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Chapter Twelve

A
t seven o’clock we filed into class. The Society and Havoc kids were all chattering in whispered voices and pointing over at Lily’s empty seat. Some of them seemed concerned, others self-righteous, giving one another I-told-you-so looks. I tried to ignore them and looked straight ahead.

Everything about this school was wrong. Lily was missing, maybe dead, and yet here we were, about to have a lesson on field surveying, and later we’d go to a dance. I needed to get out. I needed to run, get help, tell someone about the school, and get the police.

And yet, in some ways, escape felt wrong, too. Yes, I needed to do all of those things, but should I do it on my own? Could I really leave the others behind and just hope they’d be okay and that I’d be able to get them out later? Could I do that to Jane?

She was sitting in front of me now, hunched forward, her arms propped on the desk. Her hair really was beautiful. The rich red wasn’t quite copper, but more the shade of autumn leaves. It made her red uniform sweater look garish and cheap.

Maybe Mason was right. I needed to concentrate on getting out of here, not on girls. Jane should be the least of my worries.

Laura came in the room quietly and fiddled with her computer for a few minutes.

“Welcome to class,” she said. Her expression was serious, but there was a kind of brightness to her eyes, like she was hiding a secret. “Before we begin, I have an announcement that was delivered with today’s lesson plans.” She tapped her keypad and the class quieted instantly.

Laura’s eyes didn’t move from the screen as she read. “We regret to inform you that Lillian Paterson was killed last night, hit by a car on the highway.”

“Murdering bastards,” Mason whispered. Jane dropped her head, burrowing her face into her arms. My muscles tensed, and my hands clenched under my desk.

Laura continued, “Please remember that crossing the wall is cause for detention.”

I raised my hand. “I have a question.”

She looked surprised and unsure of what to do, so I just went ahead.

“We all drove in here, and I only saw one road within fifty miles, and the only place it goes is here. So how did she get hit by a car?”

Laura frowned. “We don’t know the circumstances, but—”

I interrupted, anger swelling in my chest. “There are only two possibilities: She was hit by a car on our road—but that makes no sense because no car came here—or she walked all the way to the main highway in one night. Which is it?”

Other kids were chattering around me, but I stared at Laura and waited for her to answer.

“We don’t know the circumstances,” she repeated.

“Yes, we do,” I snapped. “The note says she was hit by a car. So, Laura, explain it to me. Take a guess.”

She seethed, her lips tight together. “Maybe there are other roads in the forest.”

Without even realizing what I was doing, I stood up and began shouting, “You know what pisses me off the most about this? If you’d caught her
before
she got over the wall, Laura, she’d be just as dead as she is now.”

Before I could finish the room erupted in chaos, some people shouting at Laura, but most of them yelling back at me. The Havoc kids were on my side, barking angrily at the Society. I glanced up at the security camera, actually hoping someone was watching this time.

“Take your seat, Benson,” Laura was yelling, trying to be heard over the crowd.

I touched Jane’s back and coaxed her up. As she stood, I could see her wet, red eyes.

“Take your seats,” Laura shouted.

“No.” I took Jane by the hand and led her out into the hall. As soon as we got outside she stopped and wrapped her arms around me, sobbing and shuddering.

The classroom door fell closed, but I could still hear the muffled shouting on the other side. No one came after us.

I held Jane, my left hand on her back and my right cradling her head while she cried into my chest.

I wanted to tell her that everything would be fine, that I’d get us both out of Maxfield Academy, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it. And she wouldn’t want to hear it anyway. It wasn’t true.

No one could make it out of this place alive.

She was trying to calm herself, taking deep breaths between sobs. “I am so sick of this, Benson.”

“I know.”

“Two and a half years.”

“I know.”

Chapter Thirteen

W
e stood in the hallway for a long time. The noises from the class died down, and I listened to Jane breathe and felt her body slowly grow calm. I wasn’t worried about punishment for missing class. We’d lose points, but right now I didn’t care about that at all.

Finally, Jane looked up at me. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her mascara streaked down her cheeks. “Come on.”

She took my hand and we walked in silence, heading down the large staircase to the first floor. The corridor was quiet, all the students still in their classrooms. She led me to the cafeteria, and we let ourselves in. It was dark and empty.

Once again I wished we had the groundskeeping contract. We could get outside and run. I was surprised the Havoc kids hadn’t already tried it. Actually, since the Society had the security contract, it was just us V’s who couldn’t leave the building. Maybe it was time the V’s bid for one of those contracts.

