How to Lead a Life of Crime (23 page)

The more frustrated I get, the calmer Joi seems. “You think I haven’t figured that out?”

“I watched you in the Suites. You wouldn’t even fight Max! Judo won’t do you any good. Gwendolyn will be waiting for you to make a mistake. Then she’ll go in for the kill.”

“Do you know how I learned judo?” Joi asks.

“What? We don’t have time—”

“I learned it from a UN peacekeeper who was stationed at a refugee camp in Bosnia. Judo helped me get out of there in one piece, so it should serve me fine while I’m here.”

“Gwendolyn is Dux for a reason. . . .”

“That’s right. She’s Dux because you’re all scared of her. I’m not. And if you think I don’t know how to win, then you don’t know me at all.”

Joi stands and strides toward the locker room exit. The three other girls have vanished. I’m limping after her as fast as I can. The door swings open, and I see someone grab her. When I burst into the gym, I find Gwendolyn, Austin, and Joi. Austin has one of Joi’s arms twisted behind her back.

The scene is reflected four times on the room’s mirrored walls. Even if I had time to study every angle, I don’t think I could come up with any suitable plan of attack. Austin’s a Terminator with a Texan drawl. He may be sporting his usual shit-eating grin, but I know his brain has already made a map of my weaknesses. I consider targeting Gwendolyn instead. The Queen of the Wolves hasn’t even bothered to dress for a fight. But I’m not sure my battered body would last one round with an experienced assassin—even if she is wearing a dress and high heels.

“Isn’t this adorable?” Gwendolyn cries out as if a puppy just bounded into the room. “It’s Flick the gimp to the rescue!”

“Want me to toss him in one of the lockers?” Austin drawls.

“No,” Gwendolyn says. “If he promises to be a good boy, he might as well stay and watch.”

The gym doors burst open. “Let the girl go, Austin!” Great. Ella has just blown her cover.

Austin chuckles and Gwendolyn rolls her eyes. “I told Mandel she didn’t belong in the top twelve. Just give me a second to deal with her.”

“Don’t bother,” Joi says calmly. “I didn’t call for backup. I don’t want any help.”

“Joi, you can’t. . . .” I try once more.

“I’m serious.” And she is. No doubt about it. She isn’t even struggling to break Austin’s grip. “Stay out of this.” Joi offers her free hand to Gwendolyn as though she’s eager to make a new friend. “Hi there. I’m Joey. Spelled J-o-i.”

Gwendolyn ignores the hand, and Joi lets it drop. “What happened to June?”

“I gave it a shot. Never felt right. So I went back to my old name. You’re Gwendolyn.”

“I’m the Dux.”

“One of them,” Joi points out. “So you want to talk to me?”

“We’re going to do a lot more than talk,” Gwendolyn informs her.

“Oh, good! I hope you don’t mind: I invited a few friends.” Joi whistles, and a throng of Androids and Ghosts streams in from the hall. I’m almost embarrassed for her.

“You have no idea how things work around here, do you?” The contempt on Gwendolyn’s face makes her look nauseous. “Your little friends are a bunch of losers.”

“Losers?” Joi’s brow furrows. “I’m confused, Gwendolyn. If they’re losers and you’re their leader, what does that make you? Queen of the Losers?”

“You’re almost as funny as Flick,” Gwendolyn snips. “It doesn’t matter what you call them. They’re not going to help you.”

“I certainly hope not,” Joi replies. “I made it pretty clear that this is my battle, not theirs. I heard you’d scheduled a showdown, and I figured the other students might find it entertaining. But it looks like you’re planning to send everyone home disappointed. That’s a cute little outfit you have on, but I thought this was going to be a fight, not a fashion show.”

“The Dux doesn’t get her hands dirty,” Gwendolyn explains. “But don’t worry. Everyone but you is going to have a great time. Especially Austin.”

