School of Secrets (The Perkins School for Self Improvement #1)

Chapter 27

Tara reappears a few minutes later, much to mine and Derek's relief.

"I got stuck," she tells us, still looking pale and slightly panicked, "I ended up in Paris and couldn't get back. I've always wanted to see the Eiffel Tower, but not like that."

"It's okay," Derek decides,trying to keep his tone level, "we'll be okay."

"Can you teleport back to the school?" I ask Tara, "We need to get back, then you should get home."

She nods.

"Take one of my hands," she tells Derek, "and don't drop her."

She considers Lauren, who's still perched on my roommate's back.

Tara steps toward me, still grasping Derek's hand. She catches the sleeve of my sweatshirt in a grip that's surprisingly strong.

"Again," she says, "don't drop her."

Her gaze goes to Creighton, who I'm still carrying.

"I won't." I tell Tara, and my sister nods. She's looking pretty nervous, as though she's not sure she'll manage to get us all back to the right place.

Despite her nerves, Tara doesn't hesitate. She turns on the spot, and I'm trying to figure out what to expect when the ground seems to disappear from under my feet. For what has to be only a couple seconds, I feel like I'm in the middle of a strange nothingness.

Then, my feet connect harshly with the ground again. Tara has let go of me, and for a few moments afterward I feel incredibly off balance. The gate of the school looms in front of me, and I turn to glance at my sister.

"Nice one."

Tara shoots me a shaky grin.

"Yeah," she manages, taking in a deep breath, "I-I should go. I want to get home and go to bed after ... after all this."

"I'm sorry you got dragged into this," I tell her, "you could've been killed."

Tara shrugs, trying to seem calmer than she probably feels.

"It-it's fine," she says, "I guess this sort of thing happens in ... in this kind of world."

"Not very often," Derek remarks, still standing with Lauren on my sister's other side, "I don't think I've ever heard of something this crazy happening anywhere."

Tara takes another breath, her shoulders seeming to slump of their own accord.

"I'll see you next week," she says to me, "be careful."

"You too."

She nods, disappearing into thin air in the blink of an eye.

Derek steps up to the gate, entering the code while glancing over his shoulder at me.

"She should get checked out by Nurse Moira," he says, studying Creighton, "and it can't hurt Lauren to get looked at either."

"I'm fine," Lauren protests wearily, "and it's pretty late by now."

The gate swings wide, and I follow Derek through it. He digs his phone out of his pocket, glancing down at the display.

"It's eleven-twenty," he announces, "it's not too late. We might get reprimanded for being out past curfew, but it's all right. Nurse Moira's probably sleeping in her office. Apparently she likes it better than her suite in the admin building."

"What are you going to tell the nurse?" Lauren asks, sounding only a little curious.

"We'll tell her the truth," I decide, "or, at least as much of it as we can. We left campus, we got back after curfew, and we're sorry we broke the rule, even if it's a pretty insignificant one."