Page 162 of The Forbidden Note

Neither can I.

What we have is notseriousmaterial.

I can admit that I’m attracted to him.

I can even admit that I want to sleep with him—although that burns me to confess.

But I have to be realistic.

“If you’re not with Zane, then how about I introduce you to someone?” Rick glances hopefully at me. “I have a buddy. Hunter. Great guy. Got his heart broken by some girl he met in Europe recently.” Rick tsks. “Poor thing. I’ve been trying to hook him up—”

Boom!

The floor rattles.

I jolt on my feet.

Rick grabs my arm. “The hell was that?”

Boom! Boom!

Screams break out.

The music stops abruptly. Rick throws the gym door open and it feels like I’m stepping into an alternate reality. Everyone is running back and forth. Kids are ducking in horror. A few are crawling under tables. Someone is puking in the corner. It smells like the spiked punch.

Harris takes the mike on stage. “Alright, everyone! Just calm down! I’m not sure what this is about, but I’m certain there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation—”

A high pitched wail cuts him off.

Fire alarms ring suddenly.

Harris yelps into the mike. I watch with a twisted sense of satisfaction as the sprinklers snap to life and spray all over him.

Shrieks erupt from the girls whose dresses are being drenched.

Harris grabs the mike again. “Everyone calm…”

Boom!

Explosions of color crackle outside the windows. Sparks explode in the black night, staining the sky like glittering jewels.

Fireworks.

Immediately, the mood shifts from terrified to awe-struck.

Students rush outside in a frenzy.

This is definitely The Kings’ doing. I should be angry at them for drawing more attention to us and making a spectacle of tonight’s heist, but it’s worth it just to see that dumbstruck look on Harris’s face.

“Uh-oh. Incoming,” Rick says.

I stiffen when I notice Harris bound down the stairs and gun straight for us. My instinct is to run, so I take a few steps with the trolley.

Rick grabs my hand. “What are you doing? If you run now, you’ll only look more suspicious.”

“I can’t just stay here. What if he recognizes me?”

It’s too late.