Loop (27 page)

“I understand Miss Ellison and a student transporter, Mr., umm”—Headmaster Bergin shuffled the compufilm around on his desk and pulled up a sheet with notes scribbled on it—“Mr. Charles Wu, they’re close?”

“Yes.”
Wait.
Where was he going with this?

“Did she seem upset about the relationship in any way?”

“I don’t know that you could call it a relationship, per se. She and Charlie like each other. A lot. They’ve gone out a couple times. Kind of.”

“So Miss Ellison wasn’t angry at him for any reason?”

“No,” I said with half a shrug.

“Or”—Bergin took a deep breath and looked at his hands—“carrying his child?”

“What?”
The chair I’d been sitting in clattered over as I jumped up.
What on earth?
“
Who
said that? That’s beyond laughable!”

Bergin motioned me to right the chair and sit back down. “Another student seemed to think … Oh, it doesn’t matter. It was clearly false. You know how rumors can fly.”

The room had taken on a red tinge in the corners of my vision. Mimi had overheard Quigley say something that raised a red flag. Quigley must have found out and come up with this student story to slander Mimi and cover her tail.

“So, what?” I asked. “You’re suggesting
Charlie
pushed her?”

“No one is suggesting anyone pushed Miss Ellison.”

“Then you think Mimi threw herself down the stairs? Because she was
pregnant
? Mimi’s never even kissed a guy, much less … Good grief. And with Charlie? They’re, like, the patron saints of handholding.”

Bergin shook his head with a heavy sigh. “We were simply hoping you could provide some insight into this incident, given your close friendship with Miss Ellison.”

“Yes, we are close.” I looked over at Quigley. “I would do anything to protect her. Anything.”

This could be my only chance to trap the Quig into talking. I needed to put out some tasty cheese to get my teacher to bite, though.

“There
was
one thing.” I tapped my finger against my chin. “Probably nothing. But when we were waiting for our Pentagon ticket tattoos this morning, Mimi mentioned she’d seen something odd earlier.”

“Odd? Did she tell you what it was?”

“No.” I hesitated. “She didn’t get the chance.”

“Sir!” Quigley traversed the room in three swift steps and stood in front of his desk, blocking my view. “I hardly think this is the time to sit and idly speculate about all the possible gossipy teenage angst that could have prompted Miss Ellison to toss herself down the stairs. We don’t even know for certain that it’s the case.”

And that’s how to trap a rat.

“True.” Bergin strained forward like he wanted to question me further, but then he looked up at Quigley and leaned back in his chair.

“The important thing is that we expect Mimi to have a full recovery,” he said. Quigley had moved to the side, and I saw her flash the headmaster a meaningful look. He lowered his head in a defeated nod.

“But that brings us back to the other reason I wanted to speak to you,” he said. “Certain staff members feel that you would benefit from a recovery time of your own.”

Quigley fluttered her eyelids. I could have sworn I detected another smirk before Bergin went on. “A time of rest and relaxation away from the rigors of the Institute.”

“But the Institute’s my home.” The only home I had left. For a split second, everything disappeared. The enigmatic grin, the stolen file, Mimi’s accident—everything. Suddenly I felt like my wide-eyed twelve-year-old self, crossing the school’s threshold for the first time, falling in love with every corner and cranny. Going on my first solo mission, my thumb glued to the panic button on my QuantCom the whole five minutes as I walked across that empty field that would become First Time Forest and planted an acorn in the middle. Home.

“And the Institute will continue to be your home,” soothed Bergin, “
after
you’ve had a chance to restore yourself to top form in a more accommodating environment.”

“Is
she
putting you up to this?” I couldn’t help but ask. Though I didn’t give Quigley the satisfaction of so much as a sideways glance.

“I assure you, no one is putting anyone up to anything,” said Bergin. He looked up at my teacher guardedly. “But as the dean, yes, Dr. Quigley does have the final say on student discipline procedures.”

“I thought you said I wasn’t in trouble.”

“Bree, please—”

“Do you see what the strain is doing to her?” Quigley cocked her head to the side and put on a brilliant display of mock pity. “I think the sooner Miss Bennis leaves for Resthaven, the better.”

Resthaven? What? No!
She couldn’t do this.

