“You didn’t do much running before,” DJ said with a smirk.
I gave him the finger and then kissed him.
DJ’s face grew sober. “Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to run for it. Distract the Teachers. Then you find Jenny, and the two of you get to the shuttle.”
“Nope,” I said. “We are not splitting up.”
DJ cupped my chin in his hand. “They’ll never catch me.”
“We go together.”
“I can do this,” he said. “And we’ll be together back on the shuttle. I promise.”
There had to be a better plan. Something that didn’t require DJ to put his life in danger so that I could escape. I even tried to think of what Anastasia Darling would’ve done, but she would have marched into the hallway and given the Teachers a long-winded speech that would have somehow reprogrammed them to be her friend or caused their robot brains to explode. I doubted that would work for me. I lacked Anastasia Darling’s oratorical prowess and her writers.
I had to trust DJ. I did trust him.
“Be careful,” I said.
“I’ll try.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” I said. “But I’m going to need you to do a hell of a lot more than try.”
DJ kissed me, and then he was gone.
NOW
I COUNTED TO TEN AFTER DJ left before peeking my head out of the classroom. All three Teachers were gone. The hallway was empty. Over the sound of the alarms, DJ’s footsteps echoed as he led the Teachers, who seemed to have no qualms about shooting students with lasers, away from my hiding place.
Not wanting to waste a single second DJ had bought me, I limped back to the gym. The throbbing in my thigh grew more intense with every step, but I forced it out of my mind. My only goal was to reach Jenny and get to the shuttle.
When I emerged from the locker rooms into the gym, the scene made me stop and wonder if I’d slipped and fallen into a vat of hallucinogens at some point in the evening. Everyone was dancing. Everyone but the Teachers. The tables were empty; there were no groups hugging the walls. Every single student was in the center of the gym, dancing. It was like some seriously weird choreographed routine that I did not have the time or patience to deal with.
I scanned the crowd for Jenny and found her in a small group, dancing with Ty and trying valiantly to keep up. She clearly had no idea what she was doing, but she was doing it pretty well. The girl had moves.
The second the song ended, the students splintered off, and I darted toward Jenny.
Jenny’s brow was damp with sweat, and she looked a little frazzled, but she smiled when she saw me. “Did you see that?” Her smile flipped. “How did you tear your pants? What’s wrong with your leg?”
I held out my hand. “We have to go.”
“Did you find—”
“Now, Jenny.”
Thankfully, she realized the seriousness of our situation because she didn’t argue. Jenny turned to Ty. “This was fun. Deeply, deeply weird. But fun.” She grabbed his face and kissed him. It looked and sounded sloppy, and it was awkward to watch, but I also couldn’t look away. When she finished, she said, “Later!”
Jenny tried to pull me toward the door, but Ty was pleading with me with his eyes to keep my promise. I wasn’t sure I felt bound by what I’d said, seeing as he hadn’t given me a choice, but I thought about what DJ would do.
“You need me,” he said.
“Oh, Ty,” Jenny said. “We had a nice night, but I’m just not that into you.”
“I told him he could come with us, Jenny.”
Ty leaned in and held out his hand. He was holding a device that looked like a cell phone. “I can help. You won’t make it to your shuttle without me.”
“What is that?” Jenny asked.
“I’ve been planning my escape for quite some time,” Ty said. “The only piece missing was a ride.”
We didn’t have time for this. DJ had said he would meet us at the shuttle, and I was going to get there no matter what. “He’s coming.”
Jenny eyed Ty up and down and finally shrugged. “Yeah, okay. Whatever.”
“Let’s go,” I said.
The second we headed toward the exit, the nearest Teachers turned their red eyes our way. We walked faster, as fast as I could on my injured leg. The Teachers advanced, moving quickly enough to keep up with but not overtake us.
“Keep calm,” Ty said.
“Just so you know,” I warned them, “those things have lasers.”
Jenny dug her nails into my arm, which actually did a fair job of taking my mind off my leg. “Say what now?”
“They’re no matter.” Now that Ty had dropped his goofy jock routine, he was more secret agent than frat boy. He held the door open for me and Jenny, but a Teacher was waiting for us outside.
“The Equinox Formal does not end for another fifty-seven minutes,” Teacher said. “Please return inside and continue to dance.” Its eye smoldered, pulsing like a heartbeat.
“No thanks,” I said. “I’m all danced out.” I limped forward. Teacher rolled back but didn’t move out of my way. Three more Teachers emerged from the gym and formed a ring around us.
“You will dance and make merry,” the Teachers said in unison, “or you will be punished.”
Jenny let out a loud cackle. “I’m so scared. What’re you going to do? Give us detention?”
“Did you miss the part where I said they have lasers?”
Ty, Jenny, and I crowded together as the Teachers tightened their circle. “Whatever you’re going to do,” I said to Ty, “now would be a good time.”
“On it.” Ty held up the device so the Teachers could see it, and pressed a button on the side. “School’s out. Forever.”
All four Teachers collapsed as if they were puppets and Ty had snipped their strings. Even the light of their red eyes died.
Jenny kicked the nearest Teacher. “How’s that for punishment?”
“Did you kill them?” I asked.
Ty shoved the device into his pocket and shook his head. “The EMP’s range is short, and it will only take them a few minutes to reboot. We should leave immediately.”
He didn’t need to tell me twice. We took off in the direction of the shuttle as quickly as my injured leg would allow. Jenny had to help me when the pain grew too great. Thankfully, we didn’t encounter any other Teachers along the way, and DJ was waiting for us in front of the hatch. I crashed into him and hugged him like I was never going to let him go.
“You made it!”
DJ laughed. “Why does it sound like you were expecting I wouldn’t?”
Instead of a snarky reply, I just kissed him. It felt like the right thing to do.
Ty cleared his throat, and I reluctantly pulled away from DJ.
“Hey, DJ,” he said.
Jenny pushed past us and buckled herself into the pilot’s seat. “Ty’s coming with us. This tripartite is now a foursome.”
“She’s the pilot?” Ty asked, his voice low and skeptical.
“Oh yeah,” I said.
Jenny wasted no time preparing the shuttle for launch. She fired up the engines, and we shut the hatch and secured ourselves in our seats. I felt a little sad leaving Beta Cephei High, but I was also eager to return to Qriosity. It wasn’t home, but it was familiar and safe. Well, safeish. At least it didn’t have robots with lasers trying to shoot us.