29

                                    

                                          
Xander, Dylan, and I met at lunch the next day at our table. Faus had asked Kelsey to spend some time with Alice, supposedly worried that her niece was being bullied by certain parties (AKA me). Because I knew how Kelsey treated Alice, I'd asked Sarah to stick with them. We could fill them in later.
                          
Still, Dylan was upset that we weren't all able to discuss the plan together. "I just don't see why we couldn't make up some excuse about needing to study with Alice this afternoon or something," Dylan complained.
                          
The three of us were seated around the circular table in the back corner of the room, discussing in hushed whispers. Dylan and I were sat slightly closer together than either of us were with Xander. We all had our heads leaned in.
                          
"Because they know we all have the same notes," I replied. "Besides, even if that did work, why would we need Sarah then? They'd find a way to keep her from us." I glanced over at the two of them where they were seated at Kelsey's table. Supposedly, it was Alice's regular seat before I came to the school. Still, the two of them looked beyond uncomfortable. As I watched, Kelsey and Rachel stood and dumped their trays, leaving the room. Alice and Sarah followed reluctantly.
                          
Dylan sighed resignedly. "You're right."
                          
I hated how down he looked at the thought of us doing this without the girls. I took his hand and he smiled, squeezing my fingers gently. I smiled back.
                          
Xander cleared his throat, regaining our attention. "Save the PDA for later. Right now, we have to get to planning. If were gonna do this, then we have to do it right."
                          
"I agree," I said. Dylan looked surprised. Xander looked a little smug. It didn't last long. "We need to do this right, and if we're going to do this right, I think you should go back to sitting by yourself, Xander."
                          
"Wait, what?" His expression had dropped. He looked as if he thought I was joking, and if I was, he didn't find it funny in the slightest.
                          
"No, she's right," Dylan expressed. "If the teachers are onto us then we need to stop acting suspicious, and you sitting with us is suspicious."
                          
Xander watched us angrily for a moment of tense silence. He shot to his feet suddenly, furiously shoving his chair to the floor. He took his tray and slammed it down at his own table all the way across the room. He was pissed. I felt kind of bad.
                          
"At least now it looks like we had a falling out, and he has a reason to be sitting by himself from now on."
                          
It made sense. If he'd gone on his own, the teachers may have suspected that we knew they were watching us. Maybe with this public outburst, they'd stop looking so closely.
                          
I sighed and leaned into Dylan. "You're right."
                          
He kissed the top of my head. "I know. It sucks."
                          
"I just feel so fucking bad," I confessed exasperatedly.
                          
"Language," he murmured into my hair.
                          
"Sorry," I apologized softly.
                          
We stayed that way for a moment before he pulled away. "Okay," he said, "So what are we going to do?"
                          
"Well, we've got to get to the kitchens. That's a start," I replied.
                          
"Okay," Dylan pressed," so how do we do that? Should we go through the vents?"
                          
I shook my head. "I don't know how much weight they'll hold or if you and Xander will even fit."
                          
"Why not just walk there?" a voice whispered from across the table. I jumped and looked over to where Xander had just been sitting. His tray was abandoned, and his chair was empty.
                          
"What are you doing?" I hissed.
                          
"Don't look over here, genius! Pretend you're talking to Pretty Boy over there!" Dylan and I turned to each other quickly.
                          
"Just because I can't be seen with you doesn't mean I have to be omitted from the conversation," Xander muttered.
                          
"What did you do? Just disappear in front of everyone?" Dylan breathed in disbelief.
                          
"Yes. Of course." Xander's tone was dripping with sarcasm. "No, moron, I'm not stupid. I went to our room and before the door closed, I slipped back out. I waited for someone else to open the cafeteria door before coming in."
                          
I sighed in frustration but dropped the point. There were more important things at stake. "So why would we just walk to the kitchen? The caff door would be locked. The kitchen door would be locked. Not to mention the security cameras, the teachers, the other students..."
                          
"Okay, Core. What's your plan, then?" he snapped.
                          
"Lay off her, man," Dylan interjected. "She's just trying to think this through." It was weird having him watching me while speaking to Xander.
                          
"But I get the feeling you've already thought this through." I rotated and leaned my back into Dylan's shoulder so that I could face Xander while appearing to stare into the distance.
                          
"I may have considered it once or twice." There was almost something rueful to Xander's voice. I felt like I was missing something.
                          
"Then you talk, and we'll listen."
                          
"Fine. On a normal day, there's eleven authority figures in the school: five teachers, Faus, Doe, the nurse, and three security guards. Then there's the students. However, on the weekend, it's only Doe and one security guard. No Faus or students after Friday. We make our move on Saturday night. Core, think you could get some sleeping pills from Nurse Simon?"
                          
"Probably. What for?" I asked.
                          
He sighed. "I know you don't think Ms. Doe had anything to do with this, but we have to take her out, just to be safe."
                          
"Okay," Dylan said, "so what about the guard and the cameras?"
                          
"If you'd have some patience, Track Star, I was about to get there. Core will go through the vents and unlock the doors from the inside. I'll turn invisible and head to the security room. Knock on the door to draw out the guard, a little K.O...." Dylan flinched. "Then I turn off the cameras. Unlock the gate, crawl through some sewage, badda bing, badda boom. Home free."
                          
I sat for a moment and thought about it, going over every detail in my head.
                          
 "Why aren't we just using a lock pick on the front door? Or stealing the keys?"
                          
"You don't think I've thought of that? The front door has some sort of intricate electronic lock. They change the codes every morning, and the only people who're in the know aren't going to be telling us any time soon," Xander retorted. "The gate on the other hand, is a fairly simple key and button system with a manual override in case of power failure. Now if you want to waste precious time using a lock pick on the kitchen and cafeteria doors, be my guest. But if you get caught—"
                          
"I'm not concerned about going through the vents. I just want to make sure we have every inch of this sorted," I replied impatiently.
                          
"It...sounds like it'll work," Dylan spoke hesitantly.
                          
Yes, it could work, but we needed ever detail. "How do we get Doe to take the drugs?"
                          
Xander was ready. "You get them to me, I put them in her drink at dinner."
                          
The Westminster chime sounded then, and we were cut short before I could ask any more questions. I sighed. "It'll have to work." Dylan and I stood up to go to our next class. I'd have to fill Alice and Sarah in later tonight. I could only hope the plan worked.