Umber In Level 8

+Chapter Twenty-Two+

I blinked. "Are you telling me that you have a crush on me?"

Trix looked uncomfortable. "Yeah."

"But... Weren't you just furious with me?"

Trix nodded.

"I don't really know what to say," I admitted.

Trix looked down at his feet. "So, you don't feel the same way?"

"If I'm being honest, Trix, I'm not sure what I feel." I said slowly. "But I can say that I care about you. I just don't know in what way."

Trix nodded sadly. "I thought you'd say that. It's fine. I'm fine."

I didn't quite believe him, but I decided not to push him more. There were more pressing matters to deal with—breaking out of Dame Alina's office.

"So," I said casually. "How are we going to escape?"

"What did you just say?" Trix asked. "Because it sounded like you're trying to get us to break the rules."

"Well, did you think we're going to wait around forever for Dame Alina to release us? Let's find a way out ourselves!"

"You realize that we'd be breaking the rules while doing that, right? And no matter where we go, Dame Alina will find us easily." Claude made a face. "I can't believe we tried to save her job."

I nodded. I definitely had regrets. "We should at least try to escape. What could Alina really do if she found us?"

"Really bad things," Trix said, wide-eyed.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, let's go. Think about all the classes you're missing right now."

Trix's eyes widened even more at the thought. "You're right. So, tell me your plan of escape."

I looked at the peak of the pyramid, where a window was open. It was no more than 40 feet above us. Trix followed my gaze and cursed.

"You gotta be kidding."

"Nope." I smiled sweetly at him and rested my foot on the metal frame of the glass pane. "Are you coming?"

Trix grumbled, but watched as I began to climb.

Let's start with this: climbing the walls was no easy task. To begin, Alina's office was pyramid-shaped, meaning the walls slanted inward. That way, it felt like I was constantly falling (which I kind of was). Next, there were no real footholes. I had to grab onto the tiny frames surrounding each pane of glass. I hoped Alina didn't mind that my shoes were smudging the spotless glass.

"How is the climb?" Claude Trix called after me.

"Great!" I grunted as my foot almost slipped. "Couldn't... Be... Easier!"

I didn't have the courage to look down, but I assumed that Trix's expression was horrified.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Trix asked.

"Of course!" I managed to assure him.

I climbed a few more feet. I was almost to the top.

"Are you coming-" My sentence blended into a scream as I lost my hold and began to fall.