I Kissed Shara Wheeler(34)

“Or we could hide somewhere inside C Building until everyone goes home,” Rory suggests simply.

“That would work,” Chloe agrees, “except all the inside doors would still be locked.”

“Wait,” Jake says. “What’s your friend’s name? The one who looks like you but with better vibes?”

“Her vibes are fine, dude,” Rory says. “Don’t be shitty.”

“Thank you,” says Chloe, whose vibes have never been complimented before. “Um, do you mean Georgia?”

“Yeahhh, that girl,” Jake says. “Isn’t she a library aide? I always see her when I’m skipping sixth hour.”

“Yeah, she is,” Chloe says. “Why?”

“Well, then she has a key.”

“To the library office,” Chloe points out. “Not the principal’s office.”

“Right,” Rory says, drumming his fingers on the fretboard of his guitar. “But you work backward from what you have.” He jerks his chin up toward the top of the tree, which brushes up against the side of C Building. “The library office, it’s that window, right?”

Chloe looks up through the branches to the second-story window covered in Easter egg stickers and lined with books. She knows it well; Georgia sometimes lets her sneak in her overdue books to avoid late fees.

“Yeah,” she confirms.

Rory does a contemplative lip bite. “Pretty short jump.”

“Okay,” Chloe says, “so we can get out of the building. But there are still at least three locked doors between that window and Wheeler’s office, unless you can like, walk through walls.”

“What about through the ceiling?” Rory asks.

“Dude,” April says, her jaw dropping so fast, her Tootsie Roll pop plummets to the ground below. “Do you mean—”

Rory smirks. “That’s exactly what I mean.”

“Without us?”

“There’s no way it could be all four of us,” Rory says. “Way too risky. You guys have to be the support team from the parking lot. Jake?”

“But it’s our dream!”

“What are you talking about?” Chloe demands.

Rory tilts his head back, settling it against the tree so his curls crumple up at his crown and his jawline goes all model-y, his eyes slipping closed like visions of perfectly executed pranks are dancing in his head. He answers, in the wistful voice of someone announcing a long-awaited fantasy: “The air ducts.”





FROM THE BURN PILE


Passed notes between Tucker Price and Tyler Miller Written in the margins of an American History study guide dude i hooked up with the Mistress of Pain herself last night at the Quiz Bowl party

Chloe Green????? what happened?

made out in the hot tub

wow haha did you like it

it was fine I guess? kinda thought I would be more into it than I ended up being

Passed notes between Tyler and Ash Scribbled in one corner of a still-life drawing exercise in art class Aren’t you friends with Chloe Green?

yeah why? btw yr interpretation of the assignment is rly cool, those grapes look really anguished. great job!

Do you know if she likes anyone?

she does but she doesn’t know it yet

wtf is that supposed to mean

why are you asking?

Because my friend Tucker told me he made out with her in his parents jacuzzi and I was just wondering if she liked him

ohhhh the one with the nose on Quiz Bowl? why doesn’t he ask her himself?

bc Chloe Green is terrifying??? also pls don’t tell her I asked. or him, actually.

genuine question: are you in love with Tucker? full support if so, his nose is very interesting to look at

What??? No?????? He’s my friend??????????

then why are you asking about Chloe, and why do you care if he finds out

Forget it!!!!!





10


DAYS SINCE SHARA LEFT: 12

DAYS UNTIL GRADUATION: 29


Rory is terrible at pretending to study.

“Can you at least like, look at a note card?” Chloe mutters across the study tables. They’ve been sitting ten careful feet apart for an hour and a half now, trying to look like two casual classmates who happen to both be spending their after-school time in the library and are certainly not going to abscond into the HVAC system as soon as the opportunity arises.

Rory scratches the back of his head and ignores her. He’s got his black Converse propped up on the nearest chair and a small tape recorder on the table in front of him. Chloe suspects he thinks it makes him look cool and alt and analog, but she’s seen that exact recorder on the Urban Outfitters website for $90, and he’s listening to it with $200 AirPods.

Chloe at least has her AP European History notes out. If Ms. Dunbury sniffs them out before they get a chance to put their plan in motion, it’ll be Rory’s fault, not hers.

She closes her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose, imagining Shara somewhere far away, in a corset, surrounded by cake. Gotta stay focused. The guillotine won’t drop itself.

At long last, Ms. Dunbury retreats from the front desk into the library office, and Chloe hears the pops of a fork stabbing through plastic and the beeps of a microwave. A Lean Cuisine, definitely. That gives them three minutes.