Code(38)

“Ben, huh.” Jason’s grin twisted at the corners. “Should be interesting.”

“They’re my best friends, Jason. I couldn’t leave them out.”

He nodded firmly. “Nor should you. We’ll make it work. I promise.”

“Thanks.”

Jason’s mature outlook reassured me. This would be okay. Right?

The bell rang our five-minute warning. Jason and I said good-bye and headed to our respective classes. I slid into my desk just as Shelton and Hi filled the two beside me.

Calculus dragged. Mr. Terenzoni’s pinched, nasal voice droned on and on about an equation scrawled on the dry-erase board. Though I tried to pay attention, my mind wandered.

The Gamemaster’s clue was still a mystery. No matter how I attacked it, the arrangement made no sense. Shelton was testing different coding systems, but so far had struck out. Hi was equally baffled, and Ben didn’t seem to be trying.

The timer was counting down to midnight. For the first time, I began to doubt we’d actually solve the puzzle.

What would happen if we failed? Who would pay the price?

“Miss Brennan?”

My eyes shot to the front. Mr. Terenzoni was stroking his thin, black beard, irritation etched on his face. “We are waiting.”

“Twelve?” Stock answer. I had no idea what the question was.

“No, Miss Brennan. The answer is not twelve. The answer is Green’s theorem.”

Snickers floated around me. Mr. Terenzoni wagged his head slowly.

Red-faced, I pushed aside my concerns and focused on not sounding like an idiot twice.




I caught my next target just before lunch.

“Ben?” Pulling him aside. “I need to ask you something.”

“Okay.”

“My debutante ball is next Friday night.”

No reaction. Ben sometimes made conversation difficult.

“I’m supposed to invite escorts. Marshals for the ceremony, and stags, too.”

Still nothing.

“Would you like to be one?” I said. “A marshal, I mean. Escort me.”

For a moment, Ben just stared.

“Don’t strain yourself,” I snapped. “You’ll need a tux, and you’ll have to behave around dozens of Bolton trust-funders. Can you handle that?”

Not the approach I’d planned, but his apathy got under my skin.

Ben remained quiet for another long moment. Then, “Sure.”

“Okay, good.” I nodded once, as if agreeing to a treaty. “That’s settled then.”

We began walking toward the cafeteria.

“Who else is going?”

“Shelton and Hi will be my stags. And Jason. He’s co-marshal with you.”

Ben stopped. “Jason?”

“Kit’s girlfriend likes his family,” I said swiftly. “She’s the one making me debut. Plus, Jason knows the ropes, and he’d already asked if he could escort me, so—”

“Hold on.” Ben’s eyes were dark. “Jason asked if he could go? When?”

“At a cotillion thing this summer.” What did that matter? “I never responded, but Whitney’s pushing me hard, so I had to choose.”

I threw my hands up, exasperated. “I don’t even wanna go to this stupid thing!”

Ben’s lips parted, but then he seemed to reconsider. Without a word, he strode off in the opposite direction.

“Ben, wait!”

He halted, but didn’t turn.

“Will you be my marshal or not?”

“Yes.”

Then I was alone outside the cafeteria doors.

“Juuuust great.”




“I need a tux?” Shelton’s eyes widened behind their thick lenses. “What about dancing? I don’t have to dance if I don’t want to, right?”

We were at our usual table, secluded in the far corner by the emergency exit. The area closest to us was empty, which is just how we liked it. Hi and Shelton munched sandwiches while I ate a bowl of she-crab soup. Whitney had started preparing my lunches, an insult I couldn’t bring myself to reject.

Curse her effective bribes! And me for taking them.

Ben was nowhere to be seen.

“Of course not,” I said. “You two don’t have any official functions. Basically, you just show up and hang out. And I’d really appreciate if you did.”

“Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!” Hi wiped his mouth with a napkin before continuing. “Free food, free party. What’s not to like? I can break out the robot.” He gave a quick demonstration while sitting at the table.

“Very nice,” I said. “I wasn’t aware break dancing was back in style.”

“Now you are.” Hi tore open a bag of Bugles. “I also do a killer mime.”

“So Ben and Jason are coming, too?” The wide eyes looked naked as Shelton removed and wiped his glasses. “That could get . . . messy.”

“Jason seems cool, but Ben . . .” I trailed off. What more to say?

“We’ll smooth him out,” Hi said. “Plus, Ben would never embarrass you on the biggest, most special night of your life. Your one shot to marry well.”

“You’re a riot.” I flung a carrot stick, but Hi dodged.