The decorations were already in place, though they looked strange and shoddy without any lighting. The lunch tables were still set up as usual. We had planned to move them later, before the dance.

“We should cancel,” I said. “I know that they want us to have a dance, but how can we?”

Jane shook her head, her face set. “No. We’re not going to cancel. Here, help me.” She climbed up on a chair to reach one side of the banner we’d painted and hung the night before. I went to the other side and helped take it down.

We’d had trouble coming up with a good slogan for the banner. This wasn’t a regular high school, so this dance wasn’t like a regular dance. There was no theme. It didn’t have a name—it wasn’t homecoming or junior prom—so our sign just said
maxfield academy dance
.

I laid the banner down on a lunch table while Jane rummaged through the decoration supplies. She came back with a smaller sheet of butcher paper, glue, paint, and two brushes.

Following her lead, I trimmed the paper and then glued it to the banner, covering the words
Maxfield Academy
. Jane sketched new words in pencil, and we finished them with paint. Ten minutes later we stood back and looked at our work.

“‘Lily Paterson Memorial Dance,’” I read. “The Society’s going to be pissed.”

Jane smiled and took my hand. “I hope so.”

Chapter Fourteen

I
waited on the fourth floor by the unused common room, absently staring out the window as night fell. The windows faced east, and the pine forest below me was glowing orange, reflecting what must have been a magnificent sunset in the west.

Nothing had been scheduled after class, and dinner was postponed to be included with the dance. We’d had nothing to do but sit in the dorms. Fortunately, anticipation seemed to quell the earlier unrest. I hadn’t seen Isaiah all day, and even Havoc was calm.

Almost all of the V guys were just wearing their uniforms to the dance, though most were a little more cleaned up than usual. Curtis had bought a sports coat and wore it over his usual shirt and tie.

I didn’t want to spend my few points on clothes, but I’d got my tie as straight as I could, and I’d borrowed Curtis’s polish kit to shine my shoes. Now, standing and waiting for Jane, I kind of wished I could have done more.

I heard the click of footsteps behind me.

It was Jane, and she was gorgeous. Her dress was brown and lustrous, like melted chocolate, and it gave her skin a golden hue. Her red hair was pulled up on top of her head, and she wore heels, emphasizing her slender legs. She put the sunset to shame.

“Hi,” I said.

“Hi.”

“You look good.”

“You too.”

I exhaled and glanced down at my uniform. “Yeah. Sorry. I didn’t have anything else.”

Jane stepped toward me and I caught a scent of her perfume. It was sweet and subtle, almost like vanilla or honey, but more floral. She didn’t always wear it, but I loved when she did. “I think you look great.”

“Thanks.”

She kissed my cheek and slipped her arm through mine. “Can I hang on to you?” she asked with a giggle. “I’ve never worn heels before.”

I laughed. “You can definitely hang on to me. And you should wear them more often.”

We descended the stairs slowly. Feeling Jane on my arm made me forget about my problems.

That feeling was shattered when we got to the cafeteria. As expected, the banner was a major source of controversy, and just as we were walking in the door Isaiah was standing on a chair to tear it down. He was too late, of course—almost everyone was already at the dance and had seen it. Jane and I smiled and walked into the room.

Music was playing, loud enough that it was a little hard to hear each other. I didn’t know most of the songs, but I didn’t care. Jane and I walked out onto the dance floor and she put her arms around my neck.

“I’ve never been to a dance back in the real world,” she said. To be able to hear her I had to keep my cheek almost against hers. “Is this anything like those?”

“Not sure,” I said. “I went to a few of the casual dances, but never anything like prom.”

“How come?”

I shrugged. “Never had a girlfriend.”

As I said it, I wondered what that sentence implied. If I’d never been to a dance because I didn’t have a girlfriend, but I came to this dance . . .

It suddenly struck me that there was no way the security cameras or microphones could hear what we were talking about. We could say anything. We could plan an escape or talk about what detention really was. She could tell me about those fifteen people who had been here when she’d come—I’d never asked her.

It could wait. I held her a little tighter.

Even on the dance floor, all the students stayed with their gangs. The V’s hung out at the back by the outside doors—someone had propped them open to let the cool night air inside. The girls had all spent points on dresses, and they all looked completely different without their usual uniforms. Gabby wore something blue and shimmery that showed off her legs. Tapti’s clothes were traditional, from whatever country she was from; I had no idea which. Carrie was gorgeous, all smiles and laughter. No one could have guessed we were all prisoners.