I pulled myself together. “No thank you,” I said as if declining Tea with the King of England.

The headmaster’s cheeks flushed. “I’m afraid it’s not an invitation. More of a firm request.”

“And I’m afraid I’ll need to decline either way.” Who cared about classes and missions and sleeping in my own bed? If they shipped me off to Resthaven, I could kiss any payments for my mother good-bye. ICE wouldn’t want a deranged girl for a spokesanything.

And I still needed to get Finn home. And prove my mother hadn’t messed with her chip. And work things out with Leto.
No!

“It won’t be permanent.” Bergin had apparently not prepared for my dissent. He was sputtering like a half-empty teakettle.

“But I—”

“You’re leaving tomorrow morning.” Quigley cut me off. “Stay out of trouble until then.” Her voice was distant and matter-of-fact. Like she hadn’t, in one fell swoop, stripped away everything I had left to care about.

They couldn’t make me go. I’d … I’d run away. Of course, I wouldn’t get far with a microchip in my skull.

The sun had burned its way through a layer of clouds outside. Its light filtered into the office. Ironic. Dark rainstorms earlier when the day was so full of hope. Sunshine now that it was all gone.

Bergin looked miserable as well. For the first time since I had come to the Institute, he seemed
small
. I couldn’t imagine how many strings Quigley had pulled to force this move to Resthaven. I beseeched Bergin with my eyes:
Do something
. But he hung his head.

The headmaster’s hand tremored up to his pocket, the one where he kept his antique pen. His thumb twitched in an anxious tic like he was clicking the end of the pen in and out in his nervous habit, but then he looked up at the dean and seemed to think better of showing even that much weakness. He formed his hand into a fist instead and dropped it to his lap.

“I believe that’s all, Lisette,” he said quietly to Quigley. “I have one additional matter to discuss with Bree.”

“I’d be happy to stay,” she said.

“No, no. It doesn’t concern you.”

Ha!
I shot the Quig a scathing look.

“Very well.” With that, Quigley turned on her heel and strode out of the room, but she didn’t look happy about it.

Headmaster Bergin reached out to squeeze my hand, which was lying on the desk in a lifeless heap. “There’s no reason to believe this will be a long stay at Resthaven. We’ll have you back as soon as possible, right as rain. I will see to that.”

Yeah, right.

“However”—Bergin pulled his hand back—“there is one thing I wanted to discuss with you before you left. It’s about your mother.”

“Has ICE changed their minds?” I shook my head. I’d failed. She was headed to Resthaven, too. At least we’d be together.

“Bree, there have been some … some setbacks in her condition.”

“What?”

“I received a call this morning. She’s destabilizing. The doctors are doing everything they can, but—”

Leto. Leto had gotten to her.
Wait. Bergin said “this morning.”

“I spoke with her nurse this afternoon,” I said. “She was fine.”

“You did?” Bergin looked genuinely startled. “Perhaps … perhaps they didn’t want to worry you before they had a chance to speak to you in person.”

But that meant it couldn’t have been Leto.

“I’m sorry, Bree,” said Bergin. “ICE will still pay for her hospital bills for as long as it’s … necessary.”

I choked on a sob.

If it wasn’t Leto, there was only one other person who could have gotten to her.
Quigley!
She had done this. I wouldn’t let her get away with it.

“There’s something else I need to tell you,” I said. “It’s about my moth—”

Bergin’s intercom sounded and his assistant’s voice filled the room: “Headmaster Bergin?”

“Yes, Dolores?”

“There’s an urgent call for you on your speak-eazy, channel one. Private communication requested.”

“Please excuse me, Miss Bennis.” He picked up the receiver and said, “Bergin speaking … Yes.… Oh, no.” His hand drifted to his mouth and he blew out a deep breath. “I see. Yes, I understand. I’ll notify the necessary people immediately.”

When the call ended, he stood up and wandered to the window. His head bobbled from side to side. After a few moments, he turned to face me. The rims of his eyes were bloodshot.

“I’m so sorry to tell you this, Bree, but your roommate, Mimi, has taken a turn for the worse. Her concussion must have been more serious than they realized at first. I … I don’t have any easy way to say this. She’s slipped into a coma.”

chapter 24

SLEEP MAY HAVE COME.
Maybe not. I couldn’t tell. Nor did I care. Salty tears had glued my eyes shut.

