started explaining again. I had to remind her to keep her voice down since I could feel Ms. Parker’s ears up my ass.

  "I was saying... what if the virus vessels we have actually contain a stomach parasite? What if whoever is messing with us stole one from my room and is adding drops of it to our food to infect us? And I think the pills tucked under the caps are antibiotics. Bryan said we would get sick, and it makes sense that he’d include medicine so we don't, you know, actually die.”

  "What if? I don’t need what ifs. I need you to tell me what you’re sure about," I said.

  "I can’t be sure if I don't know what’s inside those vessels," she hissed back. "Besides, you killed the only Grapevine Hawk caterpillar I could find in this entire place."

  "I killed who?" I looked over at Jaiden, but the asshole was already fast asleep, leaving me to deal with that bullshit by myself.

  "And now that we have nothing to test on, to see if those vessels contain a single living organism or not, all we have are theories."

  Ms. Parker suddenly popped up from behind Zoey. "It’s ten to ten, and I need to lock this clinic and go to bed."

  Zoey turned to her, waiting for the woman to go on but she didn’t, so she had to ask: "Which means...?"

  "It means I’m kicking you out." Ms. Parker didn't sugarcoat it. She turned to me. "I’ll check on Jaiden first thing in the morning. If he’s better, I’m kicking both of you out as well."

  And just like that, Ms. Parker escorted Zoey out, then dimmed the clinic lights. She unhooked the empty hanging bag, detached it from Jaiden and showed me the small lounge behind the clinic. It had a vending machine, some lame snacks and fruit on a coffee table, a water dispenser, and a tiny bathroom. She walked toward a door at the back and gave me one final warning: don't touch anything in the clinic, and get to bed now, because she wasn't letting me sleep past six-thirty. She reminded me one last time that this wasn't a hotel, then stepped out and locked the door behind her. And there I was. Locked inside the clinic from both sides with a blacked-out friend.

  I couldn’t sleep that night. It wasn't because Jaiden was snoring and talking in his sleep about white girls (I will never understand his obsession with white girls), but because I was busy reading the labels on every medicine bottle I could get my hands on.

  Most of the good stuff was behind the nurse’s desk in the small office or in locked glass cabinets in the clinic itself, but there was plenty within reach. I thought about taking out the old hag, Sister Agnes, first. Not kill her—just knock her out for a day or so until she forgot I existed. But looking at all those chemicals made me feel lost. Bryan could probably walk in here, mix things together, and come up with a new drug that would put the old woman to sleep for days. I’ve watched him do it a thousand times, but I definitely didn’t have the touch.

  Still, I grabbed a few things just in case: Naropin, Morphine, and Paracetamol. A local anesthetic in case I get shot again, a painkiller because walking all the way to this clinic is a workout in itself, and the flu meds Laura had been talking about. In the end and after a long while of thinking with those meds in my hands, I decided to let someone else deal with Sister Agnes while I thought of how to take those stuff back to my room without the nurse noticing.

  The next day, at the breakfast table, I laid out the plan we had previously agreed on. Team A: Me and Zoey. Our job was the virus. Team B: Everyone else. Their job was finding the traitor.

  Then, I told each of them their roles: Laura would be our spy. She’d track who we talked to and who our friends were outside the group, reporting every move back to me. Jaiden would be in charge of the game, making sure things ran smoothly and acting as the official judge. Meanwhile, Zoey and I would run all the tests for the virus and figure out what to do with it. Laura handed out the game papers, and just like that, each of us was on the right track.

  "What about me?" Annie asked. "What do I do?"

  "Ugh... you do you, Annie."

  She frowned, looking completely lost. "I do me? What does that mean?"

  I shrugged. "You do you," I repeated. It was self-explanatory.

  Zoey interrupted, "Wait, what do you mean we will work on the virus?"

  I paused, realizing I had nothing to back that up with, so I just said it again. "We. Will work. On the virus."

  "There is no we," she snapped. "I will work on the virus and you will help me. You aren't allowed to touch the vessels."

  "Yeah, yeah. We’ll see about that later."

  Jaiden leaned in. "Don’t you mean that Laura is going to spy on us?"

  "Exactly," I said. "If you’re innocent, you won’t mind being watched. Right?"

  A heavy silence hit the table. They all stared back at me. Jaiden looked the most uncomfortable, but I figured he was just worried someone would find out about his white girls’ obsession or his search history and call him out, so I didn't sweat it.

  "Can I join Laura and be a spy, too?" Annie asked.