“Oh, I get it!” Joi exclaims, as if it all suddenly makes sense to her. “You’re going to have Austin kill me! Well, I guess every school has its own rules—but isn’t the Dux expected to fight her own battles? I mean, you’re supposed to be the most powerful student here, right? Shouldn’t you be able to win without anyone’s help? It really doesn’t say much for the Mandel Academy if its Dux trades sex for favors because she’s too scared to fight for herself.” Joi tilts her head back and gives Austin an upside-down wink. “I’m right, aren’t I? You’re only here because Gwendolyn’s been screwing you.”

I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to jump in. I wouldn’t last long, but it might give Joi enough time to escape. Then there’s a snicker somewhere in the crowd. And that single snicker lights a fuse. I can hear the flame crackling as it slowly winds its way toward a powder keg big enough to blow a hole in the school. I’m starting to think that Joi might actually know what she’s doing.

“Let her go, Austin,” Gwendolyn demands as she kicks off her heels. “Keep the others back. I’ll take over from here.”

Joi just scored a minor victory, but I hope she hasn’t misjudged her opponent. She doesn’t know she’s facing a girl who killed a gorilla and sliced off his head. She’ll need more than wisecracks to win this battle.

“Tell me when you’re ready to make a move,” Ella whispers to me.

“That’s much better,” Joi says. “But I’m afraid I can’t fight you, Gwendolyn.”

“Not yet,” I tell Ella. The fuse remains lit, and its spark is still crawling toward the powder keg.

“You don’t have a choice,” Gwendolyn snarls at Joi.

“I honestly wish I could kick your fancy little ass, but you’re not what I’d call a worthy opponent.”

Gwendolyn attacks. Her nails scrape four red grooves in Joi’s neck before Joi catches Gwendolyn’s arm and flips the girl over her shoulder. The Mandel Academy’s picture-perfect leader lands in a sloppy pile on the mat. The image is now stored in every spectator’s mind. No matter what happens, it can never be deleted.

The fight isn’t over. At this point, there’s no telling who the winner will be. But before that flip, I don’t think there was a kid in the room who believed Joi stood a chance. The other students arrived wearing the blank expressions I saw on their faces the day Felix died. They know how the Mandel system works—and they know better than to expect any surprises. Here at the academy, the strong rise to the top and the weak fall to the bottom. And the Dux title is only given to the strongest of all. So they were expecting to watch Gwendolyn win. That flip told them things might be different this time.

“You know this school is pretty f—ed up,” Joi tells the mesmerized crowd while Gwendolyn struggles to rise. Joi hasn’t even broken a sweat. “Didn’t you guys ever talk to each other before I got here? I couldn’t find a single person who knows exactly what’s going on. The most any of you could give me was a clue or two. So I spent the past week putting all the pieces together. And one thing is clear. This poor girl has no business being Dux. Did you sleep with Mandel in exchange for the title, Gwennie?”

Gwendolyn is back on her feet—just in time for the accusation to hit her with more force than a right hook. “I earned it!”

Joi scratches her chin as if pondering a riddle. “But that doesn’t make any sense. You’d have to be the best of the best to earn the title, and I’ve heard you’re a little unhinged. Mandel found you in a loony bin, didn’t he?”

Gwendolyn wheels around and glares at me. “You told her!”

“So it’s true?” Joi’s voice is dripping with pity. “You’ve been hiding the secret all this time? While the rest of us have had our dirty laundry dragged out for public inspection? Oh, Gwendolyn. Don’t you know that mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of?”

“I’m not insane!” Gwendolyn’s shriek only proves Joi’s point.

“I feel so sorry for you.” Joi turns her back on the girl and addresses the crowd. “Is this the kind of person you want as your leader? Someone who was probably painting the walls with her own poo back at the funny farm?”

Gwendolyn lunges at Joi from behind. This time she ends up flat on her back with a hunk of Joi’s hair in her hand. Her dress has flown up over her head, exposing a pair of pink panties. A female Android starts to giggle, and the laughter spreads through the crowd. The fuse finally detonates the powder keg and the whole school rocks with the explosion.

