Page 55 of Crazy House (Crazy House 1)

Then Becca gave me a slow, wide smile.

I smiled back.

We smacked our hands together in high fives, and then hugged.

“It worked!” Becca said into my ear.

“Yep!”

That had been our plan, the one we’d thought out during our first time in the pen. This was the only place we could talk to each other without being spied on. At first we assumed we’d be signed up to fight each other again, but when that didn’t work, we’d moved on to phase two: fighting each other anyway.

Quickly, in hushed whispers, we got each other caught up on what we’d been doing when we weren’t together. I’d been trying to track any kind of schedule, in case there was a time that we could possibly try to escape. Becca had been tracking guards and teachers, in case any of them seemed more sympathetic.

The total sum of our knowledge was thin and depressing, and felt pointless.

“Did you tell your roommates what we were doing?” I asked.

Becca shook her head. “I’m being careful. You’re the only person I can really trust.”

“Back atcha,” I said.

“Oh, guess what!” Becca’s face was alight beneath the dirt and blood. “I made out with Tim!”

“Wha…? Tim-the-Guard Tim?” I asked, amazed. “The one who knocked your tooth out? The one you just fought again?”

My sister nodded, her eyes shining. “I don’t know what it meant, if anything,” she admitted. “But it was so hot.”

“Might have been hotter if you hadn’t been covered with sweat and blood,” I mused, trying to wrap my head around this.

“Did not stop us,” Becca said, grinning.

“Ew. Well, I wish I had made out with Nate before I got kidnapped,” I said.

Becca looked surprised. “Nate Allen, the Provost’s son?”

I nodded. “Yeah. He helped me look for you a couple times. Took me to the Outsider hangout,” I reminded her. “I don’t know. I miss him.”

“Huh,” Becca said. “You and the Provost’s son.”

“You and the prison guard,” I countered.

“Did you tell Nate how you felt?” she asked.

“No. I mean, I shot his radio with Pa’s gun.”

“You flirty vixen, you,” Becca said drily. “If that didn’t win him over, then he’s unwinnable. Anyway—enough about them. Let’s talk about us. You’ve seen the dragonflies around here?”

“Yeah,” I said. “A couple times. Why?”

“It occurred to me,” Becca said. “If dragonflies can get into this place…”

“Then we can get out,” I finished. “That’s what we need to focus on next: figuring out how they got in.”

And we put our heads together and started to plan.

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NATHANIEL