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And then the strangest thing happened: hed I looked in thetoo

Macey turned to Liz "Dr Fibs has hydrogen peroxide in the lab, right?"

Liz sounded almost offended "Of course he does"

"Get it," Macey said, turning back to me "We have work to do"

It wasn’t like we talked a lot But then again, it’s not like there was all that s And I wasn’t the only one as still waiting for me to come home from my summer vacation

I leaned over the sink and let Bex wash and bleach my hair Then Macey took the scissors and trias the person I had been last summer washed away down the drain

Chapter Sixteen

That night I couldn’t sleep

It ht have been the adrenaline or the new scratches onto do with the sered in the air, but if that was it, then I was the only one it bothered My friends were aroundsoftly Bex had an ice pack on her shoulder Macey slept with a self-satisfied s to headphones,the audio version of some ancient textbook while she dreamed

But not , and every time I closed my eyes, I saw the blood on Dr Steve’s sleeve Every time I alering in the corners of my mind

Finally, I threw the covers aside, crept into the bathroom with its busted mirror, and pulled on oing?" Bex asked when I reappeared She was sitting up in bed and squinting at h the dark

"Waffles," I told her Bex raised one eyebrow, doubtful The clock beside her bed read five forty-five am "The kitchen will be open soon, and I want…" There were so ht have ended Answers Myme and smooththat trigger the day before

So instead I just said, "Waffles I’ waffles"

Bex rolled onto her side "Tell your waffles hi forespecially beautiful about the Gallagher Academy when the classrooh the stained glass s; shadows creep across the stairs It looks like the most peaceful place on earth Too bad every spy knows that looks can be deceiving

"Thank you for coham’s voice, I froze in thedown at the foyer below

"You really didn’t have to rush," Buckingha the front door behind tomen I’d occasionally seen but had never met

They wore heavy coats and heavier expressions, and there was no uncertainty at all in the younger woman’s voice when she said, "I assure you, we did"

"Where’s Rachel?" the older woirl?" the young woham seemed to bristle a little at the word, but she folded her hands and said, "Sleeping" She gestured toward the Grand Staircase "We’ll be ready to begin soon" I slid around the corner while they cli shadowy corridor I was still the Cha the trustees descend upon the Gallagher Acade they were there because of eway I never use Or, well, hardly ever Seriously, that particular passageway is an EMERGENCY SITUATIONS ONLY kind of thing, and, call ency-ish by the second

The trustees were there

In five and a half years at the Gallagher Academy, I’d seen them at my school maybe a half dozen times (and that included the time Dr Fibs accidentally activated--but didn’t detonate!--a nuclear warhead in the labs) This wasn’t a ency

"Where are you going?"

I stopped and turned, and wondered if I’d ever get used to the sight of Zach in our halls, wearing his official Gallagher Acadeear--the clean white T-shirt with the official school crest It was end I’d ever seen: Zachary Goode, preppy schoolboy But I couldn’t touch him It was like there was still a fire between us I wondered if ould ever leave the to in his voice, "are you--"

"I’ room that nobody ever used "Hold this" I picked up the fireplace poker and her Girl…" He sounded skeptical, but that didn’t stop her Acaderaved into the an to roll away

"I just want to check on so" I ducked down and stepped over the ashes of a fire that had long since gone out, careful not to leave any tracks

"Does this so to do with the two limos that just pulled up outside?" Zach asked, and followed But I didn’t answer

"I thought the passageere all blocked off," he said from behind me

"The ones they know about are closed up And besides, this one doesn’t go outside It’s not a periht Old wooden beah the space, covered with dust There were spiderwebs and a mouse or two, and Zach had to crouch low and turn his broad shoulders at odd angles to follow, but he did And he didn’t say another word

"Originally, a lot of these were servants’ hallways" I leaned down and slipped under a bea the Civil War, the round Railroad It wasn’t until Gilly took the building over and turned it into a school that she really started expanding everything, though She had to keep up appearances, you know It was just as important then that the truth about us stay a secret"

I went on, slipping forward as quiet as a ghost, toward the narrow passage that looked through a sht into my mother’s office

Moht side, standing almost at attention I felt Zach catch her Girl"