Moments later, I walked through the school hallway while watching several dozen other people scattered around with their own Cuddle Corps members. Though I was going to go out on a limb and say theirs weren't as realistic as mine. I held Oak under one arm, having replaced his normal toy glasses with a pair of sunglasses from the front pocket of my bag. The lenses were dark enough that his eyes could move around without attracting attention. That way we didn't have to worry about someone spotting him looking at things. Granted, it probably wouldn't have been hard to say it was just a toy thing, but still. This was already dangerous enough, there was no reason to risk any more.

Tomas was standing by his own locker as I approached mine, turning to look at me with a raised eyebrow. “Hey, Cass. I didn't know you had a thing for those guys.” He nodded toward Oak.

Glancing down briefly, I shrugged. “I dunno, they're pretty cool. I mean, they were just handing them out in front, so why not?” I hesitated slightly before swallowing. “It's kind of been a long few days.”

The boy grimaced. “Shit, I'm sorry, Cassie. I still can't believe you're still coming to school and everything when all this is going on. If my parents were hit by Sleeptalk, I don't… I don't know what I'd do. But I wouldn’t be passing my classes.”

My head shook. “Trust me, I don't really know what I'm doing either. Just taking it a little bit at a time and waiting, I guess. Mostly I’m trying to get through the last bit of the semester. If this little guy can help with that, all the more power to him.”

Tomas hesitated slightly before offering, “I feel like maybe I shouldn't say this, because it might make you do something drastic to that poor toy, but just in case, you should know that Paige was the one handing all those out. I saw her setting up the table out front a few minutes ago. But please don't throw the poor guy away or anything, I'm sure she's just trying to help people.”

Oh, right, that whole thing about people thinking that Paige and I still hated each other. Before all that had changed, before everything in my life had changed, I might have actually thought that she set this whole thing up to trick me into taking one of these toys that would explode into slime or something. No wonder he was nervous about me finding out.

Yeah, we were definitely going to have to do something about that. We needed to come up with a way for Paige and me to talk at school without everyone being suspicious. Or maybe I was just overthinking the whole thing and no one would give a shit. Still, my parents knew about our problems and I didn't want to do anything that could possibly stand out in their minds since they knew Paige was aware of the Ministry. Actually, that gave me a couple ideas. Maybe the right idea was to get them to insist she make up with me. Hmmm… But now it wasn't the right time to focus on that.

Instead, I hugged the turtle a little bit and replied, “Don't worry, I already went over him with a fine-tooth comb. If Paige was trying to nail me with something, I must've taken the wrong one. Anyway, I'm not going to take our problems out on him. He's the one that's going to get me through finals.”

Tomas gave me a relieved grin. “Hey, whatever works. I'm just glad I won't have to be a witness to you killing one of the Ohio Minority. Even if it is a toy version. I don't think that’d go over very well. And hey, as far as him helping you get through the rest of the semester goes, that's what you need, sounds good to me. Like I said, I don't know what I'd do if my parents were in that situation. But I don't think I'd actually make it to my classes. So you're doing better than I would.”

There was so much I wanted to say to that. Not to mention all the strange feelings and paranoia that kept trying to boil to the surface. There was a part of me that immediately thought he was fishing for information, trying to find out how much I knew about all that. My brain just kept poking at everything he was saying, trying to convince the rest of me that he already knew too much, that he was toying with me.

No, he wasn't. He didn't know anything about this shit, and he wasn't poking at me to get a reaction or test if I knew more than I should. He was just expressing concern, that was all. I had to knock it off.

Realizing I was squeezing Oak just a little too tight, I relaxed my arm and gave a little nod. Fortunately, the specific subject we were talking about meant me having an emotional reaction made perfect sense. I didn't have to hide that completely.

Instead, I forced a very weak, somewhat shaky smile. “Are you kidding, when my parents wake up, the first thing they're going to ask is how school is going. And if I tell them I blew off the last bit of the year, they’ll make me wish I was the one who was in a Tech-Touched coma.”

It was a weak joke, if it could even be counted as one, my voice cracking a little as I said it. Then I exhaled heavily and looked at him. “They're going to be okay? They'll all be okay?” Did my voice sound more like I was asking a question rather than telling him because I intentionally wanted to sound like I didn't know what was going on exactly, or because I was really scared and wanted him to reassure me? Was there that much of a difference at this point?

For his part, Tomas reached out to take my free hand, squeezing it a bit while looking into my eyes. Not so long ago, that would’ve sent my heart into a spin. But now, there was… well, not no reaction. He was still a very handsome boy, but I just didn’t… feel that way about him anymore.