The other gangs were dressed up, too. The Society, which always looked a little overdone to begin with, now looked like characters in an old black-and-white gangster movie. The girls wore long elegant gowns and perfect, intricate hairdos, and the guys were all in tuxedos. It must have cost a lot of points.

Havoc wasn’t as uniform in their style, but almost all of them had new, intricate tattoos and too much jewelry.

But the longer we danced the less I cared. I wasn’t looking around the room anymore, nervously watching for Oakland or Skiver or trying to count Isaiah’s guards. It felt less important now. My arms were around Jane, my hands on her soft, warm back. I could feel her breath on my neck, her cheek brushing mine.

When the lights turned up a little brighter and dinner was announced, we didn’t move. Even when the music was shut off, Jane and I stayed on the dance floor, not wanting it to end.

Jane sighed, and I squeezed her tightly, pulling her against me.

“Time to eat,” I finally said.

“Do we have to?”

“I think they’re waiting for us.”

Dinner was served on a long table at the side of the hall. Understandably, Havoc hadn’t wanted to spend time in the kitchen, so most of the food had been pre-prepared and was served cold—several kinds of salads, finger sandwiches, fresh fruit, cheese plates. It didn’t seem like a typical formal dinner, but we weren’t going to complain. As I looked up and down the table, I hadn’t ever seen this many Maxfield students looking this happy.

After dessert was served, Curtis stood and shouted for everyone to be quiet.

He raised his drink. We were all drinking soda, which was a luxury. “I’d like to propose a toast,” he said, as the group quieted. I glanced at Isaiah, halfway down the table. Not surprisingly, he looked suspicious.

“To Havoc for this awesome dinner,” Curtis began. After a moment of astonishment, cheers erupted up and down the table.

“To the Society, for handling the administration of all this,” he continued. I had no idea what he meant, and I don’t think anyone else really did either, but people cheered. Maybe it was the best compliment he could give them—something vague.

“And to Carrie,” he said. There were cheers and laughs, and Skiver made a gagging noise.

Mouse stood up, raising her cup. Her dance attire was somewhere in between a dress and lingerie. I definitely hadn’t seen it in the catalog—she must have made it. “And to the V’s for the decorations.” More applause.

Jane was on her feet before I knew it. “And to Lily Paterson.”

The table exploded, many standing and cheering, and others booing and yelling. I stood and put my arm around Jane’s waist and joined her in the toast. It was too chaotic now for anyone to drink in unison—many in the Society section had put their cups down—but Jane and I clinked our glasses. A few moments later, the relative calm of the dinner lost, the table was pushed back to the side of the hall and the music resumed.

I was helping shift chairs in the crowd when someone touched my arm. I turned to see Becky. She was wearing a floor-length black dress, her hair curled and twisted like springs.

“Hey, Becky,” I said, as I continued to move the chairs.

“Hi, Bense.” She took my arm to stop me.

I looked back at her, waiting for her to say something, but she seemed reluctant.

“What’s up?” I said, having to shout a little to be heard over the music.

She leaned in. “I just wanted to say that I agree with you and Jane. Some people think that Lily deserved it, but I don’t.”

I looked into her eyes and she stared back.

She stammered. “I—I just wanted you to know.”

Before I could reply, she’d turned and left, pushing her way through the crowd.

I watched her for a moment. She’d been a V, Mason had said. She’d helped start the V’s. And now she was so . . . broken. Lonely. I felt a sudden ache—I wanted to go after her and say something. I wanted to hug her.

I’d find her tomorrow. It could wait until we weren’t surrounded by other students. I couldn’t imagine that the Society liked seeing me talk to her.

I finished helping with the chairs, then hurried back across the dance floor to where Jane stood, laughing with two of the V girls. When she saw me, she excused herself.

“Hey,” she said, taking my hand. “Want to go for a walk?” She motioned toward the door.

“Won’t you be cold?” I asked, looking at her bare arms and neck.

“You’ll have to put your arm around me.”

“How could I say no?”

We stepped out the patio door and were met with a cool breeze. I slipped my arm around her and pulled her tight against me.

“Hang on,” she said, bending down. A moment later she stood back up, her shoes in her hand. “I hate these things.”

“But they look so good,” I said with a laugh.

“I’ll give them to you and you can look at them anytime you want.”

