I received a note from Taylor at breakfast, telling me about her fantastic plan and how it was foolproof. She wanted us to use the laundry truck. She seemed to have forgotten that Massingale suspected that we would use the laundry shuttle. I wrote a note back and delivered it to Finni when I returned my tray. I told her my plan, imperfect as it was, was still better. She would be mad later, but we could not use the laundry.

At class that day, Mr. Link was way out of character; the teacher stomped around and was generally impatient. What had made him so upset? I wrote a note on my completed worksheet (same “good citizen” drivel as it had been since the beginning) before gathering the rest and handing them to him.

Rec time started off on a distressing note: Indie, who did not have the same rec slot as Thalia and I, had not left when she should. I found her wedged under the couch. I sat on the floor with Thalia and pretended to be talking to her, but really I was conversing with Indie.

“What are you doing? Are you crazy? You’re going to get in trouble!” I told her, seriously concerned. Again with the emotions. Grrr.

“I need to talk to you.”

“Couldn’t you have talked to me later tonight?”

“No, they increased the guards near my cell.”

“Hey, don’t you have a cellmate?!”

“No, I wouldn’t go out of my cell if I did. I might get one soon, though. I heard one of the guards say yesterday that a bunch of rebels were coming in.”

“Anyone we know?”

“Could be.”

“You know, I can’t believe Zoe turned us in! It makes me so mad. All I do for her, and she turns us in. And for what?”

“She could’ve gone through the portal.”

I’d never thought of that before. “And now she could be wreaking havoc in my dimension, pretending to be me. That’s great. At least my family thinks I’m safe. They’ll figure it out eventually. And Zoe gets what she wants. I hope she figures out where she belongs: with Carmen and Donovan, not my family.”

“I hope so, for your sake.” Thalia answered. Indie looked at her, surprised.

“It’s a long story,” I said, sparing Thalia her dignity and privacy. Indie shrugged, and started to speak. “Have you heard-”

The couch was picked up abruptly. I looked up, scared. A couple buff guards had noticed us, and moved the couch. Indie stood up and prepared for a fight. One cuffed her quickly, like a cat snatching a mouse, while the other two put the couch back in its place. I pretended to be deep in conversation with Thalia, but both of us watched.

A guard questioned her, but she refused to answer. They took her out of the room. I hoped she wasn’t going to Massingale’s office, but where else would they be taking her?

Another guard questioned us gruffly after making us stand up. I looked her square in the face and lied through my teeth. Thalia went along with what I said, but timidly. I felt bad about throwing Indie under the bus like we did, but I couldn’t afford to be put in solitary again.

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She lost interest in our side of the story pretty soon, and left us alone. “Phew,” I told Thalia. “I hope Indie’s okay.”

“Yeah, but face the facts: she’s probably going to be in solitary.”

“Yeah… you ever been in solitary?”

“For a month. I’d been causing trouble and I guess Mom wanted to teach me a lesson.”

She said ‘mom’ like a curse word. “I was in solitary before we were cellmates, for a week. It was terrible.”

“All you did was draw on the walls, huh? I can see you doing that. That’s what I mostly did, as far as I could reach.”

I smiled a little. “Yeah. But I would end up smudging it out every time because I draw so badly.”

We talked until we were taken back to our cell. After that, we were model citizens. Neither of us, for different reasons, wanted Massingale to take notice of us.

That night, I had a visitor. This time, it was Torrin. He whispered my name through the bars until I woke up. I walked over, and saw his disguise in the dim light. He wore glasses, a baseball cap, and baggy clothes. He also wore a longer haired wig. “What is it? Why’d you wake me up so early?”

“I have a message for you from Taylor. She pulled rank on you and said that we’re going with her plan, not yours. Also, Finni told me that Indie was put in solitary. We don’t know how long.”

Both of these pieces of news shocked me. I knew that Taylor would be stubborn about doing it her way, and that Indie would be punished, but I didn’t know it would be this severe. “We can’t do Taylor’s plan! Massingale will find out right away and put a kibosh to it! The only way out is either you sneaking us out or through the garbage truck - why doesn’t she believe me?” The trouble was, I could see her side just as well as she could potentially see mine - we’re the same person, after all.

The only problem with her plan is that was what Massingale expected us to do: take the laundry van. Safe and convenient, the shuttle would be an escapee’s dream. No matter what, we could not take the van.

He shrugged. “Dunno. I’m sure you two can work it out. Might have to have a meeting to figure it all out, instead of this message system.”

“A meeting?! We’d be found out before all of us were out of our cells! Where would we have a meeting?” I paced back and forth. I should be happy to see Torrin again, not be so angry at him.

“First of all, calm down. Everything will be okay, Taylor. You’re not going to get anything done if you’re so mad. I can talk with Finni and see when would be a good time. Probably in the middle of the night. If Indie isn’t moved, she’ll be right down the hall. The hard part will be getting Finni and Taylor down here.”

“And you?”

“I’m a janitor, remember?” He smiled crookedly at me. “I can get anywhere. I know these halls and the guard schedules like the back of my hand.”

“Do you know anything about Thomas and Tanner? Where are they?”

“I haven’t heard anything. They haven’t been captured, as far as I know. Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you - I got an apartment near here.”

“Where is it? Did you move after we got captured? Where did you even live before now?”

“I lived down the street, and I did move to be closer to the facility after you two were captured. Got some new credentials from someone I know to be hired here, and you know the rest. My apartment is a few blocks from here. I ride my bike here to clean, or, until recently, to guard you terrible prisoners.”

I smiled and yawned. He got a good view of my tonsils and chuckled, then excused himself: “See you around.”

“See ya.”

I hoped to go to sleep quickly, but I kept thinking. My brain is so hard to shut off. I go through my whole day and think about what I did well, and stuff that I could’ve done better.

That night, I thought about Indie. I hoped she was okay, and that she would be able to endure her isolation. Her toughness would probably get her through just fine. How long would she be in there, though? Massingale determined her punishment, and if she knew that Indie was involved with us, she might increase Indie’s timerframe.

Eventually, I fell asleep, but not after making two major decisions: first, to not let anything stop me from convincing Taylor not to use the laundry shuttle as our escape route. Second, to accomplish the first, I need to find a way for all of us to meet. It would be tough, but that was the best way to figure everything out. I could tell Taylor about all the reasons why not, and she would come to my side.