The Similars (The Similars #1)(65)
I sag. I don’t want to believe it, but Madison’s telling the truth. She must be. The injective doesn’t lie.
“Madison,” Maude says loudly.
Madison looks at her. “Yes?”
“We’re leaving.”
The three of us walk silently back to campus, the morning light threading through the trees. I can’t believe I was so certain Madison was Pru’s attacker. It was such a sensible solution. Now, I’m no closer to figuring out who attacked my friend, and that means Levi’s still a suspect. I fight off the tears ballooning in my eyes as I reassure myself that I’ve learned something useful today. I wonder if I’ve finally found it, the thing Oliver wanted me to know when he left me that note. Especially about him. The “him” in the note must refer to Ollie’s biological father, John Underwood. I feel a shiver creeping up my spine as I consider what this could mean, what it does mean for all of us.
*
I’m dying to return to the research lab. Thinking of what I could learn by studying all those holograms—it’s taking everything I have not to steal more injectives from the infirmary and kidnap Madison again. But I know I can’t. We risked enough doing it once; surely we’d be caught a second time.
I run down to the research building one evening after dinner, hoping to think of something, anything, that could get me access besides Madison’s key. When I reach the building, I see a figure standing outside the door. When I move closer to get a better view, I realize who this person is—a guard. I deflate as I move back into the shadows, not just because the door is being guarded, but because this guard has never, to my knowledge, been here before. Someone must know Maude and I were here. And now, that person wants to keep us out.
I have no choice. I can’t go back to the lab, not without permission. Instead, I visit the Tower Room every chance I get, studying that photograph of the Ten from my father and Underwood’s year. Now that I know about Underwood’s expulsion, I assume that’s the reason he isn’t pictured. Still, his name is listed. Was the photograph taken after he was forced to leave the school?
I don’t talk to Levi. I’m sure Maude has told him what we learned in the research building, both the revelation that Underwood is his DNA father and the fact that the Similars’ properties are being recorded and tracked. Plus, Madison’s “confession” of her innocence. I find myself sleeping more than I have in a year, but there’s a dark truth to it. In my dreams, there is no Theodora, and Levi isn’t off-limits.
I’m momentarily surprised when I get a notice on my plum from Headmaster Ransom, saying he’s suspending our unofficial midnight sessions for the time being—there have been too many students out of their rooms, roaming campus in the middle of the night. I know he’s referring to me and Maude and perhaps is even warning us to toe the line, but still, I’m relieved, and I hope he’ll suspend the midnight sessions for the rest of the year.
It’s a cold weekend in February when the parents arrive. Dark Weekend—our school’s version of a parents’ weekend—is an annual tradition, and classes are canceled on Friday. Normally I hate this obligatory “holiday,” but this year I have a goal in mind: finding out as much about Underwood as I possibly can.
We convene outside the main house after breakfast to await the arrival of the students’ parents, legal guardian, or grandparents. The Huxleys step out of a long black limo, waving across the yard to the Choates, who’ve also arrived. It’s always strange seeing parents here, so out of place. This year, it’s exponentially strange. It’s not lost on me, or anyone, that the Similars don’t have parents. Sure, they have their guardian, Gravelle. But I haven’t seen him arrive, and I doubt he’ll show. Meanwhile, the originals do have parents. Parents they don’t or can’t—or won’t—share. I hear whispered conversations all around me, students wondering if the Similars’ guardian is coming, and if they will be invited to eat lunch with their DNA families, or whether it’ll be “too weird.” I think back to the day when I first really understood that Levi was parentless. It’s not weird, I want to shout. It’s heartbreaking. It makes me think the Similars really were created by mistake. Who would do that to a child, creating him with no real family to love and raise him? In that moment, I long to support Levi so much, it hurts.
I notice Jake Choate sidling over to greet his father. Ezekiel Choate slaps his son on the back before waving at someone across the way. “Jago!” Ezekiel calls out, gesturing for him to join them. Jake doesn’t look too pleased, and Jago looks even less comfortable.
Seeing the Choates and Huxleys makes me wonder if the Leroy family will attend this weekend. We learned last week from the feeds that Tessa’s father has finally been sentenced—fifteen years in federal prison. He reports in one week. I spot Ansel chatting with the de Leons, more at ease with Archer’s dads since they all spent Christmas break together. He’s telling them a story, and Archer’s laughing. I wonder if Ansel’s making any headway on his task, whatever that might be.
I look for Pippa, and I’m momentarily thrown to see her waving to someone walking up the lawn, a rugged walking stick in his hand. It’s Jaeger. He’s here for Dark Weekend? To spend it with Pippa, not the daughter who he raised? While I’m thrilled he would come to support Pippa, I’m gutted by thoughts of Pru—of her still in a coma, lying in a hospital bed. That’s when I’m reminded of his cryptic note, the one that I haven’t been able to make any sense of, that led me to go to Ransom in the middle of the night. I will corner Jaeger about that the first chance I get.