The moon was out and we could see the dim traces of the track, the forest, and the groundskeeping sheds. A few other couples were out on the lawn, strolling and talking. A deer stood out beyond the track, cautiously watching us.

“What would you do if you got out?” she asked. We were walking close to the building—I hoped it would keep some of the breeze off her.

I was about to answer but she stopped me. “I know what you’re going to say, and that’s not the answer I want. Skip all the stuff about calling the police and freeing everyone from the school. After that.”

“I haven’t really thought that far ahead,” I said with a smile.

“What about a job?”

“I told you. I’m going to be a field surveyor.”

Jane laughed. “For real.”

“I honestly don’t know. I’ve always thought I’d like to own my own business, be my own boss. But I don’t know what I’d do.”

We turned the corner toward the front of the school.

“I think I’d like to be a doctor,” Jane said.

“What kind?”

“No idea.”

We walked in silence for a little while, and she had me move my arm from her waist to her shoulders, to keep her warm. I offered my sweater, but she said she didn’t want to cover her dress.

I formed a question in my head, and tried to think of different ways to ask it.
I know you hate it when I bring this up. . . . Let me just ask one thing and then I’ll shut up. . . . I’m only asking because I really like you. . . .

What if we ran away?

But I couldn’t force myself to say it. At that moment, it just didn’t feel right. I didn’t want to think about climbing walls and cutting razor wire and starting forest fires. Even if Jane was totally willing. It was dangerous. Lily had died.

If we followed the rules, no one would die. Jane and I could walk like this all the time, every day. Of course, eventually someone would have to do something. But I could worry about that later. For now, things were good.

She turned toward the building and led me to the wall, to a small alcove between a short manicured pine and a window well. I felt my blood pressure surge as she turned to face me. She slipped her arms around my neck, just as she had on the dance floor.

Her green eyes were locked on mine.

“Thanks for asking me to the dance.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, her lips curling up in a tiny, uncertain smile.

“Thanks for saying yes.”

I could feel her breath on my face.

“I’m glad you came to Maxfield,” she said.

My heart was thumping in my chest. She smelled so good, like fresh roses. “Me too.”

She leaned toward me, and I wrapped my arms tighter around her back.

Her lips were cool and soft, and every other thought disappeared from my head. There was only Jane.

I didn’t let go, didn’t want to ever let go. I didn’t want to go back to normal life.

Why couldn’t this be normal life?

She pulled back. She was beaming, her eyes sparkling in the starlight.

We stared at each other for a moment. The scent of her perfume still hung on my lips, and I wanted to kiss her again. But I could see from her smile that she wanted to say something.

“What?” I asked, unable to hide my own grin.

Jane stepped up to me again, her face an inch away. I could almost feel her lips on mine, but instead of kissing me she spoke.

“You don’t still want to leave, do you?”

I smiled. “Well, not tonight.”

Her eyes narrowed and she moved back slightly. Her arms hung around my shoulders. “You’re still planning on it, though.”

“Of course,” I said, confused. “We’ll go together, you and me.”

“But . . .” Her voice trailed off, and she looked up at the stars.

“I can’t stay here.”

Her hands fell to her sides. “But this is good,” she said. “Can’t you see that? We can be happy here.”

“If we stay here we’ll die.”

“If we stay here then we’ll have more of this,” she insisted with desperate eyes. “We can be together. We can be happy.”

I took a breath, wishing we could rewind the conversation and go back to where we were a minute before.

“I’m not saying that we have to escape tomorrow.”

She clutched my arms, her face again close to mine. “Then let’s just not talk about it. Let’s wait. Let’s just be like this, you and me. Think about it.”

“Think about it?” I said, my voice raised. “No, you think about it. What do you think is going to happen a year from now, or two years from now? This is some weird prison—it’s not a resort. No one grows old here.”

Her eyes flashed as she stepped away from me and folded her arms. “Don’t tell me what this school is like. I know it better than you do.”

I yelled, “Then what do you think is going to happen?”

Jane spun away from me, facing the cold rough stone of the school’s walls.

I could feel adrenaline pumping in my veins, and I tried to calm down. I didn’t want to act like this, not tonight. But Jane, of all people, should have realized that the school was a death trap. Every day we stayed was a day closer to detention or worse.

I reached out with one hand and touched her shoulder.

She shrugged me away. “Don’t.”

“Jane . . .”

I could tell she was crying now. It didn’t have to end like this. But maybe it was better if it did. Mason’s words rang through my head.
If you’re going to get killed next week crossing the wall, stay away from Jane.