The Love Box

Chapter 26

“What should we do?” Sadie blurted out.

“Hope she doesn’t spill our secret,” I admitted; it was the only thing we could do. There wasn’t a way around it except convincing her; I had to pick the cast of the dance team, and then I had to convince Ryan from making a big mistake.

The thing I wanted to know most of all was how Ryan had found out; there was no way she could’ve known unless she was there when we discussed it. Ryan had been spying on us and it didn’t surprise me; she was working with Nicki.

“We should probably get some lunch,” Courtney said as she stared off at the doorway that Ryan had exited from.

“Don’t screw up,” Sadie said as she watched me with worried eyes.

“I won’t,” I told her; then I whispered to myself, “I can’t.”

I watched my friends as they exited the library; then I turned back to the glass. Kai stood up and hurried to the glass; he put his hand on the glass, and I approached the glass and put my hand over Kai’s. It was nice to have our hands together again even though the glass kept us apart.

He waved to me, and I waved back; I needed to talk to Nicki. She would know what to do.

I exited the library and walked down the Bedroom hall, and I rounded the Suicide Hall corner; then I entered the cafeteria and scanned the room for Nicki. My eyes found my mom’s and I remembered that I hadn’t told her any of the plan yet; she didn’t even know we were leaving.

Nicki was nowhere to be found yet, so I joined my mom at her table after I grabbed my food from the counter. Then I began to explain the plan to my mom.

“It’s crazy,” My mom whispered to me. “I can’t believe you would even try something like this. Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“It will work,” I told my mom. “As long as all the pieces fit perfectly.” But I knew they wouldn’t; they couldn’t anymore not after knowing that Ryan knew our plan, but why hadn’t she already told on us. She must’ve been waiting for the party, but Rylie wouldn’t be there; maybe she hadn’t told yet because she found out after Rylie left. That had to be it; Ryan would ruin everything if Rylie returned, so we needed to stop Ryan.

“I hope you’re right,” My mom said; then she glanced around the cafeteria. “Nicki just walked in. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Wait,” I said as my mom stood up; I stopped her by grabbing her hand. “How did you know I was waiting for her?”

“I have a way of knowing things,” My mom said. “Besides, she talked to me about this before you.” Then she shook my hand off of hers, and she left me alone at the table to wait for Nicki.

Nicki approached me a moment after, and she took the seat my mom had sat in.

“You told my mom,” I said as Nicki sat in the chair.

“I thought it would be best if I told her first,” Nicki said. “She seemed to be along with the plan.”

“Not with me she didn’t,” I retorted.

“And why do you think that is?” Nicki asked me as she too glanced around the cafeteria. “Look around you.”

I looked around the cafeteria, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. It was exactly how it had been before Nicki had entered; people sat at tables and ate. Then I made a quick check on the other side, and I saw that the other side was as normal as ours was.