“Look at her! She’s pathetic!” Joi shouts. “This is your Dux? The one who just called you all losers? Has she earned your allegiance? Does she deserve your respect?”

“Austin!” squeals Gwendolyn.

“Yes, Austin.” Joi holds up a single finger, and the laughter in the room dies down. Flames flicker in her amber eyes, and her black curls seem to writhe like serpents. She’s no longer a schoolgirl. She’s a goddess. “I think it’s time for you to make a choice.”

Everyone sees Austin step back—away from Gwendolyn and into the crowd.

“I’d take that as a vote of no confidence. Wouldn’t you?” Joi inquires, staring down at the girl on the floor.

Gwendolyn doesn’t answer. She can’t seem to catch her breath.

Joi turns back to the crowd. “You gave her power. You can take it away. It’s your choice. What do you say?”

“Take it away,” says an Android.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Joi asks. “I couldn’t hear you.”

“Take it away!” shouts another. The rest join in, and the chant grows until Joi raises her hand.

“I guess everyone agrees that the Dux needs some time off. So if there aren’t any objections, I’ll assume her duties starting today. Are there any objections?” No one speaks up. “Austin? How about you?”

“Nope,” Austin says, slipping over to the winning side. “You’ve got my vote.”

“Then I am honored to accept the position. I know I’m new to this school, so I’m going to let my co-Dux keep his title for now. Austin, why don’t you help Gwendolyn back to her room. The poor little creature looks like she’s about to have a seizure.”

Austin plucks Gwendolyn off the floor. She’s limp in his arms. There’s not a bruise on her body, yet her defeat is complete. And a comeback would be out of the question. Gwendolyn is nothing more than a joke now.

“Ella, would you mind showing everyone to the door?” Joi asks.

“Not at all,” Ella replies like she’s been Joi’s loyal lieutenant all along. “Okay, guys! Show’s over!”

There’s no need to shepherd the Androids and Ghosts through the gym door. They’re all rushing out to spread the news.

I’m the only one left behind. The door closes, and Joi fixes her amber eyes on me, like a tiger glancing up from a kill. I want to rush to her and grab hold of her and tell her how goddamned relieved I am. That she’s alive. That she’ll finally look at me. But it feels too dangerous to approach her right now. One sudden movement might break the spell.

“How did you know you could beat her?”

“She was Queen of the Losers,” Joi says. “She shouldn’t have forgotten who gave her the crown.”

“How did you know they’d just hand it to you?”

“I can see how this place really works,” Joi replies. “And in the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed girl gets to be queen.” She takes my hand and leads me through the girls’ locker room to the shower stalls. She turns on the hot water in four of them, waits until the room is fogged with steam, and then pulls me into the fifth stall.

“Joi . . .”

“Shut up,” she says as she unbuttons my shirt. “I didn’t bring you here for a heart-to-heart. How do I get this thing off without hurting you?”

“Why are you here?”

“Because you never said goodbye.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

IN THE KINGDOM OF THE BLIND

I
’m lost.

“Look around,” Joi ordered. “Tell me what you see.”

It was the morning after her triumph, and I was too exhausted to see anything. After we’d left the showers, I tried to follow Joi to her dorm. I wanted to stay overnight to defend her, but she beat me back and locked me out. In the darkness after curfew, I sat on the floor by my door, listening for movement outside on the balcony. I knew there was a chance that Mandel would send someone to dispose of Joi. I imagined finding her room empty the next morning. I envisioned her stripped bed—and then her lifeless body laid out on an autopsy table.

The moment my door unlocked, I headed straight for her dorm. Her things were still there, but Joi was not. I searched for almost twenty minutes before I found her, standing on the sixth-floor balcony, peering into the cafeteria. Her back was still facing me when she spoke.

“How did you know it was me?” I asked.

“The limp,” she replied, her eyes still scanning the cafeteria. “What do you see in there?”