  "Yeah, sure. Whatever."

  Laura smiled at her sister. "It’ll be easier if you help me."

  Zoey shuffled forward in her seat. "If Laura is watching us, then who’s watching Laura?"

  Laura rolled her eyes, muttering something under her breath.

  "Good point," I said. "I’m watching Laura."

  Zoey raised a brow. "Then who’s watching you?"

  "Ugh… Laura?"

  Zoey clicked her tongue and exhaled sharply. She clearly wasn't getting it, so I had to explain the whole cycle again: Laura was my eyes on everyone else, and I was the eyes on her. All while the game kept playing in the background.

  "You know what," Zoey finally said, "I don’t care. Do whatever you want, just don’t touch the vessels."

  I knew that was coming, but it still pissed me off that I’d wasted two minutes of my life explaining it. At least everyone finally knew their roles. But, as I expected, none of them knew mine—and none of them even thought to ask.

  I spent the rest of the week playing spy, watching them, collecting rumors. With the help of Chris and his radar-like ears, I found out some weird stuff.

  Zoey seemed to be getting along with a queer girl in her class named Kate. And by getting along, I mean they were attached at the hip. No pun intended—they walk that close. Right after breakfast on Thursday, the two girls started having every meal together and spending all their free time in each other's space. I followed them once to the library and saw them hugging, and not the friendly kind of hug, but something a bit too... the L-word. Zoey was resting her head on the girl’s chest with her eyes closed, arms wrapped around her, playing the role of a pillow princess that doesn’t even fit her. And the girl was messing with Zoey’s hair. Or, more realistically, her wig. Does she even know Zoey is wearing a wig? I bet that girl knows a lot more about her than just the wig.

  As for Jaiden, he wasn’t doing anything suspicious. On Friday, he stumbled into some lame arts-and-crafts club and spent the afternoon making a flower bracelet to gift to Zoey. Poor guy, he always has bad luck with girls, of course I told him nothing about her U-Haul situation.

  Other than that, he’s been sticking to my side like glue, as usual, and trying to play nice with the others in our class. He’s even bonding with Annie since they both apparently love handmade stuff. I didn’t really have to watch him; honestly, if I ask him what he’s doing, he’ll spill his guts without a second thought.

  And then, Laura. The rumors about her are already wild. Everyone is calling her a whore only a couple of days after she got here. I’m surprised they didn’t know that on her first day. Everyone is talking about how she tries to sound cute and hot whenever she talks to a guy—even teachers who may be triple her age. They say she didn't even spare Father James. Who is Father James? No clue, but the fact that she’s hitting on a priest is enough to make anyone concerned.

  I heard all the gossips about her: how she tries to steal other girls’ crushes, how she unbuttons the top of her shirt the second a guy looks her way. What they don't know is that's how Laura normally acts. I am now one hundred percent sure that her accidental moan while singing wasn't an accident at all. I even heard she texted someone’s dad because she thought he was hot. I know she’s for the streets, but after all, she’s my friend. I’ll talk to her about her daddy issues later. For now, I’m onto something way more unsettling.

  I push open the doors to the rooftop of Building G. The moon is a silver crescent in the dark Saturday sky, and the wind is already strong, blowing the stench of cheap cigarettes right into my face. I walk around the big glass dome in the center of the roof, approaching the lonely figure swallowed by the shadows. Looking down at an open guitar case by my feet, I notice a pack of cigarettes sitting next to a large, pink-painted gun and a pair of binoculars.

  I reach out and put a hand on her arm. She lets out a loud scream. Her cigarette flies over the edge of the roof as her body jerks toward the glass railings. I grab her, pulling her back toward me. She puts her shaking hands over her mouth, her scream still echoing in the empty night air.

  "I thought you were more professional than this, Annie," I tease. "And why are you back to smoking? It makes your breath stink."

  She lowers her hands, gasping for air. "What are you doing here?"

  "That’s my question."

  She stutters something, looking at me like she’s not sure if I was real or a hallucination. I get it; I’m a bit unpredictable sometimes. And she probably thought she was being sneaky standing here when the campus went to sleep.

  "How did you find me here?" she asks.

  "Do you think you’re invisible just because you’re on a roof?"

  "What?" She glances around. "Can... can everyone see me up here?"

  "We’ll get to that later."

  I walk back until I can lean against the slanted glass wall behind me. I knock on it, making sure the glass is sturdy enough to hold me so I don’t end up falling onto the plastic plants three stories below.

  "Anyway, what are you doing up here, Annie?" I ask.

