Page 65 of No Capes

One secret room—the original owners had created it for clandestine meetings—is behind what used to be the outhouse, and it still exists behind the refrigerator. If you’re small enough, you can squeeze between the wall and the fridge to locate the secret door to a tiny room with no windows or no lights. Arielle has to be there.

“I’ll be a lookout,” says Fox. “You go find her.”

“Thanks for everything tonight.”

Fox tilts his head, shaking his blonde hair to mess it up. “I’ll think of a way for you to make it up to me. I’m happy I could start making it all up to you.”

That last part stops me, the part that meant the most. But I put one foot in front of the other and leave him in the SUV, pausing that conversation for later. I forgot that Fox hasgame.

The front door is silent as I nudge it open and walk lightly to the kitchen. The house is as I remember it, only it’s a little disorienting with someone else’s furniture and picture frames.Focus, Madeline.I reach the tall steel fridge and inhale, suck in my stomach, tuck in my butt, and squeeze past the giant appliance. I can barely duck inside the secret alcove, but somehow I make it to stand before the outhouse’s remnants. I pull the iron handle. Locked.

“Arielle?” I knock. There’s no response.

Alright. Powers time.

When I was in City Hall’s basement, I somehow blew it up, like I’d manipulated the water vapor in the air to put pressure on what’s near it. I try spitting on the lock—maybe I can make it explode from my saliva? I rub my finger in the liquid, trying to get it hot enough to burn through the keyhole. Nothing.

Ugh.

I study the door. When Arielle and I were younger, I found her in the secret hideaway by knocking to the beat of her favorite song, a classical piece she played on her clarinet. I’ll never forget how that piece goes, she played it so often.

Tap tap. Tap tap tap tap tap,I start. The door swings open.

“Nice outfit,” says Arielle. I blink, adjusting to the room. My sister leans against the ancient wall, still wearing a ball gown.

“Hey, you too.”

“I’m glad you remembered my all-time hiding spot, Madeline. I’ve been counting on it.” She has a flashlight, granolabars, and a gallon of water. Arielle guessed she’d be there for a while.

“What’s going on?” I demand.

Arielle beckons me in. “Shhh,” she whispers. “Just close the door before they find us.”

Twenty Three

I’ve never had superb control of my facial expressions. As Kristen would say, “I can always tell when Madeline thinks I’m saying something stupid because her cheeks puff out.”

When I step into Arielle’s dimly lit enclave, it doesn’t surprise me to hear her say, “I know what you’re thinking.”

I crouch on the dusty floorboards to avoid scraping my head on the low ceiling. “What’s that?” I don’t know what to think.

Arielle still wears her pink sparkly, strapless gown from Hallowfest, and her long auburn hair tumbles around her. Her citrus perfume overpowers our alcove, but there are thick walls that separate us and civilization, so hopefully her signature scent won’t be her fatal flaw.

“Are Phil’s men out there?”

“Um…” I remember the mayor’s entourage following us, though we’d tried our best to lose them. “Fox is outside. He’ll scream if they are.”

“Fox? Why is Fox here?”

I laugh. “I’ve been asking myself that all night.”

More questions hang in the air, but Arielle gives me the same look she gives at swim practice, like she’s doing me some great favor by allowing me to be in the same room, and I shouldn’t ask for anything more.

“Okay,” I say. “We can come back to that.”

Arielle sighs. “I’m sorry, Madeline. I told myself that I was going to stop treating you coldly… It’s complicated.”

“How so?”