The way Joi said it, I assumed something important had changed. So I studied the scene and realized Gwendolyn was missing. Otherwise, it was no different from any other morning. The Wolves occupied two tables in front of the unlit rankings screen. The Androids were scattered randomly around the large room, most with their heads buried in books. It was too early in the semester to officially label the Ghosts, but I already knew which of the students were likely to disappear.

Joi’s question worried me. She’d been out of the Suites for almost a week, and she still didn’t know what I’d figured out after a few hours upstairs. She’d vanquished Gwendolyn and anointed herself Dux, but even if the title had been official, Joi didn’t have what it took to keep the crown. I wanted to tell her everything, but I couldn’t. Not there—with everyone watching and at least one person listening.

“There are three groups here.” I pointed to the Wolves’ tables. “Those are the top twelve students—the elite. They run the place. Numbers thirteen through fifty are what I call Androids. They’re smart, but not quite smart enough. The bottom six students are Ghosts. They don’t have what it takes to survive. They’ll be expelled before the semester ends.”

I carefully enunciated each syllable of the word expelled so she’d know exactly what it meant.

“Sounds brutal,” Joi said.

“Our headmaster believes in the law of the jungle.”

“That’s what you see here?” she asked. “A jungle?”

Joi took a step forward, into the cafeteria. Someone must have been waiting for her to make her entrance because the moment Joi crossed the threshold, a bright light enveloped her as if she’d activated an invisible trip wire. I stumbled forward, blinking furiously, certain she’d fallen into a trap. But when my eyes adjusted, I could see she was safe. Safer than I could have ever imagined. The screen was lit. Mandel had announced new rankings three weeks ahead of schedule. As far as I could tell, he’d made only one change to the list. There were still two Duxes—Joi and me. Gwendolyn’s name wasn’t up there at all.

Every student in the cafeteria was staring at Joi. She accepted their lack of applause with a grin and a humble bow. Then she continued her foray across the room. Whatever plans she’d made, the news hadn’t changed them. As Joi approached their table, the elite Wolves slid apart, offering her Gwendolyn’s old spot in the center. She walked right past them, through the light cast by the rankings screen. Then she took a seat at an Android table.

I hurried to join her.

“You’re a Dux now,” I whispered. “You need to sit with the top students.”

“Says who?” Joi responded.

“You’re going to have to keep an eye on them,” I told her. “They’re dangerous.”

“Which makes them predictable. Look, Flick, yesterday was great, but I’m not in the market for a boyfriend or a bodyguard. I’ve got work to do. If you want to hang around, that’s fine by me. But please don’t interfere.”

I sat down, but it felt like I’d been knocked off my feet.

“Hey you!” Joi called out cheerfully to a girl sitting at the end of the table. “Come over and say hi.”

The girl slid down into the seat across from us. I couldn’t introduce her because I’d never bothered to learn her name. But I did feel a bit sorry for her. She was quivering like a chambermaid who’d been hauled before a new mistress.

“I’m Joi. This is Flick. What’s your name?”

“Lily.” She answered reluctantly, as though even her name might cause offense.

“Nice to meet you, Lily. How long have you been here?”

Nice to meet you?!

“This is my third semester.”

“What’s your major?”

“Technology.”

Joi glanced up at the rankings. “You’re number thirty-two. Why so low?”

The girl hesitated.

“You can tell me,” Joi assured her.

“My instructors say I’m too meek. I don’t mind stealing from big corporations, but I don’t like robbing the little guys.”

“And what are you good at?”

“My specialty is hacking Facebook. I have their source code.”

“Impressive,” Joi said. “Thanks for the chat. I’ll let you get back to your breakfast. Mind asking the guy at the end of the table to slide over here for a moment?”

“Are you planning to interview everyone?” I asked.

“Absolutely,” Joi replied. “How am I supposed to lead people I don’t know?”

“Then you really should start with them,” I said, pointing to the Wolves’ table.

“Are you kidding?” Joi snorted. “They’re the least interesting people here.”