  "Doing my job." She falls silent, like that’s supposed to explain everything.

  "Yeah, I can use some explanation here."

  "I’m protecting you, protecting everyone." She confesses, her voice flat. "That’s my job. That’s why I’m here."

  "Protecting us?" I reach into the case and pull out her cold, heavy gun. I eject the magazine, and it’s fully loaded. "With this?"

  She nods.

  "From who?" My fingers brush the suppressor at the tip. I don’t know much about guns, but I’m pretty sure this thing is built to kill people quietly.

  She takes a deep breath. "Anyone who tries to hurt us. Like I do back at Riley’s." She mumbles a few words before managing to speak human language. "I didn’t mean to hide that I was up here protecting everyone. I was thinking that... I thought you’d think I was the one who shot you, because Katya and... I don’t know. I’m doing my job. And I didn’t shoot you."

  "Right," I say, carefully placing the gun back in the case. "So, you have a gun. You stand up here every night trying to catch some bad guys to shoot. Here. In a fancy-ass school full of rich kids. You’re ready to blast anyone who looks shady to you. Annie, that’s enough to get you to spend the rest of your life in prison."

  She scratches her head. "But it’s my job."

  "Yeah, your job... look, if you’re out here protecting us with this big-ass gun," I pause to take a breath, "then who’s going to protect us from you?"

  She inhales sharply, at a loss for words, her shoulders squaring up. "I don’t kill people, I swear! I just shoot them in the leg and call the guards."

  "I don’t care what you do at Riley’s, Annie. I’m talking about what you’re doing now."

  She presses her lips together, then repeats, "I’m doing my job."

  I exhale. She always pisses me off like this. Sometimes I can’t tell if she’s playing dumb or if she’s really dumb. I gather every bit of patience I have left to keep my cool.

  "Annie," I start, and she gives me a tiny nod. "You’re at a school. Not a battlefield. Not Riley’s. You’re sneaking up here at night when everyone is asleep—"

  She steps toward me, her cheeks flushing in frustration. "I’m protecting you guys! Why won’t you believe me?"

  "Yeah, yeah, I get it," I say, signaling for her to calm down. "You’re our Batman. Bat-Annie at this point, and we’re in Gotham. I get it. You don’t have to get all worked up."

  Her shoulders sink and her face finally relaxes.

  "I just have one question." I point at the gun. "What’s the point of this if you aren’t shooting people?"

  "I don’t know. I just brought it and no one said anything."

  "And by no one, you mean Bryan?"

  She nods. "And Mom."

  "So, Bryan is okay with you acting like Batman? He knows you’re on the roof every night on some side quest with a suppressor?"

  "Yeah. He told me to go to the roof and see if there are any 'suspicious-looking weirdos' and protect you guys." She takes another step, standing way too close to me. "I wouldn’t be here if I wasn't doing this."

  Bryan never mentioned a word about Annie being our local superhero, but "suspicious-looking weirdos" is a word Bryan always uses. I wouldn’t believed her if she didn't quote him word-for-word.

  "Okay, I think I get it now. But suppose you found someone shady, what would you do then?" I ask. "What did he tell you to do?"

  "Tell you."

  Makes sense, especially with how I’m supposed to be the only one with a gun. I doubt Bryan knew she’d bring her own arsenal, but then again, I’m sure he’s not that stupid.

  Annie draws even closer, until our faces are inches apart. Her voice drops to a whisper. "I didn’t know when to tell you, or if the others should know. But then you got shot and started saying it was me... I couldn't talk to you after that."

  I reassure her with a nod. She adds, "It wasn't me. I didn't shoot you, I'd never do that."

  "I know, and speaking of that day," I brush off some of her hair that blew into her face. "Tell me what you guys were planning behind my back. Be honest."

  "To see who sent you the letter," she answered. "But the letter disappeared. Just like the bullet and the pack of gummy bears Jaiden ate."

  "The pack of gummy bears?" I pause, "Did you go back to look for it?"

  "Yeah. We were talking about how we lost the bullet, so after dinner, I went back to the game room with Laura and we searched for it, but we didn't find anything."

  The traitor is smart. Hiding the clues, keeping things clean. I’m impressed Annie noticed the letter and the pack were gone, but also annoyed at myself. How the hell did I miss that?

  But this realization about Annie goes both ways. And if she notices these details, what else is she hiding? What else is she choosing not to say?

  "By the way, I didn’t come here just because the supervisor was missing and the gates were open," I let my hand slide down her arm. "But because I need your help."