“Of course they will, Cassie. You know they've got the biggest brains in the country taking care of it. And now they know it came from that Cup bint. I mean, that's what the news said anyway. I doubt they'd say something like that if they weren't sure. They know who made the stuff, and they have her in custody. She doesn't have any other tricks. They'll make her go tell them how to fix it.”

Oh boy, did I really not want to assume that Amanda Sanvers didn't have any more tricks. That would go very, very poorly. But I kept quiet on that front. I was supposed to be a naïve little nobody who was clueless about stuff like that.

I was still trying to figure out exactly how to respond when Arleigh walked right up and put one arm around me from the other side. It came so suddenly I jumped a bit, before grimacing inwardly as she loudly spoke up. “Aww, you've got an Oak! And we're practically siblings, see?" With that, she held up a toy figure of Ash, shaking it for me. “Turtles are okay, I guess, but dragons breathe fire. So I guess you could get a fire breathing turtle?” The girl pondered that briefly with her arm still around me before shrugging. “Well, whatever, that one doesn't. His forcefields are okay, but I think being able to attack is better. I bet if it came down to it, Ash could kick his ass.”

Was I just imagining the way Oak slightly shifted in my arm? Probably, but either way, I gave him a little squeeze before speaking up. “They're family,” I pointed out while managing to twist around to get away from the girl’s arm so I could face her. “I’m pretty sure they're not gonna start fighting each other.”

Arleigh gave me an utterly blank look at the very suggestion that families wouldn't fight. Then she laughed and shook her head. “Yeah, okay, sure. Anyway, did you guys hear about the vandals?”

Oh thank God, a subject change. Even better, she hadn't moved to touch me again. Would it really be that bad if I punched her in the nose the next time she grabbed me? It wouldn't stand out to my parents too much if I was suspended for fighting the daughter of one of the Fell gang leaders, right?

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

While I was shoving that thought out of my head, Tomas spoke up. “What do you mean? What vandals?”

Arleigh, in turn, proceeded to tell us all about the fact that some people, probably students from another school or something, had managed to get in here the night before and broke through several walls upstairs before getting into the server room in the library and wiping out a bunch of records as well as the security recordings. Apparently they had put graffiti up on some of the walls and took a bunch of test materials out of the secure storage room the faculty used.

Through all that, I idly wondered if she knew the actual truth. Would whoever was running the Ministry right now have told the gang leaders what actually happened in their attempt to get any more details that might be out there? I didn’t really think so, given there didn’t seem to be any particular benefit to it, but then again, I barely knew anything about their inner workings.

Okay, no, I was pretty sure she didn’t know anything about what happened. There was little reason for the gangs to be told. It went directly against the Ministry’s desire to keep the whole situation covered up. The only thing I could think of was that they might want to tell them to watch out for Biolem replacements, but even that seemed a bit flimsy. They could tell them that without getting into details, if they were even going to.

Which, of course, was when I realized why I was even thinking about this. Ryder. They had to know he had been there, and that he left without getting his memory erased. So they probably assumed he would tell Blackjack everything. Or, well, as much as the Ministry themselves knew, anyway. So maybe they would at least get La Casa on board. They were probably low on manpower with everything going on, and now that they knew about Pittman having--

Pittman. Why hadn’t the Ministry contacted us about him yet? They had to know we had him. And I hadn’t gotten any calls or messages from Wren or the others. Yes, it wasn’t even nine in the morning yet, but still. I kept expecting to feel at least one of my phones start buzzing in my pocket with messages and calls letting me know the shop was surrounded. But there was--

Wait, what was I doing? Oh, Arleigh, vandalism, cover-up, blah blah blah.

Tomas was shaking his head by the end of her little story. “Well, bollocks. But doesn't it make more sense that they'd be students from this school? I mean, if they stole tests and wiped out some academic records, that seems like people from this place trying to cheat or whatever.”

I was absolutely certain that Arleigh was faking her surprise as much as she had been pretending that hadn't been the first thing that occurred to her. “Ohhh shit, do you really think someone from our school could do that?” She turned a bit to look up and down the hallway with an air of suspicion. “But like, who would bother? Seriously, I’m in the records room for my office elective, and I’m telling you guys, no one here is doing badly enough in class to risk a breaking and entering charge, let alone all the random vandalism. Seriously, what’s up with that? Breaking holes through a few classroom walls and spray-painting a bit? Then they manage to get into the server room so they can take all the security footage and the tests? There’s something weird about that, isn’t there? It’s like they’re dumb nobody vandals when they break a few walls and put up shitty graffiti, but then they magically transform into expert hackers who know exactly where they’re going and how to cover up their identities. And why do that shit anyway? They’re leaving obvious signs they were here but then taking the security tapes? If they didn’t want to be recognized they could just wear masks. None of that makes sense.”

