Trial By Fire (Going Down in Flames #3)(49)
After scribbling his name on the bottom of a few reports, he glanced up. “Yes?”
“Do you have any information about Clint and Ivy?”
He gave a slow nod and went back to signing his name on the paperwork. “They will return to classes after lunch.”
What did that mean?
“Please take your seat, Bryn. And if you want to help your friends, don’t ask any more questions.”
What the hell? Mr. Stanton was one of the good guys, so why was he warning her away? He had to have a good reason. “Thank you, sir.”
…
By the time lunch rolled around, Bryn felt like she was about to crawl out of her skin with impatience. “Should we go to the dining hall for carryout and take it to Ivy’s room?”
They crossed the threshold into the building and Valmont pointed at their usual table. “No, because they’re here.”
Bryn started to run, but Valmont grabbed her arm. “Low profile, remember?”
She settled for speed-walking, sliding into the seat next to Ivy and tackle hugging her friend. “I’m so sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” Clint asked as he shoved half a dozen fries into his mouth.
Bryn pulled back from Ivy and noticed the annoyed expression on her friend’s face. Ivy laughed, but it sounded forced. “What happened last night wasn’t your fault. We’re old enough to pay attention to the time.”
“For Valentine’s Day, Clint, maybe you should buy Ivy a watch,” Valmont joked.
Okay. If he could play along, she could, too. “We should get our food.”
“I’ll go up with you,” Ivy said. “I forgot ketchup for my fries.”
Okay. What could she say in the food line that she couldn’t say in front of Clint?
Bryn grabbed a plate and filled it with chicken tenders and fries.
Ivy followed along behind her. “I need to copy the notes I missed from Mr. Stanton’s class. Can I come by before dinner?”
Since when did Ivy need to ask permission to come over? “Sure.”
“Good.” Ivy glanced around. “Have you ever had one of those days where you felt like everyone was watching and waiting for you to do something stupid?”
“Just most of my waking hours.”
“Glad you understand.” Ivy didn’t make eye contact with Bryn as she squirted ketchup into a little paper cup that looked like a bucket for a mouse.
For the rest of her afternoon classes, Bryn did her best to make casual small talk with her friends in order to keep up the charade that nothing was wrong. What had the Directorate done to make Ivy not want to share? Terrible ideas flitted through her head—from brainwashing to lobotomies. Once classes ended, she had a hard time not running to her room.
Ivy showed up on Bryn’s terrace minutes after Bryn made it inside.
Where was Clint?
Once inside, Ivy said, “I think someone stole my boyfriend and replaced him with a pod.”
“Okay.” Bryn pointed toward the living room. “This sounds like a conversation we should have sitting down.”
Valmont closed and locked the window, and they reconvened on the couch in the living room.
“I know this sounds crazy, but that’s not my Clint.”
Bryn opened her mouth to speak, but Valmont beat her to it. “Why don’t you start at the beginning? Tell us what happened last night ”
“We never made it out of the library. Someone was following us, so we acted like we were trying to find someplace to be alone. Clint pulled me down an aisle and kissed me. We didn’t even hear the guard sneak up on us. One minute we were kissing, and the next minute someone grabbed me and declared I was under arrest for breaking curfew. Clint told him we’d lost track of time. The guard didn’t care.”
Ivy rubbed at the red marks on her wrists. “He handcuffed us with those plastic zip ties and marched us up to the top floor of the library where—surprise—some of the Directorate members keep offices.”
“I didn’t know that,” Bryn said.
“It gets better,” Ivy said. “Ferrin Westgate was behind door number one.”
“Aw, crap.” Bryn did not like where this was going.
“Yeah, not who we wanted to see. He lectured us about breaking Directorate law and told us we were getting off easy this time. No real jail. They’d just lock us in study cubicles overnight.”
The guard separated us and shoved me into one of those tiny rooms. There wasn’t a light or a chair or anything. Just a concrete floor. I used an emissary to see. I tried knocking on the walls to see if Clint would knock back, but I never heard anything. This morning a different guard let us out and told us to go clean up and then head to lunch.”
“And that’s when you noticed Clint was different?” Bryn asked.
Ivy nodded. “He didn’t hug me. He didn’t even hold my hand. Didn’t ask how I was doing. Nothing. It was like he didn’t care about me. He kept talking about how irresponsible we’d been and how it wouldn’t happen again.”
Valmont frowned. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound like Clint.”
“He walked me back to my room and kissed me on the cheek like I was his freaking cousin.” Ivy created a small ball of lightning in her hand, which crackled and sent out forked tongues. “I have no idea what’s going on. I can’t shake this feeling I’m being watched. And I really want to zap someone.”