  Annie frowns. "We don’t have a dorm supervisor. And the gates are never closed."

  No supervisor? Open gates 24/7? That’s weird. I figured a place this expensive would have some kind of security, but I don’t think that’s a problem for me now since I have a nightmare to deal with.

  "Look, I need a favor, and I need you to do it as soon as possible," I say, watching her reaction closely. "There’s this nun, Sister Agnes, if you’ve ever heard of her. She’s been breathing down my neck. I need you to... put her down for a few days. Or more."

  Annie gasps, her eyes go wide and her feet step back. "You want me to kill a nun?"

  "No! We’re not killing anyone. You’ll just shoot her in the leg. Like you always do. Didn’t you just say that’s your job?"

  She breaks eye contact for a second, thinking it over, then looks back at me and slowly shakes her head. "This is bad. I won’t do it."

  What? Annie has a brain of her own now? And she’s saying no? To me?

  "What did you just say?"

  "This is bad," she repeats, stepping back even further. "I can’t… I just… I don’t want to hurt anyone."

  "Who am I talking to? Is this actually Annie speaking right now?"

  "I’m serious, Armani." She frowns again, but I can never take her anger seriously. "Hurting people is bad."

  "Have you just realized that today? Or you’re fucking with me?" She doesn't reply, so I draw closer and steay my voice. "If you’re really serious, we’ve been hurting people for like six months now. I bet you’ve done way worse than anything I’m asking for."

  She hugs herself, shrinking, her voice thin. "But you know... this is bad."

  "Yeah, no shit, Annie."

  She looks away with a pout. I let out another big exhale. I thought Annie could be useful, but I think I made her believe she’s Batman. Now she feels like a real hero and shooting someone’s leg is so bad that she’s turning me down. I cross my arms. The night is getting colder and the wind is cutting through the thin fabric of my sweatshirt.

  Maybe she’s right. Maybe hurting people is bad, mostly because it gets us in more trouble. But I don’t know how else to deal with that woman. I’ve been dodging her since Thursday and I’m exhausted. The weird thing is, she still hasn't expelled me, and I can’t guess her next move.

  I catch Annie’s eyes as she blows into her hands to stay warm.

  "You still mad at me?" I ask gently.

  "You still love me?" she asks back in a bitchy attitude that sounds more like Chloe than her.

  "Of course I do, Annie."

  She doesn’t smile. She turns away from me, her face looks troubled, which is, again, not like her. Usually, she’d jump to kiss me every time we talked. Maybe I’ve done her wrong once or twice (or ten times) but I don't know how to snap her out of whatever illusion she’s having about me. And of course, Chloe has worked her bitch-magic and made her hate me. Ugh, Chloe... just the name makes my stomach twist.

  I notice Annie looking at me through the corner of her eyes while blowing into her hands, so I move to close the distance between us. "Do the others know about your Batman side-quest?"

  She turns back to me. I catch a tiny smile behind her hands. "It’s a secret. Don’t tell them."

  "Good. Let me tell you a secret, too."

  She stops blowing into her hands and her eyes grow wide.

  "I had a secret side-quest just like yours."

  "You’re doing Batman too?"

  "No, not exactly. I was drawing a map of this place, and one day I went for a walk at dawn when everyone was asleep. Long story short, that nun called Sister Agnes saw me. She thinks I was doing something way worse than mapping, and now she’s going to get me kicked out."

  Annie looks invested now. Her brows furrow, and her forehead creases.

  "And you know what happens if I get kicked out before I finish my job?" I point at the pink gun in the case. "Bryan will shove this up my ass."

  She hums, breaking eye contact. I can hear her two remaining brain cells grinding together. She probably thinks Bryan is really shoving her gun up my ass since she doesn’t understand metaphors. I should have explained what I meant was that he’d get a bit too mad at me and might kill me instead, but before I can say anything she looks back at me.

  "I can try to do something."

  "Really? What will you do?"

  She fiddles with her fingers. "I can’t tell you. But I’ll talk to someone who can talk to someone else and they can give Sister Agnes some vacation."

  "You’re not telling anyone that we came here to infect everyone and that you have a gun, right?"

  She snaps, "Of course, no! I’m not this dumb!"

  She's way dumber than that but I give her a smile. "Oh, thank you, Annie! You’re the real hero here. I knew I could count on you."

  "Yes, I’m Bat-Annie." Her lips stretch into a shy smile.

  Perfect. Now I have a scapegoat if things go south with Sister Agnes, and they will…