Well, now she had my attention. Where the hell had all that come from? Was I just too dismissive of Arleigh because she tended to be annoying and rude? Clearly she wasn’t stupid. Was the way she acted here at school also a front? I knew she put on an act as Clime, pretending to be a nature loving flower girl type, but was she faking her basic personality here as well? Why would she suddenly drop that to start questioning the vandal story? Unless her dad was pushing her hard to find out more because he knew something was wrong with it.

Shaking that off, I forced myself to shrug. “Maybe it’s part of some sort of prank. I dunno. I’ve got class though.” Anything to get away from this conversation. I already had too much to think about as it was. I didn’t need to spend even more time with Arleigh.

So, after mumbling something about needing to talk to the teacher, I made my escape. Part of me felt bad about abandoning Tomas like that, but he’d probably survive. And if he didn’t, I’d send his dad a nice card.

Or maybe I’d just forget.

Once we were far enough away from them (I glanced over my shoulder to make sure neither were following), I spoke up quietly without moving my lips much. Not that it mattered since no one was close or paying any attention to me, but better safe than sorry. Especially in a case like this. “The guy was Tomas, my uhh, my ex-boyfriend before he went back to the UK for awhile. His dad’s… you know, the guy who erased my memory. The girl was Arleigh, I’m pretty sure her dad’s making her try to befriend me because he’s the leader of the Sherwood gang. And she’s one of them. He wants her to kiss up to me because he thinks I’ll be part of the Ministry or something.”

There was a brief pause before Oak’s quiet voice came just as I started up the back stairwell (the same one Peyton and I had used the night before, near the secret Ministry tunnel, actually). “I don’t know if you’re aware, but your life is very complicated. And this is coming from a singular member of a multi-person System who happens to be inhabiting a stuffed animal with the ability to spontaneously generate and manipulate forcefields. I have a high threshold for complicated.”

Snorting despite myself, I gave him a little squeeze. “Trust me, I know. You sure you’re gonna be okay just sitting still through this whole class?”

“I promise,” he replied in a voice that was very serious, “I shall remain perfectly still. It’s actually rather simple for us to do so for extended periods. We don’t experience the same urge to move and fidget that people in human bodies do. Well, most of us don’t. Ash is a bit of an exception, as he is to most things.” There was obvious fondness there, at least as much as there was exasperation. He cared about his brother a lot, that much was obvious.

Giving him a quick squeeze, I nodded just a bit. “I’m kind of glad to have someone with me right now, just… yeah, be careful.” That was all I could say. I knew this was dangerous, in so many ways. Maybe it was stupid to bring him here, but… fuck it, he wanted to be here, and I needed someone with me right now. We would be careful. And with what Paige had done, me having one of the Cuddle Corps wouldn’t actually stand out anyway. There were plenty of others walking around with their own toy versions. This was the last day of regular school before three half-days of finals next week, so the teachers weren’t bothered by it. Some of them had already checked out almost as much as the students had.

Making it to the English hallway, I saw a dozen or so students gathered around the doorway into the classroom where I’d left the hole the night before. They were all talking and pointing, so I took a breath before starting that way with a confused, “What’s going on?”

“Oh hey, Cass,” San turned my way, his appearance reminding me that I still didn’t know what was going on with that list of names Maki had. “You seen the damage those guys did last night?” He stepped aside a bit so I could look at what turned out to be a couple holes in the walls (I only left one, but apparently the Ministry decided to put in more to cover up the reasoning behind it or something), along with some very… elaborate graffiti all over the walls. The sight made me blanch. They had really wanted to make it look like vandals had broken in.

“Probably somebody doing shit on a dare or something,” San was saying.

“Hey, don’t sully the good name of dares,” I retorted reflexively. “Dares are doing fun, dangerous and awesome stuff, not breaking into a school to do a bunch of damage and steal shit.”

With a laugh, San promised not to say such blasphemous things anymore. Then the two of us headed for class. On the way, he complimented my Oak ‘doll’ before becoming the second person to ask if I was okay with it coming from Paige. Yeah, we were definitely gonna have to do something about that.

For the moment, I simply found my seat before carefully setting Oak on my lap so he could watch the teacher without shifting around. With those sunglasses, his eyes were hidden. We were ready to go.

Now please, please could I get through the rest of this school day without any other major issues or interruptions? I would totally buy the universe a box of cookies if it could do me a solid on that.

Maybe two boxes.