I grabbed her and pulled her closer until I could whisper in her ear. “You can’t save all the outcasts.”

When I released her, she was furious. “Is that what you think I’m trying to do?”

The Wolves were watching as I rose from my stool. I could feel their eyes follow me across the cafeteria. I made it through the door and around the corner. Only when I was out of sight did I start to stagger. My father would never be punished. My brother would not be avenged. I’d hoped I’d be able to destroy the academy. But when Joi arrived, I’d abandoned that mission too. I had given up everything to save a girl with no interest in a boyfriend or a bodyguard. A girl who no longer had any interest in me.

I reached my room, and when I closed the door, a shadow slipped out of the bathroom. Gwendolyn wore a plain black dress with long sleeves. Without makeup, her pale face was the grayish white of a wraith.

“Here for my head?” I asked as I lay down on my bed. At that point, I might have let her take it.

“Mr. Mandel gave her my title, didn’t he?” Gwendolyn’s entire body was twitching. She tried crossing her arms, but she couldn’t hide it.

“You broke the rules, Gwendolyn,” I explained with a sigh. “You attacked Joi before the Immunity Phase was over. Joi won the fight, and she earned the Dux title.”

“Earned it?” Gwendolyn seethed. “Do you have any idea what I’ve had to do to stay Dux?”

“Yes,” I reminded her. “You did it to me.”

A tremor seemed to shake Gwendolyn. Her body swayed from one side to the other, as if she were experiencing her own private earthquake. “You were the least of it. Remember that field trip they sent me on right before you ended up in a coma?”

I remembered the folder I saw her open in Mr. Martin’s office. There was a picture of a man. And a little Baggie with two white tablets inside.

“Yeah. What did you do? Drug some guy?”

“And let them take pictures. Of me with some fifty-year-old nerd who kept rambling on about synapses and neurotoxins the whole time.”

I suddenly felt sick. “Jesus, Gwendolyn.”

She laughed at my squeamishness. “That wasn’t my first field trip either. It wasn’t even my tenth. I earned my title. I deserved it. What has she ever done?”

“You knew how the game worked, Gwendolyn. You knew from the start that Mandel doesn’t play fair.”

“Don’t blame this on Mr. Mandel. This isn’t his fault. It’s yours. That girl wouldn’t be here at the academy if it weren’t for you.”

“And I have a feeling Joi’s just as angry about that as you are.”

“Oh, please. The little mutt’s still in love with you. She kept you in the locker room showers for a while, didn’t she? Well, Mr. Mandel may have given Joi my title, but I’m not going to let her have you too. I’m going to tell her everything.”

I shrugged. “Go right ahead. She already knows.”

Gwendolyn knelt down by my bed and put a trembling hand on my chest. “She knows we were a couple. But the devil’s always in the details, isn’t it? I’m going to tell her things that she’ll never be able to get out of her head. I’ll even draw a few pictures if I have to. But from now on, every time she looks at you, she’s going to see the two of us together.”

I picked up her hand and threw it back at her. “I see defeat hasn’t changed you. You’re still a real bitch, Gwendolyn.”

“Defeat? Who said the game’s over? Mr. Mandel understands that I haven’t been myself lately. He’s giving me another chance.”

“Is that what he told you?”

“No, but he had the doctors increase my medication.”

“Medication? You never told me that you’re on medication. Is it for . . .”

“I’m not crazy!” Gwendolyn was shaking so hard that I reached out to steady her. “The pills just help me focus. So think of what I’ll be able to do now that they’re giving me three a day instead of just one.”

I remembered my father’s warning. “I think you should stop taking them. I’ve never seen anyone shake like this before.” The words were out of my mouth before I realized they weren’t true. I’d seen Leila shake too.

“Save your advice, Flick.”

“I’m serious, Gwendolyn. A bunch of pills aren’t going to help you take back the title.”

Her lips were so dry that they cracked when she smiled. “Maybe. But if it ever looks like I’m going to lose, you better bet I’ll make sure that nobody else gets to win.”