My Buzz had returned full force over the last few hours. If it even was the Buzz at this point. Since my forced fade, there was no rhyme or reason to it. Pain during class and meals. Fine when I was in my room. No telling how many Buzztabs I’d downed. Dozens.

Plink. Plink plink.

And apparently, I was experiencing auditory hallucinations as well. I smooshed my pillow around my ears and squinched up against the wall. Maybe I was going insane after all.

Plink plink.

Plunk.

I put my pillow down and sat up. There was no way I had imagined
that
.

The window whined as I pushed the button to open it. Two stories below, Finn stood in the bushes squinting up and chucking pieces of—

“Ow.” Whatever it was hit my cheek. “What are you throwing?”

“Sorry,” Finn whisper-shouted. “Rocks.”

A smattering of stones already littered the windowsill. I picked one up. Purple. “Where did you find a purple…?”
Oh my gosh.
“Please tell me you haven’t kept those stupid Muffy van Sloot rocks on you this whole time.”

“You never know when pebbles will come in handy.”

“When on earth would
pebbles
come in—ow!” Another rock stung my cheek.

“Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.”

I brushed the rest of the colored rocks into my palm and leaned over to my desk to dump them into my fishbowl. “Sorry, Fran.”

When I turned back to the window, the telltale
ping
of the grappling hook sounded outside. I rushed to the sill.

“You can’t come up yet.”

“What? Why not?”

“I, umm, I need to—” The embarrassing answer was I didn’t want him to see me like this. But I couldn’t say that, so I said, “I need to turn off my laser fish.”

Finn chuckled. In the amount of time it took for him to turn his attention back to the task at hand, I made a mad dash to my closet for a sweater to cover my flimsy camisole, grabbed Mimi’s brush off her vacant vanity, and popped a tooth-cleaning tablet in my mouth. With a whir and a thump, Finn hopped into the room like he’d been magno-grappling for years.

I stumbled backward in surprise. The haphazard, half-packed suitcase in the center of the room stubbed my toe, and I let out a yelp.

Finn reached out to steady me and looked over at Mimi’s empty bed. “What’s with the suitcase? Where’s your roomie?”

With those two well-meaning questions, the weight of the entire day slammed against my heart once again. I crumpled onto the bed.

Finn sat next to me and tilted my chin up tenderly. “What happened?”

For the first time, I welcomed Finn’s comfort. His still eye in the middle of my raging storm. Somehow, he managed to keep up as everything about the day gushed out of me in spurts: My mom’s deterioration. Mimi’s so-called accident. The move to Resthaven. Quigley had won. I didn’t even understand what game she was playing, but she’d won.

“There’s no point going back to see my mom now. I’m going to confess to chronosmuggling for Leto. That way they can put up guards around her.” I brushed away a final, clinging tear. “I need to figure out a way to Shift you back to your time. Tonight.”

“Bree, you need answers now more than ever.”

“No,” I said with more conviction than I felt. “I think this is it, what I need protection from—Resthaven. And Quigley. She wants to lock me away with a bunch of nutcases so no one will believe me when I claim she attacked my mom. But I was wrong, Finn. I mean I will be wrong. I should never have asked you to come here to help me. We need to get you home.”

He was the one person left in my life
I
could still protect.

“You’re probably right,” he conceded. “Too bad I don’t care. We’re going to see your mom. Now.”

There was nothing I wanted more than to see my mother, to be held and told everything would be all right. To breathe in that sweet scent of hyacinth perfume mixed with the musty smell of old canvas one more time. But in that moment, it was selfish and wrong. It seemed like something Future Bree would do. Me, me, me above everyone else. If I agreed to the Shift, I alone knew my true motives. And they were anything but pure.

Finn still thought the enigmatic grin was important. I just wanted to hug my mom.

“There’s no point,” I said. “Even if Mom knows what that Truth saying means, it won’t help her.”

“How do you know that?” asked Finn. “Maybe it will explain her condition.”

“Finn, I—”

“We’re going,” he said. “Do you think Charlie could transport us?”